The Right Words

When looking at the life of Jesus on earth as the Son of Man, we see that He only spoke the words that He heard from the Father. (John 8:28, 12:49) We see the power of His words through His preaching and teaching (Matthew 7:29); through healing the sick and diseased (Matthew 8:8); and casting out demons and evil spirits (Matthew 8:16). Simply put, Jesus used the Father's Words to do the supernatural in the same way that all things came to be in the beginning, "Then God said...and it was so..." (Genesis 1:3, 6-7, 11, 14-15, 20, 24, 26, 29-30).

After His resurrection, and moments before Jesus ascended to heaven to take His place at the right hand of the Father, He gave His disciples some instructions, "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen" (Mark 16:17-20)  

A closer look at His words reveal that He was basically telling the disciples to "speak" God's Word in His name and that He would confirm it "through the accompanying signs." We also see this revealed in the lives of the seventy (seventy two in other manuscripts) upon their return to Jesus after He sent them out, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." (Luke 10:19) The Apostles Peter also "spoke" the name of Jesus over a man who was born lame and was instantly healed. (Acts 3:1-10) These things were accomplished through words. This is important for believers to fully comprehend and act upon, because words are just that powerful.

Also, along these lines we must recognize that there are only two sources from which words originate. They are from God, His Word, or they are the words of the world, which are actually the words of the devil. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle John reveals this from the reality of people being children of one of two families, "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest..." (1 John 3:10) So, we can clearly see that our words will come from one of two sources.

When we think about being a believer, we must understand that Jesus planned that the believers life in Him should not be kept to themselves, but to be given to the world through God's Word. Testifiers, witnesses and confessors have been the great leaders in the revolutionary life that Jesus gave to the world. The major problem that faces every believer is to know what words are to be spoken or confessed. The believers confession centers around several things: First, is what God in Christ has accomplished for us; Second, what God through His Word and the Holy Spirit, has worked and continues to work in us; Third, what we are to the Father in Christ; Fourth, what God can do through us by us speaking His Word.

We also must keep in mind, no one can speak, confess or witness, about things that they do not know. Naturally, every person can open their mouth and have words come out, but what is meant by this is, in a court of law, it is what you have seen and heard, what you know, that counts. In the same way, it is what you know personally about Jesus Christ as well as, who and what you are in Christ that counts. It is unfortunate how few believers dare to confess to the world what the Word declares that they are in Christ. Take this scripture for instance,  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

What a revolutionary thing it would be for the church to make a confession like this. What a stir it would make in the church today for believers to believe and confess that they are absolutely redeemed, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,." (Ephesians 1:7-9) Just these few scriptures spoken from the lips of faith would mean that Satan's dominion has been broken, that he lost his dominion over the life of every believer. The old habits can no longer lord it over you, because you are a new creation created in Christ.

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak." (2 Corinthians 4:13) This passage is found in Psalm 116:10. When the psalmist uttered these words, he was experiencing great afflicted. In his affliction he spoke to God; he spoke of his confidence in him; he proclaimed his reliance on him; and his having spoken in this manner was the result of his belief, or of his putting confidence in God. Paul, in quoting this, was in circumstances of trial and affliction similar to the psalmist. Speaking or confessing God's Word, "we also believe and therefore speak", will always grow faith in the believer. However, on the other hand, speaking words contrary to God Word, will always erode faith.

So, as we face the trials that may come in this life, "Let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23) Let us be mindful of every word that proceeds out of our mouths, for as the Holy Spirit spoke through Solomon, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (Proverbs 18:21) Let us speak the Word of God through the lips of faith and love to ourselves, to one another and to the world, which will loose the power of God and bind the powers of darkness.