Your Miracle Is In Your Mouth (4 page)

Some of you may ask, “Pastor Prince, if that is true, then why am I still sick? Why am I still out of a job? Why am I still single?” My answer to you is this: Don’t look at your negative circumstances. Your situation does not wipe out the power of the cross. Just because there are dark clouds does not mean that the sun has stopped shining. No, the sun is always shining. Sometimes, you may not see it with your eyes, but it is still there behind the clouds.

Your faith can be compared to a window. The window allows light into the room. It does not create the light. Now, people who have a lot of faith tend to have larger windows to let in more light. The light is always shining outside our windows, but we decide how much light to let in by the size of our windows. The question to you is whether your window is big enough to let enough light in for your circumstances.

Worry And Fear Constrict God’s Supply

Why is the river trickling or even dried up for some people? Why is the river not gushing and the sun not shining brightly in their lives? The reason is that they are full of worry and fear.

God gave me an illustration to help me understand this point. He showed me a red rubber hose connected to a tap. The tap was turned on, but there was no water coming out at the other end of the hose. This was because the owner of the hose was gripping it so tightly that the water could not flow out.

Now, can this person blame the water authority for not supplying the water? No, the water is still being supplied, but the man is not receiving the water because he is gripping the hose too tightly.

Many of us are doing just that. We are worried and fearful, and so our worries and fears constrict the supply hose of God’s provision. When we worry and fear, we are not trusting God. Instead, we are focusing on our circumstances rather than on the finished work of His Son. By doing that, we are gripping the supply hose too tightly and therefore not seeing the results.

Don’t Strike, Just Speak To The Rock — Your Miracle Is In Your Mouth

What should we do then to receive the water? Let go of the hose! Even if it means one finger at a time! Stop worrying. Stop grumbling. And start agreeing with God. Declare what He has said in His Word about you and your situation. Your miracle is in your mouth!

Let me explain this point by outlining another story in the Old Testament. In Numbers 20:1–12, the children of Israel, once again, stood against Moses in the desert of Zin because they had no water to drink. The passage teaches us what we are to do when we come to a place in which it seems like the river has dried up.

We read previously in Exodus 17 of the first occasion when the Israelites complained and Moses responded by striking the rock. The situations in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 are similar in that the Israelites had the same need and they responded in the same way. They found that there was no water, so they came against Moses and Aaron, and said,
“If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.” (Numbers 20:3–5)

Moses and Aaron didn’t argue with them, but went to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and fell on their faces. As I’ve said, when you face a problem, it’s best to go to God first. Then, the glory of the Lord appeared to them and the Lord told Moses what to do. Instead of telling Moses to strike a rock as He did in Exodus 17, He said to Moses,
“Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.”
(Numbers 20:8)

We see here that the Lord told Moses to speak to the rock. Last time, he was told to strike the rock. This time, he was told to use his mouth. But watch what Moses did instead. He took
“the rod from before the Lord”
as commanded. (Numbers 20:9) This rod was not Moses’ rod of judgment, but Aaron the high priest’s rod. (Numbers 17:10) Then, he and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and Moses said to them,
“Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”
Then, he
“lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with
his
rod”
. Water gushed out, and the congregation and their animals drank. (Numbers 20:10–11)

Moses disobeyed God. Instead of simply holding Aaron’s rod and speaking to the rock, he scolded the people and, for the first time, he called them rebels! Also, he didn’t use Aaron’s rod as instructed. He used
his
own rod of judgment and struck the rock not once, but twice. That was how fed up he was with the people!

Jesus’ one sacrifice on the cross is perfectly perfect and completely complete.

But despite his disobedience, God still blessed the people. Water flowed from the rock in abundance, and the people and their animals drank. Isn’t God gracious?

Why You Should Not Strike The Rock

Now, was Moses’ disobedience a small matter? No, it wasn’t! When we read on in this passage, we find that the Lord told Moses that because of his sin, he would not enter the promised land along with the children of Israel. He was literally to be left behind! Poor Moses! He finally saw the promised land and he even saw his people entering it, but he himself could not go in.

Why was his sin so significant that it cost him the promised land? The reason is that the rock here also typifies Christ. And by striking the rock, Moses was spoiling the picture of Christ! The first smiting of the rock 38 years ago points to the crucifixion of Jesus. By striking the rock again, Moses was crucifying Christ a second time! That is why the Lord told him this time to speak to the rock, not strike it.

Jesus’ one sacrifice on the cross is perfectly perfect and completely complete. When He died, He cried,
“It is finished!”
(John 19:30) What is finished? His work of atoning for our sins is finished once and for all.

Paul said,
“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.”
(Hebrews 10:12–13) And through one offering, He perfected forever those who are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14, KJV) Jesus’
“one sacrifice for sins forever”
means that there is no longer any need for you to offer sacrifices for your sins! God has already poured out the full fury of His wrath when He punished all your sins in the body of His Son. Your lifetime of sins has been dealt with! You
have
forgiveness of sins!

So when you sin today, there is no need to ask Jesus to come down from heaven to die on the cross again for your sin. There is no need to strike the Rock again. Jesus’ one sacrifice for sins avails for all eternity!

What Does Striking The Rock Mean Today?

Every Christian will agree that there is no need for Jesus to come down from heaven to die again for our sins. But do we really understand what it means today to crucify Him afresh?

Let me ask you this: When you fall into sin, what is your response? If you beg God to forgive you and you make a fresh application of Jesus’ blood so that you can be made righteous all over again, you are crucifying Christ afresh.

He is more willing to bless you than you are willing to be blessed!

If you have just been retrenched and you need a new job, what is your response? If you grumble, cry and beg God to bless you with a new job, you are crucifying Christ again.

Let me explain. In both cases, you are saying that Jesus’ work is not complete. You are saying that His blood did not really take away all your sins. You are saying that His death on the cross is not good enough for God to release the fullness of His blessings on you. In essence, you are saying that He needs to be crucified again to finish what He didn’t finish!

No, far from it! Jesus died to sin
once for all
and that one death more than satisfied God! Today, God is so pleased with what His Son has done that He is more willing to bless you than you are willing to be blessed!

Some of you may still have questions like, “Pastor Prince, I believe God wants to bless me, but He can’t because I have some unconfessed and unforgiven sins.” Unfortunately, many Christians today are still so sin-conscious, instead of Son-conscious, that they miss out on so many of God’s blessings.

Let me now address this issue of the forgiveness of sins. In the Old Testament, the children of Israel had to make repeated offerings for sins year after year because the blood of bulls and goats just could not give them eternal redemption and everlasting righteousness. (Hebrews 10:1–4) But Jesus by His own blood has obtained
eternal
redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12) His blood has made us righteous
forever
because His blood is ever efficacious.

If man offers the sin offering, it is never enough. But if God offers the sin offering — if God offers Himself — will He provide something that is temporal and which tomorrow must be offered again? If, even after Jesus has offered His blood, we still have to resort to “repeated offerings” by begging for forgiveness, beating ourselves or doing good works every time we sin, we are actually putting the blood of God’s Son on the same level as the blood of bulls and goats! And we are also saying that Christ the Rock needs to be struck repeatedly for our sins!

What I find ironic is this: In the Old Testament, the Israelites had their sins covered for one year. Yet, we in the New Testament seem to have it worse. Today, one Christian denomination believes that their sins are covered for one week until their next confession! Another denomination believes that their sins are covered for one day — they confess every sin they can remember every night before they sleep! And can you believe that some Christians act like Jesus’ blood cannot even cover their sins for one day? In the morning, they believe that they are forgiven. In the afternoon, they believe that they have lost that forgiveness and their righteousness because somewhere along the way they blew it. So they beg God for forgiveness and ask Him to make them righteous again!

Listen to me, my friend, there is no such thing as a forgiven and righteous-in-the-morning, unforgiven and unrighteous-in-the-afternoon Christian! There is no such doctrine in the Bible! Instead, what the Bible does tell us is that ALL our sins have been forgiven because of Jesus’ one sacrifice at the cross. (Colossians 2:13) So your forgiveness is based on
His
perfect, finished work. It is not contingent upon
your
confessions of sins.

Just think about this for a minute. If the forgiveness of your sins depended on your confessing your sins, you would have to have perfect awareness, perfect memory and perfect confession of every sin you have ever committed in order to be sure that you are forgiven. If that were the case, no person — man, woman or even pastor — would ever be completely forgiven because no human being can confess ALL his sins perfectly. Thank God that is
not
how we are forgiven! No, my friend, the forgiveness of our sins is not dependent on our works. It is dependent on Jesus’ perfect and finished work!

So do I confess my mistakes or sins? Absolutely. But here’s the difference: I go to my Father and I am honest with Him because I know that He loves me and has already forgiven me. I don’t do it in order to be forgiven.

So rest easy, my friend. If you are a Christian, you are a forgiven person, a righteous person. You cannot be a Christian and be unforgiven and unrighteous. The only unforgiven and unrighteous people on earth are those who have not availed themselves of the forgiveness in Christ. Once you are in Christ, you are in forgiveness, you are in righteousness!

How Should We Speak To The Rock?

God doesn’t want you to be sin-conscious anymore. He doesn’t want you to keep confessing your sins as though His Son didn’t completely remove them. He doesn’t want you to keep reminding Him of your sins — those same sins He has already forgotten. (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17)

You are no longer under the old covenant priesthood of repeated offerings that can never take away sins. You are now under the high priesthood of Jesus, the one who has offered one sacrifice for sins forever.

So when you are faced with a problem, what should your response be? Just speak to the Rock. You don’t have to strike the Rock like Moses did in disobedience.

What do I mean by “strike the Rock”? Well, some people strike the Rock by saying, “Oh, Jesus, can You forgive this sin I’ve committed? Oh, Jesus, please come and show me a sign! Let me know that You’ll forgive me!” Others strike Him by begging Him for help: “Oh, my God, have mercy on me! I’ll do whatever You say! Just help me, please!” That is
not
speaking to the Rock. That is striking the Rock.

You speak to the Rock by agreeing with and speaking God’s Word.

Now, this is what I mean by speaking to the Rock: We speak to the Rock when we say, “Hallelujah! Praise You, Lord Jesus! I thank You that because of Your blood I have forgiveness of sins. I thank You that because of the cross You will not count this sin against me! You are my Rock and my refuge, a very present help in times of trouble.”

You speak to the Rock by agreeing with God’s Word, by saying what He has said about you and your situation in His Word. That is true confession! The Greek word for “confession” is
homologeo
. It means “to say the same thing as another, to agree with”. In other words, we agree with God by saying what He has said in His Word.

So today, if you are sick, what do you say? Do you agree with your doctor’s report and confess your sickness? No, you agree with God and confess your healing! You say, “Thank You, Lord, that by Your stripes I am healed! (Isaiah 53:5) With long life You will satisfy me and show me Your salvation!” (Psalm 91:16)