Our Profession of our Faith:

Introduction:

I want you to pay special attention to the first part of Hebrews, chapter 3 and verse 1. "Wherefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." He's talking to you if you are a believer in Jesus Christ. You are the holy brethren, you are the partaker of the heavenly calling.

Notice the title given to our Lord Jesus Christ in this verse. He is called the High Priest of our profession. That is, He is the High Priest of our confession. Actually, the word "profession" and "confession" is exactly the same Greek word. They both mean the same. So He is saying that Jesus Christ is the High Priest of our confession.

Now I want you to think for just a moment about the fact that we live in a power filled universe. We are told that there is enough latent power in one cubic foot of air to blow the largest city in the world off the face of the earth. God has charged our physical universe with power all about us. There is unreleased and untapped power all about us. Now that power was intended by God for man's blessing and for God's glory. That power was set in motion by words and that power can be controlled by words if we learn the secret of the power of the spoken word.

I want us to notice several principles about the power of words. First of all, the world was made by words. , verse 3 says, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do not appear."

What is He saying here. He is saying that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen are not made of things which do appear. In other words, everything we see was made of things which are invisible. Now when you read the creative account in the Book of Genesis, you are going to read statements like this. And God said, "Let there be a firmament," and there was a firmament. God said, "Let there be light" and there was light. God said, "Let there be a moon and a stars." God said and it was so. God created a world with words so everything we see that is visible was made of something invisible and the invisible became visible by the power of the spoken word of God.

Now, God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass," and it did. He said, "Let the earth bring forth trees," and it did. So we know that here is a world made by words. But not only that, the world was controlled by words.

When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, they were given power to subdue the earth. I don't believe that Adam and Even subdued the earth with a hoe. I don't think they subdued the Garden of Eden through hard labor. I don't think they subdued the animals with a whip. I think all they had to do was speak and all the earth was under their subjection. They spoke and the animals did their bidding because they were controlling the world under the authority of God. God had given them authority and they were living under God's authority and they were in subjection and perfect obedience to God's authority and because of that they had the same power with words that God had. They could speak and it was so.

Notice . "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." So once the world was controlled by words.

Then the world fell because of words. Now, Satan enters the picture and what happens? Satan came and the devil introduced the first doubt. He came to Eve and he said, "Hath God said that you cannot eat of every tree in the garden."

Then Satan introduced the first lie. He said, "You will not surely die if you eat of the fruit of this tree." Then he introduced the first criticism. "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." () So when you get ready to criticize and say a bad confession, you might remember that the first criticism on this planet was introduced by the devil, himself. You might just keep that in mind when you are tempted to criticize because the author of criticism was Satan and he gave the first criticism that ever took place on this planet.

For the first time, Adam and Eve spoke a word that was not in harmony with their creator. When they spoke a word that was not in harmony with their creator, they fell from fellowship with God. They accepted the word of the devil and as a result, chaos and confusion came upon this world and sin broke fellowship with God and confusion came upon this planet and they became separated from God. The world fell. Why? ? Because of their words. Their words were not in agreement with God and the world fell.

The forth principle is, the world was redeemed by words. In , the Bible says, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God." Then in verse 14 we read, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Now, he is talking about the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ that the Father sent into this world. Now, Jesus Christ was the Word of God. He was the expression that all that God ever thought in human form. Jesus, the living Word, was the expression of the written word. All that God had ever though or said was capsulized in the person of Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ was the love of God, the wisdom of God, the power of God, the salvation of God, all of it dwelt in Jesus in His bodily form. Paul said that in Christ dwells all the riches and all the knowledge of the triune God. The scripture says that in Jesus Christ, we have the preeminence because in Jesus God dwelt bodily in Him. So when God got ready to redeem this planet and to redeem you and me, He did it through the living word, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God wanted to make a statement so in , verse 1, it says that "God who in diverse times and manners has spoken to us through his servants the prophet hath in these last days spoken through his son, Jesus Christ, whom he has made the heir of all things." He said that God has spoken in past times through prophets, that is through men who wrote down the Word of God but now God has spoken to us through the living Word, through Jesus Christ.

Now, a word is a thought crystallized. Jesus Christ was all that God says, crystallized into a human form. Now, Jesus accomplished His ministry through words. The people said that neither a man spoke as this man spoke. If you follow the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, you see that what Jesus did, He did by the power of the spoken word. Jesus said to a fig tree, "Be cursed and never bear figs again," and that's what happened. Jesus said to a leper, "Be though cleansed," and the leper was made whole. Jesus said to a blind man, "Receive your sight," and the man could see again. Jesus said to a cripple man, "Take up your bed and walk," and immediately he took up his bed and he walked. Jesus Christ spoke and it was so. Jesus commanded demons to come out of a demon possessed man and they came out. He commanded the demons to enter the swine and they did. Jesus was in agreement and under the authority of the Heavenly Father, therefore, whatever He said came true. Whatever He said, happened. Just like whatever God the Father said happened in the creation. Whatever Jesus said happened, because He was under the authority of the Father. He did His ministry through the power of the spoken word.

So let's go back to our original verse. Who is Jesus to us this morning? Well, He's many things. He's our Savior. He's our Redeemer. He's our Lord. He's our King. He's our High Priest. He's the Alpha and Omega. He's the Beginning and the End, but He is the High Priest of our confession.

Now, what does a High Priest do? Well, a High Priest is one who ministers on behalf of others. What is a confession? The word confession comes from two Greek words "homo-logos". Homo means the same and logos means to speak. Homo-logos means to speak the same as. So, when we make a confession, it means to say the same thing as.

The Bible says in , "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Watch it now! To confess our sins just doesn't mean to say, Father, I have sinned and I'm sorry." to confess our sins, as a believer means to agree with God concerning our sins, to say the same thing as God says about our sins, to be in agreement with God when He says that He is hurt and repulsed by our sin. That is what it means to confess your sin before God. Confession means to say the same thing as or to agree. Jesus is the High Priest of our confession so when we line up with the Word of God, we line up with the written Word of God and we line up with the living Word of God who is the High Priest of our confession. Then we are under a position of authority and when we confess and say the same thing as the written Word of God and the living Word of God, then we are in a position of asking and getting what we asked for. It is not a matter of naming it and claiming it. It is a matter of being under authority. Being under authority and lining up with Jesus is a matter of claiming the promise of God and getting what the promise of God says and guarantees.

Now, look at what a High Priest does in . "Now the things which we have spoken, (this is the Son) we have such a High Priest who has sat on the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens. A minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord Pitched and not man." What's he saying. When Jesus died on the cross and when He ascended back to the Father, what did He do? Where is He today? He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He sat down, meaning His work was done. He sat down at the right hand of God, that's the place of authority and power. He sat down, meaning He had accomplished His work on the cross. He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

Now He is a minister of the sanctuary of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. He is saying that when Jesus Christ, our High Priest, goes into the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle, He is going into a tabernacle in heaven, pitched by God, not the one on earth made by Moses. There is one in heaven, made by God for which it was the pattern of the one made by Moses down in the wilderness. God gave the instructions specifically. So Jesus is our High Priest who appears specifically for us in the presence of the Father in the tabernacle in heaven.

Now, He is the High Priest of what we say. He is the High Priest of our confession, therefore, whatever we say, whatever we confess is what He presents to the Father. If we are confessing victory, He presents that to the Father. If we're confessing strength, He presents that to the Father. If we're confessing wisdom, He presents that to the Father. If we confess hope, He presents that to the Father. If we confess faith, He's presenting that to the Father. If we confess power, He's presenting that to the Father. He is the His Priest of what we say. He's the High Priest of our confession. Isn't that wonderful to know, that Jesus takes what we say, what we confess in agreement with the Word of God and in agreement with the Son of God and He presents it to the Father in heaven and that's how He makes intercession for us. What a blessed truth this is.

One thing we need to remember is that the devil also listens to our confessions. Satan and the demons of hell have been assigned to listen to us as well, just like they listened to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and they heard them make a negative confession about God. "Well, maybe we shouldn't listen to God. Maybe we ought to disobey God. Maybe we ought to eat of this tree after all. Maybe God didn't know what He was talking about." You see, Satan and his demons listen to what you say and if you make a negative confession, then you leave Jesus without anything to present to the Father in intercession in the true tabernacle because Jesus will not present a lie to the Father for you. If you make a confession that is not in line with the promises of the Word of God, the devil uses that as an accusation against you. If you confess defeat, if you confess weakness, if you confess that you give up and can't do it, if you confess hopelessness, then that is what Satan presents as an accusation and Jesus is left without anything with which to intercede for you before the heavenly Father. We need to be very careful about what we are confessing.

We need to be very careful about what we confess about our church because Satan will take what you confess about your church and he will use it against your church. He wants to destroy the church. He's always wanted to destroy the church. He loves for people to say, "Our church is going backward. Our church isn't doing very good." You see, you don't confess according to the outward appearance, you confess according to the Word of God. The Word of God says that the church is built on Jesus Christ and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. You don't confess according to the appearances of your life, you confess what God's Word says and God's word says that we are always triumphant through Him that loves us.

God's word says that when we are weak then we are strong through Him who is powerful. You may be physically weak, spiritually weak, but through Him that's when the power takes over. Paul said, "When I am weak, then I am strong." That's when the power of God can operate in your life. So, we confess victory in the midst of defeat. We confess power in the midst of weakness. WE confess joy in the midst of sorrow.

You say, "Well, that doesn't make any sense." Well, folks that is what faith is. Anybody can rejoice when things are going well. Anybody can hop on the band wagon and run to this place and that place when the fire is burning over there or when it is going well over there or when it is going well in your life. Anybody can rejoice, but faith is claiming the promises of God in the midst of adversity, when things don't go well, when sorrow comes, when disappoint comes. You confess Jesus in the midst of every situation. If you don't have anything to confess, just confess Jesus Christ.

If you don't think confession is important, that's where the Christian life begins. In Romans, 10:9 and 19, the Bible says that you are not even saved until you confess Jesus with you lips because Jesus will not confess you for salvation until you confess Him with your lips. The Bible says in that if you will confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, but that's not the only time you confess Jesus. Confession of Jesus is a day by day part of your growth in Christ.

In , Jesus said, "If you will confess me before men, then I will confess you before the Father in heaven, but if you deny me before men, then I will deny you before the Father who is in heaven." That's an on going confession. You have to confess Jesus in every circumstance of life. You have to continue to confess Jesus every day. If you don't confess Jesus you will never grow as a believer and that's something you do to grow in the Christian life. Confession is important because you cannot live for Jesus apart from confession.

Jesus, of course, is a part of lining up with the authority of God. He is the one who said, "All power and authority is given unto me." He said to us, "I will give you the power and authority that is given unto me." That's why we confess Jesus. He comes to the Father and He says, "Father, they are confessing me so I am going to confess them to you." But He says that if you deny Him, He will deny you to the Father. A church will never rise above its confession. A believer will never rise above his confession, not what the financial statement says, not what people say but what the Word of God says. We must know the Word of God so we can confess the Word of God.

says this. "But the tongue no man contain. It is unruly evil full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God even the Father and therewith curse we man." If you don't believe there's power in what you say, the Bible says that with what you say, you can curse God and bless man. Many times people have blessed me with what they've said. Positive confession blesses me. One positive confession to me a day can make up for fifty negative confessions to me. Are you that way? I can have fifty people tell me the sky is falling and if just one believer speaks a positive word of confession reminding me of God's faithfulness, man! I'm just blessed the whole day through. You can bless people with your words. You have the power to bless other believers.

The Bible says in the book of Hebrews, chapter thirteen that we are to exhort one another and so much the more as we see the day approaching. No where in the Bible are you commanded to put a curse on anybody but you are commanded to bless other believers so bless people, don't curse them.

Many parents curse their children by talking about how stupid they are, how they'll never learn, how they'll always be forgetful, how they'll never do any better, how they'll always be the same and they curse their children by the negative words they say to their children and about their children.

The blessing was so important in Old Testament times. That's why Esau and Jacob fought over the blessing because they believed the Father's blessing, before he died, was powerful. Whoever got that blessing would be blessed and that's why Rebecca tried to fool Isaac in to giving the blessing to her favorite son Jacob because she believed the blessing was so important and powerful. We as parents can bless our children through our words. We can pray the promises of God over our children. We can pray the blessings of God over our children and to our children and for our children.

Where do you find these blessings? You find them in this book and then you pray them right out of this scripture. You pray the promises of God over them and you pray the blessings of God over them. If you have a fearful child, just pray II Timothy, 1:7-8, "For God did not give my child the spirit of fear but He gave him a spirit of power and of love and a sound mind."

God will do for little Mary or Ashley or Sue or Nicole, exceedingly above all they ask or think according to His mighty power that worketh in them. You make a positive confession.

What are you confessing? What did you confess last week? What did you do with your words? Did you bless you husband? Did you bless your wife or did you curse them with your words? Did you bless your church or did you curse your church with your words? The devil is listening to what you say and he loves for you to make a negative confession, even if you don't make it to anybody else, even if you just make it to yourself, he loves to hear it because he will use it against you and against God's people.

Now, Christians have confessed frustration, doubt and fear long enough. It's time for us to give Jesus something positive and powerful to work with. God says you are accepted. God says that you are loved. God says that you are royalty. God says that your are victorious. God says so many wonderful things about you and it doesn't matter what other people think, it matters what Jesus thinks and what Jesus says. It doesn't matter about your social standing, it matters about your spiritual standing. It doesn't matter about who you are on the social register, it matters who you are on God's register. The Bible says that you are going to be condemned or justified by your words.

Jesus said this in , "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shall be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." That's how powerful words are.

"By thy words thou shall be justified." Well, that means the same thing as confessing Jesus. If you confess Jesus as your Savior and your Lord, you are going to be justified by those words. This morning if you do not know that Christ is in your heart as your Lord and your Savior, if you will confess those words that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and rose again from the dead and you will confess Him as your Savior and your Lord before men, the Bible says that you will receive His forgiveness and His salvation but if you do not, you will be condemned by your words. Every idle word, man shall give account of in the day of judgment. Every hidden word, man shall give an account of in the day of judgment.

If you make the first confession, then you don't have to worry about the idle words because those are all forgiven and wiped clean because they are in the blood of Jesus Christ. However, if you don't make that first confession, then you have to worry about every thoughtless thing you've ever said because it is going to come back to face you when you stand before God at a Great White Throne and the books are open. Every idle word, you will give account of on the day of judgment. What a day that's going to be, when the books are open and nobody will be able to say, "Lord, I'm righteous." God will just open the book and read you back the words that you said, the times you cursed Him, the times that you said, "I don't believe any of that is true," the times that you could have confessed Christ and you said, "Not today," the times that you could have come and you said that you would come later. Your very words will condemn you. God will just play your own words back to you. He will just tell you that He has something for you to listen to and play it right back to you. Your own words will condemn you and you'll stand without excuse before a Holy God.

God doesn't want you to do that. God wants you to be justified by the words, "I confess that I'm a sinner and I confess that Jesus died for me and I confess today, Him as my Savior and my Lord." Then Jesus will confess you as one of His children to the Heavenly Father.