Text: Psalm 27:1; Proverbs 18:20-21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. You are satisfied by what comes out of your mouth, and by saying and confessing aloud the Word of God, you activate this spiritual principle. You get what you ask for. What is abundant in your heart (Matthew 12:34)? If what’s in your heart in abundance isn’t good, don’t hide it, but curse it and say what you want and need, and don’t drop your commitment to what you’re saying. In other words, speak death to what you don’t want and speak life to what you want. Your tongue is a powerful rudder, and your words are producing- life or death. When you are quoting Scripture into a situation, you’re not lying if that’s not what is in the natural. In Mark 4:35-41 Jesus said, “Let us cross over to the other side.” He sowed Word seed. Jesus used His words exactly and precisely. The disciples spoke care and worry. Jesus spoke death when He rebuked the wind and spoke life when He spoke to the sea, “Peace, be still.” Speak your desires and end results by speaking the Word.
The Word in Your Heart and Mouth
Word Seed
Text: Mark 4:14-20 (The Parable of the Sower and the Seed). God’s Word is the seed. The ground (soil) is a person’s heart. The seed’s (the Word’s) growth and fruitfulness depend on the ground that the seed lands on. If the soil (a person’s heart) is good, it doesn’t take much for the seed to grow and produce fruit, like the woman who was healed of the issue of blood. Immediately after you receive the Word, Satan will try to steal it out of your life, because he hates the Word in you more than he hates you. Don’t let Satan take the Word out of you! Tribulation and persecution arise for the Word’s sake, and people get offended at it. Maybe it’s a Word about giving or healing. Keep a good heart. We have three main enemies or weeds in our heart. They are: the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts for other things. These “weeds” choke the Word and cause the Word to become unfruitful. Keep the weeds out of your garden. Your heart must be receptive. For example, before ministering to a person with cancer, you have to get the fear out of his/her heart. Pluck out the lust of the flesh, of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-16). Get your heart right before God, and bear fruit- thirty fold, sixty, or a hundred.
Put Me in Remembrance
God blots out your transgression for His sake and tells you to put Him in remembrance (Isaiah 43:25-26). This is covenant and legal language, pointing to a contract made together. What does He forget? He forgets our sins. What is to be remembered? We are to call on God to remember His promises to us. Remembering is a covenant word to make a claim on a promise that was given. God does not count our sins against us, because He put them on Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:15-19). We are to declare the Word of His covenant. We can plead our case for righteousness together with the Holy Spirit. We say God’s Word promise, and the Holy Spirit pleads with us. We declare our innocence that we may be justified. Keep your own word (Psalm 15:1-5). What God says, He will do. We insult and offend God when we dishonor or disbelieve what He says. God’s Word will come to pass, if you listen to His voice to observe and to do it (Deuteronomy 28:1). Jacob pleaded with God (Genesis 32:9). You can plead with God by saying, “Lord, You said …” Put God I remembrance of His promises, plead together with the Holy Spirit, and make a declaration.
Acknowledging and Confessing Your Faith
Offering message: Isaiah 1:19 tells us to be both willing and obedient. We are givers, not takers. Our willingness is important. God wants us to change nations. Sermon message: You received salvation by confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus, (which means saying aloud), and believing in your heart, (that’s faith) that God has raised Him from the dead. The same way you received salvation, you receive all the spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, such as healing, righteousness, freedom from fear, and provision. Because you know that God has already provided for these spiritual blessings, you can hold onto them by confessing them as your own, thanking and praising Him for the victory. Confessing is acknowledging every good thing that is in you in Christ Jesus. You can abound, which means having more than you can contain, because you have fellowship (communication, free flow, interchange, koinonia) with God and Jesus, who are alive. Jesus is in the heavens, which is not referring to distance, but is the realm of the Spirit and access, a place of control of the universe. For example, the instant you die physically, you are with Him. There’s no time or space lapse. Use your faith by confessing the spiritual blessings that are in you through Christ Jesus. (Pastor Dale tells of using his confession of faith to get the victory over asthma.) [Texts: Philemon 6, Colossians 2:6-7; Romans 10:9-10; Hebrews4:14; Ephesians 1:3]
Praying the Ephesians Prayer
Ephesians 1:15-20 is a prayer that you can pray for yourself and your loved ones. Paul prayed this prayer with thanksgiving, not with worry and fear. If you pray that a) you might receive a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and God, and that b) the eyes of your understanding (your spirit) would be enlightened, you will pray to know what is 1) the hope of His calling, 2) the riches of His glory, and 3) the exceeding greatness of His power toward you. Numbers 1)-3) do not happen if you don’t do a) and b). The hope of His calling means your purpose. You are sent. If you don’t have hope, you don’t know why you’re here. Walk in your purpose. Pray for the hopeless using this prayer. The riches of His glory refer to what belongs to you. As a child of the King, you have an inheritance. What belongs to you will come through prayer. Do you know the exceeding greatness of His power toward you, how powerful you are? The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is at work in you. You have an assignment: Write and print out Ephesians 1:17-19 personalizing this prayer for yourself, and then post it somewhere you’ll see it. Then do the same thing inserting your loved ones’ names. Finally, pray these prayers for yourself and your loved ones.
Praying in the Spirit
Jude 20 tells us to build ourselves up in our most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Some translations use Holy “Ghost”, meaning “Guest”, indicating the indwelling Spirit of God. Ephesians 6:18 says for us to pray in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. We are to pursue love, desire spiritual gifts, prophesy, and to speak (pray) in tongues (an unknown language) (1 Corinthians 14:1-2, 4). Why are we to pray in tongues? It’s something only you can do for yourself, because it edifies you, and it’s speaking mysteries to God. Out of you will flow rivers of living water when you pray in the Holy Spirit. When you are praying in the Spirit, you can get the interpretation of what you are praying (1 Corinthians 14:13). If you give out a tongue in a group, there must be an interpreter. When you pray in the Holy Spirit (tongues), what you are praying is not coming from your mind but from His Spirit in you. Praying in the Spirit will greatly help you to know how to raise your children, what to say, actually everything you do, because He has prepared things for you. When you pray in tongues, you’re speaking mysteries (1 Corinthians 2:4-13). God had hidden these mysteries from the devil since before the beginning of the world, and He reveals them by His Spirit. Our minds and our emotions are not the Spirit. We receive the Spirit so that we might understand what has been freely given to us by God. God’s Spirit gives us the ability to speak the mysteries, the wisdom of God.
Praise Is for the Lord
God is everywhere, even in hell, so how were Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:9-10) able to hide from God? There is an essential presence of God, which means that God is everywhere, but there is also an influential presence, such as our fellowshipping with Him, which can be covered up. We prepare God a habitation by our praise. Listening to praise and worship music is not preparing a habitation for God. Praise is aloud and loud. In Psalm 22:2-5, a Messianic psalm, it says that Moses and the Israelite fatherscried to the Lord. Luke 18:38-43 tells about the blind man crying out to Jesus for Him to heal him. He was annoyingly loud to the point that he was rebuked and told to be quiet. What did he do? He became louder! He was so loud that Jesus stood still and healed the man. Then, the other people started to praise Jesus, too. We know Paul and Silas were loud in the prison, because the other prisoners heard them. Worship is for God, not to give you some emotion. Our praise is to Him, because He is holy. He is enthroned in the praises of His people. You don’t naturally want to praise God, and in fact, something in you inhibits your praising. When it says in Psalm 149:5-9, “Let them sing aloud on their beds”, it means that on the bed of sickness and affliction, we are to lift our praises to Him. [Pastor Dale shared the time he rescued a beaten-up missionary in Romania.] Praise binds difficulties, and sometimes that means that you have to praise in spite of heavy oppression. Praise Him until you get a note of victory. Heaven is a noisy place (Revelation 19:1). Salvation, glory, honor, and power belong to the Lord our God. Praise Him!
Dale Armstrong – Women in Church and Ministry
Paul says in Galatians 3:26-28 that we are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus and that there is neither male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. This is a supernatural unity, Greek and Jew, slave and free, male and female. (Pastor Dale shares of how a woman song writer, Janny Grein, impacted his life and how he gave a place for her to preach. That church experienced 16 weeks of revival. During that time, God supernaturally communicated with him when he was in Kiev, and Janny was ministering in his church in Titusville.) Acts 2:16 quotes Joel which says that your sons and daughters shall prophesy and that God’s Spirit would be poured out on your menservants and maidservants. Women do have a place in ministry. The book of First Corinthians was a letter written in response to a letter the church had written to Paul. Paul’s letter refers to what they wrote previously, as seen in 1 Corinthians 7:1. Chapter 11:2-5 and 16 says that the women can pray and prophesy but that there is a flow of authority. Chapter 14:31 says that you can all prophesy. Verses 34 and 35 were not Paul’s comments, but comments he was responding to from the Corinthian church. How do we know? He just said that women may prophesy, and the law doesn’t say that women can’t prophesy anyway. It is in the Jewish commentary, not the law. Paul’s response is in verse 36-40 where he says, “Did you write the word of God?” In Acts 2:4-11 all spoke aloud in tongues. Go back to Acts 1:13-14 and see that those who were part of the 120 people werewomen, Jesus’ disciples, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers. Mary and the other women spoke in tongues on the Day of Pentecost.
Prophetic Conference – Developing That Which Is In You
Text: 2 Peter 1:3-10 (8). We were born in the image of God. We need to be changed like never before. God wants the image and life of Jesus Christ to radiate from us and from every church. This takes repentance for everyone. Lay aside what trips you up and put on the new spiritual self. Open up your heart to receive and be a doer of the Word. Our assignment is to have and be abounding in these things that are added to faith: virtue (moral knowledge), knowledge, self-control, perseverance (patient endurance), godliness, brotherly kindness (Christian affection), love. Having these things added to our faith will keep us from being deceived and will bring life, godliness, exceedingly great and precious promises. We are called to reflect Jesus. We don’t have to be given to lust. This is a time when many people are deceived, compromising, lulled to sleep, and thinking they’re doing right, when really they’re doing wrong. We are to pursue God diligently like a man pursuing the woman he wanted for his wife. Make a commitment to be more productive than ever before. What is God convicting you of? Is it self-control or patience or love? Your attitude affects the atmosphere around you, either for the negative or the positive. The challenge for the church is to develop what is in each person. Develop means to cause to grow, mature, advance, set forth, make visible and manifest, and to create or produce by effort over time. God wants to expand His Body in numbers, power, and authority and to equip us with more to overcome our weaknesses.
Prophetic Conference – Greatness by Connection
In 2 Kings 4:8 it is recorded that Elisha the Prophet went to Shunem, where there was a great woman. Why was this woman called great? She was called great because of her connections. First, she was connected with the Lord. Your first connection must be with Him to receive His power. You need to follow Him personally and pray. Secondly, she connected with the prophet of God, Elisha. She insisted that he stay with them, and she stayed connected with him. Thirdly, she was connected with her husband. They were one in the Spirit. Discuss God’s purpose in your life with your spouse. Finally, she connected with her people. She said that she was provided for and didn’t need anything because she dwelt among her people. Similarly Ruth connected and stayed connected with Naomi and then later with Boaz. She was “least” when she came to Naomi’s homeland, but she ended up married to the landowner, because she stayed connected. Ruth was King David’s great grandmother. When you look at people’s beginnings, they may not seem to be that important, but God sees greatness. When there is a connection in the Spirit, there is provision, such as when Elisha prayed for the Shunammite woman to have a baby. When you care for the prophet, you receive a prophet’s reward. When there is a Spirit connection, there is protection, as demonstrated in Elisha’s telling her about the upcoming famine. When there is a Spirit connection, there is restoration. Because of Elisha, the land was restored to the woman when she returned to it.
Prophetic Conference – Living According to His Word
Karen shares her personal testimony of a changed life being lived by faith in the Living Word. As she spoke she gave powerful nuggets for living a life of faith in God. Mary did not question God when the angel told her she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit. She said, “Let it be according to your word.” Zacharias, however, did not believe what the angel told him and became dumb until he spoke out the name of his son, John, agreeing with the Word of God given by the angel. The Word is God’s language. It’s how we get to know our Father. You must say, “Yes”, for Jesus to move into your life. Get rid of the “ruts” in your brain. You are in a fork in the road. You can choose truth, or you can go the way you’ve been going. Everyone has one of two fathers: the devil or God. The devil wants the Word out of your life, which is the fight of your faith. Do not question God’s Word. Let the Word become alive to you. Give God permission to change you.
Prophetic Conference – Rivers of Living Water
Listen to God and wait for the unction of God. Those who believe in Jesus, out of their hearts will flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38). There is a pure river of water of life proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb (Revelations 22:1-2), and in the middle of the street was the tree of life. One river flowed into the Garden of Eden and four flowed out. Your heart is the garden of God, and in the center of your heart, is the tree of life. The river flowing in is the New Birth, the Spirit within us, and the rivers flowing out are the baptism of the Holy Spirit. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. God drove man out of the Garden, and cherubim were placed at the east gate, and a flaming sword turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life, which he should have been eating from (Genesis 3:22-24). Since Adam and Eve sinned, they became spiritually dead, but they could create with their mouths. Although the tree of life was locked up, when we are born-again, He puts His tree of life in us, which is the ability to speak, confess, and create with our words. He opened up what was locked up, because He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). The Word changes our lives. Because of Jesus (the Word), our lives are hid in Christ. We overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11) (There was a time of testimony.) When the veil was torn from the top to the bottom, God was saying that He would not live anymore in a temple built by man, but He would live in a temple made by Him. The prophet’s ministry is a sudden inspiration, light of a sudden revelation at the moment, seems to be fundamental to future events or the mind of the Spirit in general. The prophet of God is preeminently the ministry that reveals the emotion of God to the people. He communicates things to the prophet so he can change them.
Prophetic Conference – Personal Wisdom and Discernment
The end of things is at hand (1 Peter 4:7). There is a convergence of what God has said and what the devil is doing. What have we learned in the last twenty-five years? We’ve learned about the spirit of wisdom (Ephesians 1:17-18) and wisdom (what is needed when a problem comes up, and you don’t have an immediate solution). Jesus became for us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). We’ve learned how to be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18). We’ve learned about the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:16). We’ve learned about the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12, 13; Hebrews 2:4). Here the struggle is, are we off the path or are we needing to break through something that the devil is hindering? Can we walk in discernment, personal Christian discernment, which is not the gift of the Spirit, and is resident in each one of us? Especially now, we need personal discernment because of seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. We need alertness and awareness in God to perceive what God is saying. This can save your life. To discern is to recognize or identify as distinct what is of the soul or of the spirit. Be cautious of people who try to give you their dream. Find out the will of God. To discern also means to separate what’s of God, what’s of this church or of this group. Furthermore, it means to distinguish, compare, like weighing things out on a scale, to perceive, to discriminate. If we know the real God and truth, we will be able to discern the false and counterfeit. Have you become dull of hearing (Hebrews 5:11-14)? Are you choking on solid food, or can you discern good and evil? We must become masters of the sword of the Spirit, the Word. Paul’s perception saved lives (Acts 27:10). There are lost, unlearned, and ignorant people. Do you live the Word? Experiences are the lowest level, then come our prayer life, meditation in the Scriptures, and spending time with God, and then being sensitive to God. The Word of God is above His name and is an eternal constant. (Prophet Cohn shared how the Lord reveals things to him that connect and direct him to minister. There were many other Scriptures confirming the teaching.)
Prophetic Conference – Integrity
Integrity is soundness, that your “yes” be “yes”, and your “no” be “no”. Are we worshiping someone other than God? He requires our focus. Sin can be distractions that keep us from worshiping and focusing on God. Sin affects everyone around you. That person who heard what you taught or preached will be affected by you if they see you sinning. Repentance means to turn around. Repentance is continuous. The Word should be what you mutter to yourself. Focusing on Him means communion, prayer, and time spent with Him. The war to be a Christian of integrity is not over until you quit. You need to continuously present yourself to God. Do you want to be used by God and to be changed by Him? The One who created people and even the devil knows you and is for you, so no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that rises up in judgment against you, you shall condemn. Are you a person of integrity, or are you a hypocrite? Focus on Jesus and be a person of integrity.
Prophetic Conference – Prophecy in the Church
Text: 1 Corinthians 12:1, 7, 11; 1 Corinthians 14. Today’s problem in the church is not a lack of knowledge about the gifts of the Spirit but the absence of the them. The Holy Spirit distributes to each one as He wills. Just because He used you one way one time, don’t limit Him to only using you in that gift. We should desire to prophesy, because prophecy edifies the whole church. All of the gifts should be done, decently and in order. Prophesying is a commandment (14:1). Your brothers and sisters in the body of Christ are your “safety net” for prophesying. They will help teach and affirm you. Just as hearing and hearing the Word is the only way to get faith, prophesying is the only way to edify the church. We are to covet the best gift, which is the gift that you need at the time. When we gather for a church service, we should come in full, so that God can use us. Churches need an interpreter, who is like a moderator. Learn to allow the Holy Spirit to use you, but be humble enough to understand that He may use someone else instead of you. Desire the prophetic anointing.
We Would See Jesus
Text: John 12:20-21. The Greeks were coming to worship at the feast, but they had to stand outside, so they talked to Philip as a connection saying, “We would see Jesus.” We can ask the Holy Spirit to open your loved ones’ eyes that they may see Jesus (Psalm 119:18). The gospel is hidden to the lost (2 Corinthians 4:3-6). Why can’t people receive the gospel? Satan, the god of this age has blinded their eyes, and the gospel is veiled to them. Satan is the god of this worldly system and of those under his rule. Jesus is the ruler of the earth. There are only two groups: the children of light and the children of darkness. Satan has representatives on earth. Jesus never lacked power over the devil. If He would have wiped out the devil, He would also have wiped out all of Satan’s people. Jesus wants the harvest. Let’s turn on the light. People need to be exposed to the light, so that they can make a choice. Saul saw Jesus, and Jesus told him that he was to be a witness to open they eyes of the lost, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God,that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus (Acts 26:13-18). How can you pray for your unsaved loved ones? Pray that they would see and for God to open their eyes. Pray that the devil wouldn’t blind their eyes. We are witnesses to open the eyes of the lost. Satan tries to make people think that God is against them, or that there is not a God. People are already forgiven (2 Corinthians 5:19), but Satan blinds people so they can’t receive. Why don’t people receive their inheritance (verse 18)? Again, it’s because the devil has blinded their eyes. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son (Colossians 1:9-13). You have a purpose in life. God can restore you to His purposes in an instant. He redeems the time.
The Word of God – Renewing Your Mind
Texts: James 1:21; Romans 12:1-2. God wants His Word engrafted in us, so that we become one with the Word for the saving of our soul. We present ourselves to God. We are not to be conformed to the world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. How does this happen? The world forms a framework of how we look at things, but we can change that by becoming Word-minded. You can change your thinking by thinking, responding, seeing, and reacting as God thinks, responds, sees, and reacts by desiring and meditating on the Word (Psalm 1:1-3). If you want change, get into things that will change you. Everyone meditates, either positively or negatively (worrying). How do you see things? What’s your mindset toward reading and memorizing the Bible? You can create your own desires by renewing your mind. How can you create a desire or control your desires? One way you can control your desire is by perceptions (Proverbs 18:1). Before you can desire something, you must know about it. Your perception could be negative or positive. Run to the Bible and find out what will set you free. Secondly, pay attention to your desire and study the positive. Instead of studying about cancer, study the Scriptures about healing. Thirdly, conception takes place when you change your thinking and do not even remember the way you used to think. For example, instead of thinking poverty thoughts, you think according to prosperity. You must delight in the Word (Psalm 1:2).
The Will of God – The Lordship of Jesus
Text: John 7:14-17. God sent Jesus, and Jesus sent you. God wants you to live out your purpose. The issue is man’s willingness to obey God’s will. You will not know God’s will until you are willing to obey, so you must consecrate yourself to do His will first, and then He will reveal His will for you. God waits for your consecration first, and you must obey first. Once you are willing, He will give you His ability. Saul thought he was serving God, but Satan had deceived him by leading him in the opposite direction of God’s will. (Caution: Satan tries to do that to us, too.) When Saul met Jesus in Acts 9:3-5, he recognized Jesus as his Lord, his King, his Ruler. We are God’s slaves, and He is our Lord. God wants people’s eyes to be open to Him and to their purpose in Him (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). You are saved when you confess Jesus is Lord in your life and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Jesus is alive. Are you willing to obey Him, or are you afraid to step into His plan for you? The issue is that He is Lord. Lordship is salvation.
The Priority of the Word of God
To be wise, obey the Word of God (Matthew 7:24-28). Storms and problems come to everyone, but you can measure your life by your victories. Prepare before the storms by acting on the Word. Search the Scriptures and seek honor from God and not from man (John 5:39-40, 44-47). Put Jesus first in your life. Miracles don’t cause people to repent and have faith (Luke 16:19-31), but hearing the Word does. You need to hear and obey the Word (Romans 10:16-17). Build faith on the priority of the Word. Our experiences should lead people to the Word to get faith. Meditate on the Word day and night (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2-3). Martha was rebellious because she wouldn’t put a priority on the Word. In Matthew 8:6-8 the centurion showed faith when he said, “Speak the Word only.” Jesus said in Mark 5:35-36 to only believe. Don’t add to the Word. Don’t do things because the devil manipulates you based on fear or convinces you that your prayers didn’t work. Guard your heart (Proverbs 4:20-23). Your faith will overcome the world. Praying in unbelief is worse than profanity. Speak the Word only.
New Beginnings
Pastor Gene English, leader of the Men of the Word, preached on new beginnings, connecting the beginning of the world in Genesis with the new beginning through the birth of Jesus Christ. John Tobias shared his testimony, demonstrating the new beginning in a person’s life by salvation through Jesus Christ.