Rom
10:1-17 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that
they might be saved. (2) For I bear them record that they have a
zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (3) For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of
God. (4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every
one that believeth. (5) For Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by
them. (6) But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this
wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring
Christ down from above:) (7) Or, Who shall descend into the deep?
(that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) (8) But what
saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy 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 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. (11) For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (12) For there is no
difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. (14) How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of
whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
(15) And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written,
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring
glad tidings of good things! (16) But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
(17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Before you can believe you need
something to believe on. This is effected by the report from God, the preaching
of His Word
1. All the zeal in the world is profitless unless it is
according to knowledge. Paul can
relate to this since he had been a former persecutor of the church.
2. The work of faith is already done. There is no need to establish your own righteousness and
faith! Paul quotes Deuteronomy 30 and points it full significance and
relationship to Christ
3. The mechanics of salvation is a heart and mouth
connection...believe and confess.
There are bad confessions and good confessions. If I believe it I will confess
it. Out of the abundance if the heart the mouth speaketh.
Mat 12:33-37
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt,
and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. (34) O
generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of
the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. (35) A good man
out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil
man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. (36) But I
say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give
account thereof in the day of judgment. (37) For by thy words thou
shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Luk 6:43-49
For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit. (44) For every tree is known by his own
fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they
grapes. (45) A good man out of the good treasure of his heart
bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of
his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart
his mouth speaketh. (46) And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not
the things which I say? (47) Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my
sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
(48) He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and
laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat
vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a
rock. (49) But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that
without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream
did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was
great.
The report has been made but
who will believe it? So it becomes more than just reading of the Word or hearing
the preaching of the Word.
We can hear with our physical ears
but it takes something more. If it was just hearing physically we would all be
bursting at the seams with faith.
Faith's by hearing and hearing's by
the Word of God!
As we listen to the Word we can
store it in our minds and become very knowledgeable but it is still ineffective
unless we can establish a heart to mouth connection.
You see it does not matter how much
of the Word you have in your mind. What matters is the portion that enters your
heart. That is where faith becomes operational, and when faith begins operating
we are ripe for a miracle. You may be listening to the preaching of the Word or
reading the Word. You may not hear everything (I do not expect you to!) but
suddenly a particular verse or Scripture portion will hit you. Call it thunder
lightning or rain but you will suddenly be energized by it and at that moment
it is yours! Act on it! Confess it! Faith has arrived. You heard the voice of
God and the hearing has superseded all natural abilities and reached into the
realm of physical impossibilities by hearing God! Hearing His voice!
Hear me now! This is
important!
The ability to hear God's Voice
comes through His Word! Dwelling and meditating on God's Word releases the
fragrance His presence into our souls and puts us into overdrive. To achieve
the the type of hearing that releases faith you become connected to His Word!
Peter and the rest saw the Lord
walking on the surface of the sea. Peter said Lord 'bid me Come if it is you!'
All the disciples heard the same Word that Peter heard...Come! Only Peter
stepped out because it went past the physical and became supernatural in his
heart. Peter walked where no mortal man had ever walked before.
Only Peter stepped out at the command.
He looked for a connection and in fact demanded it. God spoke the Word, it made
the connection in Peter, faith was activated Peter Walked! Do not diss him
until you have done what he did! Many hear the Word few act on it.
The woman heard of the Lord and His
power to heal. It struck at the root of her trouble and she believed. Many
touched and pressed the Master that day but only she received because her touch
made the connection. She activated the healing flow of God's power and her
bleeding was dried up! Many press in and touch but faith through the Word
releases Him to work on your behalf.
The boat was empty! it had been a
long grueling fruitless night with no fish to show for their toils. Jesus used
the boat for a pulpit then commanded them to launch out into the deep and let
down the nets for a draught. The skepticism was there. The protest was there
but the Command made a connection and they let down a net. Jesus' sense
of humor exploded into the atmosphere and fish began hitting that net so hard it broke. Next time do it exactly as he says and let down the nets ...all
of them.
It why I have been trying to
emphasize the reading of the Word. It's why I have been preaching His Word! For
it is only His Word that releases faith...because there is no such thing as
natural faith. Faith is a supernatural gift of God that is released when His
Word find its way into your heart. It is not of yourself...you cannot work it
up. It comes through hearing and that kind of hearing comes by the Word of God.
Impossibilities becomes possibilities when the IM (intellectual mind is taken
out of the equation and is removed and we began believing with the heart.
Nazareth knew too much about Him (or
so they thought)! But they could not get past the natural and see Him for who
He was. They could never make the connection. Today He is not just some physical personage of history past. He is the
Resurrected Lord, The Resident Lord and the Returning Lord! He is NOW! The I
AM! He watches over His Word to perform it. Do you believe His report? His arm
is revealed to those who believe His Report!
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