Sound of Faith

Sharon Hardy Knotts: Greetings friends and new listeners. I'm Sharon Knotts, welcoming you to the Sound of Faith because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message is part of an in-depth study entitled The Spoken Word Series, which includes teaching on the creative Word of God, because everything that's created visible and invisible, God spoke into being.

Also, the living Word, the revelation of the two-mouthed sword of the spirit, which is the spoken Word of God when we speak what God has quickened to our spirits. This teaching is the culmination of my own personal journey from a place of deep despair to an authorized and dynamized deputy of the spoken Word of God.

R. G. Hardy: There's a beautiful anointing here this morning. I'm excited to bring the word of the Lord. I first taught this series almost seven years ago. I didn't realize it had been that long, The Spoken Word series. I was going to prepare it to go on the radio, and I just felt like there was so much more insight that I have now than seven years ago, and I felt that there was room for improvement, even in the delivery in places.

I didn't want to put it on the radio like it is. I feel that I could do better, and there's only one way to do that, and that's to redo it. This morning, we're going to begin with the foundation, and that is literal and even metaphorically the foundation, which is the creative word of God. My favorite part of the message will actually come next week when we get into the active living word of God, and where we really get to participate.

However, in order to truly grasp the understanding and the truth of how powerful and alive God's word is, we have to go back and see God's word in action in the beginning. Now, I know you think we should start in Genesis 1:1. However, we will get there, but we're going to start in the Gospel of John 1:1. If you want to follow with me, turn your Bibles to John 1:1. We'll read the first three verses.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made." I'm going to take the liberty to reread that, and this time wherever I see the pronoun him or he, I'm going to go ahead and substitute "the Word". Because the pronoun he and him stands for the noun or the subject, which is the Word.

When we do this, we will see that it will make a greater impact on our spirit. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was in the beginning with God. All things were made by the Word, and without the Word was not anything made that was made." You see how it is more powerful.

The beginning here does not refer to the beginning of God or the beginning of the Word, because they have no beginning. God is God from everlasting to everlasting. The beginning here is creation. We're talking about God created by the Word. Our first principle of creation is all things, whether they're seen or unseen, whether they're earthly or heavenly, were created by the Word of God.

Now, creation was a one-time event, and I like to say it this way. When we read Genesis 1, we find out in six days God created everything. Some people want to say, was it 24-hour days, or was it a thousand years? I don't know. I will tell you this, it was in six God-days. Whether it was 24 hours or thousands of years or millions of years, God created everything.

For instance, we have camp meeting in August, and we refer to that time as camp meeting. Now, camp meeting is more than one day. It's at least five days. We have already had it as much as ten days, and we've even had it as much as 14 days. But we refer to all of that as camp meeting. It's an event that spans more than one day.

That's how it is with creation. Creation was one event, whatever the time span was, it was one event. Let's drop down to verse 10 while we're here, and I'm going to take the liberty now to wherever I see the pronoun he, I'm going to make it the Word, because we already found out in verse 1 that we're talking about the Word of God. Verse 10, "The Word was in the world, and the world was made by the Word, and the world knew the Word not."

Let's look at verse 14. "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And now let's read one more verse, verse 17. "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

So now we put all the pieces together. We find out that the world, everything seen and unseen, was made by the word of God. We find out that something marvelous took place. The Word of God became flesh. He took on humanity. We find out that out of him came grace and truth. Verse 17 names him. Who is this person that took on humanity? What is his human name? Jesus Christ. It's out of Jesus Christ that came grace and truth. Jesus then is the word of God made flesh.

When we get to the end of the story in Revelation, we see that he is returning on a white horse, and the saints of God are with him. It says he has a name written on his thigh, and without going into detail, it refers to his prayer shawl, the tallit, that has the knotted fringes and the numbers that if you put them together was the word of God. Isn't that marvelous?

When he comes back to the earth, he's coming back as the word of God, because that's who he is. Jesus was only the form of humanity that he took on. Let me say this, he was not made flesh. That's an improper translation. He wasn't made anything, he made everything. Do you understand the difference? He became flesh. In the womb of Mary, he took on a human body.

The Greek word for the verb there that they put "was made", it means "to be", but it's in the imperfect tense. When they translated it "was", it makes it sound like it's past tense period. When you say "was", it means in the past and it remains "was". It's not the way it is in Greek. In Greek, it's from the verb "to be" and it's an imperfect tense.

It means continuous existence. He was then, he is now. He was then, he is now and he will be. It's very important to see that. He became flesh. In fact, he even said, repeating a verse that comes out of the Psalms in Hebrews that tells us that when he came into the world, he said, "It is written of me in the volume of the book, lo, a body thou hast prepared for me." What was that body? It was the baby Jesus. He became flesh, the word of God.

If he was made, then that means it would have been a brand-new species. But because he became, he's still the word of God. If he was made, it would be a brand-new species. But he became. The Word of God just took on humanity. Underneath the humanity, he's still the Word of God.

Everything was created by him. Now, let's go to Colossians 1:16 and 17, and this dovetails with what we just read in John. I am going to take the liberty right up front and tell you that wherever I see he or him, I'm going to substitute the Word. "For by the Word were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by the Word and for the Word. And the Word is before all things, and by the Word, all things consist."

This is powerful. The word of God, who became flesh and blood, Jesus Christ, created everything in the universe, whether it's visible or invisible, including all the authorities and the thrones and the dominions that we cannot see. They're ruling in the heavenlies. All these things were created by him and for him. We know that there was a rebellion, and we know that Lucifer fell and took one-third of the angelic host with him. But they were created by and for the Word of God.

Because he created all these things, these unseen realms and the second heavens where we have principalities and powers, and Paul said in Ephesians the sixth chapter, where we have the rulers of the darkness of this world and the spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies, because he created them, he has authority over them. By reason of creation, Jesus has authority over all these things. He delegated that authority to somebody else. We'll talk about that next week.

While we're in Colossians, let's look at Colossians the second chapter, verses 14 and 15. Now we're speaking of Jesus in his human form. What did he do for us on the cross? "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly and triumphing over them in it," or in the cross.

I only brought this up because I want you to see something. We've already discovered that Jesus has authority over all these principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness because he created them. But he went to the cross to take back what the devil had stolen from us because of the sin of Adam. He publicly stripped Satan of the authority that he gained through Adam's sin. He publicly stripped from him the right to cause us to remain under the curses that came because of Adam's sin.

A powerful verse is Galatians 3:13. It says that Jesus became a curse for us that we could be delivered from the curse, because cursed is he that hangeth on the tree. And we find out that also here in Colossians and verse 1:13, it says, "He delivered us from the power of darkness." But the word there for power in the Greek is not "dunamis", it's "exousia". What does that mean? Authority. He delivered us from the authority of darkness.

Jesus did not go to the cross to win authority over the devil. He already had authority over the devil because he created all things, and by virtue of creation, he has authority over all things. He told his disciples in Luke 10:18, "I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven." He has authority over him. But he went to the cross so that we could have authority over Satan. He went to the cross so that we could have authority over the powers of darkness and the rulers of the darkness of this world.

Because he created them, he's the Word of God. They are subject to him. He stripped Satan of his authority on the cross for everyone who will receive and believe in Jesus' death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, and he gave us authority over the powers of darkness. Satan is subject to us. What did he tell the disciples when he sent them forth? He said, "Behold, I give you power, exousia, behold, I give you authority over all the powers of the enemy."

We know that by that verse right there that authority trumps power. It doesn't matter how powerful the enemy is that comes against you, authority trumps power. When the enemy attacks you, your physical body will react to the attack. Your knees will start shaking, you'll start quivering, you'll feel like you're going to faint, you may not be able to find your voice. That's your physical body reacting to the presence of evil. But in your spirit man, you have authority, and all you've got to do is say, "In the name of Jesus!"

You don't even have to yell it. Authority trumps power. Satan knows it. He knows it, but he's not going to do anything until you tell him. We see that the Word of God has created all things. Because of that, he has authority over them. We will see more next week what it means because we have authority. But let's look at this verse 17 that we just read in Colossians 1:17. "And by the Word all things consist."

This word consist is very interesting. The Greek word means "with" or "together", something that stands together, holds together, is stuck together, coheres. Because it has the prefix S-Y-N on the front of it. When we bring this into our English words from the Greek, for instance, the word symphony. It means "with sound". It means together many, many sounds. You can't have a symphony with one instrument. You have to have an orchestra to play a symphony.

So here in the Greek, this word means with, to hold together, to cohere. What it says is the Word of God holds everything together. Not only did he speak everything into existence at creation, but here we are millennia later. All the things that he created by his spoken Word are still where they're supposed to be. His Word not only created them, but his Word continues to keep them in their proper orders and functions and positions and places. There's no chaos.

The sun hasn't moved even one degree. We'd either be an ice ball or a fireball. But the sun is where it's supposed to be. Psalm 19 says that the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth forth his power. Day unto day utter speech and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Whose voice? The voice of all of these stars and planets. And it says, "for in them he made a tabernacle for the sun."

The sun is exactly where it's supposed to be in our solar system. If it moves one way or the other, we're either going to turn into ice or we're going to turn into fire. Why is it there? He made a tabernacle for it. He said, "This is where you are and this is where you stay." And it's still obeying his voice. He is the principle of creation and he's the principle of cohesion. His Word was the instrument that created everything, and his Word is the instrument that keeps it all holding together where it belongs.

Everything in the universe that we see, God has created it by his Word and continues to hold it together by his Word. Turn in Hebrews the 11th chapter and verse 3. It's just one verse I want you to read, but I like the way it goes along with this Colossians. So now we see in Colossians that he created everything, and after he created it, he continues to hold it together by his Word. Hebrews 11:3 tells us, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

We're being told a lot here. First of all, we're being told that through faith, God had faith in his own Word. God had enough faith in his own Word that he thought, "If I speak it, it shall be. If I say it, it will come into being. All I've got to do is say it." I'm getting ahead of myself. "All I've got to do is say it. I've got faith that if I speak it, it will come into existence." So through faith, the Word of God framed everything that we see and what we don't see. Here the word of God is R-H-E-M-A in the Greek, which is "rhema".

We've been reading the Word of God in John, but there it was "logos", the written word of God. But here now we've got the spoken word of God. God said, "I've got enough faith in my mouth. I've got enough faith in my tongue. I've got enough faith in my words that if I speak them, I will create whatever I say." Here we have the introduction of the spoken word of God. The word framed is very interesting, because it means to put things together in an appropriate position. It means to establish something, set it up, arrange it, put it in order.

Framed. If you want to build a brand-new house, they start off with a foundation. What's the next thing they do? They start framing the outer walls. They start framing whatever that diagram says that those walls are going to be. They have to frame it first. You cannot put kitchen cabinets on thin air. You've got to have walls that are framed so that now you can make it orderly and beautiful and hang some cabinets on it. But it all started with the framework.

The Word of God put every particle in this entire grandiose universe in its perfect position and precise order. Saints, how can anyone believe that this universe and this earth with all of its myriad beautiful creation of the plants and the flowers and the animals and all the laws of science is happenstance? How can it all just be random? If I told you that I got this wristwatch because someone gave me a paper bag and in it had some springs and it had a dial and some hands and all kinds of little pieces and a piece of quartz in there. It was all just about a hundred parts or something, and they gave me this brown bag and I just shook it up and shook it up and shook it up. The Big Bang shake, shake, shake, shake. And voila!

I got this watch for my 50th birthday, so it's almost 13 years old this month. It's still running, and it keeps perfect timing. It's one of the best watches I've ever had in my whole life. In case you want to know what it is, it's a Pulsar, P-U-L-S-A-R, in case you want to buy a good watch. You know how you just get tired of a watch and you want a new one because you're tired of looking at the old one? This thing won't quit. I don't have an excuse, it just keeps going. But I like it because it's easy to read. When you get to be a certain age, it doesn't matter how pretty that watch is if you can't read the face.

If I told you that, you would say that's ridiculous. How can we think that this entire universe with its complexity, with its variety, with all of the laws that are perfect that if you circumvent them we would have chaos? Just remove the law of gravity and see what happens. And you think all of that was just accidental? Of course not. If we wouldn't believe that this watch was made by accident, we know it has a design, it has a purpose, it has a function. Somebody had to design it with a purpose and a function.

It's the same way when God created us. Most of us, the average person has over 60 trillion cells in their body. There was a time that scientists thought that the cell was the smallest thing, that that was it. But now they realize that within one cell there's a little factory in there. Working and whatever it's designed to do. If you could put on some super microscopic thing like Superman eyesight and look in there, you would see a little factory and you've got over 60 trillion of them.

So when you consider that, you know it cannot be accidental. No, it was framed by the Word of God. That's why David said in Psalm 139, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and my substance was not hid from you when I was curiously wrought in the bowels of the earth." I love the word curious. To me, whenever I hear that word now, I automatically think of DNA. You've seen renditions of DNA, and it looks almost like a cord and it's twisted.

On the DNA are all the little chromosomes that determine how tall you're going to be, what color eyes you're going to have, etc. All of that is in your DNA. Everything about you, whether you're going to be a male or a female, all of that is in your DNA. And the word curious that's used in Psalm 139, it also is used in the books of Moses where he describes the tabernacle, and he described them creating the clothing for the high priest and described them making the veil for the temple. And they had to have people that were experts at embroidery.

Embroidery is very beautiful. You don't see it much because people have forgotten how to embroider. Everything is printed on, stamped on, or machines do it. But when you by hand make all those beautiful little flowers and delicate things in different colors, that's an art. That's the same word that's used when God created us when we were in our mother's womb. So we see that God framed the world, the universe and everything in it, on it, above it, around it by the rhema, the spoken Word of God.

Sharon Hardy Knotts: I really hope you're being blessed and spiritually enlightened by this teaching, The Spoken Word Series. This revelation was forged in my spirit during a time of prolonged suffering in my body, which triggered emotional and mental anguish. I had always had a strong spirit of faith, but after being homebound and bedridden, I despaired. In my distress, I begged God for a word to hold on to, and he gave me John 15:7. "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you will and it shall be done."

Honestly, I was disappointed. I wanted something more dramatic. But then I began to get this revelation of God's spoken word, and gradually as I put it into practice, I overcame the attacks of the adversary. The foundation is the creative word. The Word of God literally spoke everything into existence. He framed the worlds and he upholds all things by the Word of his power.

The revelation is the authority that Jesus, the Word of God made flesh and dwelt amongst us, had himself and gave to us to speak the Word as a sharp two-edged sword against the enemy. The literal Greek says two-mouthed sword. One mouth is God's, and the second is mine or yours when we speak forth the Word that God quickens to our spirits. This creates the one weapon against which Satan has no defense.

Rhema is not a magical formula. It is the active living word of God, a word from the Word that comes out of our mouth. The application is the illumination of Jesus' own ministry, by which he demonstrated faith in his own spoken Word and its unlimited authority over time and distance when he sent his Word and he healed them.

Friends, I urge you to order The Spoken Word Series. The complete set is a three-CD set, offer SK136. That's SK136. Please send a minimum love gift of $15 to the Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland 21203, or order online at soundoffaith.org where you may also order on MP3. But to order The Spoken Word Series by mail, send your minimum love gift of $15 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland 21203, request offer SK136. Until next time, this is Sharon Knotts saying, Maranatha.