Faith Has a Voice
Hebrews 11:1-3 says “now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. 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 appear”.
As we search through the scriptures to find God’s word on what our problems are,
and begin to speak the solutions instead of the problems. Jesus said in Mark 11:23-
24, “For verily I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, be you
removed, and be you cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall
believe that those things which he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever
he says. Therefore I say to you, what things so ever you desire, when you pray,
believe that you receive them, and you shall have them”. But many are speaking
what they have, instead of what they desire.
Jesus as our example spoke to the fig tree (Mark 11:12-14), “and on the morrow,
when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree afar off
having leaves, He came if haply He might find any thing thereon; and when He came
to it, He found nothing, but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus
answered and said to it, no man eat fruit of you hereafter for ever, and His disciples
heard it”. We know that Jesus never did anything that went against His Father, and
the natural nature of the fig tree is when there are leaves, there is supposed to be
figs. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it was perverted. When Peter called to
remembrance the fig tree which He cursed, and was withered from the roots; Jesus
told him to have faith in God (Mark 11:21-22).
Just as God spoke and He saw (Genesis chapter 1), we have the ability to speak and
see also. God created us in His image and His likeness (Genesis 1:28). We are the
only creatures that God created that has the ability to speak out. II Corinthians 4:13
says “we have the same spirit of faith according as it is written, I believed and
therefore have I spoken, we also believe, and therefore speak”. Psalms 68:11 says
“the Lord gave the word, great was the company of those that published (proclaimed)
it.
We have to begin to call those things that be not as they are, we have to become
fully persuaded that God is able to perform what He says (Romans 4:16-21);
“therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure
to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith
of Abraham; who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you, a father of
many nations, before Him whom he believed, even God, who makes alive the dead,
and calls those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed
in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which
was spoken. So shall your seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not
his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the
deadness of Sarah’s womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded that,
what He had promised, He was able also to perform”. The problem is many are still
trying to figure out how they are going to do it. Remember the Bible says “it is not by
power, nor by might, but it is by My Spirit says the Lord Yahweh”. Our job is to find
out what God says about things and believe that He is able to fulfill His word.
Matthew 12:33-37 says “either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or else make
the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by its fruit. O generation of
vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings
forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But
I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account
thereof on the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your
words you shall be condemned”.
Psalms 37:30 says “the mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks
of judgment”. Proverbs 10:20-21,31-32 says “the tongue of the just is as choice
silver, the heart of the wicked is little worth. The lips of the righteous feed many, but
fools die for want of wisdom. The mouth of the just brings forth wisdom; but the
forward tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable;
but the mouth of the wicked speaks forwardness”. Proverbs 18:20-21 says “a man’s
belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth, and with the increase of his lips shall
he be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall
eat the fruit thereof”. Proverbs 15:4 says “a wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but
perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit”. Our words are bringing either evil or
good into our lives, Jesus said “the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they
are life” (John 6:63). So lets speak His words over our circumstances, and see the
devil flee from us. Just as Jesus defeated the devil in the wilderness, by saying “it is
written”, we can too.
After His disciples could not cast out the demon out of the man with the lunatic son;
the man came kneeling down to Him, saying (Matthew 17:15-20), “Lord, have mercy
on my son, for he is lunatic, and sore vexed for often he falls into the fire, and often
into the water. And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.
Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I
be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him here to Me. And Jesus rebuked
the devil; and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour.
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said to them, because of your unbelief; for verily I say to you, if you have
faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, remove here to
yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you”.
God uses people to speak His words into the earth, He tells Jeremiah “thus says the
Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel; go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell
him. Thus says the Lord Yahweh; behold I will give this city into the hand of the king
of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And you shall not escape out of his hand,
but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand, and your eyes shall behold the
eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you
shall go to Babylon” (Jeremiah 34:2-3). And again in (Jeremiah 35:2) “go to the
house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the
Lord Yahweh, into one of the chambers, and give to them wine to drink”.
He tells Ezekiel “son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel,
therefore hear the word of My mouth, and give them warning from Me. When I say to
the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the
wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his
iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he
turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but
you have delivered your soul” (Ezekiel 3:17-19).
Jesus says “what I tell you in darkness, that speak you in light, and what you hear in
the ear, that preach you upon the housetops”.
Peter was used to reach the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-5) “there was a certain man of
Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band. A devout
man, and one that feared God, with all his house, which gave much alms to the
people, and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour
of the day an angel of God, coming in to him, and saying to him, Cornelius. And
when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, what is it, Lord? And he said to him,
your prayers and your alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send
men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter”. And when Peter
came and opened his mouth, and said, of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter
of persons. But in every nation he that fears Him, and works righteousness is
accepted with Him. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify
that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of living and dead. To Him
give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believe in Him shall
receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on
all them which heard the word” (Acts 10:34-35, 42-44).
Paul was used in Acts 18:9-11, which says “then spoke the Lord to Paul in the night
by a vision. Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not your peace. For I am with you,
and no man shall set on you to hurt you, for I have much people in this city. And he
continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them”.
Romans 10:6-10 says “but the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise.
Say not in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down
from above. Or, who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring up Christ from the
dead. But what says it? The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your
heart, that is the word of faith, which we preach. That if you shall confess with your
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from
the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes to righteousness, and
with the mouth confession is made to salvation”.
If we want our faith to work for us, we have to speak out what we believe. Remember
that Isaiah 55:11 says “so shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth, it shall
not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing whereto I sent it”. We return His word to Him by speaking it.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: August 14, 2009
Hebrews 11:1-3 says “now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. 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 appear”.
As we search through the scriptures to find God’s word on what our problems are,
and begin to speak the solutions instead of the problems. Jesus said in Mark 11:23-
24, “For verily I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, be you
removed, and be you cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall
believe that those things which he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever
he says. Therefore I say to you, what things so ever you desire, when you pray,
believe that you receive them, and you shall have them”. But many are speaking
what they have, instead of what they desire.
Jesus as our example spoke to the fig tree (Mark 11:12-14), “and on the morrow,
when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree afar off
having leaves, He came if haply He might find any thing thereon; and when He came
to it, He found nothing, but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus
answered and said to it, no man eat fruit of you hereafter for ever, and His disciples
heard it”. We know that Jesus never did anything that went against His Father, and
the natural nature of the fig tree is when there are leaves, there is supposed to be
figs. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it was perverted. When Peter called to
remembrance the fig tree which He cursed, and was withered from the roots; Jesus
told him to have faith in God (Mark 11:21-22).
Just as God spoke and He saw (Genesis chapter 1), we have the ability to speak and
see also. God created us in His image and His likeness (Genesis 1:28). We are the
only creatures that God created that has the ability to speak out. II Corinthians 4:13
says “we have the same spirit of faith according as it is written, I believed and
therefore have I spoken, we also believe, and therefore speak”. Psalms 68:11 says
“the Lord gave the word, great was the company of those that published (proclaimed)
it.
We have to begin to call those things that be not as they are, we have to become
fully persuaded that God is able to perform what He says (Romans 4:16-21);
“therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure
to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith
of Abraham; who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you, a father of
many nations, before Him whom he believed, even God, who makes alive the dead,
and calls those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed
in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which
was spoken. So shall your seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not
his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the
deadness of Sarah’s womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded that,
what He had promised, He was able also to perform”. The problem is many are still
trying to figure out how they are going to do it. Remember the Bible says “it is not by
power, nor by might, but it is by My Spirit says the Lord Yahweh”. Our job is to find
out what God says about things and believe that He is able to fulfill His word.
Matthew 12:33-37 says “either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or else make
the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by its fruit. O generation of
vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings
forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But
I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account
thereof on the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your
words you shall be condemned”.
Psalms 37:30 says “the mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks
of judgment”. Proverbs 10:20-21,31-32 says “the tongue of the just is as choice
silver, the heart of the wicked is little worth. The lips of the righteous feed many, but
fools die for want of wisdom. The mouth of the just brings forth wisdom; but the
forward tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable;
but the mouth of the wicked speaks forwardness”. Proverbs 18:20-21 says “a man’s
belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth, and with the increase of his lips shall
he be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall
eat the fruit thereof”. Proverbs 15:4 says “a wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but
perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit”. Our words are bringing either evil or
good into our lives, Jesus said “the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they
are life” (John 6:63). So lets speak His words over our circumstances, and see the
devil flee from us. Just as Jesus defeated the devil in the wilderness, by saying “it is
written”, we can too.
After His disciples could not cast out the demon out of the man with the lunatic son;
the man came kneeling down to Him, saying (Matthew 17:15-20), “Lord, have mercy
on my son, for he is lunatic, and sore vexed for often he falls into the fire, and often
into the water. And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.
Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I
be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him here to Me. And Jesus rebuked
the devil; and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour.
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said to them, because of your unbelief; for verily I say to you, if you have
faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, remove here to
yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you”.
God uses people to speak His words into the earth, He tells Jeremiah “thus says the
Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel; go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell
him. Thus says the Lord Yahweh; behold I will give this city into the hand of the king
of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And you shall not escape out of his hand,
but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand, and your eyes shall behold the
eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you
shall go to Babylon” (Jeremiah 34:2-3). And again in (Jeremiah 35:2) “go to the
house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the
Lord Yahweh, into one of the chambers, and give to them wine to drink”.
He tells Ezekiel “son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel,
therefore hear the word of My mouth, and give them warning from Me. When I say to
the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the
wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his
iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he
turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but
you have delivered your soul” (Ezekiel 3:17-19).
Jesus says “what I tell you in darkness, that speak you in light, and what you hear in
the ear, that preach you upon the housetops”.
Peter was used to reach the Gentiles (Acts 10:1-5) “there was a certain man of
Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band. A devout
man, and one that feared God, with all his house, which gave much alms to the
people, and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour
of the day an angel of God, coming in to him, and saying to him, Cornelius. And
when he looked on him, he was afraid and said, what is it, Lord? And he said to him,
your prayers and your alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send
men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter”. And when Peter
came and opened his mouth, and said, of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter
of persons. But in every nation he that fears Him, and works righteousness is
accepted with Him. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify
that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of living and dead. To Him
give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believe in Him shall
receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on
all them which heard the word” (Acts 10:34-35, 42-44).
Paul was used in Acts 18:9-11, which says “then spoke the Lord to Paul in the night
by a vision. Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not your peace. For I am with you,
and no man shall set on you to hurt you, for I have much people in this city. And he
continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them”.
Romans 10:6-10 says “but the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise.
Say not in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down
from above. Or, who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring up Christ from the
dead. But what says it? The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your
heart, that is the word of faith, which we preach. That if you shall confess with your
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from
the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes to righteousness, and
with the mouth confession is made to salvation”.
If we want our faith to work for us, we have to speak out what we believe. Remember
that Isaiah 55:11 says “so shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth, it shall
not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing whereto I sent it”. We return His word to Him by speaking it.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: August 14, 2009
