Power of Words (Part 2 of 2)
The Power of the Word is the One Speaking.
The New Age philosophy of words has seeped into the church by misusing scriptures or assuming that the word has the power rather than the one who is speaking the word. The Bible never even remotely implies that words possess any power beyond the meaning they carry. Every time the spoken word has power, it is always the power of the one speaking and not the word itself. There is a wonderful example of this principle in Matthew 8:5-10
5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!
Jesus praised the centurion for his faith because he understood that Jesus had the power and the authority over all things. Jesus’ authority gave Him the power to just give the command and it would be done. To explain his faith in Jesus’ power, he used his own chain of command that gave him authority. He was a soldier under the Roman military and his position gave him the authority to just say the word and those under him would do as he stated. Since Jesus had the authority over all things, all Jesus had to do is say ‘be healed’ and it would be done. It was not the words themselves, but the power and authority of the one saying the words. The centurion’s words ‘go’, ‘come’, and ‘do this’ did not make things happened through the mystical power of the word itself, but rather the authority of the man caused what was spoken to be done. His servant could say the exact same words and nothing would happen because he lacks the authority. In the same way, we can say the exact same words as God and it has no power at all for we do not have the power to back up our words. Consider this passage from Luke 4:33-36
33 Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34 saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!" 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. 36 Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."
Was it the words that had power according to this passage? No, he spoke the word with authority and power. The apostles had the power given to them by God through the Holy Spirit to command demons to come out of those afflicted but when the Jews who did not have the God given power tried to do the same, they were unsuccessful. Acts 19 tells the account of seven Jewish exorcists that tried to cast out a demon in the name of Jesus. They commanded the demon to come out, but the spirit mocked them by saying “Who are you?”. The spirit then overcame them when the possessed man beat these men so that they fled from the house naked and wounded. The word itself has no power; it is the authority of the one speaking that gives power to the word. Look at the source of the power of words as described in Hebrews 1:1-3
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
It is not the word that holds the power to create the world and continue to uphold all things – it is His power. The word of His power is what has made all things and keeps them in order. If you take His power out of the word then the word has no power by itself. You can try to speak anything into existence and nothing will happen. Even if you believe with all your heart, you could use the exact same words that God used in Genesis and nothing takes place. Earlier we looked at a quote from ‘The 10 Minute Miracle’ where Lynn Reddick stated, “God created the universe by speaking it into existence. Seven times He said, ‘Let there be...’ and there was! This ability to speak things into existence is how we are like God.” Let someone who thinks that they are like God put this to the test – say, “Let it be” and see what happens. Make something out of nothing; create anything with the power of your word.
You can have all the faith in the world and speak your ‘faith filled words’ and nothing will happen because the power of your words cannot prosper without the word of His power. If the power is not in you, you cannot have the word of your power. Look at this passage from Ecclesiastes 8:4
Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
There is only two ‘power words’ that can be spoken. One belongs to God alone and one belongs to both God and the man God has raised into a position of authority. The power to create belongs to God alone. The word of His power is just that – His power. You will never have the power of God; you will never be like God; you will never be a creator. God has plainly stated that beside Him there is no other gods that have been formed nor will there be any after (Isaiah 43:10). Anyone who claims to be a god or even follows those claiming to be gods are an abomination to God (Isaiah 41:23-24). God alone has the word of power. In fact, all power and authority belongs to God. Consider these passages:
Psalm 62:11 God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.
Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
The word of power belongs to God alone, but the authority that gives words power belongs to God and anyone God chooses to grant authority to. Even the Antichrist is given authority from God (Revelation 13:7). The authority of the apostles were given by God for the purpose of building up the church (2 Corinthians 13:10) and the authority of the believer is given to us by Jesus Christ for the purpose of making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). My words have authority to accomplish what I say when I am in a position of authority that can back up those words.
There are many scriptures that reference the words of our mouths but not once do we see the Bible giving us the power of God with our words. We are never given the power to create or prophesy our own will into existence. Words have meaning and the power to communicate is the only strength behind the word itself. Beyond that, we must have the authority to back up our command.
Words Build or Destroy.
Proverbs 18: 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
For some reason this passage is frequently used by those who preach that we have the power to create with our words. This passage doesn’t even remotely imply that we are creating anything or speaking anything into existence. Let’s look at this in light of Proverbs 15:
4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
Also add to this the passage from Proverbs 12:
18 There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health. 19 The truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment.
The message being communicated is that the words we say will either build up or tear down. Words cannot create prosperity or curses other than the meaning behind the words. If I say harsh words or speak cutting words that wound those around me, my words destroy. I grew up with a friend whose parent constantly belittled him and cause great emotional wounds that destroyed his self-confidence. He carried these emotional scars into adulthood and it affects his life today. Children wound each other with cutting words as they mock those who are overweight, unattractive or have a physical problem. Those words cut deeply and cause others to die inside.
Words that encourage and build up another person give new life and vigor to others. A seminary professor told the story of a classroom experiment that illustrates this well. Two students were scheduled to deliver a fifteen minute message for the class to evaluate. Unknown to the two students, the class had been instructed to give encouragement to the first student and discouragement to the second in order to illustrate how we can affect others by our communication. The first student delivered his message and the class smiled, nodded, took notes, said ‘amen’ and showed him great support. By the end of his message he was fired up and preaching with great confidence. When the second preached, they frowned, looked at their watches, drifted to sleep and looked either annoyed or bored. The second student struggled to deliver his message and then stepped down from the podium in shame and the class had to encourage him as he began to tearfully break down. The only real difference was the encouragement or discouragement of his fellows.
The same is true for words – and even more so. If we say cruel or harsh words, we break the spirit of others with the words of death from our tongue. If we build up another with words of encouragement, our tongue is a tree of life to that person. Consider this passage from Matthew 5:
22 "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.
Let’s consider what is being taught through this illustration. It is not identifying someone’s action as foolish that is being condemned for Jesus often referred to those who disobeyed the truth as fools. It is not the word fool that puts us in danger of judgment. Look at the entire message of this verse. The word ‘Raca’ means, “you are an empty headed person or someone without sense”. So when we look at the three problems being addressed here it is clear that this is the process of tearing someone down.
To be angry without a cause is to degrade someone and to despise them and imply their lack of human value. Having a critical spirit toward someone is also being angry without a cause. To call someone ‘Raca’ is to devalue someone. To tell someone that they are a fool is to devalue that person. To mock someone, make fun of them, use bitter sarcasm or express a critical spirit toward another is also devaluing and I believe falls under the condemnation of this passage. We often do this to our spouses and other family members and do not recognize the harm we are causing that person and the displeasure God has expressed against this behavior. None of the things stated in this passage are addressing someone’s misbehavior or foolish choices, but it is devaluing someone as you tear them down. You can be in danger of God’s warning of judgment without using the word ‘fool’ if you are wounding someone’s spirit with other words that communicate the same meaning. It is the destruction of another that God is judging. This is explained further in these two passages from 1 John:
1 John 3:14-15 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 4:20-21 20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Your tongue reveals whether you are in life or death just as Proverbs states. If you tear down those around you, you are not walking in the love of God and indeed you cannot claim to even love God according to the above scripture. The power of the tongue is to build up or destroy others. You are commanded to build up and are also commanded not to destroy. This holds true for your spouse, children, church members and anyone in your circle of influence. If you do not bring your words under guard, you are in danger of your own destruction according to the scriptures.
Proverbs 21: 23 Whoever guards his mouth and tongue Keeps his soul from troubles.
The Fruit of our Lips.
Before we move on, I would like to look at one more passage that is misused to falsely claim that we create with our words. Look at Proverbs 18:
20 A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth, From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.
Once again take note of the fact that this passage does not claim that you are creating anything with the words you speak. So what is the produce of our lips? When you are interviewing for a job, what is the first thing the interviewer evaluates about your interview? It is your communication skills. Each year when companies are surveyed by recruiters to find out what they like and dislike about potential employees, the number one issue for almost every company is communication skills. The lack of communication skills has long been the most common complaint about the up and coming workforce. High school and college students have been steadily losing the ability to communicate effectively for decades.
The book of Proverbs is filled with both spiritual advice and practical advice for daily living. What you speak with your mouth reveals both what is in your heart and what is in your mind. With your mouth you build up relationships or tear down the channels of communication. Those who express themselves wisely will benefit from the words of their mouth. This is explained further in these passages in Proverbs:
Proverbs 22: 11 He who loves purity of heart And has grace on his lips, The king will be his friend.
Proverbs 20: 15 There is gold and a multitude of rubies, But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
The spiritual condition of your heart will come out in your mouth. If you are walking in God’s wisdom, this will affect the way you live and the way you speak. Through wisdom, God has promised to bless, honor and prosper our lives. If you have wisdom, it will always come out in your speech and those who live by the wisdom of scripture will be rewarded with the promises of God. Those who truly have godly wisdom will speak what is right and will eat the fruit of their words that are based on wisdom. Look at Proverbs 15:
2 The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.
Whenever you see the word ‘wise’ or ‘wisdom’ in scripture, it is always in reference to the wisdom of God. There is a worldly wisdom that is foolishness with God (1 Corinthians 3:19), but the wisdom we are talking about is the wisdom given by the Spirit of God through the instruction of scripture (Proverbs 8:32-36, Prov. 4:11-13, Prov. 19:20).
Words Justify or Condemn
Our words communicate our understanding and testify for or against us. Consider this passage from Matthew 12:36-37
36 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
The words we speak will be brought into account when we all stand before the judgment seat of Christ for our words reveal what is in our heart. Consider this passage from Romans 10:9-11
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
What saves us, the spoken word? No, the confession of our mouth that testifies that we believe on Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel. Saying a prayer does not save anyone for if we don’t believe, it is not a confession. Anyone can say a sinner’s prayer but their life is not changed until someone first believes in their heart, repents of their sins and then confesses Jesus as Lord as a profession of their submission to God’s call to their heart. I said a sinner’s prayer when I was a child because I was told that this would mean that I was saved. It was not until I heard the message of the gospel several years later that I recognized the truth, heard God’s call and then answered that call. So here we see that the words of our mouth justify because our words testify that Jesus is indeed Lord.
In Luke 19 Jesus tells the parable of three servants who were entrusted with money for the purpose of investing in their Lord’s kingdom. The first two prospered and were rewarded for their faithfulness but the third did nothing but hide the money out of fear. When their Lord returned he required an account of the money given to them. When the third servant came forward he professed that he knew the power of his lord but still chose to hide the money because he was afraid. Jesus then explained the following, “Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.” His words condemned him.
We judge others for sins that we ourselves commit. Our acknowledgment of these things are a testimony against us. I can remember a time when I complained about the behavior of one of my family members. I said that there was nothing worse than someone who behaves in this way. As the words fell from my lips, I realized that I had condemned myself for I had behaved in the same way to my own family. I grew up into these same habits and was so blind to myself that I could not see my own behavior until I heard myself condemn someone else. That was a powerful realization for it was life changing for me. Once my eyes were opened, I realized my own need to change.
How many times do we do this same thing and never realize our own failures because pride has blinded our eyes to our own behavior. We will condemn someone for committing adultery but if we lust, we are just as guilty according to Jesus (Matthew 5:28). We condemn murder, but the Bible says that hatred is murder in God’s eyes (1 John 3:15). We condemn idolatry but if we covet, we are practicing idolatry (Colossians 3:5). If you acknowledge that witchcraft is a sin but rebel against God’s commandments, you have condemned yourself (1 Samuel 15:23).
It is easy to recognize the sins in others, but we must examine ourselves and surrender our sins to God as we allow God to transform us by His Spirit. Without submitting to God, we cannot overcome our sins. Our words truly testify against us each time we profess our acknowledgment against someone else. We may indeed be condemned by our words, but we are justified by our confessions. This is explained in 1 John 1:8-10
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
To confess our sins is to agree with the word of God that our actions are wrong and that His word is right. Just as you cannot confess Christ without believing in His salvation and agreeing that He is Lord, you cannot confess your sins without agreeing that God’s word is true and that you are forsaking your sins and turning away from them as you turn toward Him. Confessing always involves repentance (or turning away from your ways). Isn’t this exactly what is being taught by this passage that we love to quote regarding prayer from 2 Chronicles 7:
14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
If there is no turning from our ways, there is no repentance, no healing, and no forgiveness. We are condemned by our words when we are lifted up in pride, but we are justified by our words when we humble ourselves, confess our sins, turn from our ways and seek God’s face. Until there is repentance, our prayer is an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 28:9).
Conclusion
So hopefully we can see that words do indeed have power through communication and not through the word itself. It is not a mystical power that is put into motion when we speak, but rather is the power of communication and is based on the authority of the one speaking. Mankind has no power to alter the future by words spoken for the Lord alone possesses this power. This is clearly explained in Lamentations 3:37-41
37 Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, When the Lord has not commanded it? 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed? 39 Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins? 40 Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD; 41 Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.
This is not an issue that should be ignored for our understanding of this topic does have a direct impact on our lives. God alone has the power to speak something out of nothing. It is not the word, but the word backed by God’s own power. When we put our trust into words we are guilty of idolatry. Idolatry is to elevate something higher than God or to accredit something of God to an idol. A word can be an idol if we are putting our trust in the spoken word of our mouth. If we attempt to place ourselves into the place of God by claiming ourselves as the authority by words spoken, we are also guilty of idolatry. To trust in my own words is to make myself into an idol. It is arrogant to think that I can put myself on par with God. The Word of Faith movement does just that. The entire word of faith and New Age doctrine of words is destroyed by one passage – look at Psalm 12:3-4
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, And the tongue that speaks proud things, 4 Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?"
Do you proclaim that you will prevail with the power of your tongue? Do you speak proud things and claim to have the power of God? Do not fall into this trap of pride for those who do these things will be cut off from the Lord. The promise is to those who love mercy, do justly and walk humbly with their God (Micah 6:8). God has stated that humility comes before honor (Proverbs 15:33, 18:12, and 22:4). Finally, look at this wonderful passage filled with promises in Psalm 25:9-14
9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. 10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. 11 For Your name's sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. 12 Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. 13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.
The one who finds the paths of truth, justice and understanding in God’s ways is not the one who ‘prophesies’ his way, but the one who humbles himself to obey God and hear His word. Without humility, you cannot find the secret of the Lord or inherit all the promises of God. We put our trust in His word, not our words, for God alone has the word of His power.
Eddie Snipes
Exchanged Life Outreach
http://www.exchangedlife.com
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