“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
It’s the anointing or power of the Holy Spirit that breaks the yoke of bondage. The yoke can be anything that binds you. It can be sickness or disease, bad habits, or demonic activity. But the yoke of bondage shall be destroyed because of the anointing! The anointing of the Holy Spirit is on God’s Word.
John 8:32 says that “the truth, God’s Word, shall set you free.” You might say, “But I thought it was the anointing that breaks the yoke.” That’s right, but Jesus said His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). The Word of God is anointed by the Spirit of God. That’s the reason the truth of the Word will set you free.
I feel sorry for Christians who don’t know the Word. You see them throughout the Body of Christ – bound up, failing, and stumbling by the wayside. God said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) Here’s another way to say it: “God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge of the truth of His Word.”
But when people possess the knowledge of the truth in God’s Word, they won’t be destroyed any longer. Thank God for the Word! Thank God for the truth that sets us free!
All of our praying, shouting, and jumping – or whatever we’re doing – needs to be in line with God’s Word, because God has magnified His Word above His Name (Ps. 138:2). If we’re not careful, we can substitute a lot of things that may seem good and legitimate for the Word of God. If you don’t know the Word, then you are in trouble. You’ll remain in bondage, for it is knowledge of the Word that makes you free.
Our problem so much of the time is we are looking for someone else to make us free. Instead of looking to the Word and trusting in Jesus, we look to man and trust in man. But we should be looking to Jesus. Jesus has already won the victory! The Word of God tells us that deliverance from all the power of the enemy already belongs to us through Christ (Luke 10:19; Col. 1:13).
Through the Holy Spirit, God has given us the Bible so that knowledge of what He has done for us can set us free. For example, to set us free from sickness and disease, the Bible tells us that, “He took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses,” (Matt. 8:17), and “by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
What we need to do is simply look to the Word of God and do what the Word says. Agree with it, side in with the Word, not against it. It is only knowledge of the anointed Word that will set us free.
A lot of people miss it when it comes to healing. If they’re not immediately healed one hundred percent, they say, “I didn’t get anything.” Many people turn the switch of faith off if there is not an instant, total manifestation of healing. But you need to know the truth about healing.
The Word of God teaches us that a healing which takes place over a period of time is also miraculous because it says the healing of the nobleman’s son was the second miracle Jesus did in Cana of Galilee (John 4:54). I remember after I was healed, I didn’t look any different than I did before I was healed. I weighed just eighty-nine pounds. And, naturally, I was terribly weak because I had been bedfast for sixteen long months.
My heart seemed to beat normally. But if I exerted myself even a little bit, it would start pounding. I didn’t even have to put my hand up to my chest to feel it pounding. I was just a skeleton with a little skin stretched over the bones. I didn’t look healed. But, thank God, I began to amend from that hour. And that was a miracle!
Keep the switch of faith turned on. I’ve been saying this for a good many years, but I’m more convinced today than ever: Every single time hands are laid on you in faith by any believer, healing begins right then! So many times healing is never consummated because people turn the switch of faith off. In the same way that turning a light switch on causes the power of electricity to flow and light a room, the switch of faith keeps the power of God flowing. Turn off the switch and the power stops flowing.
What do I mean when I say, “Keep the switch of faith turned on?” Learn what the Word promises you and then believe and act upon your knowledge of the truth. Don’t give up just because in the natural it looks like your faith isn’t working. Go your way believing that what God has spoken in His Word is true. Continue to act upon your knowledge of the Word in faith and it will become a reality in your life. Remember, you’ll know the truth, and the truth will make you free!
People see the sick being healed instantly when the healing anointing is in manifestation, and they think it ought to work that way with everyone, every time. But it didn’t work that way with the nobleman’s son, did it? From that hour he began to amend. We need to be ready and willing to follow God’s leading, whatever He wants us to do. If you say, “But I want God to do it my way,” you are setting yourself up for a downfall. Doing things our way only keeps us in bondage. It’s the knowledge of God’s truth that sets us free.
Thank God for His Word! Remember, the only thing that will permanently bless people is to know the truth of God’s Word.
When you know God’s Word and act upon it, you won’t need to look to man to set you free. That anointed Word will break every yoke of bondage and set you free, no matter what your need is. So put God’s Word first in your life. No matter what comes in life, train yourself to ask, “What does God’s Word say about it?” Then act upon the knowledge of that truth and watch it set you free!
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.