Consistent Confession Part I.
Community of Faith / Pastor Jonathan Vorce / July 8, 2007
Text: Psalm 116:10; Joel 3:10
Introduction:
If you are going through a difficult time right now, speaking words of faith will make all the difference between you going under or going over. All your words are important, not just when you pray but your everyday vocabulary.
Our everyday conservation will either contain words of faith or doubt and un-belief.
Your words are either opening doors for God to bless or Satan to gain a foothold.
Consistently speaking words of faith releases the power for an overcoming life.
Consistency in your words is a key to spiritual power!
I. Confession and confess are important scriptural terms with special meaning. The Greek verb homologeo translates "to confess," which literally
means "to say the same as."
A. In order for our faith to be released it must be made with the mouth in confessing what God says in His Word.
1. We are making our words agree with the written Word of God.
B. The psalmist declared in Psalm 116:10, "I believed, therefore have I spoken". Speaking is the normal way for faith to be expressed.
1. This is further seen in the following verse as Paul applied these words to the confession of our faith in 2 Corinthians 4:13; "But having the
same spirit of faith, according to what is written, 'I believed, therefore I spoke,' we also believe, therefore also we speak."
C. A faith that does not speak is nonproductive.
II. The Bible emphasis the correlation between the mouth and the heart or spirit of man. What resides in the heart of man will eventually be manifested
in what he says.
A. This is clearly seen in Matthew 12:34, Jesus said, "For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart."
1. The Today's English Version renders this verse, "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."
B. Whatever comes out of the mouth indicates the contents of the heart.
1. If my heart is filled with faith it will then be expressed with my mouth.
2. But if the words that come out of my mouth are filled with doubt and un-belief it indicates there is doubt and un-belief in my heart.
III. The Apostle Paul stressed the importance of faith in the heart and confession with the mouth as it concerns salvation in Romans 10:8-10;
8 "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in they heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
A. The order is which Paul spoke about the mouth and heart in these verses are very significant.
1. Notice in verses 8 and 9, it is the mouth and then the heart. Then in verse 10 he reverses the order and the heart comes first and then the mouth.
B. In receiving salvation, the progression is from the mouth to the heart and lastly coming from the heart to the mouth is vitally important.
I begin to confess with my mouth and then receive it into my heart. The more persistently I confess with my mouth, the more fixed it becomes established in my heart. Then once faith is planted in my heart, no conscious effort is needed to make the right confession. Faith begins to flow out of our mouth regardless of what I am experiencing.
1. As a boy, this is how I learned my multiplication tables. I kept repeating them over and over; six times seven is forty-two. As I kept repeating these they would automatically
come forth without seeming have to think about the right answer. They had become apart of me. Even now, quite a few years later, if you would ask me any combination of
numbers, I could give the answer without hesitation.
2. Repetition is the key to learning. Repetition is also the key to learning faith. The more I practice the more the principles become a part of me.
C. In the same manner, we must have the Word of God indelibly imprinted on our hearts.
1. When a need or crises arises, and our faith is challenged; we automatically confess God's Word as it relates to our situation.
2. When you first begin to do this there may be a struggle. Your mouth will have a tendency to get aligned to what you are feeling or experiencing.
3. Remember, that your feelings are based on your senses.
FAITH IS NOT A FEELING!!!
Often your feelings are contrary to God's Word. But faith filled words connect up to the invisible realm of God and His Word. Our feelings change hour by hour. If we base our life upon our feelings then our lives will be as unstable as our feelings. Romans 1:17 states, "the righteous man shall live by faith." . . . not feelings!
IV. The High Priest of Our Confession
Here are some wonderful truths that will enable us to boldly make our confessions to our Father. The book of Hebrews has a distinctive theme running throughout the epistle.
Jesus as High Priest, ministers on our behalf as personal representative in the presence of God the Father.
Jesus covers us with His righteousness,
offers our prayer to the Father,
presents our needs, and
becomes the surety for the fulfillment of God's promises on our behalf.
This is glorious!
A. This wonderful truth begins in Hebrews 3:1 as we exhorted to consider Jesus Christ as the "High Priest of our confession." This links Christ high priesthood directly to our confession.
1. Every time we make the right confession, we have the authority of Christ as our High Priest backing us up.
2. Christ becomes the surety for the fulfillment of what we confess.
3. However, if we make a confession that is not in agreement with His word, or confess doubt and unbelief rather than faith, then Christ has no opportunity to minister as our High
Priest.
B. In chapter 4 and 14 the writer of Hebrews again links the high priesthood of Jesus directly to our confession: "Since then we have a great priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession."
1. When we make our confession that agrees with the Word of God, we must be careful not to change or go back and confess doubt and unbelief.
2. Yes, circumstances may not look good. Things may be going in opposite direction of what we have just prayed for. But by our faith and confession, we must continue to hold on
to the things that do no change;
- the Word of God and
- Jesus Christ as our High Priest of our confession.
C. For emphasis, the writer of Hebrews, the third time stresses the connection between “Christ's high priesthood and our confession" Hebrews 10:21-24
21 "And since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds."
V. Closing: Once we understand that Jesus is our High Priest of our confession we must assume three responsibilities.
(1) v.22 "Let us draw near with a sincere heart."
(2) v.23 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering."
(3) v.24 "Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds."
These are the obligations to God, to our fellow believers and to you.
A. In the last of these three exhortations, the writer of Hebrews gives us a specific reason for holding fast to our confession.
Hebrews 10:23
"For He who promised is faithful."
Conclusion:
Our confession links us to Jesus the High Priest who cannot change. Our confession therefore is the God-appointed means by which we invoke God's faithfulness, His wisdom, and His power on our behalf to manifest our confession into the physical realm.
