Confession Of Faith

CONFESSION OF FAITH

Be it unto me according to your word.

• The word of the LORD was given. It came from heaven to earth. To water the earth (Isa 55).
• As she believed it and agreed with it. She submitted herself to what God was thinking, desiring and His will.
• She lined herself up with His word. It was out of her mouth that her agreement came.

Rom 10v3

• Many people want to believe their way and do things their way.
• Many are zealous.
• But whilst they are zealous they are also ignorant of God's way.

Rom 10v8-10

• This word confession = homologeo made up from two words, home meaning the same And the word logos meaning word.
• Therefore the word confession means to say the same thing as someone else.
• Fundamentally it is really a repetition of someone else’s words.
• The principle of biblical confession then is that we say the same thing as God has already said and decreed.
• Confession is agreeing with God and expressing it vocally.
• Biblical confession does not stop at speaking Gods word. No that is the beginning of the action.

The word that saves you is where?

• Its in your mouth.
• Of course you believe in your heart unto righteousness.
• But it is out of your mouth that confession is made, and when that confession is made salvation comes.
• Without confession there is no salvation. If you confess with your mouth the LORD Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

What you say is very powerful.

• Death and life are in the power of the tongue Prov 18v21
• Words are vehicles that have the ability to carry either life or death.
• They can bring freedom or imprisonment.
• They can bring joy or sadness.
• They can heal or they can hurt.
• Interestingly enough words have a boomerang effect on the person speaking them. They bring a harvest.
• Someone who speaks nastily against someone else is already nasty in themselves and if they aren't already that, they will be very soon!
• Hebr 11v3 By faith we understand that the universe was framed at God's command, so that what is seen is not made out of what was visible.
• God spoke and it happened.
• This is how God constructed His day, its how He framed the world.
• This is exactly the same way in which we frame the world which we live in, our words have that power.
• The kind of world which you live in is the product of years in which you have spoken, what words have you released into your environment?
• The first clue is in listening to what you are saying!!
• What you say is intimately linked to your heart.
• In fact Jesus said that it is by your mouth that you will recognize what is in your heart.
• Its by your mouth that you yourself will 'hear' what you really believe.
• The mouth gives away your internal state. (Nabal was a fool and everyone knew it because he talked like a fool!)

• Zechariah didn't line himself up with God and what God wanted and the angel shut his mouth
• It really doesn't matter what you think!
• God is not interested with your opinion, theology, or idea! He has already declared His intention and purpose; he has already made His will known. The fact that you may not agree with him, or that you think you have a better way, idea or thought, really doesn't make any difference.
• The only difference it makes is to you (and it can affect those around you). It makes no difference to eternity, because it’s only those who line themselves up with His purpose and His will who actually have the privilege of working with Him.

Speak things of God

• Speaking the things of God to your children and your children's children is important.
• They had to repeat often the things of God to their children.
• They had to remind them of it continually.
• They had to repeat it often.
• It wasn't enough to say it once.
• It wasn't enough to remember it just once a year.
• They were to continually repeat the word of God, the ways of God, the stories of God.
• And they were commanded to pass on to the next generation these truths To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word it is because there is no light in them. (Isa 8v20)

Power of Life

• As that word begins to grip us internally, and we begin to live in that word, when we speak the power of that word within us is spoken out through our mouths and we begin to release the power of God's own word into the environment.
• This then is the power of LIFE.
• Our word becomes and extension of His word.
• If we say what God is saying and we live in what God is saying, then when we speak it out we will release the same creative power which lives within that word

• We have said that your mouth gives away your internal state, your mouth is linked to your heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him Matt 12v34-35

The mouth speaks what the heart believes.

• I have heard people preach the truth of God and then when they finished have said something that revealed the true state of their own heart which was not in line with what they just said, and in so doing they undermined their own selves.
• The apostles as they spoke spoke words which were coming from the overflow of the revelation of their hearts. Their words are now known as scripture.

Here’s the key

• Our words can only be an expression of our faith.
• What l believe in my heart, by faith that l speak.
• You cannot confess your way into believing. But you can believe your way into confessing. Your mouth will speak what your heart is embracing Rom 10v10

Silence is not golden, nor is it good enough!

• New Testament faith SPEAKS.
• Your faith is coming forth as gold, and the only way it can become solid is when you SPEAK (Rom 10v6)
• There is a series on the TV called silent witness really what it means is dead witness!
• A follower of Jesus is not a silent one, but rather an all singing all speaking witness
• contrast the 2: Jn 12v42-43 for some people the cost of confession was too great! Acts 3 for others they couldn't help themselves

The truth about confession

• Matt 16
• Peter had just confessed his belief in Jesus; he had spoken out a heavenly revelation given from the Father. His confession was powerful. But Jesus went on to tell him more.
• Jesus would give Him keys to unlock the Kingdom and the power on the earth, whatever he loosed on earth would be loosed, whatever he bound on earth would be bound.
• How would this powerful loosing and binding take place?
• When Peter preached, spoke, confessed the truth. When he aligned himself with the father and the will of God and began to agree with it in the power of the Holy Spirit, THEN heaven would touch earth.

In order to receive life you need to separate yourself from death

• Its so important who surrounds you.
• Some people are so full of negative, poverty rich (pun) speaking that they can hinder and steal away the positive within a few minutes. Of course as we know, negative words come from a deeper source. The heart speaks through your mouth
• Matt 15v18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart

• As a believer you have been given a new heart on believing in Jesus. And probably for some time experienced a new talk, a new thinking, and new dreaming, however the more you went on you found yourself beginning to think the old thoughts, and as you thought these things you also began to speak them, and you were most likely surrounded by others who did not speak 'dirty' but did speak 'religious'.
• As these things were left unattended they eventually hardened the arteries around the heart. The arteries were carrying 'calcium' back into the heart from the unrenewed mind.
• Don't worry these things can be reminded, but it requires identification, acknowledgement & repentance. That we will look at later.

• As we know Jesus dealt aggressively with robbers and thieves, and sometimes he organised the environment around him.

• Mark 5v35-43
• When he arrived at the house of the ruler he was met with. A tumult, a wailing, crying and a great commotion, and they ridiculed him BUT WHEN HE HAD PUT THEM ALL OUTSIDE.....v40

• Sometimes the Father literally takes away your influence and your ability to speak and influence others. Sometimes He puts you OUTSIDE.
• So He takes you out of the main stream and sets you aside. Why? Because He cannot do what He wants with you present!
• They were full of unbelief and what was in their heart was been spoken.
• The only people he took in with him were: the parents (mum and dad) Peter, James and John.
• He was creating a positive environment.
• He only tolerated people of a positive, faithful attitude.

Do we think its any different today?

• What makes us think that we can be in on the action when we continue to talk and walk in negativity? And if Jesus only tolerated people of a positive faithful attitude, why should those of us desiring to walk in the things of God have to continually be surrounded by people who 'by the words they speak' add nothing and bring nothing .
• Doubters, mockers and cynics will identify, acknowledge and repent or they will find themselves outside the flow of Holy Ghost.

Negative words are like an infectious disease, everyone they touch they can effect.

• Numbers 13v31-33
• The report of ten spies determined the course of a whole nation. Their words created an environment of fear, dismay and inability.

• See James 3