The Truth About The Truth Will Make You Free

Jesus said the truth will make you free. Many have qouted this out of context and or misquoted completely. However Jesus was specific about this truth and was bringing great revelation about the covenant of grace and truth.

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The Truth About The Truth Will Make You Free

8-26-2012

John 8:32  "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

THE TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE!  Many have quoted and slighted misquoted this verse, the man on the street, co-workers, politicians, and preachers. The best lie to be told is a lie shrouded by the truth.  The enemy of our soul has been doing that since the beginning of man’s existence.  Many have talked about the truth making you free but have couched it in their own favorite cause and philosophy.  However, if  we are to gain understanding of the truth shall make you free we must go back and ask, who said this?  To whom was He speaking?  What was the context of the freedom promised?  Was there parameters set that allow the freedom to come?  If the truth makes one free, what is one set free from?  Is there a freedom to something?

John 8:31  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  32  "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

As we take  a step back in add the prior verse to John 8:32 we find a qualifier a parameter, if you will.  Jesus was speaking specifically to those who believed in Him.  This simple truth will eliminate much false doctrine about the truth that makes one free.  Those who believe in Jesus are the only ones that the truth can make free.  Jesus' disciples are those who abide in His word! 

1 Peter 2:2  as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,  3  if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

When one is born  again there is longing for the pure milk of the word that one can grow thereby.  The qualifier is “If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

John 8:33  They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?"  34  Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

Here in is the context of the truth will make you free!  Jesus was specifically speaking of being made free from sin!  It was revelation knowledge being revealed!  It is the purpose of Jesus to bring freedom from sin! 

John 8:35  "And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  36  "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

The revelation grows!  Slaves do not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  To be made free from sin is powerful; to be made free to be a son in the house is a privilege of grace.  Free indeed, oh the great work of Christ!

Acts 20:32  "So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

The  word of grace is able to build up the believer and make them partakers in the inheritance among all who are sanctified.  Genuine grace bring genuine freedom!

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. … 16  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  17  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 

Romans 6:8  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,  9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.  10  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  11  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus died to sin once and for all!  The life He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise….  In the same way the man who comes to Jesus dies to sin once and for all time.  Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Oh that  the believer would begin to confess, “I am free from sin and alive unto God”.  

Galatians 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.  4  But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,  5  to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  6  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"  7  Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.  8  But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.  9  But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?  10  You observe days and months and seasons and years.  11  I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.  

No longer slaves but sons!  Turn your attention to the ninth and tenth verse!  Once you have gained your freedom it is God’s intention that you live as a participator in that freedom.  Returning to the weak and beggarly elements is forgetting you have died to sin. Serving under the law of Moses, the traditions of men, or your good performance inhibit the truth that brings freedom.  God has called us to lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has laid hold of us.

Philippians 3:1  Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.  2  Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!

The object of our faith and rejoicing must be Jesus Christ our Lord.  Men who turn your attention to self improvement and great performance are the men we are warned against.  The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death!  (Roman 8:2)

Philippians 3:3  For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 4  though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:  5  circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;  6  concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

If anyone had a reason to put confidence in their own flesh and performance Paul was the man, Jewish, blameless law keeper, religious, zealous Pharisee.  With all these things Paul found himself fighting against God.

Philippians 3:7  But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.  8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

God has called us to count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Counting all things rubbish that we may gain Christ is the only truth that makes us free.

Philippians 3:9  and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;  10  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,  11  if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  12  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

It is time for us the church to arise and lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of us!  Not laying hold of a righteousness of our own from the law, or traditions of men, or our own great performance.  The righteousness is found in Christ alone; that we may know the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death, and attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 

Philippians 3:13  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,  14  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

THE TRUTH found in Jesus Christ will make you free indeed; press on in Jesus' name!

Setting The Atmosphere For God’s Glory

The words of your mouth can change the atmosphere; the song in your mouth can bring deliverance to those around you.

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Setting The Atmosphere For God’s Glory

8-12-2012

Isaiah 51:16  And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, That I may plant the heavens, Lay the foundations of the earth, And say to Zion , 'You are My people.'"

Not long ago I had this passage in my sermon notes however God has been stirring this word in me and now it is the headliner verse for this bible study!  God revealed through the prophet Isaiah, God would put His word in His children’s mouth!  When you speak God’s word you plant the heavens and lay the foundation of the earth.  God has called His children to set the atmosphere for His glory.  It is time for us to put His word in our mouth and change everything around us. 

Matthew 6:31  "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  32  "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  33  "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

God has been speaking to me about His children need to set the atmosphere for His glory to abound in their lives.  Your pursuit sets the atmosphere for your reward.  If we want to see the kingdom of God come we will set the atmosphere for His glory to abide.  Pursuit of the kingdom of God not only brings the glory of God, it brings the provisions of every need of our lives.  Set the atmosphere by the pursuit of the kingdom of God .

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus came and was the ultimate atmosphere setter!  Jesus became flesh and we beheld His glory!  Where ever Jesus was the atmosphere was changed.  Jesus came and broke the bondages of sin and oppression.  Jesus came that we might live life and life more abundantly.

Colossians 1:18  And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.  19  For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 

Jesus has preeminence!  His obedience to the death of the cross set the atmosphere of reconciliation between God and man!  Jesus having preeminence is something to meditate and  ponder.  It is better than 1^st place.  It not like a top 10 list and He is # 1!  Preeminence is more like the center of everything; if you have your top 10 list whatever has preeminence is considered and factored into every item on the list.  When we yield to the preeminence of Jesus Christ we are setting the atmosphere for the supernatural to be in our lives every day.

2 Corinthians 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,  6  who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Setting the atmosphere for God’s purpose is to know that all sufficiency is from God alone.  Total and complete reliance upon our Redeemer.  If we are to ever see the fullness of God’s glory in our life we will have to surrender to that to which we have been birthed in!  Paul here in Corinthians declared himself to be a minister of the new covenant.  Does it matter one might ask?  If we want to see the fullness of the glory of God it is the only way!  For the atmosphere to be set we must walk as children of the new covenant.

2 Corinthians 3:7  But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,  8  how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?  9  For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.  10  For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.  11  For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.  12  Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech;

The law of Moses is called here the ministry of death and the ministry of condemnation.  If we want the atmosphere to be set properly we must hunger for the much more glorious.  Glory found the law of Moses had no glory in this respect the glory found in grace in truth excels it by far.  We need to set the atmosphere with the greater glory; it is the hope for all people.  It is time to set the atmosphere with a boldness of speech that says in Jesus Christ there is a greater glory and better promises based on a greater covenant.

Hebrews 8:6  But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

Set the atmosphere with this truth.  Jesus has a more excellent ministry the atmosphere needs to be changed by the better ministry.  We need the greater glory; put that word in your mouth and change the atmosphere.

Romans 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Here is a life changing atmosphere setting truth; put this word in your mouth and watch the transformation.  Plant it in the heavens by speaking it out and the foundations of that truth will be laid in the earth..  Until the whole earth is filled with the glory of the Lord.

1 Peter 2:9  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Set the atmosphere by putting a praise in your mouth.  An occasional praise is not setting the atmosphere.  Us proclaiming the praises of God is setting the atmosphere!  It is time for the children of God to have a perpetual praise in our mouth.  Go ahead plant it in the heavens and watch God lay the foundation of it in the earth!

Mark 8:31  And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  32  He spoke this word openly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.  33  But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Peter did not think it was a good idea for Jesus to go to the cross; Peter was rebuked with one of the strongest rebukes in all of scriptures.  “Get behind me satan.  You are not mindful of the things of God but the things of men.”  If we want to set the atmosphere we must keep the things of the kingdom cental.  A good idea will not change the atmosphere; surrender to the will of the Father and pursuit of His kingdom will change everything.

Acts 16:24  Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.  25  But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.  26  Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.

Praising, worshiping, and singing can change the atmosphere.  Here in Acts 16 Paul and Silas were in jail for preaching Jesus.  Paul and Silas begin to pray sing and worship!  It changed the atmosphere!  The prisoners were listening to them.  What you put in your mouth sets the atmosphere.  It will change your life and the lives of those around you.  Paul and Silas’ praise and worship brought a supernatural move of God!  People were saved Paul and Silas ended up being set free.  How is the words of your mouth affecting the atmosphere around you?  If we will set the atmosphere with praises and singing unto God it can change everything.  What if Paul and Silas had set the atmosphere with complaint and their own despair?  Believers with no victory in their life need to take a good look at the atmosphere they set in their homes, workplaces, and churches.

When John the Baptist earthly father was in the holy place being visited by an angel there was a atmosphere of praise and worship in the courts of the Lord.  The psalmist David wrote “I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter His courts with praise.”  When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost the church set the atmosphere by waiting upon God.  This is much more than setting an atmosphere for a worship service in church; it is setting an atmosphere for living in the fullness of God’s grace for your entire life!  Put His Word in your mouth… change the atmosphere… God will plant it in the heavens and lay the foundation of it in the earth.  You can be a world changer!

God Has Made A Deposit In You

God has deposited in us by His grace; the benefits are awesome. Victory is not elusive but sure! God has given us from His rich mercies and great grace.

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God Has Made A Deposit In You

8-5-2012

Ephesians 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  5  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  6  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  7  that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

God has made a deposit in you!  The mercy and love of God made us alive!  God made a deposit of love while we were dead in trespasses in sin!  The love was so great and the sacrifice superior to such a degree that the holy could purify the unclean.  Under the law if the unclean touched the pure the pure became contaminated.  Under this covenant of grace and truth, when the unclean touches the pure the unclean becomes purified.  The woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus' garment she became clean.  When Jesus touched the leprosy, the man became clean.  God made a deposit where by we can be reconciled and cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus!  How great is the faithfulness and kindness of God redeeming us and giving us a heavenly sitting.  How the church would come alive if we gained an understanding of our rightful place appointed by God Himself!

2 Corinthians 5:19  that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  20  Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.  21  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.    

God is not imputing trespassed because of the reconciliation He deposited reconciliation in and with Christ Jesus.  Believer’s lives are transformed when they get a fullness of the revelation of reconciliation.  Now we can plead for others to be reconciled to God. 

Ephesians 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  4  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

God’s pursuit of us came before the foundation of the world!  We have been special to God all along; it is time to wake up and walk in the revelation of His divine influence in our life.

John 4:23  "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  24  "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

God is seeking us and longing for our joining to Him spirit to Spirit!

1 Peter 1:18  knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,  19  but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.  20  He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

God made a deposit with the absolute highest commodity in all of heaven and earth. After living a sinless life Jesus poured out His precious blood for our redemption.  The deposit from heaven to earth is great enough to destroy the works of the devil. 

1 Peter 1:22  Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,  23  having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

The commodity that brought us redemption was so great.  We have been born again with incorruptible seed!  What a great deposit God has made in us!

Hebrews 9:14  how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

God has deposited into every believer a purged conscience.  Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse a conscience.  Only the blood of Jesus can remove the guilt, stain, and shame of sin in a man’s conscience.  Jesus was speaking about a deposit that was so great it could make you a son and set you free from the bondage of sin.  What a great deposit.

Galatians 4:6  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"  7  Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

God has made a deposit in you!  God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”  Not a slave but a son and heir of God through Christ.

1 John 4:14  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.  15  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

What a strong word of assurance! 

Psalm 84:11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.

This is a prophetic psalm speaking to the day when the Lord would give grace and glory to His children.  God is not withholding from you.  Indeed it is His desire to give us the kingdom.

John 7:37  On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  38  "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  39  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus' desire is for every believer who has a genuine confession of faith to receive the Holy Spirit.  God desires to make this deposit in you!  The KJV says out of your bellies shall flow rivers of living water. 

Matthew 3:11  "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John baptized with water but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit!  Mark 1:8, Luke 3:7, John 1:33, Acts 1:8, Act 11:16. 

Luke 11:13  "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

If God is your Father ask Him and he will make the deposit; He will give you the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:33  "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

Acts 2:38  Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  39  "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

Clearly the Holy Spirit is not a might or a may be for some.  The promise of the Holy Spirit is inclusive to you and your child and to all…

Ephesians 1:13  In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,  14  who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

God has made a deposit of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  It is the guarantee, surety, down payment of heaven on earth, sealing us by the Holy Spirit of promise! 

Declaring the Faithfulness of God

God is faithful, God is faithful, God is faithful....

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Declaring the Faithfulness of God

7-29-2012

1 Corinthians 1:4  I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,  5  that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,  6  even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,  7  so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,  8  who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9  God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

GOD IS FAITHFUL!  It is the faithfulness of God that can be counted on!  What is it that you can count on in a world of chaos?  Those who have come into the kingdom of God can rest in His faithfulness!  We have been enriched by Him in everything!  His divine power has given us everything we need for the issue of life!  It is safe to put absolute trust in our faithful God.  You don’t have to have a backup plan just in case God fails; God can not fail and He will confirm you to the end! What a awesome promise that our God will present us blameless and irreproachable in His sight.

Hebrews 6:16  For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.  17  Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath,  18  that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.  19  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,

God made a determination, He wanted the heirs of promise to have strong unwavering hope and certain expectation that God was able willing and ready to bring them salvation!  God spoke it and made an oath that it was true!  God can not lie and he spent the greatest commodity in heaven or earth to give you and I an anchor for our soul.  God’s oath sent the blood of His Son Jesus to be applied to the mercy seat in heaven.  God’s greatest commodity spent so you and I can trust in His faithfulness!

1 Corinthians 10:13  No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

God’s intent and purpose is fulfilled by His faithfulness.  His faithfulness will allow you to escape the greatest of all temptation.  Is there a temptation so strong that you can not escape it??  Whose report shall you believe.  Put it in your mouth “No temptation can overtake me my God has made a way of escape”.   Many believer’s fail for no other reason than they are not counting the faithfulness of God in their lives.  I dare you to put the word in your mouth “My God is FAITHFUL!”

2 Corinthians 1:18  But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No.  … :20  For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. 

God is faithful and His promises are Yes, and in Him Amen to the glory of God.  Put this word on your lips instead of the complaint.  Some have not experienced deliverance because the mouth has been filled with complaint.  God is FAITHFUL!  We use to sing a song “Standing On The Promises Of God”  One line in that song I kept speaking for a season.  “By the living Word of God I shall prevail. I’m standing on the promises of God”.  God brought me out and through the affliction!

Psalms 36:5  Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.  :6  Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

Here food for your mouth!  God, Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds! 

Psalms 37:3  Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 

We can feed on the faithfulness of God.  It can bring joy in our sorrow and strength in our pain!  Put the faithfulness of God in your mouth in your weakest hour and it can turn everything around.  At the writing of these sermon notes, this past Friday my grandmother passed away after a long illness; it was hard on her and all of our family.  God put a word in my mouth and I have been speaking it to all who will listen!

Psalms 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.

In these last few days God has brought me comfort in this one little verse!  It was a precious thing to God to bring my grandmother to her heavenly home!  To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  Yes, some sorrow in my heart but great is the joy of my grandma’s promotion to glory.  It is in my mouth and even at this moment it is brings joy to my soul!   “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints!”

Psalm 89:1  I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

Put it in your mouth saint of God plant it in the heavens and the foundations will be laid in the earth.  Declare God is faithful!

Psalms 89:2  For I have said, "Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens."

Spiritual warfare is being done when we declare the faithfulness and mercy of God!

Psalms 89:8  O LORD God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

Those who walk in relationship with God can’t help but find His faithfulness.  God is so great that there is an atmosphere of faithfulness we the believer can partake in.

Psalm 92:1  It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;  2  To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night,

We are called to declare the faithfulness of  God!  Putting His word in our mouth is not an event in our life; His word in our mouth is a lifestyle that causes us to partake in victory!

Lamentations 3:22  Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.  23  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 

24  "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"  25  The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.  26  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

Put in your mouth the compassions of God fail not!  Speak it to God!  “Great is Your faithfulness.”  When your eyes are upon the faithfulness of God you have the strength to declare “The LORD is my portion; therefore I hope in Him!”  Nothing is impossible with God look at His faithfulness!

Romans 4:19  And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb.  20  He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,  21  and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

Abraham looked to the faithfulness of God.  He did no consider deadness of his own body nor the deadness of Sarah’s womb.  When your eyes are on the faithfulness of God it does not consider the deadness of the circumstances.  It only considers the possibilities of the promises of God.  Have faith in your God.  God is able to move beyond the impossible circumstances of your life.  Will you believe the report of the Lord and consider His faithfulness?

Hebrews 11:11  By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

Count your God as faithful!  When Sarah made a judgment that God was faithful who had made the promise it brought strength to her dead womb and she had strength to conceive seed and she bore the child of promise!  Declare His faithfulness; you serve a living God!

Awake

Awake! After God puts His word in our mouth we can awaken to the abundant life Jesus promised!

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Romans 12:1  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

I put this verse in the NIV because it is so beautiful.  In view of God’s mercy…  The empowering of this new covenant comes only when we have God’s mercy in full view.  We can only offer our bodies as living sacrifices when we have God’s mercy in full view.  Consider Jesus the Author and Finisher of your faith.

Ephesians 5:14  Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."  15  See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,  16  redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  17  Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  18  And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,  19  speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,  20  giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21  submitting to one another in the fear of God.

Awaking to righteousness, and holiness is a lifestyle.  Christ will shine on us.  Being filled with the Spirit of God is more than just a good idea; it is a direct command by the Spirit Himself.  Awaking to righteousness and being filled with the Spirit of God will put psalms and hymns and spiritual songs in our mouth.  We are commanded to sing and make melody in our heart to the Lord.  So much revelation is tied up in this small passage.  Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Can you see the divine order of God.  What if we have a praise in our mouth and a song of thanksgiving?  It is the divine order of God to enable us to walk in the victory He has provided.    

Romans 13:11  And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.  12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.  13  Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.  14  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Believers need to awake out of sleep.  Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will have no room to make provisions for the flesh.  Divine order calls for us to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God.  How do we awake out of our sleep?  Remember last weeks opening passage?

Isaiah 53:1  Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

The answer to the questions asked are in the questions themselves.  The ones who will believe the report of the Lord are the one who will receive the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The prophet Isaiah writes further…

Isaiah 53:2  For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

Some call the time between the last book of the old testament and Jesus' coming as the 400 silent years.  Indeed Jesus' coming was a root out of dry ground.  It is not that there were none of God’s men and women around.  They were indeed there when Jesus' parent’s brought Him for His circumcision.  In fact there was always a remnant, but as a whole the nation had no prophet, king or judge that God assigned to them.  When Jesus did come there was a remnant that believed but the nation as a whole rejected Him, just as the prophet declared.  However for those who will believe the report of the Lord, for those who will receive the revelation that Jesus Christ came full of grace and truth, there is a freedom and liberty that was never manifested before.  Let the Lord be magnified!

Psalms 40:16  Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!"

The awaking comes by putting His word in our mouth.  God’s intention is for the body of Christ to walk in victory!  Those who seek Him can rejoice and be glad in Him!  Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified”  Put it in your mouth!  “The LORD be magnified”  Continually say it!  When our hearts become unified to see the Lord magnified the glory will rise and shine on an awakened church!

Isaiah 53:3  He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

What you think of Jesus Christ determines your destiny, the quality of life here and now,  and for all eternity.  To not esteem something is to give it little or no value!  It is time for the church to arise and esteem our Savior as never before!

Matthew 16:16  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  17  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  18  "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16 is a well rehearsed and preached text; however, consider the words of Jesus! “On this rock I will build my church.”  The confession that Jesus is the Messiah is the word we need to rise up and preach.  What you value the most is your pursuit!   When you get the word of God in your mouth, that Jesus is your Messiah, there is nothing all of hell can do to prevail against it!  Awaken, speak it, and the Messiah will shine on you!

Isaiah 53:4  Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.   5  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.  6  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

The arm of God has revealed Jesus the Messiah is the One wounded for transgression; let the value build.   Jesus our Messiah was bruised for our iniquities; let the value build.  The punishment of our peace was upon Jesus the Messiah; let the value build.  By the stripes of Jesus the Messiah we are healed; let the value build.  The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all; let the value build.  Awaken to the greatness of our Messiah and He will shine on us!  Put the word in your mouth, say it, say it, say it…

Ephesians 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  14  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,  15  having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,  16  and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

I have heard some say how far away we are from God!  I want to declare by the authority of the Word of God, “We have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ.”  Esteem the Messiah higher than you have ever before; awaken to the goodness of God!  Abolished enmity and enmity put to death!  Put the word in your mouth.  Jesus' blood has ended the hostility between God and man!  Let the LORD be magnified!

Hebrews 7:22  by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.  23  Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.  24  But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.  25  Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Have you awaken to the truth that Jesus brings us into a better covenant based upon better promises.  Consider Jesus the one who saves to the uttermost!  Put the word in your mouth Christ will shine on you!

John 10:27  "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  28  "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  29  "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  30  "I and My Father are one."

What a strong covenant we have with God!  Do we believe these strong words of Jesus or do we allow religious tradition to keep us from awakening and Christ shining on us?