"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Mat 12:36-37)
As we live our lives in this prophetic hour, voices are screaming at us both outside of us and inside of us. Conversations and rhetoric fill our minds and hearts filled with agendas and emotions.
Israel is at war with Hamas. Isis is killing and beheading Christians in Iraq. The Syrian dictator is using chemical weapons on his citizens that are of a different tribe than he is. The Russians are manipulating Europe with oil and gas while invading the Ukraine to rebuild their empire, which the Bible calls Gog. All of this is occurring and more on the international scene and at the epicenter. Meanwhile back at the farm, here is the US, our borders are being overrun with children seeking to escape the dictators of central america, our spiritual boundaries are being overrun by secular and anti-god agendas.
In many ways, we are in the times of Israel, God’s people being surrounded by our enemies. I think it is important to briefly mention the nature of the kingdom that we live in. We live is a kingdom that lives in us! What is going on inside of us is reflected in our world around us, by design. To change the world around us, we first need to change the world within us.
Turn with me to Luke 17:20
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!' Do not go after them or follow them. For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
(Luk 17:20-27)
Yeshua is describing that we cannot rely on external signs for the kingdom. Instead we have to recognize that the kingdom is within us. This is high level of accountability! You see, if we can blame the kingdom’s condition on the world around us then we can become the victims. Yet even Israel who were slaves, were ultimately responsible for that condition. They had to act on the Word of God as it was reveled through Moses and take the strategic steps in their hour for their victory over slavery and Egypt.
I mean, take a look at the battle handbook they had. You’re a slave and your path to freedom is killing a lamb, applying its blood to your dwelling, and watching as the first born of your enemy die. Now, we can look back on that and see the pattern of Yeshua’s deliverance but in the moment of it, how strange it would have seemed. But that night they roasted the Lamb, took communion by eating it, dressed and left at the instruction of the Lord through Moses.
The book of Hebrews, tells us that this occurred because the kingdom was within them.
By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. (Heb 11:24-29).
You see the kingdom of God was already in their hearts BEFORE it was in their experience. What do I mean by that? Well imagine that night with me. Israel receives the instruction from God through Moses. What do they have to do to see it manifest? They have to believe it and speak it to one another. They each have to then sh’ma. Each home had to walk by faith! It was their faith, person by person, house by house that brought their deliverance and salvation. What do think would was going through their minds? Even with all of the miracles of the plagues, they are still slaves. They have been told what was possible their entire lives. We know this because when they are free in the dessert, they keep referring back to how it was for them in Egypt.
So, how do they break through? They receive the Word into their hearts and confess it out of their mouths to one another, to their families. This is such a powerful activation of faith that God instructs them to ALWAYS and FOREVER do this!
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. "So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—
(Deu 6:4-11)
Can you see it? Sh’ma. Love. Speak. Teach the words to your children… speak them when you are in your house….speak of them when you walk by the way…. speak them when you lie down… speak them when you rise up……Bind them as a sign on your hands….
The hands are the agents of actions. Binding is the symbol of covenant authority. In Israel today and in orthodox communities they actually tie tephillin around their wrists to honor this command. Before war the soldiers are bound to the authority of God’s word this way. It is an external expression of an internal impression. My authority comes from being bound to His authority in covenant. My words are from His words.
Frontlets between the eyes, means our perspective is given by His perspective. Slaves need to remember this to become sons of the Kingdom. Doorposts and gates, our homes, our Land is establish in faith.
Now, if you read on, you see the outcome: God fulfills His covenant promise, which includes Land we did not build, houses full of beautiful things, wells of provision, vineyards and olive trees. In other words the speaking of God’s covenant words and the believing of those words transforms us from slaves to a world system and into the sons and daughters of His kingdom.
Now, you can begin to understand the scripture in Matthew 12. Let’s jump in at verse 22 where Yeshua has just freed a man from slavery from a demon that made him blind and mute. This means the man was in bondage to how he saw things and what he could confess.
Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." (Mat 12:22-24)
Now, we want to slow the scriptures down and grasp the warfare here. Yeshua is liberating a captive into the ability to see and speak. This is not just about casting out the demon but also about releasing the slave into realm of faith. The multitudes get it and ask the question, “could this be the Messiah? the son of David, the title given to the covenant authority of the king who could free Israel from the Romans, the Egypt of their day. The religious folks immediately shift this into satan’s kingdom.
Now this is pretty powerful speaking. How does Yeshua respond?
But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
(Mat 12:25-32)
People have used the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit for all kinds of fear based theology. What I want us to consider is that it is the speaking that is critical. You see God has given us great responsibility in our words. If we speak unbelief we are coming against the very power of God that we need to walk into our destiny. God speaks by His Spirit and He expects us to speak by the same Spirit, words of faith and power.
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
(Mat 12:33-37)
This brings us full circle, the consecration of our tongues. Our words create our destiny. Both the internal and the external conversations.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
(Pro 18:21)
Let’s finish up with James, Chapter 3:
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses' mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (Jas 3:1-18)
Let’s make a fresh commitment to examine our words and realize that they need to be pure and peaceable. Let’s resist gossip and recommit to holiness.
Isaiah 6:7-10 (NKJV)
[7] And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
[8] Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
[9] And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
[10] “Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”
No comments:
Post a Comment