Power in Believing

This article "Power in Believing" was taken from the Heart Magazine, July 1978.

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POWER IN BELIEVING
Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille
HEART Magazine – July 1978, Volume 2, No. 4 – page 3 and 4

The great key to power lies in believing. The second chapter of Mark indicates the
accuracy of the Word of God in tapping the resources for the more abundant life.

Mark 2:1 and 2:
1 And again he [Jesus] entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that
he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to
receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto
them.

When the group was gathered together and Jesus Christ came to them, what did he do?
He preached the Word unto them. He did not talk about “Time” or “Newsweek,” but he
preached the Word. Why did he preach the Word? Because, as it says in Romans 10:17b,
“…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

Mark 2:3 and 4:
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof
where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick
of the palsy lay.

When you think of breaking something up, you think of breaking it into pieces. But in the
houses in the Near East, as well as in India, to get to the roof they have a ladder set up in the
house which leads out through an opening in the roof. It is simply uncovering an opening that
had already been made. They did not break up the whole roof in order to let this man down
inside so that Jesus could minister to him.

The word “bed” in verse 4 should be the word “pallet.” A pallet is something like a quilt.
It was not a big frame with an inner spring mattress. I have seen many of these pallets when I
was teaching in India. The people would just unfold this quilt on the ground, lie down on it,
and go to sleep. The palsied man was carried on such a quilt or pallet.

Verse 5:
When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be
forgiven thee.

Do you notice that it says “their faith?” This involved the sick man and the four who
carried him: a total of five. The word used in this verse for FAITH is the Greek word pistis. It
is translated many places “believing” and other places “faith”. (Hebrews 12:2). This faith
was not available until Pentecost, but believing has always been possible. Here it is the word
“believing.” When Jesus saw their (the five) believing, “…he said unto the sick of the palsy,
Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” This man was sick with palsy because of sin, and Jesus
ministered to the cause. Do you know that the symptoms are frequently far removed from the
cause? If the cause is removed, the symptoms will automatically and naturally disappear.

Mark 2:6-8:
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within
themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

Jesus received information by revelation from God. In the Word of God is says that Jesus
“knew all.” He knew all that God revealed to him. There are three manifestations mentioned
in the Bible by which revelation is given: word of knowledge, word of wisdom and
discerning of spirits. By the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom, Jesus knew what
was going on in the minds of these scribes. Jesus knew because he perceived in his spirit that
they so reasoned with themselves. He said unto them, “…Why reason ye these things in your
hearts?”

Mark 2:9:
Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to
say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?

Do you know which is easier to say: “Thy sins be forgiven thee” or “take up thy bed, and
walk?” Which is easier to say: “Hallelujah” or “Amen?” This is the same idea and one is as
easy to say as the other.

Mark 2:10 and 11:
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he
saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
Isn’t that tremendous? “But that ye may know…,” not question, not doubt, but have a
certainty, an assurance, a guarantee; that you get to the place that you know that you know
that you know.

The proof in the senses realm that Jesus Christ can forgive sins is in the healing. Jesus
healed this man and the manifestation of the healing was in the realm of the senses. That man
had been paralyzed and, being delivered, they could see him walking. He was completely
whole. Therefore Jesus said, “…Thy sins be forgiven thee;…Arise; take up thy bed, and
walk, and go thy way into thine house.”

Mark 2:12:
And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch
that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
“And immediately…” Not a half hour later, not five minutes later, but pronto, right then
and there, “…he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all…” Do you know they
had never seen this before? Why? The scribes were not believing. Here was a man who was
believing. The palsied man and the four who carried him believed. The key to power is
believing, for when we believe we receive, but without believing it is absolutely impossible
to receive.

The word “believe” is a verb. A verb connotes action. If a man says that he believes on
the Lord Jesus Christ, but he does not act on his believing, what good is it? Such a man
indicates by his lack of positive action that he is believing negatively. If you believe
negatively, you will produce negative results. We get exactly what we believe for NO ONE
EVER RISES BEYOND WHAT HE IS ABLE TO BELIEVE.

For instance, I am standing in a railroad station debating with myself whether I should
board the train. I have the tickets in my pocket but I am still debating with myself. The train
comes into the station, stops, and picks up passengers. The conductor says, “All aboard.” If I
am standing there when the train pulls out, have I believed? Definitely, I have believed not to
get on that train. Had I believed to get on that train, I would have boarded it. BELIEVING is
always ACTION, and believing always brings us results. It will be one of two actions:
negative or positive. No one received anything without believing.
The man with the palsy BELIEVED and the four men who brought him to Jesus
BELIEVED. They believed that if they could reach Jesus and tap the resources, God would
deliver him through the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I want to show you how the negative side of believing develops in a person’s life.
There is no one who is always believing positively. We all believe negatively at times, and
negative believing produces results with mathematical exactness and scientific precision. For
instance: a man says that he DOUBTS if he can do something. Do you know what happens?
After he begins to doubt, he starts to WORRY about it. He thinks, “Well, I don’t know if I
can do the job or if I cannot do the job.” The next rung down the ladder is FEAR. The man
begins to fear (believe) that he cannot carry out the job. When he doubts and worries and
fears about doing the job, it manifests itself in negative believing and it produces negative
results. So, believing will also produce results in the spiritual field. Confidence is just the
opposite of doubt. If you have confidence that you can do a job, you will not have doubt.
TRUST is just the opposite of WORRY. When you have trust, you will not worry.
BELIEVING FAITH is the opposite of FEAR. Both produce results with mathematical
exactness.