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Your Words are Your Servants
When the disciples became afraid in the midst of a storm, Jesus asked them, “Where is ...
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Your Words are Your Servants
When the disciples became afraid in the midst of a storm, Jesus asked them, “Where is your faith?” Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was 3
Your Words Are Your Servants a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? (Luke 8:22-25a).
It was obvious their faith was in their mouth and in their heart. They believed they were all going to drown in the midst of that storm. They had more faith in the storm than in the words of Jesus who had said, “Let us go to the other side of the lake.” Matthew’s account reveals that Jesus said to them, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26a). Then on another occasion in Luke 17:5, the apostles said unto the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The apostles couldn’t read Mark 4 or Mark 11:23-24 to find out how the Kingdom of God operates. They evidently didn’t know that faith cometh by hearing (Romans 10:17). Then again in Matthew 17 the disciples failed to cast a demon out of a boy, so Jesus had to do it. 4
Your Words are Your Servants
Later when Jesus was alone with them, they asked Him why they couldn’t cast him out. And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you (Matthew 17:20).
These words are similar to what Jesus said in Luke 17:6, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you.
Both of these examples, the mountain in Matthew 17:20 and the sycamine tree in Luke 1 7 : 6 , refer to the problems or the circumstances of life. 5
Your Words Are Your Servants
Jesus did not say, “If you have faith the size of a seed,” but, “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed...” Jesus is using as an example a type of seed that is familiar to the apostles. They were familiar with a mustard plant. Another thing that was involved in Jesus saying “mustard seed,” it didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the size of the seed, but a mustard plant is a plant that you cannot hybrid. You cannot cross-pollinate it with any other plant. Whatever you do to it, it’s going to be mustard. So Jesus was saying, “if you had faith that will not change under any circumstances.” A mustard seed is small, and a single seed is not good for anything but planting. Jesus seemed to be saying, you don’t need more faith, but you must be willing to plant what you have for that’s the way you put it to work. The idea conveyed was to say to the problem, “Be removed, 6
Your Words are Your Servants
you will never hinder me again!” When answering the apostles’ request to give them more faith, Jesus, in so many words, said, “You don’t need more faith. You just need to use the faith you have by speaking it.”
Plant Your Faith Luke 17:6 and Matthew 17:20 contain three great secrets of faith: 1. Faith works like a seed. 2. You must plant it to get the benefit of that faith seed. 3. You plant faith by speaking words that are based on the authority of Gods Word. The Kingdom operates by the principle of sowing and reaping. And He said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he 7
Your Words Are Your Servants knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come (Mark 4:26-29).
In studying the teachings of Jesus, Peter, James, and others, I am convinced that the seed cannot be planted in your heart unless you speak words. They will never abide in the heart unless you speak them. Paul tells us, ... the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise... The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach (Romans l0:6; 8).
The word “even” is added by the translators. It actually says, “the word is in thy mouth and 8
Your Words are Your Servants
(then) in thy heart.”
Leave your Seed in the Ground Here is something you should remember when planting seeds of faith: Once the seed is planted, you no longer have it; it’s in the ground (heart), leave it planted. You often hear people use the phrase, “I’m believing for...” (I have said it myself). But if you are believing for it, you are in the process; but you haven’t believed yet. Once you have believed, it is settled! Once the seed is planted, you don’t go back to dig it up! It is the substance of what you desire. Praise God for it, even though it’s not yet in your possession, because you have believed that you have received in the realm of the spirit... past tense... and you shall receive. The seed is planted. You’ve traded faith for the thing you believed. 9
Your Words Are Your Servants
When you go to the store, you gather your groceries, and take them to the cash register. The cashier tells you the amount of the groceries, and you lay your money on the counter. After your groceries are bagged, if you pick up both your money and the groceries and start out the door, the cashier will say, “Wait a minute! You have to leave one of them here, either the groceries or the money. You can’t leave with both!” When you believed, you settled it! You planted your faith. Don’t dig it up because you can't have both the seed and the harvest. You have already believed. Leave your faith planted and confess the harvest. Let’s look at the conversation between Jesus and the centurion in Matthew 8. The centurion said, ... Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith 10
Your Words are Your Servants unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel (Matthew 8:6-10).
When Jesus heard these words, He stopped and preached a sermon. This centurion was a Roman Gentile. He was not under the Covenant that God had with Israel at that time, and yet Jesus said he had the greatest faith He had found in all Israel!
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Your Words Are Your Servants
Then Jesus said, “... Go thy way; and as thou hast believed (past tense), so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour” (Matthew 8:13). The centurion released his faith when he said to Jesus, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.” He was not believing; he had already believed. He planted the seed and left it in the ground. Jesus said to him, “As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.”
Words Are Your Servants But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and 12
Your Words are Your Servants drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did things that were commanded him? I trow not (Luke 17:7-9).
You can state the point of the above passage in two different ways: Faith is the servant of the believer or faith-filled words are the servant of the believer. Actually you can say it three ways: 1. The sycamine tree obeys you. 2. The sycamine tree obeys your words. 3. The sycamine tree obeys your faith. In Bible days, no master had his servant rest or eat before serving him. As soon as the servant came in from plowing or feeding cattle, he cooked the meal and fed the master; then he ate the leftovers later.
Don’t Relax After Victory 13
Your Words Are Your Servants
Faith-filled words become your servants, working for you day in and day out. When they bring in the victory, you don’t say to your words: “Since you won that victory, I’m going to let you relax a few days.” When they are through with one job, don’t let them lie around and get lazy. After spending a long day working, the servant in Luke 17 came home to do more work. In Matthew 12:36 Jesus said, “... that every idle word that man shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Why is that? I believe the answer is found in Jesus’ teaching of Mark 11:23-24, For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 14
Your Words are Your Servants Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
If you let your servant (faith-filled words) lie around idle, you will give an account of not putting your words to work for you. As the master kept the servant working in Luke 17, we must keep our words working. We do that by speaking the thing desired based on the authority of God’s Word and by doing so we give them a new assignment.
Things to Remember
Learn to use your faith as a seed.
Plant your faith by speaking it.
Once the seed is planted, don’t dig it up.
Faith-filled words are your 15
Your Words Are Your Servants
servants.
They work for you day and night.
Keep your words working, they also produce faith!
Charles Capps Ministries P. O. Box 69 England, Arkansas 72046
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