Leon Fontaine - Justified or Condemned?
I'm going to read you a weird portion of Scripture. Now, the Bible has got some pretty different stuff. Like, I mean, other than just be good God. But there's sometimes little nuggets tucked away that you just miss all the time. And so I want to read you one, and then I'm going to just launch, launch pad from there. John 18:1-6, "After saying these things Jesus crossed the Kidron ravine with His disciples and He entered a grove of olive trees. Now Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, for Jesus had gone there many times with His disciples. The chief priests and Pharisees had given Judas a squad of soldiers and a squad of policemen to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons they arrived at the olive grove. Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to Him. So stepping forward to meet them He asked, 'Who you're looking for?' 'Jesus of Nazareth,' they replied. 'I am He.' The second He said this, they all fell backwards to the ground".
Now, I remember the first time I saw this, I thought, "This is too cool". That the words of Jesus are so powerful. That when He says, "I am He". There's a whole message on that when you realize that, who is God in the Old Testament? I am that I am. And here they ask, "Who are you"? He says, or they say, "We're looking for Jesus". And so He goes, "I am He". And they fell backwards to the ground. As I begin to look at this topic of spoken words. It changed my life. I remember being in my late teens. I was about 17 years old when I don't know if I've finally just got serious with God, or what. But I began, I heard this message. That rather than just God being in control of my life and I sure hope but I'm hoping and praying things go good. That there was a decisive way to determine the direction of my life. That seems so foreign to me because I've heard so many traveling preachers talked about, "God's got the whole world in His hands. He's in control".
Now, I get it. He's in control of this earth. The timetable on this earth. But He's not in control of your mouth, your money, your decisions, what you, how you drive, running red lights. Take a pick. He's not in control. And so you and I are working with Him on the decisions of our life. And so when I began to look at this topic, and what I want to talk to you today as, I want to talk to you about your talking. I want to talk to you about confessing, speaking out loud. Because as I travel, and I've traveled the world by that I mean many countries, and spoken to churches and trained pastors and leaders. I find it rare to find somebody who will speak the Word out loud. And I want you to notice as we go through this. This is crucial. If you do not do this, you are going to struggle in so many areas.
Now, as you look at the Word of God, I'm going to read you from a portion of Scripture. It says here Mark 11:24, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask or declare," That word means both. When you pray, believe that you receive them, and we can hope and pray and flip of a coin to see if you get them. He says no and you will have them. He says that when you ask, when you declare, John 15:7, says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you," Then everything's going to be okay. God's going to look after you. He's got you in His hands. No. That's not what it says. It says, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask," That word "ask" in the Greek is ask, declare, and even means to demand whatever you want, and it will be done to you. "Herein is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, so shall you be My discipline followers indeed or disciples".
This issue of speaking out loud is very important. Now, a lot of people are afraid to touch the topic of faith and confession because for every mile of truth, there's two miles of ditch. And we've got people that have just taken this message and made a mockery of it in weirdness. And there's others who don't believe there's any miracles today. They believe in sensationalism. That God doesn't do miracle. Well, that's too late because I saw a miracle since I was a kid. Let alone miracles are done. But one of the reasons I have noticed. That things slowdown in people's lives, or they don't even have a life of the supernatural blessing of God. Where you begin to sense His favour, His power, His financial blessing. Yes, His financial blessing, His healing power. I mean, peace in your mind, favour from every direction. Some people, they don't ever sense that. And when I say and I talk about things like that, they think I'm just blowing smoke. Until they start talking to my kids, or people on staff, or people around and they say, "No, I'm telling you. Things just come our way. Things just go well. In the middle of a storm, will just blow to our destination quicker. When people come against us, God turns around, works it for our favour".
And people begin to realize. Now, how can we get this in our personal lives? Well, first of all, you have to open your mouth and you have to speak. Say, "Leon, why is that so important? God knows my heart". You'll find in all the verses that I talk about, that it doesn't say if you abide in Me and My Words abide in you, you're going to get what you want. No, it's going to say, "It's what you ask. It's what you declare. It's what you confess. It's what you profess". As you begin to pray the Word out loud. Someone say, "Why does it have to be out loud"? Well, first of all, when the devil was tempting Jesus, okay? Remember that? I'm sure Jesus could have telepathically sent him a message. But He spoke and He said, "It is written".
Now, Jesus spoke out loud. He could have maybe snapped His fingers and, you know, like in the movies. The devil that went boom and hit the dust and his nose would have scraped all along the cement. That had been cool, or maybe just waved His hands like a slapping motion and the devil just goes, you know, somersaulting everywhere. But He didn't do that. He said, "It is written". And He spoke out loud three times. Now, the devil even tried to speak the Word back. Did you know the devil quotes the Bible? I had accounts with pastors and leaders going through crazy situations and they'll tell me a verse they feel God showed them about it. And I'll go, "Are you kidding me"?
Well, if Jesus needed to speak out loud to the devil to have him leave. Don't you think that if you just don't say anything, and you don't pray the Word, speak the Word. That the devil's going to leave? Well, yeah. Well, why would he leave? Well, because. He doesn't know your heart. He can't read your heart. He can't read your mind. You have to speak out loud. And the Bible says the enemy listens to our words. Did you know that the angels listens to our words? It's says if we deny Him, they're not going to... It says and if we talk about Jesus, they profess us. There's so many areas we could go in here. But I want you to understand that speaking the Word of God is an absolutely a classical doctrine from the old covenant to the new covenant. Now, Jesus when all these soldiers were around Him, and all the temple policemen were around Him, and Judas, and all the other religious figures that were coming to lock Him up. We got to say, "Well, Jesus could have just waved". He spoke. He said, "I am He".
There's something about words that have a tremendous impact. And if that force field of power took full armed Roman soldiers and like a wind went, and just put them on the ground. Then I wonder what else the power of God's Word will do. Well, the Bible says Jesus spoke to a tree and it change the very life of nature. The Bible says Jesus spoke to a storm and to wind, and they obeyed Him. He spoke to a demon possessed man that could break chains. And the man did a faceplant right in front of them and was completely set free. The Bible says He sends His word and heals. The Bible says God watches over His word to perform it. The Bible's very clear about spoken words. God, when He created the universe, could have snapped His fingers, could have waved His hand, and threw the Milky Way into existence. We think, or make. But actually God speaks His power.
I tell you a few quick stories before I just dive in some more of this teaching. As a single guy, I wanted a wife. And I wanted the right wife, and I'd had the hell scared out of me by a lot of preachers. That you marry the wrong one it's the closest thing to hell you're ever going to experience. And so I would pray. And I'd, you know, I'd read different books back then. There's a few of them out not many. And, you know, and so you've got to be specific. I thought, "Well, what? Like dimensions, hair color. Like what am I going to be specific on"? And thought, "I don't even know". So I'm going to just, I'm going to just say, "Father, I'm believing for a wife. You know what she's going to be like. And yes, You know that I want her to be beautiful and smart and intelligent". And so I just declare, and I begin to declare every day of my life. Father, I thank You for my wife. Wherever she is right now, because You know who she is, and You know what's going to take place in the years ahead. So I speak life to her. I declare the Word of God over her. You keep her. I thought, and I would just speak all the promises over saying, "You know who she is and I don't know who she is".
So I'm speaking this. And you know what, it was interesting is when Sal and I met. That there was different things. Like, you know, we go out for a while then things wouldn't work out. We're both growing up and things. And then I'd maybe meet another Christian girl and, man, my heart couldn't go to any of them. And it was just, it was interesting because I would try. And say, "Well, okay, we're breaking up again". You know, then I'd run another Christian girl who love God. It was just a, you know, a great friendship. And I, in my heart will just always beat to finally, I'm just going to ask her to marry me. And we did, and it was interesting that the prayers that I had made gave me a confidence and they protected my heart from messing up. I found that when Sal and I got married. We would begin to speak out loud over things like finances. We found that the Bible says God is so concerned about you. He knows the hairs on your head. He's so concerned about you. He sees a sparrow that falls. And so then He cares about every little thing.
In Romans 8:31, it says, "So what should we say about this? If God is for us, no one can defeat us". Interesting verse. Let's examine it. So what should we say? It doesn't say, "So what should we believe"? It's taking that for granted. It's saying, "So what should we say about this"? I say that if God is for me, no one can come against me. I was laughing the other day. We were talking around the house about some of the confessions we make. And I said, "Well, here's one I've been doing for quite a while". I said, "I declare that any mouth that rises against me. I put it down. Any sword that's pulled out against me enters their own heart. Any arrow that's loose against me enters their life. Any net that is spread before me. They fall into. Any pit that they dig. They fall into". Those are all verses. I just claim, in Jesus' name. And so and I know they work. So when someone comes against me, I kind of go, "No, no. Don't do that. Don't do that". Why? Because God's not going to do anything to them. These promises that I've spoken, they've made themselves a weapon, and no weapon formed against me prospers. Which is why you need to take these promises and speak them over every area of your life.
Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit". What fruit? Fruit of your mouth. The words that you speak are going to come up. The things you say to your spouse. The things you say when she's not there. The things you say to your kids, about your kids. The things you say about God. The things you say to yourself in frustration are all words that are released. Matthew 12:36, "But I say to you, every idle word that men speak, they will give an account for in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned".
Now, when I first read this, I thought, "So when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, He's going to go through every word I spoke in the last 120 years". That judgment it's going to take a long time to go through as person by person. But that's not what He's talking about. He's saying that in life, the words that you speak. They either justify you, or they condemn you. Your own words are either curses or blessings. If you don't believe it, just starts saying every day. I'm stupid. I'm a failure. I'm losing money. I have no friends. Just say things like that every day. You'll be so depressed, so quick and things just start happening because you, your words. Every idle word, He says, goes to work. That ought to scare us.
In Hebrews 4:14, it says, "Having then a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession". What? Why wouldn't it say hold fast our heart for God, hold fast our belief in Him? No. It says confession. Why? Because you should be speaking God's Word every day, about who you are in Christ, what Jesus has done for you, how Jesus has qualified you, what God... And as you begin to declare who you are in Christ. That you are the righteousness of God in Christ. That no weapon formed against you prospers. That the favour of God is all over your life because Jesus qualified you for every promise in the book. I could just go on and probably speak for hours. And to me, I just start feeling better and better as I confess the Word and speak the Word and pray over.
Every time I grab one of my grandkids. The kids and she'll be going for a little walk and I'm just speaking to them. I'm speaking the Word over them. You're going to be a mighty man of God. You're going to be a warrior princess. You're going to be speaking and teaching and walking in the blessing and the favour of God. He's going to make great decisions walking those, I just... and the words that I speak, will be with them for the rest of their lives. My dad prayed over me. The last 60 years before, before he went to be with Jesus. And no prayer just disappears after its spoken. Those words are so powerful that the prophets and the patriarchs in the Old Testament would pray and prophesy over their grandkids and great grandkids. And you read the Bible as it walks its way out. And those prayers, and those promises, those declarations, those prophetic utterances worked and did to those kids. The blessing and the favour of God.
You need to know that when you begin to speak God's Word, over a child, over your spouse, over your husband. You know, it just behooves me to listen to a spouse whine about their spouse, and then ask, "Do you speak the words out loud over them"? Well, no. Well, that's your job. You married them. What, what do you mean? The Bible's got a lot of promises about speaking the peace of God, the presence of God, the wisdom of God, knowing the love of God. And that your husband's going to sit in the gates. That your wife's going to be, I mean, there are so many things to speak out loud over that spouse. And so I just tell them.
Listen, before we start trying to analyze a couple of unrenewed minds that are messed up in their marriage, would you please just start speaking the Word for a while. And your amazing how, it's amazing how the spoken Word begins to change their soul, gets planted in their heart. How the spoken Word begins to cause them both to recognize the beauty, the value. It affects the romance. It affects the love. It affects how they look at the other person. It gives them patience beyond, because most couples get very impatient with each other when they go through rough times. You can speak the Word of God over so many areas of your life.
Let me give you a quick little couple minute teaching out of 2 Peter 1:1-4. So many people think that, "Oh, it's hard. I don't have enough faith to believe God for that". And I think sometimes faith teaching has gotten off-base. Where it's kind of like, you need to work at your faith. And let me read you an incredibly enlightening portion of Scripture. "Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ," 2 Peter 1:1-4, "To those who have obtained like precious faith". Okay, stop right there. Whoa, whoa. What kind of faith? The very kind of faith that Peter had and it's a precious faith. Which means it produces. It's amazing. It's incredible. It says we've obtained it. It doesn't say we earned it. It doesn't say we built it up. It doesn't say we hunted it down. It doesn't say we spent 7 years of going to retreats and conferences. No. We obtained it. How do we obtain it? By the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
When you heard the gospel for the first time, or whenever you decided to accept it. The hearing of the gospel brings a saving faith to you. Because I don't believe in that stuff. But as they hear the gospel, the Word of God. Which is why the gospel so powerful. You sharing the gospel through your testimony, what Jesus has done, what He has done for them, the good news. It just brings faith to them. It just hands them faith and they begin to sense it. And people will begin to give their lives to Christ. I watched it all the time in here. People started just cry through worship. Their eyes this wide. And you say, "You want to give your life to Jesus". Before I could say it, their hands are going in the air almost every service. Why is that? The teaching of the Word brings faith. But now when you get born again, you ask Jesus to come into your heart. You receive the measure of faith that Romans 12:3 talks about. You obtained this precious faith. The faith of Jesus. And you get it because of His righteousness, not because of yours.
Then it says, "Grace and peace are now multiplied in your life". If you don't know peace so powerfully, that when everyone's freaking out around you. You're going, "Hey, it's going to be okay". What do you mean then? I can't lose. I always win. That's why you need to start talking. Why is that? Because I'm God's favorite. Why? You're God's favorite? Yep. He favours me immensely. It doesn't mean I'm His favorite in measurement against you. But if He gives me His favour and it's multiplied. Then I must be His favorite. And you just need to start seeing yourself as He loves me. He cares about me. He is looking after me. Because grace and peace are multiplied to you through the knowledge of God in Jesus. So what do you need multiplied? Your faith? Actually according to this verse, you've got precious faith. What you need multiplied is the grace and the peace. And grace is God's, it's God's ability that comes to you as a favour.
Some people think that God's grace is unearned favour. No, that's how you get it. What His favour is. If I say, "Hey, I'm going to do a favour for you". You're going to go, "What favour"? It's His ability that comes to you and I. Then it goes on to say, "As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness". Anything you need to stand right with God. Anything you need for your life, from healing to protection, to prosperity, to blessing, to romance, to marriage, to home, generations of healthy kids, having babies. Every promise in the Word. His divine power, He's already given it to you. Really? Yes. What do I do? Next line. Then it says, "Which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you could partake".
It's one thing for me to put a whole bunch of strawberries and whipping cream up here and you can look at it. But if you're going to partake of it, it means you're eating it. You're enjoying it. You get it. It's the promises that cause us to partake of the beauty and the wonders of His nature in the Word. So what do you do with these promises? You speak them. You find promises and you speak them. You sing them. You declare them. Anything that comes against your mind. Get up and declare a promise. That's the opposite. You know, whenever God bring someone to my mind. And often it will be someone in our church, a family in our church, my wife, my family, kids. When that face appears in front of me out of blue. I'll just pray.
In Jesus' name, I speak blessing upon them right now. Because it seems in many great men and women of God have said this. It seems as though God can do nothing on the planet except through prayer or a human being praying out loud which gives God access. God can do what He wants. Actually, He gave authority to man and He gave the earth to man. The heaven is the Lords. The earth He gave to the sons of man. And as you learn to enjoy speaking the Word. You won't be able to do without it. You just start, man, I want to thank You right now. Father, that I am blessed. The favour of God is upon me. I thank You of my body. My youth is renewed like the eagle's. I want to thank You right now. And verse after verse, they just start flowing. And it feels like you're getting a shower.
It feels like the presence of God is lifting you up. And all around you, you see the favour of God and the blessing of God and it's coming your way. And you'll, "Oh, this is just too good to be true". That was the stumbling block to the Jews. What? Faith righteousness. The fact that God qualified you through Jesus for every promise, and all of the promises now in the new covenant are yes and amen. In the old covenant they all had an if. Father, I pray for those who don't know You right now. I pray they'd come to know You. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Saviour today. Nobody can do it except you. God has made you a freewill being. And unless you ask Him and choose Him, He'll never forced Himself on you. But if you'd like God in your life, man, I'm telling you. He changed my world amazingly. Just say this right now and mean it. Just say:
Jesus, come into my life. I choose You as my Lord and Saviour. I want to learn about You. I want to follow You for the rest of my days. In Jesus' name, amen.