Temptation and Judgment

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof" (Prov. 18:31). I would like to show you a translation of the second part of this verse that will help to clarify a point that I want to make here today, which can be of great benefit to those who believe what is true. It goes like this: "... and they demonstrate what they believe by what they say, and will receive accordingly." I want to elaborate on this verse a little bit, but first I want to add another integral passage that magnifies my first scripture, and will further punctuate the point for me. "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Mat. 12:36,37). That was Jesus that said that, and what he was plainly saying was that our words will determine whether we are lost or we are saved when the final judgment stands. I would say that totally and completely confirms that truly "death and life are in the power of the tongue." Today I want to apply this spiritual truth to the topic of receiving healing from the Lord. This can also apply to other things that we need to obtain from God, but I just want to look at the healing promise of God in short order today, and show simplistically how this divinely ordained principle applies to it. If our words literally carry 'life and death' weight, and will determine our lot in eternity; then it is certain that what we speak has direct and powerful impact on every aspect of our lives. The reason for all of the above is very simple; that being that we speak what we think and believe. Our words are just an outward projection and expression of how we feel and think about everything in our spirit and mind. Let me give you the detrimental aspect of the equation first, so that we can better understand the benefit of thinking, believing, and speaking the right way. I have seen and heard of a whole lot of situations where someone forecast something bad against themselves by feeling and thinking in a way that was contrary to their good, and then speaking it out; only to have the thing that they spoke come upon them. One example is when my father was in WW II aboard ship, and the Marines that he was with were having dinner and talking about the war. One of the men among them said, "If I ever get it, I want to take it right between the eyes." About ten minutes later the ship came under surprise attack and that man 'got it' right between the eyes. Coincidence? Don't kid yourself. Another time I saw a documentary about a great football player who was a running back playing professional football. He had extraordinary talent but not so good of a work ethic or outlook. Just before a game in mid-season he told a friend of his; "I've always felt that a knee injury would end my career, and I believe today will be the day." That very day he suffered a knee injury in that game that ended his career. No coincidence there my friend, just plain scriptural truth in action.

The scripture tells us this: "The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted" (Prov. 10:24). When someone is afraid that something bad is going to happen to them, they generally speak that fear out; and that speech is a direct expression of unbelief against the goodwill of God that he has for them. Speaking unbelief against God's goodwill toward you can and will open the door for a demonic force to have permission from God to forward the calamity upon you that you have spoken. Remember how I translated the second part of our text verse? "... and they demonstrate what they believe by what they say, and will receive accordingly." Jesus came from heaven for the express purpose of suffering and dying for our sins, AND for our physical infirmities; so that we could be healed and delivered from these calamities that Adam purchased for us in the garden of Eden when he chose to turn his back on God in disobedience against his word. Here we have one instance of a consistent theme throughout the ministry of Jesus, and a word of promise that backs it up: "When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed ALL that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by [Isaiah] the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Mat. 8:16,17). Note how I magnified the word 'all' in this passage. Many years ago the holy Ghost pointed out to me that there is absolutely NO record of ANYONE coming to Jesus for healing or deliverance, that went away empty. That's right, nobody. Why? Because it IS his will to heal ANY AND ALL who will trust and believe him to do it. God is good, always. That was the case with Jesus when he was here, and the scripture clearly says, "Jesus Christ, the SAME yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8). What more could he do to demonstrate that to us, and gain our faith in his goodness toward us, than to suffer and die for us? When he suffered, he suffered for the sake of our healing for ALL afflictions of the body, spirit, and mind. Period. He suffered completely, and he died completely; and the completeness of that work was to recover EVERYTHING that was lost in the garden of Eden, up to and including eternal life. Because of the completeness of Jesus' suffering and death, and because he triumphed over both sin and death when he rose again; we should be delivered from ALL sin, and we should be healed of ALL physical infirmities. There is no sin that we just have to keep, and there is no infirmity of the body that we have to keep. It's really that simple. What he did was and is enough to cover it all. He did NOT suffer and die completely so that we could 'maybe' be healed, or so that we could avert 'some' sins. He endured the suffering and death that he endured to purchase for us the PROMISE of holiness and healing, not the 'maybe' of holiness and healing.

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being DEAD TO SINS, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes YE WERE healed" (I Pet. 2:24). Now look at that verse again, slowly and with faith. You will see that there is no space for wavering there about what God's will for us is. It is to be without sin in our spirits and lives, and to be healed of all infirmity. That is what is there, because as the verse says, that is what Jesus suffered and died for. That is the truth, and any feeling, thinking, or SPEAKING to the contrary is a lie; and is AGAINST the will and promises of God that Jesus purchased for us with his life. That is why it is a very serious issue about what we believe and say about these things. We are either blessing Jesus for his suffering and death on our part, or we are lightly esteeming what he did. I firmly believe that what we believe and what we speak about why Jesus suffered and died, is surely worthy of justifying us or condemning us in the sight of God. If we think and believe that Jesus suffered so that we can be healed, then that is how we will speak in regard to the subject. And when we do so we are simply agreeing with the established will of God for our lives. And just as the examples I mentioned earlier brought calamity upon themselves by DISBELIEVING and speaking AGAINST God's goodwill toward them, preferring a lie of the devil; so it is that we will bring healing to ourselves by BELIEVING AND CONFESSING the TRUTH of God's goodness toward us, thereby honoring the suffering that Jesus did for our sake. As calamity may or may not immediately come because we have confessed it, so the manifestation of our healing may or may not immediately come upon our first believing and confessing it. The key is that faith does not doubt, and it doesn't commit itself to the way things appear to be (II Cor. 5:7). Faith cannot be mixed with doubt. It is either faith, or it is doubt. James said it this way: "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (Jas. 1:6-8). And Jesus said it this way: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, BELIEVE that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mk. 11:24). Friend, we can surely believe for our healing because it is certain that it is the will of God, and was purchased for us at the greatest of all costs. The way Jesus feels about all of our infirmities, both spiritual and physical, has not changed at all since he hung on that cross and suffered a slow, agonizing death for us. Believe his love, dwell on it, and speak according to it. Life, death, eternity, and everything short of these things depends on it. God bless.