Confession A
Last time we were teaching on the subject of confessing the Word of God.
I. Last time I opened with PRO 6:2, so let’s turn there.
A. It is possible for us to be SNARED or brought in BONDAGE through the words that we speak.
B. Jesus made the statement in (Matthew 12:34) “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
1. In other words if it’s in your heart, you’re going to talk about it.
2. If fear of sickness or fear of anything else is in your heart, then you’re going to talk about it.
a. To put it in scripture terms you’re going to confess it or profess it.
b. Those words that you confess can bring you into bondage.
i. We’re going to look at a V in just a moment that tells us we’re going to get what we say.
c. Then you get people that say, “Well, I just won’t say a thing. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
i. If you can’t say anything good, it’s better you don’t say anything at all. So that’s the 1st step.
a. (James 1:19) says, “Be slow to speak.” KJV
ii. But you need to do more than just stop saying the wrong things.
d. Romans 12:2
i. The word “CONFORMED” means “Fashion 1’s self according to.”
ii. In other words He’s saying Don’t be fashioning yourself according to this world.
a. The world is full of negativism.
iii. But he tells us to be “TRANSFORMED” which means, “Changed into another form.”
a. That shows a contrast between the world’s ways and the ways that we are to be.
iv. How are we going to be “Changed or Transformed?” “BY THE RENEWING OF OUR MINDS.”
e. Why is that so important? (Proverbs 23:7) Says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
i. For us to stop our wrong confession is good and necessary, but we’re only ½ the way there.
ii. We have to renew our minds to the Word of God.
iii. When we do, the negative things that were coming out of our mouth will be changed into the Word of God.
3. JOSH 1:8
a. The “Book of the Law” is the Word of God, and he says do not let it depart out of your mouth. In other words “Speak the Word, Confess it.”
i. In (DEUT 6:7) we’re instructed to talk the Word continually.
b. Then he says we are to meditate on it (the Word) day and night.
i. The Hebrew word for “Meditate” here means, “To roar, growl, groan, to utter, speak, to meditate, devise, muse, and imagine.”
ii. I like that last part. We are to “Imagine” the Word of God.
iii. That means we are to see ourselves the same way the Word says we are.
a. “By whose stripes ye were healed.” (1PE 2:24)
b. My God shall supply all your needs. (PHIL 4:19)
c. You have the mind of Christ. (1COR 2:16)
iv. HEB 10:23
a. The word “Profession” in this V is the same Greek word for “Confession.”
b. So in other words this V says, “Hold fast to your confession of faith, for God is faithful that promised.”
c. Some says that the word “FAITH” in this V is translated wrong, and that it should be “HOPE.”
i. Actually, it’s not the word “FAITH” but it’s not the word “HOPE” as we know it either.
ii. It’s an “expectation of good.”
c. Hold fast to your confession of your EXPECTATIONS, for He is faithful that promised.
II. MAT 8:5-10, 13
A. Jesus spoke the Word and the servant was healed.
1. But notice something else that Jesus said in V 10 (read)
2. Why did this man have such great faith?
a. He had revelation of the power and authority of the Word of God.
b. If you get this revelation for yourself you too will have great faith.
B. HEB 11:3
1. The worlds were framed by the Word of God.
2. There is power in the spoken Word of God.
III. Look at LUKE 17:5-6
A. The KJV says, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say...”
b. But in the Greek it’s a little different.
i. The Greek interlinear (along with the Wuest Translation and New American Standard Bible says, “If you had faith as a seed you would say...”
c. The ASV says the same thing. It’s worded like this, “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye would say unto this sycamore tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea; and it would obey you.”
i. Faith speaks and when it does the circumstance will change, it must obey you.
2. This did not say it would obey God, and it did not say that it would obey the H.S. It says that it would obey you.
3. Now notice that the apostles said, “Lord, Increase our faith,” “Lord, why don’t you just give us more faith? That’s what we need, we need more faith.”
a. Jesus replied to that statement, “You don’t need more faith. You need to understand that faith works like a seed, unless you plant it, it will not do you any good.”
b. Faith does not come by asking, it comes by hearing the spoken Word of God and it works like a seed.
c. A seed will do you absolutely no good unless you plant it.
B. In (LUK 17:6) Jesus said to the apostles, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye would say unto this sycamore tree.”
1. Jesus tells 2 great faith secrets here.
a. 1st, Faith is as a seed; it works like a seed.
b. 2nd, You plant it by speaking it.
c. Again (Mark 11:23) “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
IV. Let’s just look at some important truths in the Word of God that give us more light in this area.
A. (NUM 14 turn there) I shared this with you last week. Moses sent 12 spies into the promise land to spy out the land, but only 2 spies came back with a good report, 10 came back with an evil report.
1. The people listened to the evil negative report of the 10 spies.
a. The people began to murmur.
2. Look what God said because of it. NUMBERS 14:26-29.
B. We also have the story in the book of JOSHUA where the children of Israel came to the city of Jericho. Joshua told the people that they could not even say a word.
1. JOSHUA 6:10
a. If the people would have been allowed to talk then I’m sure there would have been a lot of negative talking.
i. The wrong confession, like how are we ever going to take this city, they are going to destroy us.
ii. There had to be a stop to it before they would reap the fruit of their lips.
C. In the book of (LUKE 1:13, 18-20) an angel appeared to Zacharias and told him that he was going to have a son.
1. Zacharias could not believe it. Because of it the angel said in (Luke 1:20) “And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.”
D. Just as (Proverbs 18:21) “Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue.”
1. We have to have this revelation for ourselves and you’ll begin to change Situations through the Word of God.
a. (Mark 11:23) “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
b. Get that revelation for yourself and you’ll begin to change Situations through the Word of God.
Taken from CONFESS.DOC and CONFES.DOC 7/11/90 WED PM TFC and WOLCC 6/6/91 THURS. PM. WOLCC 3/13/94 SUN AM