We’re talking about the unity and the interaction of personality and speech. How that the personality of Jesus Christ and the words He spoke were one and the same. There were an interaction and a unity between them. So much so, that when Jesus spoke, Jesus went out in His words. So much so that Jesus is called the Word of God. The words Jesus spoke were spirit and they were life.
Words that human beings speak can be but the medium to convey thought and idea. But the words that God speaks conveys Himself to you. When God gives you a word, something of God goes into your heart when you open your heart to it.
His words are eternal. Heaven and earth pass away. His words never pass away. Human words find an end. His words are eternal. Men wondered at the gracious words had proceeded out of his mouth. When the soldiers came to take him, they came back without him to the priests and Pharisees, who said to them have you brought him. And the officers said, never a man spoke as this man spoke? – John 7:45. They wondered at it because his words were so filled with himself.
By keeping the words of the Lord, by taking the words of Jesus into our heart, we are actually taking in so much of God, so much of a powerful thing, that it’s almost beyond an ability of a minister to describe what this means. Jesus said- If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
He did not say, if you abide in me, and I abide in you, all of this is done. He said, if my words abide in you. It was a synonymous thing, if my words abide in you, I abide in you. When Jesus’s words abide in us, Jesus abides in us.
We ask what we will and it is done, because it is not us asking, but JESUS asking through us, because his words are abiding us.
No longer us living, but Christ living through us through faith, became the whole occupation of the New Testament Church.
The New Testament Church was dedicated to prophetic, anointed utterance, and they would always play down utterances that were on a natural plane.
The early church gave themselves to prophetic utterance, and they were striving that the whole of their services would be prophetic.
Prophet utterance is the Holy Spirit speaking through us.
In other words, even the things that they spoke in the service, there was a restraint upon them. Unless there was an ecstatic, prophetic anointing when they arose to speak, they would not speak.
This is brought out again in the New Testament passage 1 Peter 4:10 As every man hath received a gift, so minister the same to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability in which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
If any man’s going to speak, he’s to speak as the oracles of God, meaning he’s to open his mouth to speak under the anointing. If any man ministers, he’s to minister by the anointing, the ability that God gives.
And we don’t see that today because there’s a multitude of words. There’s a multitude of words, but most of them are preached in human wisdom. Most of them come forth as they are concocted by the mechanics of homiletics and so forth. And men preach by men’s wisdom.
I want to read you something out of 1 Corinthians chapter 2 that may be a little bit startling to you about the restrictions upon the New Testament church as to their preaching and upon their teaching. They would not sermonize unless they believed that they had a message anointed of God that come forth by the Spirit of the living God.
1 Corinthians 2: 1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.
What is he saying? He says, I didn’t come with fancy messages, excellent speech or wisdom, I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.
He refused to go by human ability to speak or to teach. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom. All of that was discarded, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. He was talking about the demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God in the utterance that came.
God was filling His words. His words were filled with the Spirit. What else does it say? That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
You convert a man with human wisdom and you’ve got a human convert. But you win a man with anointed utterance and you’ve got a child of God.
Men are either born of human argument, or they are born by a Word from God. One’s human seed, the other is supernatural seed. We are born by the incorruptible seed, the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. It is the Living Word that comes to our hearts.
Oh, you say, but I was born when somebody preached a sermon, yes, but there had to be an anointing upon that Word. In some way, that Word was anointed, or you could never be born of God or born by the word of God.
Now, we’re going a little further, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are mature, yet not the wisdom of the world, nor the princes of the world that cometh to nought. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known that, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, and this I want you to get these next few verses through verse 13.
As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.
Oh, that’s good. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. Now, what? For what man knoweth the things of a man, and except the spirit of man that is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
God gives us the Spirit so we’ll know. You say I don’t know, it hasn’t entered into your heart. It doesn’t come from any human reasoning. It doesn’t come from any source of knowledge that we have apart from the Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that can teach and reveal what God has prepared for us and what God freely gives us.
And verse 13 is the climax of it all. WHICH THINGS WE ALSO SPEAK, not in words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teaches. Our declaring the things of the Lord has to be with an anointing of the Holy Spirit. It can’t even be in the wisdom of man that we teach.
You can be a wonderful teacher that just holds the people spellbound, but that’s not enough. There has to be an anointing of the Holy Spirit if it’s going to convey to the people something that’s alive.
What makes the difference? Well, sometimes when you are teaching, you find that people’s minds are lazy, and that they’re only following the rationalization of men. But when there’s some other process added, it is the Holy Spirit that begins to anoint, and that Word and that teaching comes out anointed of the Spirit, it begins to live within you. It conveys it to you.
I think the degree of anointing determines the amount of God that’s conveyed to the listener in the Word. So, we need to pray more and more, O Lord, it is not the profundity of our message, but O God, the anointing of the Spirit that must rest upon us so that that word goes out and makes people live. That word goes out to people and is planted in their lives and changes begin to take place because they listen to that word that is from the Lord.
Now can you see why they said if you speak, speak as the oracles of God. If you minister, do it by God’s ability.
Now, so many people think they have to work for the Lord. Well, I’ve got to go out and work for Jesus. I want to go out and say a good word for Jesus. Jesus does not need you to say a good word for Him, and He does not need you to do anything for Him.
Jesus needs you to be a channel so that He can speak and that He can work. It’s the anointing. It’s Christ ministering it out that counts. It’s Christ speaking in you that counts. You understand what I’m trying to say?
You say, What’s the difference? You go out, you’re going to testify about Jesus Christ, but one man is doing it in his wisdom. Another man is doing it prompted and helped by the Holy Spirit.
I think that there’s more damage done than there is good by unanointed testimony. That brings me to something that is a little bit startling. And that is, I just wonder, as we study the Word of God together, if we understand how that the dedication to speak by the anointing of the Lord has a corresponding dedication to keep your mouth shut if you’re not anointed.
And the dedication to silence can be as wonderful a way of ministry as the dedication to speech. And right at this point, we’re going to go into some scriptures on the silence of Jesus, when He held His peace, and to the scriptures that tell us when we should hold our peace and when we should keep our mouths shut and when we should speak.
And you’ll see that this principle of speaking, so that what there is of God in you comes forth under the anointing is an important principle.
The one thing that causes more trouble in the church than anything else is unanointed speaking. If any man offends not in words, the same is a perfect man and is able to bridle a whole man.
Almost always we convey our spirit in what is spoken. So much so, if you remember, the authority of Jesus Christ forbids the demon possessed to bring forth the witness to him. He forbids it.
What you are and the strength that motivates you will come out in what you say. It’ll come out in what you say.
You hear preachers expounding the word and saying now this is the way you discern the spirit of Antichrist. Any spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh the same is the spirit of Antichrist and so on. That’s how you’re going to discern the truth from the false.
I know that’s scriptural, but you can’t twist that scripture to mean what it doesn’t say. There wasn’t a time in the New Testament that demon spirits or anti-Christ spirits didn’t know who Jesus was and didn’t confess it openly. Jesus had sometimes forbidden the demons to speak because they knew Him. The demons would speak, we know who you are.
I asked a demon possessed person once if Jesus came in the flesh, and he became angry and said No! But I do not believe that is what this Scripture is talking about, we are talking about the anti-Christ spirit, not some demon possed person who is tormented.
And if you’d walk up to that demon-possessed man that had a legion of demons in him and say to the spirits, who is this man? They’d say, this is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, come in the flesh. they would confess it right there.
They’d say, we know who thou art! The demons would cry out. And if you want to make that a testimony to some demon-possessed man and say, Did Jesus Christ really come in the flesh? The demons will say, yes, he came in the flesh.
But if you say something a little bit differently, has Jesus Christ come in my flesh, then you’re going to find the spirit of Antichrist who opposes Christ coming forth in us.
Every devil in hell believes that Jesus came in the flesh of the Nazarene, but the thing that they’re battling now is this coming forth of Christ in his many-membered body. And that’s the thing the spirit of Antichrist fights. And that’s where the demons will be tested. And that’s where the spirit of Antichrist is tested.
They’ll fight it because it means the end of the dominion of man over the house of God. And it means the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ as He comes forth in our flesh.
That’s the truth. You’re getting honest exposition here. And you can trace this through in the New Testament, you’ll find out what I’m telling you is exactly true.
You can point to time after time after time that the devils cried out, confessing that Jesus was the Son of God. That was no test in the Gospels, and it isn’t any test today. Those devils believe it. The devils believe and tremble.
The spirit of Antichrist doesn’t want to acknowledge what Christ is doing in this flesh, in this flesh out here. Now, we’ve begun to see the great power of speech.
The demons would convey such thing that Jesus would command the demon-possessed to shut up and not speak. What were they saying? What were the demons saying even in a counterpart in the life of Paul in Acts 16th chapter?
Here, walking down the street preaching, Paul and Silas just minding their own business. And this woman with the spirit of divination, a fortune teller, said, these are the servants of the Most High God that show the way of salvation. What’s wrong with that?
Were Paul and Silas servants of the Most High God? Were they showing the way of salvation? But they weren’t getting the job done. Why? It wasn’t what was said, it was what was in what was said. It was demon power.
Paul was finally so grieved in his spirit, he says that the demons were speaking the truth, but something of demon power was going out in those words. He then spoke one word, Come out of her! That was the end of it.
Now when the woman was delivered, what happened then? They beat Paul and Silas, and put them in jail, didn’t they? Why? Because all of their hope of money was gone.
But you see, that was the beginning of the Philippian church. Then it broke loose. The power of God descended. The jailer got saved. People were baptized. The thing began to move.
There was something that went out in that satanic inspired utterance. You can tell it.
Something that you are goes out in what you say. That’s why we ought to strive to have services and our own lives so ordered that when we speak, we’re speaking forth the wonderful words of Jesus Christ, anointed of the Lord.
When we cannot do that, we ought to be quiet. We ought to be dedicated to silence. I’ve noticed a number of references, where the Lord Jesus Christ was silent.
Beginning back in Isaiah, the 53rd chapter, one of the great prophetic things about Christ’s ministry was that he was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
One of the things prophesied was that the Messiah would come, and that when He stood in the hour of death, He was not going to open His mouth or speak. He wasn’t going to do it.
I notice, as I go on a little bit further, that in the Gospel of John, chapter 14, about verse 28, Jesus had been speaking very freely to his disciples on a more confidential plane than ever before. And he says, Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away and come again unto you. If you love me, you would rejoice, because I said I go unto my Father, for my Father is greater than I, and so on.
And then he comes on down, verse 30. He says, Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world cometh.
His speech and his talk was going to be even less, because the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. Now, following these references, you can write them down and read them later in Matthew 26.
The high priest rose and said to Jesus, Answer thou nothing? What are these witnesses against thee? But Jesus held his peace, and the high priest answered and said unto thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
Notice in all of these charges, he didn’t open his mouth. Now notice also in Matthew 27, Before Pilate, when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. And Pilate said unto him, hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him, never a word, insomuch the governor marveled greatly. Now notice that.
Now in Luke 23, verse 8 to 12, It’s before the high priest, before Pilate, and now before Herod. When Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see Him for a long season, because he had heard many things of Him, and he hoped to have some miracle done by Him. It was just curiosity. He wanted to see him perform a trick. And when he questioned with Him in many words, he answered him nothing. Why?
This is the fellow who chopped the head off John the Baptist. This is a devil-possessed man. Don’t forget that. This is a man that murdered his own father. And he wouldn’t bat an eye to kill you. He was just wanting to see something. Jesus never talked to him, never said a word to him. And the chief priests of scribes stood and accused him. And Herod and his men of war sent him at night and mocked him and arrayed him with a gorgeous robe and sent him again to Pilate.
On the same day, Pilate and Herod were made friends together, for before they were at enmity between themselves. But to Herod, never a word. To Pilate, a few words, yes. But to Herod, never one single word. The silence of Jesus becomes a thing to marvel at when you see it.
There was one other time when Jesus was silent. And we’re going to tell you this all together and tell you why and how He was silent and the effectiveness of it. You remember at the Feast of Tabernacles, they caught a woman in the act of adultery and they brought her to Jesus, thinking to see what He would do, whether He would uphold the law and have the woman killed or what He would do. And so, they came and they said, this woman was caught in the very act. And now Moses says she should be stoned. What do you say?
And the Word says, and they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stood down with His finger, wrote on the ground as though He heard them not. Not a word he said. He kept writing. And finally, he opens His mouth, and He makes one simple statement. And brother, it’s all God. You know, isn’t the Lord wonderful? Isn’t he wonderful? Why was he silent? Because he said, The prince of this world cometh, and he hath nothing in me.
He would not stoop to be drawn in to that lower satanic plane of utterance and conversation. He wouldn’t do it. Do you want to know how to end gossip? Do you want to know how to end evil speaking?
Somebody comes and begins to talk about so and so you say Fine, let’s get down and pray about it. Boy, they’ll never come to you again as long as you live. Because to get and pray you enter into a plane where under the anointing and pray for somebody, they don’t want to do it. They want to yak. They want to talk demon talk. They want to talk oppressive talk.
Just say, come on, let’s get down and pray about it. They’ll think of a thousand things they’ve got to go do. They don’t want to talk that way. Jesus, you know, He would not talk to them on that plane.
When they began to kill him and so on, he wouldn’t rise to his defense. He wouldn’t be put on the defensive on that level. He stood silent, absolutely silent. God was with him in it. It’s prophesied in the word of God the day would come, the day of the Lord, when it says back in Amos 5:13, that in the day of the Lord, therefore the prudence shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time.
I begin to wonder as I look around about me if we’re not facing a time in which we’ve got to be careful how we enter into things. We’ve got to be sure that God’s anointing us and leading us. There are a prudence and a wisdom that God’s bringing.
It’s prophesied also in Zephaniah 1:7, Hold thy peace in the presence of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice. He hath bid his guest.
We see that these things are speaking, that there is a great time when God’s people will have to enter into silence. Sometimes it takes more anointing to keep your mouth shut than it does to speak.
You can be put on a defensive plane until you’re trying to explain this and that, and all of a sudden you realize that you’re speaking in the flesh. You’re not speaking right. It’s human nature to come to your own defense.
But to stand when somebody accuses you and open not a word, open not your mouth, that’s a hard thing. It takes quite a dedication to keep your mouth shut.
The thing for you to do is to live and serve God with all your heart and live and speak under the anointing of the Lord. When people begin to bring charges against you and accusations and criticisms, just hold steady.
Believe me, sometimes the dedication to silence is more precious than the dedication to speak. It’s a hard thing. I see, though, that that’s the only way you can win. The only way you can win.
Sometimes you lose because you insist on winning. And you win, but you lose too much. Don’t defend yourself. Don’t do it. Leave it in God’s hands.
Sometimes your silence can be anointed. Sometimes your silence can be filled with the Spirit because you refuse to speak on an unanointed, argumental, human, demonic plane. You refuse to meet people on that level. And if you can’t minister to them as the oracles of God, you’re not going to speak. And if you can’t speak to them, words that come from the Lord, you’re not going to speak to them at all.
All the problems that come in the church come from this unanointed speaking, this loose talking, gossiping, taking things out of context. Speaking out things you ought not to speak. You say, well, I knew it was the truth. Oh, that is not the mark. There are a lot of things that are true, but anointed love covers up many things. Anointed love reaches out and is silent. It doesn’t condemn; it doesn’t judge. Oh, may we learn to be like Jesus. May we have his life come forth in us. Let’s walk with God. Amen.