Faith's Divine Order #6

We’ve been teaching on the subject of God’s Divine order of faith. So far we’ve said that STEP 1 is “IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM.” STEP 2 was to “MAKE A DECISION TO STAND IN FAITH.” Step No. 3 FIND THE EVIDENCE or FIND THE PROMISE IN THE WORD OF GOD. STEP No. 4 is twofold 1st of all you need to understand the importance of hearing the Word of God. And make a conscious effort to hear the Word of God. Step 5 is “MEDITATION on the Word of God.”

I) STEP # 6 is the 1 with the most controversy and that is CONFESSION or we should call it the “Confession of our Faith.”

A) 1 of the reasons that we’re not receiving the promises of God is that our confession is not in line with the Word of God. But it goes even further than that, if our confession is wrong and negative it may bring the problems into our life or even cause us to fall into bondage.

1) Turn with me to PRO 6:2

a) The word “Snared” means “To be trapped or caught, tied” It has do do with the catching of an animal. It has to do with alluring someone away from their real purpose in order to destroy them.

b) The word “TAKEN” means to capture, seize, but it also means “to control an object” or to have the rule over by force.”

c) If we look at this V in context it refers to giving our word to someone in order to guarantee someone else’s loan.

(i) This V is a warning not to do that, or you can be brought into bondage by the word of your mouth.

2) But there is also a spiritual side to this that we’ll begin to see.

B) Many Christians will say, “Well, I’ve tried confessing the Word of God and it doesn’t work.”

1) Yet on the other hand, Many say, “I’ve seen in my own life how confessing the Word of God works.”

2) Why do some have results and others don’t? They both might speak the Word over their situation the same amount of times.

3) The key to that is found in MARK 11:23 so let’s turn there.

4) We know that Jesus is talking about CONFESSION. 3 times in this 1 V he tells us to speak to the mountain or to your problem. BUT SPEAKING ISN’T ENOUGH.

a) According to Jesus, what is the KEY? “And shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe.”

b) You have to believe that the promises of God are already yours, but your have to go 1 step further, you have to see yourself as already walking in the promise. In other words you have to see yourself as healed, prosperous, delivered, or victorious.

5) Jesus said in (Matthew 12:34) “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”

a) If it’s in your heart you’re going to speak it out of your mouth.

b) Not only are you going to speak it or confess it, but if it’s in your heart you’ll also think on it and you’re go to see yourself in light of it.

6) If it’s in your heart that you’re a failure then you’re going to see yourself as a failure.

C) That’s also true for the positive side. If you have it in you heart that you’re a success then you’re going to see yourself as a success.

1) Look at Proverbs 23:7a

a) An important aspect to the subject of confession is seeing yourself in the proper image. The way you see yourself is what you’ll be confessing and what you will become.

2) Remember, Solomon said in (PRO 23:7) “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

a) Jesus said, “If it’s in your heart, you’re going to be speaking it.”

3) If you put the 2 Vs together it would say, “If it’s in your heart, you’re going to be speaking it, and If it’s in your heart and you’re speaking it that will come to pass in your live.”

II) Turn with me to NUM 13:33. I’ve used this V before but it backs up the V I just read to you in (PRO 23:7). (“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”) (V 31 what they said)

A) Notice the part that says, “We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” We need to see ourselves in the proper image, seeing ourselves according to the Word of God; as the head, not the tail, Victorious, An overcomer.

1) Seeing ourselves as healed and walking in divine health.

B) ROM 1:16

1) Paul said, “The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.”

2) What is the GOSPEL?

a) It’s the Good News.

b) The Gospel is also the Word of God.

3) This V is telling us that “The Word of God is the power of God unto Salvation.”

a) The word “Salvation” comes from the Greek root word “Sozo”

(i) Which also means, “Save,” but it means much more than that it is an all inclusive word meaning, salvation, healing, deliverance, safety, and soundness of mind.

(ii) It really means anything that you can be saved from. (Lack, poverty, destruction)

(iii) In other words it’s all the promises of God.

b) If we use the Definitions that I just gave you (ROM 1:16) would say, The Word of God is the power of God unto healing, soundness of mind, deliverance, safety and salvation.

c) It’s the power of God unto all of His promises.

C) HEB 4:12

1) The Word of God is alive and it is powerful, that sounds a lot like (ROM 1:16). (“The Word of God is the power of God.”)

D) According to (ISA 55:11) When you speak out the Word of God, it will not return void, or empty as the NIV puts it, But it will accomplish that which it was sent out to do.

1) Turn to 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.”

III) 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)

a) Why did this man have such great faith?

b) He had a revelation of the power and authority of the Word of God.

B) JOSH 1:8

1) 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.”

a) Then he says we are to meditate on it (the Word) day and night.

b) The Hebrew word for “Meditate” here means, “To roar, growl, groan, to utter, speak, to meditate, devise, muse, and imagine.”

IV) Look at LUKE 17:5-6

A) The KJV says, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say...”

1) The Greek interlinear (along with the Wuest Translation and New American Standard Bible says, “If you had faith as a seed you would say...”

2) 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.”

a) Faith speaks and when it does the circumstance will change, it must obey you.

(i) 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.

B) 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.”

1) 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.”

a) A seed will do you absolutely no good unless you plant it.

2) 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.”

C) Jesus tells 2 great faith secrets here.

1) 1st, Faith is as a seed; it works like a seed.

2) 2nd, You plant it by speaking it.

a) Again (Mark 11:23) Says, “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.”

V) 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) 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.

2) The people began to murmur.

B) Look what God said because of it. NUMBERS 14:26-29.

C) 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

2) If the people would have been allowed to talk. Then I’m sure there would have been a lot of negative talking.

a) The wrong confession, like how are we ever going to take this city, they are going to destroy us.

b) There had to be a stop to it before they would reap the fruit of their lips.

D) 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.”

2) Just as (Proverbs 18:21) “Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue.”

VI) God never does anything without saying it 1st.

A) Look at GEN 1:3

1) God did the same thing in GEN 1:6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26. He speaks it out of his mouth, then it come to pass.

B) Even in t Gospels Jesus did t same thing.

1) In (MAR 5:34) Jesus said, “Be whole of thy plague.”

2) In (LUKE 5:23-25) Jesus said to the crippled man, “I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.”

3) In (JOHN 5:8) Jesus said to another that was crippled “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”

a) Jesus always spoke and said, “Be whole, or rise up and walk.” These were statements of His faith, confessions of His faith. He spoke these things before the person received there healing.

C) Look at ACTS 3:6

1) Faith filled words is a powerful spiritual force, which will manifest in this natural realm.

VII) REV 12:11

A) 1 of the commentaries that I was reading said that the definition of the word, “WORD” in this V means “THE SAYINGS OF GOD.”

1) We overcome Satan by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB and THE SAYINGS OF GOD or by SPEAKING THE WORD OF GOD.

B) I like how the Matthew Henry Commentary puts it.

1) It says that “The servant’s of God overcame Satan, By the blood of the lamb, and By the word of their testimony, which is the sword of the Spirit, that is the WORD of GOD, and it is mighty, through God, to pull down strongholds.”

2) This V says that it was “Their testimony”.

a) It was their use of the Word of God that gave them the victory, along with the blood of Jesus.

3) The Power of God is released when we speak the Word of God.

a) We need to get a revelation of this so that we can begin to change our situation through the Word of God.

WOLCC Sunday, November 09, 1997 & Sunday, February 02, 2003