Are you struggling to manifest God’s promises in your life? In this insightful video, Carl shares key insight into what might be holding you back…
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
Our topic today addresses one of the fundamental aspects of Christianity, and that is how to receive the promises of God. How exactly do we petition our heavenly Father and receive the written promises from Holy Scripture. From the outset, I acknowledge that if you have confessed Jesus as your Lord, you are already in the kingdom of God. Your confession gained you entrance. The kingdom of God is not to be confused with the kingdom of Heaven. I address this disparity between the two kingdoms, in an article on my website, if you have time, please check it out. The kingdom of God is within you, it is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. The Kingdom of God is seed, time and harvest and its operation is fully revealed in the parable of the sower; in Mark chapter 4 and Matthew chapter 13.
The kingdom of God remains hidden to the naked eye, because it operates within the hearts of men, albeit, the fruit of this kingdom is evident, once our petition manifests. So, we have to ask ourselves a logical question, “Now that we’re saved, How are we going to receive the rest of God’s promises, like healing, deliverance or provision?” Good question. Indeed, there are a multitude of promises dripping from the pages of the bible. So, here’s the answer, “the same way you received salvation, is the same way you are going to receive all the other promises of the Bible.” By confessing with your mouth, and believing in your heart. That’s it… It’s that simple. Our main text for this podcast will be Romans chapter ten.
I also want you to realize the Greek word for saved in the New Testament is ‘sozo’ on most occasions. ‘Sozo’ is an all-encompassing word, which translates to preservation, deliverance, and prosperity, not just salvation. Sozo is the representation of all the promises within the New Covenant and they are yours, if you are willing to do what’s necessary to attain them. But before we jump to our main text, lets remind ourselves of the words of Jesus. The parable of the vinedresser in John chapter 15, outlines the fruit bearing process and our Heavenly Father’s ongoing proclivity as the vinedresser to prune the branches of the tree, in order to bear more fruit. In verse 7, Jesus drops a huge reveal and the key component to receiving from God.
What does verse 7 say? “If ye abide in me, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Is that what it says friend? No that is not the whole truth and nothing but he truth. Here’s what the King James version really says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Here’s the takeaway friend, “it is the abiding word which causes the manifestation of the promise.” If God’s word abides in you, only then can you ask what you will, and it will be done unto you. It is the abiding word, which will change your life. The abiding word is what you’ve been missing; trust me friend.
You see, the words we speak, the words we believe and the words we transmit have a profound impact on our lives and the lives of others. This is a theme often repeated throughout the bible. But let us not forget, the word of God is not only powerful but alive. The words Jesus spoke are spirit and life. The living word is our daily bread, which we must consume daily. God’s Word spoken out of your mouth will change your life, but I can’t do it for you. It must abide within you. Trouble is, it can take some time to turn the ship of your life, around, because your speech occupies the sense realm mostly. You are dominated by speaking what you see, instead of being proactive and speaking God’s word over your situation. We must walk by faith not sight.
When Christ was tempted of the devil in the Judean wilderness, he repeated a verse, first introduced in Deuteronomy 8:3, and I quote now from Matthew 4:4, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Three times Jesus rebutted Satan with the words, ‘it is written,’ by quoting the book of Second law. The Greek term for word in this passage is rhema, which is the ‘spoken word,’ not to be confused with the summation of God’s word in written form, namely the logos. It is by the spoken word; we live and breath in the kingdom of God. And the spoken word must have first place in our lives also, if we seek victory over the devil. In Romans chapter four, the apostle Paul gives the miraculous birth of Isaac as a pretext, as to how the Kingdom of God functions. We need to follow Abraham’s example if we are to manifest the same promises of God. Abraham received the promise of Isaac by giving glory to God until the manifestation of the promise.
How do we give glory? Through words, through praise, through the rhema spoken word. We use our tongue to bless God, as evidence we trust in Him and His promises. Which begs the question, ‘are you giving substance to God friend?’ What substance oozes from your lips on a daily basis? And you might be asking, ‘what right do we have to claim the promises of Abraham or his blessings for that matter?’ I’m glad you asked, Galatians 3:29 has the answer, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” If God showed Abraham favor by fulfilling only his promise, He would be a hypocrite and a respecter of persons, which He is not. What God does for one person, he will do for another, but only if, they understand the laws in operation in the New Testament.
Now at this point some people are falling off their seat, listening to this, and proclaiming, we are no longer ‘under the law.’ And they are right, we are no longer under the Mosaic Law, however, we still operate in several laws within this New Testament dispensation of Grace. Whenever the law is spoken, without qualification it refers to the Mosaic Law which has been done away with. In fact, there are at least five laws by my count in the NT, but these are optional laws not mandatory, meaning, you can choose whether or not to operate in them. It is entirely up to you. But let’s back up even further, what is a law? A law is God’s expectation or guideline for moral or spiritual conduct. It’s His way or the highway. We do not negotiate with God’s terms; we are obligated to conform. Laws have both a positive and negative motif. If we conform, we are blessed, if we rebel against God’s law, we will perish.
God has placed natural laws in the universe, including the law of gravity, law of Polarity, Cause and Effect, Relativity, the law of thrust and lift, the law of Conservation of Momentum and so on. In time, these natural laws have been discovered by man but they were in existence, since the earth’s creation. However, when it comes to spiritual law, some are optional and would include; the royal law, the law of liberty, the law of sin and death, the law of the spirit of life and finally the law of faith, which can be found in Romans chapter 3, verse 27. And it is this law of faith, also known as the righteousness of faith, we now turn our attention to. You could say, the law of faith is THE LAW, of the New Covenant. Incidentally, you can learn more about these laws in episode 19 from our podcast inventory. The law of faith is optional, you can choose to operate in it, or ignore it, it’s up to you. But I will say, if you have placed your faith in Christ, believed on him and are a part of his kingdom, you have already operated in this law without your knowing. The law of faith is explained in two ways within our source text. It explains how not to operate in this law, and the right way to operate in it. So, let us now return to our key passage, Romans chapter 10, verse 4 and I now read from the King James:
“4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which does those things shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in thine 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 again from the dead.)
8 But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach…That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him 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.”
Friend there’s a lot in this passage, and it will take a few minutes to break it all down. Verse 4 starts out by saying, that Christ is the end of the Mosaic law, He fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law, yet there are still laws in operation in this dispensation. Verse 6, is powerful, it reveals the righteousness of faith would NOT say, “where is God when I need Him the most, Why doesn’t He come down here and do something? I can never get a breakthrough, I always have more month than money, my kids are always getting sick, why won’t God help me?” so on and so forth. That is what the law of faith or the righteousness of faith would NOT say…You see, Jesus has done all He is going to do friend, He isn’t going to come back especially for you. He is seated at the right hand of the father, His job is done. But what does the law of faith say? The word of God is in your mouth, then it is in your heart, that is the word of faith we preach, that if you confess the Lord Jesus, you shall be sozo.
There it is again, by confessing God’s word, the promises of healing, deliverance and prosperity are activated. In the very first verse of the Gospel of John, it identifies the Word as Jesus. Jesus and the word are synonymous, therefore, by confessing God’s word you are fulfilling this verse of Romans 10:6. The law of faith, speaks God’s word and declares the very promise you are believing for. Notice it starts with your mouth and ends up in your heart. That is the way God set it up. We speak the word firstly; it then gets into our hearts and we believe upon it. You believe what you say more than you believe anyone else. In fact, if you start speaking a lie over and over, in time you will start to believe it because faith and fear both come by hearing. What you say with your tongue is a marker for what you may achieve in this life. You will never rise above your confession.
Everyone who desires to receive from God, conceives the word in their heart firstly, and following a period of time, it manifests in the earth. Think about it, Mary acknowledged the words of the angel Gabriel, she received the word of God willingly and she gave birth to Gods word in the form of Jesus Christ, nine months later. In sharp contrast, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, upon hearing news from the angel that his wife Elizabeth would conceive, he did not receive the word as willingly, and was struck dumb for the entire duration of her pregnancy, until the child was born. The seed always works, but the heart is the soil which determines the measure of fruit we bare. And many of you out there are having trouble receiving because your heart has become so hardened, the seed just keeps bouncing off like concrete. But that is another sermon, for another day. How long will it take for God’s word to manifest for you? Nine months? Maybe…maybe not, It might be sooner than that, for you. When I started meditating and speaking God’s word out loud, quite honestly, I saw a noticeable change in about 3 weeks. Remember this; the first aspect of speaking God’s word changes you, the second aspect, changes things. I’ll say that again, the first aspect of speaking God’s word changes you, the second aspect, changes things but many people don’t speak God’s Word long enough to get into the second phase.
Mary serves as a typology for successfully operating in the law of sowing and reaping. After we’ve sown God’s Word, we must not forfeit our own crop, by speaking worry, doubt and unbelief, over the situation at hand. The seed must be given time to germinate; first the ear, then the blade, then the full corn in the ear. At the end of the parable of the sower, Jesus wrapped up his message by saying, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how.” So guess what, we don’t know exactly ‘how’ this works, we just know the law of faith does work for those how know how to work it. Your job is to believe, not to figure out how it’s going to work.
Friend, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. You must change something to achieve a different outcome and that change is right here and right now. Many of you out there are saved, even spirit filled and have walked with the Lord for many years but you still feel like something is missing. Well, this is it friend, I challenge you to start proclaiming God’s word over your life for the next 40 days straight. When the disciples, asked Jesus in Luke chapter 17, ‘Lord increase our faith’, he didn’t say to go to a faith convention down the street, he relied, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this sycamore tree, Be plucked up by the root, and be planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”
Friend, the obstacle in your path can only be removed if you speak to it and Jesus said it must obey you. This might sound crazy to the un-redeemed mind, but Jesus said we increase our faith by applying it. The implication is, the disciples had enough faith already, they just needed to activate it by the spoken word. Jesus revealed that faith works like a seed and you sow it by saying it. What obstacles are in your path right now? Cancer, debt? Unemployment? Here’s how I would speak to them, “Father in Jesus name your word says I am healed by your stripes, therefore cancer you are uprooted from my life and cast into the sea. I will live out the full number of my days in Jesus name.“ This is one example, I urge you to find your own. Your homework is to find five scriptures in line with what you are believing God for; personalize them and speak the out loud, when you rise from bed and before you retire for the evening. Get the word in you and your life will never be the same again. Remember, it is the abiding word which makes all the difference.
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