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GOD’S IMCOMPARABLE WORD (Psalm 119:89; 138:2; Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:23)
“A group of scholars met recently to determine the authenticity of Christ’s Gospel statements. They distributed among themselves colored slips of paper. Red meant the statement under consideration was ‘authentic,’ pink for ‘probably authentic.’ Gray for ‘probably not authentic,’ and black for ‘not authentic.’ One by one Jesus’ statements were considered, debate concluded with the solemn raising of colored cards. The Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount took a beating in the balloting. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ was swiftly voted own. ‘Blessed are the meek’ got only six timid red and pink votes out of the thirty cast. In the final count only three of the twelve assorted blessings and woes from Matthew and Luke were deemed authentic.” –“Giving God the pink slip.” From, The God of stones and spiders, Chuck Colson–
It kind of makes you wonder how we they can call themselves, “biblical scholars!” Maybe they should get an honest job. What do they tell a grieving family standing by a love-one’s grave, read the Scripture about Christ’s resurrection story, then ask for a raising of colored cards?
Many years ago in Baltimore, I was sharing God’s plan of salvation with an elderly gentleman. He assured me that he knew Christ personally. I quizzed him as to how he was so certain. His reply, “I saw a water glass walk across this very table once.” Now we all know that water can bead up on the bottom of a glass and move on a flat surface. But to him this was sure sign of God’s presence. Oh, by the way, I was able to get around his superstition and lead this man to Christ.
A woman in New Mexico was frying a tortilla, when she saw, what she thought was the face of Jesus in the tortilla. She preserved the tortilla and built a shrine for it in her front yard. People from all over came to worship her “Tortilla Jesus.” It made the newspaper all over the country, we saw it in the Houston Post where we were living at the time. One reporter viewed the tortilla and said it looked like Leon Spinks, a popular heavy-weight boxer.
Stories of Jesus’ face appearing on a bedroom window; statues that bleed, Madonna’s that cry, and countless other ethereal images reported worldwide. It seems that everyone wants to be able to somehow get a word from God!
God has spoken to us, not through steamy images on the bathroom mirror, or a shriveled up tortilla. Where would we go to hear from Him? The Bible, the Word of God.
•Psalm 18:30, ”As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”
•Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. •Psalm 119130,“The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives under-standing to the simple.”
•Psalm 119:160, “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”
•Matthew 4:4, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
•2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” •Hebrews 1:1,2, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds”
•Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Facts about God’s Holy Word:
•Written over a period of 1600 years.
•Written by 40 authors from every walk of life: Kings, priests, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, scholars, statesmen, political leaders, herdsmen, a military general, a doctor, a tax-collector, a rabbi and a theologian.
•Written from the wilderness, a dungeon, a palace, prison, and exile on an island.
•Written during times of war and times of peace.
•Written on three continents, Africa, Asia and Europe.
•Written in three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
The Word of God is:
•Self-authenticated. You do not need to be a seminary professor to prove that the Bible is God’s word. You do not have to understand Greek or Hebrew to understand it. Thanks to many translators we have it in our own language.
•Inexhaustible. Multiplied thousands of readers from every age for over six-thousand years have probed its depths, yet its vast mines of wealth still pour forth indescribable riches for the one who has the patience and energy to dig it out.
•Non-Improvable. No one gilts gold, paints rubies, or adds sparkle to diamonds, and no artist can add any finishing touch to God’s Word. It is complete and perfect. Psalm 19:7, “The Law of the Lord is perfect…”
•Authoritative. “Thus says the Lord,” or similar statements are found 1,770 times in the Bible.
•Living and Operative. The promise is the same today as when inspired writers, moved by the Holy Spirit wrote them. Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
•It is Mine. We never think of the Bible as being just for those men whom the Holy Spirit inspired to write the words, it is ours! Its promises are ours! There are seventeen personal pronouns in Psalm 23, “The Lord is MY Shepherd, I shall not want…” When I read Psalm 103, “Bless the Lord, oh MY soul…” I don’t think of it as meant only for the Jew who chanted this in the Temple hundreds of years ago, it is mine! Our children sang,
Every promise in the book is mine!
Every chapter, every verse and every line!
All are blessings of His love divine!
Every promise in the book is mine!
–Sensational Nightingales–
•Creates and Transforms. God’s Word changes lives. It alters destinies. It inaugurates worldwide movements. Millions times millions are its evidences of regenerating power throughout the ages.
•It Reveals Christ. He is the center, the fullness, the great subject of the Word of God. Hebrews 10:7, “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’”
1. Psalm 119:89, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” The Hebrew word for “Settled” is “Natsab,” meaning “established, fixed.” God’s Word is perfect, without error because the original is fixed in heaven.
The Bureau of Standards maintains a perfect inch, foot, yard, pint, quart, gallon, millimeter, milligram, etc. Every weight and measure finds its standard there, In Colorado there is an atomic clock that is accurate to one billionth of a second. That time is communicated to every timepiece in America. You watch reflects the time set by astronomical perfection. In like manner the Word of God has its perfect counterpart in heaven. Psalm 119:89 NLT, “Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven.”
Thousands of years ago there were 39 books in the Old Testament . How many today? 39! In the first century there were 27 books in the New Testament. How many today? 27! “Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven.”
The translations are no less than miracles! Every copyist of the original documents counted every Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic character, a summation was made at the end of every book so that he would know that his work was correct. “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18)God’s Word has been kept perfect and complete by God’s heavenly Bureau of Standards.
The Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at Qumran were more that one-thousand years old, copies of Isaiah and Habakkuk were translated and found to be identical with the Masoretic Text that was used in the translation of the Hebrew Bible. God’s Bureau if Standards at work!
What about the Apocryphal books, included in the Catholic Bible, approved by the Counsel of Trent in 1545? They were not included because no fair-minded Jewish or Christian scholar would say that the absurdities of the Apocrypha could possibly be God’s inspired Word. Not only that but Jesus and the Apostles quoted from every book in the Old Testament, but not even once quote from the Apocrypha.
2. 1 Peter 1:23-25, “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
The word, “incorruptible” in Greek means “undecaying, without mistake or error, unchanging, inerrant.” For thousands of years men have tried to destroy the Bible, yet it stands today without corruption. It is only by God’s sovereign grace that He has protected His Word so that we have it as a copy from heaven. The same Lord, the same Holy Spirit that created the universe and everything in it; protected Baby Jesus in Bethlehem’s manger; raised Jesus from the dead; assures the salvation of God’s children, this same Holy Spirit that inspired the Word, is the same Holy Spirit that has protected the Word and kept it from corruption. God preserved His Word by the multiplicity of manuscripts. If a scribe made an error in copying, there were many manuscripts with which to compare.
Fifteen-hundred years after Herodotus’ wrote his history, there was only one copy existing in the entire world. Twelve-hundred years after Plato wrote his classics, only one copy could be found. The Greek Anthology, “The Annuls of Tacitus” boasts of only one copy in existence today. There are only a few copies of the manuscripts of Cicero, Virgil, Euripides and Sophocles. But there are thirteen-thousand manuscript copies, either complete or portions of God’s Word that remain today! Plus the fact that most of the writings could be reproduced from the writers of the early Christians. There are nine-thousand copies of early manuscript versions, dating to AD150. The “Syriac,” written not long after John’s Patmos’ writing of Revelation.
I do not believe there are inspired translations, but I do believe that God has preserved His Word in a miraculous manner, so that I can hold up my particular version and say with confidence, “This is the Word of God!” It has been kept incorruptible by the sovereign grace of Almighty God!
3. Isaiah 40:8 MSG. “The grass withers and the wild-flowers fade, but our God’s Word stands firm and forever.”
“Shall stand,” is the Hebrew word, “Yaqum,” meaning, “To rise,” with the imagery of something that has been crushed, ground under the heels, but made to stand again.
God’s Word has been under constant attack throughout the ages. There were persecutions where God’s Word was attacked violently.
•Pagan Persecutions. Roman Emperor Diocletian (244-313 AD) decreed in 303 AD that all bibles would be removed form the people. After years of killing Christians and burning bibles he erected a sign reading, “Extincto Nomene Christianorium,” the name Christian is extinguished. But after his death he was succeeded by Constantine the Great, who, in 312 AD declared the Roman Empire to be officially Christian.
•Ecclesiastical Persecutions. More believers were put to death during the dark ages than at any other period of persecution including Nazism and Communism. –Foxes Book of Martyrs–
•Modern Persecutions. Rationalism, the Infamous atheist Voltaire (1694-1778) said, “one-hundred years from my day there will not be one Bible left on earth except one that is looked upon by the antiquarian curiosity seeker.” One-hundred years after his death his house was being used by a Bible Society for storing and distributing Bibles. A first edition of his work sold for eleven cents, on the same day a copy of the Codex Sinaiticus, an ancient Bible manuscript sold for $500,000.00.
•Humanism. “We do not need God.” This philosophy gave us Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, the Age of Reason and a rise in Agnosticism. The alternative to Evolution is totally unacceptable for Agnostics, why? The alternative is the Genesis account of creation, and if creation is true, then God’s Word is true, and God is real, and they must answer to Him.
•Liberal Theologians. Higher criticism says, “We do not accept the Bible as an authority.” “There is no such thing as absolute truth.” In 1965 when I was a Youth Pastor in Miami, Florida, Doctor A.C. Janney was my pastor. There was a very popular radio show called. ”The Talk of Miami.” Doctor Janney was on this show with a Catholic Priest, a Rabbi, several Protestant ministers, and Atheist, Doctor Joseph Lewis, head of “The Free-Thinker’s Society of America.” To every question put to him, Pastor Janney would quote the Bible, to which Joseph Lewis would respond, “I do not accept the Bible as an authority.” To every response of Dr. Lewis, Pastor Janney would say, “But the Bible says!” causing much consternation and irritation to the atheist. At the end of the show the host asked each pastor if they would allow Dr., Lewis to speak in their church. When he came to pastor Janney, he said, “I guess there is no reason to ask you that question.” He was right! John 8:32, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Free from having never known absolute truth!
•Education. In higher education you can quote almost anyone from Atheistic Communism to Agnostics, ungodly scholars and in general anyone who opposes God and His Word. But quote the Bible and face harassment, scoffing and intellectual banishment. One University paper was always filled with atheistic articles, liberal politics and in general anything that opposed any kind of biblical teaching. One of the ladies from our church worked in the University office, She wrote an article which included a verse from the Bible, and she was severely reprimanded for it.
•Christian Existentialism. “I feel therefore I know.” Interpreting Bible truth by your feelings. A inner feeling of truth. “I feel that Jesus is real, therefore He is real.” “This scripture speaks to me, therefore it is God’s Word to me.” Even in Evangelicalism there is a general weakening of belief that the Bible is the very Word of God. One famous Televangelist said, “You can’t preach the Bible to people in this day and age, they just will not accept it.” When you cannot appeal to the Bible as the final authority, but must only rely on inner feelings, you are in deep trouble. Comments like, “Let me tell you what this verse means by what happened to me.” “I don’t care what the Bible says, I’ve experienced it.” The Bible is absolute truth whether or not you “feel” it.
•John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
•John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
•Romans 3:4, “Let God be true but every man a liar.”
•Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?”
You’ve heard it said, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” That’s not exactly true, what should it read?” “God said it, that’s settles it, whether I believe it or not.”
The Bible is God’s Final Revelation to Man! Jude 3 NLT, “Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.”
Mormon’s tell us there is “another testament of Jesus Christ.” I assure you that neither Scripture nor the writings of any Christian theologian in history say there has been a new revelation from God to mankind since the close of the New Testament. The New Testament is the final revelation-testament of God to mankind. It is the Bible only to which we must turn for instruction, including salvation and preparation for eternity. Our text 1 Peter 1:23 NLT, “For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.”
Is God’s Word Sufficient for Everyone and Every Issue of Life? 2 Corinthians 3:5,6, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthians 9:8,9 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written…”
In recent years we have been hearing the word, “Paradigm,” which simply means, “an example, model or pattern.” In ecclesiastical terminology it refers to a shift in thinking, methods, teaching and philosophy in the church. In the book, “Preaching to a Shifting culture,” “The church in America is part of a changing culture, and today's preachers must be prepared to engage the unique issues of our postmodern age.” –Editor Scott M. Gibson– Here are some of the chapters:
“Dusting off the Old Testament for the New.”
“The New Testament in the new millennium.”
“Who’s listening out there?”
“The psychology of preaching.” “The postmodern mind and preaching.”
“Evangelical preaching in an anti-authority age.”
This paradigm, “postmodernism” is real and must be encountered. How? The same way the church has always dealt with paradigm shifts. “Preach the Word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths” (2 Timothy 4:2-4 NLT). “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
There is No Paradigm Shift in the Word of God, it Has Not Changed! The Holy Spirit has not changed! Jesus is still the same, “Yesterday, and today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). And the anointed word has not changed! Psalm 119:160, “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” Psalm 119:89, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.”
There is A Preoccupation with Worldly Marketing Techniques. This has actually been a subtle attack on the Word of God. We hear things like, “Marketing the Church.” Since when does the church need Madison Avenue to promote its authority in the community? The church is inundated with Christian celebrities, popular music, and movies, so that people are no longer committed to the ministry of one local church, they find out who is putting on the best show and attend that one. It seems that believers are so bored with God’s Word, preached by a man of God, that the church must put on a three-ring circus to attract a crowd. You would think that God’s people would want to come just to hear what God has to say to them! I guess He’s not celebrity enough or some!
There is A Preoccupation with Signs and Wonders. “The Power Gospel” is a term we hear in some Evangelical circles today. One pastor said. ”The simple Gospel is no longer adequate without signs and wonders. You cannot reach the world with just the Word of God.” People are searching for miracles, words of wisdom and words of knowledge. “We can never reach the world without raising the dead or healing the sick or calling down fire.” But the Word of God says, “And these signs will follow those who believe…” (Mark 16:17), not precede them!
There is A Preoccupation with the Occult and Mysticism. Christian mantras and chants, positive confession, science of the mind, Eastern Hindu thought, psychic powers, and healing of memories are now appearing in many church groups. All because they do not believe God’s Word will do what it says it will do! “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16). “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
There is A Preoccupation with Contemporary Sociology. This has defined a secular belief system related to their ideas of morality. This tells the world that homosexuality is normal, and that same-sex marriage is blessed by God. According to them, pornography is alright, premarital and extramarital sex is permissible as long as all parties are agreeable. In other words contemporary sociology does not accept the Bible’s authority on these issues. What does God say?
•Romans 1:18-32, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,[c] wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving,[d] unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
•Hebrews 13:4, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”
•1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”
•1 Thessalonians 3:4,5, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.”
There is A Preoccupation with Humanistic Psychology and Psychiatry. Frightening inroads are being made into the church as human reason attempts to tackle the problems of mankind. The new God of the church, “psychological salvation” is rapidly replacing the “new birth” with a pseudo-intellectual humanism that includes, self-esteem, self-love and self-image. When we learn about Christ-esteem, and stop worrying about self-esteem; when we accept the presence of Christ’s-love and stop trying to work up self-love; when we begin to develop God’s image in our lives, self-image problems will vanish. And this can only be accomplished through the Word of God.
There those who say, “The Bible is OK as far as it goes.” The Bible plus psychology of psychiatry, “Paul plus Freud equals truth.” I’m OK, you’re Ok.” Jesus says, “You’re not OK, but that’s OK!” Many Psychologists ridicule Christianity and Biblical truth, saying it has no bearing on human behavior.
But today, we have, the Bible in our own language, and it is absolute truth, and well-meaning people still turn to worldly counselors, horoscopes, mystics, palm-readers and psychics for help. What does God say? “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1,2).
The Bible, God’s Holy Word is the only Psychology book for mankind. ”When all else fails, read the instructions.” The answer for every problem of life is found in the Word of God. Every true ministry is built on the sufficiency of Scripture to meet every need in the lives of believers.
Education Has Not Been Left Out of This Insidious Attack on the Word of God.
Bible clubs are no longer allowed on most High School campuses, but satanic-type societies are okay. In some schools, “Fellowship of Christian Athletes: tee-shirts have been banned while drug, sexual and satanic themes are acceptable.
The Ten Commandments have been removed from many public buildings and schools. School prayer is no longer allowed.
Children in sex education classes are taught that the gay and lesbian lifestyle is perfectly normal, coupled with the distribution of condoms and lectures on safe-sex means that the value neutral, public education is in opposition to the teachings of the Bible.
And what about Christianity’s role in history? In some public school history textbooks, Thanksgiving is being portrayed, not as a day that the deeply religious Pilgrims set aside to thank God for His blessings, but rather, Thanksgiving was a day set aside to give thanks to the Indians.
God’s Word is the ONLY Source of Truth. John 17:17, “Sanctify (set apart for holiness) them by Your Word is truth.” There are more than one-hundred-thousand books in print on religious themes. About eighty-million books in print on every subject. Three-thousand new pages are being written every minute, over one-thousand new books are published every day. There is much knowledge, much education and much information, but not very much truth. John 8:31,32, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Free from the bondage of not having known the truth!
In the movie, “Altered States,” the actor placed himself in a flotation tank, then mentally going back and back further and further to the very beginning of all things, he finally found absolute truth. His conclusion, “The only absolute truth is, there is no absolute truth.” How sad!
God’s Word is the Only Source of Growth for the Believer. 1 Peter 2:2 NLT, “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment.” A baby is single-minded. He just wants milk. A believer is single-minded. He has a single-minded desire for God’s Word.
God’s Word is the Only Source of True Happiness. Proverbs 8:34, “Blessed is the man who listens to me.” Luke 11:28, “Yes, but those who hear the Word of God and obey it are happy.” The Greek word, “Macharios,” means happy, real happiness, not affected by the four thieves that rob us of joy, 1. Circumstances, 2, People, 3. Worry, 4. Material things. Many people spend more on the body and very little on the soul, Mark 8:36, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
Look at King Solomon, a man who had everything to live with and nothing to live for. He tried everything to be happy, Labor, wisdom, pleasure, wine, houses, vineyards gardens, herds, flocks, silver, gold and treasures, them he says in 2:10, “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure.” Then in his exasperation, he declares that “all is vanity (emptiness) and grasping for the wind.” And in 12:23,24 NLT, “That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.” For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand..”
Everyone wants to be a winner. There is only one way to gain victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Ephesians 6:10-13, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
The Word of God brings victory because victory begins in the mind. Ephesians 4:32, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Romans 12:2, “Be renewed in the spirit of you mind.” How do we win victories? How do we renew our mind? Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory, beneath the cleansing flood.
–1939 Eugene Bartlett–
God’s Word is the Only Source of Hope. 1 Corinthians 2:9, “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Only God’s Word gives us a future because it is the only religion that has a living founder. Go to then Garden Tomb where Jesus was buried and you find an empty tomb and a voice that shouts out through the ages, “He is not here He is risen” (Matthew 28:6). Jesus said in John 11:25 NLT, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
D.L. Moody said as he was dying, “This is my coronation day, If this is death it is sweet.” Augustus Toplady, What a sunshine all is light.” Stonewall Jackson, “I’m just going to cross over the river and rest beneath the shade trees on the other side.” My mom, “Well I’m going to a better place than this one.”
Dear reader, have you surrendered you life to the Word of God and the God of the Word?
Unless otherwise noted, the New King James Version of the Bible was used. Also The New Living Translation (NLT); The New American Standard Bible (NASB); The Message (MSG); The New Century Version (NCV); The Amplified Bible (AMP); The King James Version (KJV), The New Life Version (NLV); English Standard Version (ESV); J.B. Phillips New Testament; Easy to Read Version (ERV); Common English bible (CEB); NET Bible (NET) and The Living Bible (TLB). Contemporary English Version (CEV).
