Sunday Messages

PULPIT LAST SUNDAY: SEPTEMBER 11^TH, 2022.

TOPIC: Power In The Word 1

Text: Matt 8:5-13 “Jesus went to the city of Capernaum. When he entered the city, an army officer came to him and begged for help. The officer said, ‘Lord, my servant is very sick at home in bed. He can’t move his body and has much pain.’ Jesus said to the officer, ‘I will go and heal him’. The officer answered, ‘Lord, I am not good enough for you to come into my house. You need only to give the order, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I understand authority. There are people who have authority over me, and I have soldiers under my authority. I tell one soldier, “go”, and he goes. I tell another soldier “come”, and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this”, and my servant obeys me’. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were with him, ‘The truth is, this man has more faith than anyone I have found, even in Isarel. Many people will come from the east and from the west. These people will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in God’s kingdom. And those who should have the kingdom will be thrown out. They will be thrown outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain. Then Jesus said to the officer, ‘Go home. Your servant will be healed the way you believed he would’.”

(Easy To Read Version) Italics mine.

MESSAGE: If Jesus didn’t speak, the centurion’s servant couldn’t have been healed. The healing of that servant took place at the point the Lord Jesus Christ said “Go home. Your servant will be healed the way you believed he would”. That is a classic example of activating the scripture that says “He sent his word, and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions” Psalm 107:20 (KJV).

The word of God is the only authentic agent of positive change. There are a few things I’d want you to learn from here:

God Reveals Himself And His Authority Through His Word.

The scriptures give us this insight in John 1:1: in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. To know God and His authority, interact with His word.

Neither God Nor His Word Can Change: The immutability of God and His word are very prominent themes in the bible. The Psalmist, when he caught this revelation of the immutability of God’s word, declared in Psalm 119:89, saying “for ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” (KJV). The writer of Hebrews also said of the Lord’s immutability: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever” Heb. 13:8 (KJV). To relate with God therefore, you ought to know that He has a pattern. That pattern is laid out in His word. God and His word are consistent. Hebrews 7:17-18.

God Operates With Words: God’s modus operandi, especially as per His relationship with man is through the Word. God operates with His word. Hebrews 1:1-3 informs us that in earlier times, God “spoke” in different ways, but that these days, God chooses to “speak” by His son Jesus Christ. What I’d love you to note is that “God speaks”. When he wants to make anything happen in our realm, He speaks.

To Meet Any Challenge And/Or Overcome Enemies Of Your Destiny, You Need The Word. Human beings (whether as individuals or as a group) will always be faced with challenges. Enemies also spring up unsolicited. One major and assured way to be on top is through declaration of the word of God. Revelation 12:11 tells us how to overcome. It says that “they defeated him by the blood sacrifice of the Lamb and by the message of God that they told people…” (Easy To Read Version). When you speak God’s word in faith, or declare things consistent with the word of God, angels hurriedly carry out the spoken word because they see it as an instruction from God. Psalm 103:20 lends credence to this: “Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, That do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word”. God’s word has voice, and angels hear that voice.

To Operate With God’s Word, You Need To Know The Word: We are encouraged to study the word. Going to church once a week (possibly on a Sunday) is not enough. You must make out time to feed your spirit with the word of God. The Apostle Paul enjoins you to “study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” 2 Tim. 2:15 (KJV). It is in studying that your spirit comes into communion with the Spirit of the word.

Graduate From Studying To Meditating And Speaking: No matter the amount of scripture you commit to memory, and are able to remember, you’ll have little or no result if you do not voice them out. As you study, meditate on (ruminate on, regurgitate, consider again and again, intermeddle with and encounter) the word. When this is done, the word becomes a bedrock of convictions to you, and your mouth naturally and effortlessly pour forth the word. Your very words will become consistent with the word of God. Joshua 1:8 instructs that “this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success”. The above scripture practically tells us that meditating on, and speaking the word are the combination that guarantee prosperity and good success.

Engage With The Spirit Of The Word: The word of God is not just mere literature, so stop treating it as one. It is also not profitable to you in any way to read the word of God just for the sake of reading, or to fulfil all righteousness. The word of God is Spirit. Treat the word as Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ informed us in John 6:63 that “it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life”. Your spirit (your real being) has so much to gain from the spirit of the word if you respectfully and dutifully engage the word.

The Word Works Only When It Is Activated: The word of God cannot work in the absence of faith. The word of God will be dormant when it is only committed to memory and not effectively used. Activation of the word comes by speaking it from the lips of faith. We understand that “the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than the sharpest sword and cuts all the way into us…” Hebrews 4:12 (Darby Translation).

In summary, when you study the word, align yourself with the word, living your life according to the dictates of the word, meditate on the word, and speak words consistent with the word, you are guaranteed good results. When you align yourself with the word of God, there is absolutely nothing that can stop the fulfilment of God’s word on your life.

God bless you!

............................Fidel C Nwobi