I. The Importance of “It is Written”
Matthew 9:5-6
For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
Healing is an outward manifestation expressing the reality that Jesus has the power to remove both sins and sickness. Forgiveness of sins and healing are inseparably tied together. In His life, Jesus demonstrated the importance of saying, “It is written.”
Luke 4:1-13:
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
And the devil said unto him, All this power (authority) will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
Notice, the devil may say, “It is written…” but he does not use scripture truthfully; he distorts the meaning and purpose.
And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said (or, “…it is written), Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit just before entering into His earthly ministry.
II. The First Ministry of the Holy Spirit
The first ministry of the Holy Spirit is not to bring healing and miracles into our lives. His first ministry is to bring all truth, the Word of God, to our remembrance. Jesus demonstrated this. While He was being tempted by the devil for forty days, the Holy Spirit brought scriptures to His remembrance. With each temptation Jesus said, “It is written. It is written. It is written.”
In times of temptation, and trouble, the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us into all truth. After Jesus was anointed of the Holy Spirit, the first ministry of the Holy Spirit in His life was again, to bring the Word of God on the inside of Him to His remembrance. That was Jesus’ defense against Satan.
III. The Power of Confessing God’s Word
James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The only way to submit to God is to submit to His Word. After submitting to the Word, we then have power to resist the devil. Jesus had submitted Himself to God and to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He had been in the wilderness for forty days, fasting and drawing closer to the Lord. It was during this time that Satan came to tempt Jesus. But Jesus resisted him by saying, “It is written! It is written! It is written!”
Confession has been a controversial issue in the Body of Christ. There are those who have distorted confession by “confessing” things that are not scriptural. Often when people see the misuse of a teaching from the Word of God, they want to disassociate themselves from the entire teaching. Prosperity is a truth taught in the Word of God, yet there are many who do not believe in the message of prosperity. But, those same people do not reject financial blessing if it comes into their own personal lives! Just because the message of prosperity has been distorted and some Christians are merely coveting “things”, does not mean the message is wrong. The same is true of the message of confession.
The very first ministry Jesus had against Satan in the wilderness was found in confession of the Word of God. Confession is not just making statements like, “I feel good. I feel good.” Confession is not confessing that facts do not exist. Jesus confessed the Word of God against the facts.
People often feel as though they need to “do” something when they are facing adversity in their lives. They sometimes feel guilty “saying” rather than “doing” not realizing the importance and power behind the words they speak. Jesus spoke the Word of God at Satan and Satan had to flee from Him. When Jesus came against the temptations of Satan with the Word of God, Satan had no choice but to flee!
III. Confession is Not Denial
We are not to use the words of our mouth to deny the existence of sin, or the existence of sickness, or the existence of problems. With our mouth we are to acknowledge the power of God’s Word over every situation coming against our lives.
Some Christians are confessing, “Sickness doesn’t exist. I’m not sick. I feel fine,” when in fact they are sick. This is the same as saying, “There are no fiery darts. They do not exist.” But the Bible says the fiery darts do exist. The Bible does not say, “Lift up the shield of faith wherewith ye may be able to quench all the imaginary darts of the devil.” No, they are real. Satan’s darts are real. But the shield of faith is also real and the shield of faith is greater! Confession of God’s Word is a greater weapon than anything Satan can bring against us.
IV. The Confession of Salvation and of Sin
One of the reasons Jesus is in heaven is because of our confession.
Hebrews 3:1
Wherefore, Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.
The “heavenly calling” is the new birth. It is all that heaven has to offer us. “Consider” means to “set your mind or concentrate” on the Apostle and High Priest (Jesus). The word for “profession” can actually be translated “confession”. The Greek word is “homologeo”, which means, “saying the same thing”. This same word is found in I John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
This type of confession began when we confessed the lordship of Jesus Christ. According to Romans 10:9, the moment anyone believes in Jesus and confesses Him as Lord and Savior, they are born again. When a person confesses Him, Jesus takes that confession and makes it a reality before our heavenly Father.
Some people believe that confessing Jesus as Lord and confessing our sins to Him whenever necessary is all there is to confession. But the primary function of confession in our daily lives is the confession of the Word of God. We should daily be speaking forth God’s Word.
VI. Two Types of Confession
Aside from confessing Jesus as Lord and confessing our sins, there are two types of confession found in the Word of God and both are found in Romans chapter ten.
A. Confession Unto Faith
The confession unto faith is for us. It builds faith on the inside of us. There is no magic number. You cannot quote a scripture ten times or forty times, or seventy times and know that once you have quoted a scripture that many times, you will have faith in your heart. By confessing scriptures, you are instructing yourself in faith. This type of confession is closely tied to meditation of the Word.
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The Greek word for “word” is “rhema”. It is the communicated and spoken Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the communicated and spoken Word of God. Whether that speaking comes from your pastor or from your own mouth, it is the communication of the Word of God, the confessing of the Word that brings faith. This type of confession you may need to repeat many, many times. Most of us need to confess God’s Word more than one time for faith to be built inside of us.
Again, confession unto faith and meditation are closely tied. The Hebrew word for “meditate” means “to mutter”. This is not saying something out loud so everyone can hear what you are saying. Some people believe they need to confess the Word so everyone hears what they are confessing. But God has not told us to make a spectacle of ourselves. This meditation and confession is for us. We can mutter a verse, speaking it quietly under our breath. Not only is it important to make God’s Word part of your heart, it is just as important to make it part of your mouth by speaking it.
For thirty years, Jesus had schooled Himself in faith by speaking the Word. The number of times He spoke forth scriptures during that time is uncertain, but His encounter with Satan in the wilderness was not the first time He had spoken the scriptures. It was not the first time Jesus had said, “Thou shall not tempt the Lord Your God” or “…man shall not live by brad alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Jesus had spoken these verses many times while instructing Himself and building Himself up in faith.
When the attack of Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus no longer made the confession unto faith; He made the confession of faith. This kind of faith causes Satan to flee. Most people do not understand the difference between these two types of confession.
B. The Confession of Faith
Where the confession unto faith may be repeated many times, the confession of faith is only made once. Jesus did not say in succession, “It is written. It is written. It is written. It is written. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” attempting to convince Himself the Word is true. Some people are trying to use the confession unto faith to get rid of Satan. Again, the confession of faith is what causes Satan to flee. The confession of faith is speaking forth the Word with faith in our heart already established.
Confession not only works to build our faith, it also works against Satan. Confession affects every aspect of our life, including divine healing.
VII. The High Priest of Our Confession
II Corinthians 1:20
For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
The fact that all of God’s promises are “yes” and “Amen” in Jesus, ties in with the fact that He is the High Priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1). Some Christians have had the incorrect notion that to grow in faith they must only concentrate on scriptures about faith. But II Corinthians 1:20 tells us that every promise of God produces faith. Again, “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
II Peter 1:3-5
According as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
It is through the exceeding great and precious promises that we become partakers of the divine nature. We have been given thousands of promises and all scripture is given by God and is profitable (II Timothy 3:16).
VIII. All the Promises of God are “Yes” and “Amen”
Again, II Corinthians 1:20 tells us “…all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him Amen.” However, this is a very poor translation. This verse is speaking of one of the most important ministries of the Lord Jesus Christ in behalf of believers.
The New American Standard translates this verse says, “For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes; wherefore also through Him is our Amen.”
The Living English Bible translates this verse as, “For in him is the yes to as many promises of God as there are; for which reason through him also comes the Amen.”
What this verse is telling us is that every time we speak a promise of God, we are in essence saying “yes” to that promise. Every time we say “yes” to the promise, God sends back to us His “Amen”. When we quote a scripture to God, we are in essence saying that we believe the promise. We say “we believe the promise” and God says, “Amen. It is settled.” Receiving an “Amen” from heaven begins by confirming what God desires to hear. God is waiting in heaven for us to put Him in remembrance of His Word, which lives and abides forever and which is already settled in heaven.
IX. Saying “Yes” and Receiving and “Amen”
When we say, “By His stripes we are healed,” God hears a big “yes” coming from earth and God yells “Amen!”
When we say, “O Lord my God, I cried unto You, and You have healed me” (Psalm 30:2), we are saying “yes” and God yells “Amen!”
When we say, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19), we say “yes” to the promise and God yells “Amen!”
When we quote Psalm 41:3 from the Moffatt’s Translation by saying, “The Eternal sustains me on a sick bed, and brings me back to health,” we say “yes” to God’s promise and He yells “Amen!”
When we say, “No plague shall come nigh my dwelling” (Psalm 91:10), we say “yes” and He yells “Amen!”
Demons cannot bear to hear a resounding “yes” coming from the earth, but what they dislike even more is hearing God’s “Amen” come from heaven. More than one time God said of Jesus, “This is My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” What causes God to be pleased? His Word. We are to quote His Word and stand upon it.
When we say “…Who heals all my diseases” (Psalm 103:3), we say “yes”; God says “Amen!”
God shouts, “Amen!” when we confess, “He sent his word and healed me and delivered me from all of their destructions” (Psalm 107:20).
We cry, “God’s word is life to those that find them and health to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:22), and God yells, “Amen!”
We declare, “Surely He has born our sicknesses and carried our diseases, and with His stripes we are healed!” (Isaiah 53:4-5). God yells, “Amen!”
We say “yes” when we say, “I will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” And God shouts, “Amen!”
Finally, we say, “The prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up” (James 5:15). When we quote this promise, again we are saying, “yes” to God and He is shouting and “Amen!” back to us.
X. Declare God’s Word
If we desire to get a big “Amen” from God, His Word must be part of our lips. We will always be growing in faith. There will never be a time when we will not need God’s Word. We will continue to grow in faith throughout our lifetime. We must continually speak God’s Word and when we do, we are saying “yes” to God’s promises and God is shouting “Amen!”
As i finish this short study i feel the need to say we live in times that are to say the lest trying an it takes time in the word of god to come an learn how to act on gods promises i have been in more trials in the last 8 month then most will go though in a life time my son & mother was almost killed in car accident my wife went though heart surgery an me myself 7 back surgery's an are home lost in a hail storm at times we (i) have wondered if i was doing something wrong but then i recalled the fiery dirt's that is when we know what we believe an we can say father god it is written an glory be to god he has brought us threw everyone better than i would have believed nothing in my strength only the word that i have believed an keep in my heart for over 38yrs mark 11:22-24. jimmy Stewart
