The Word
“Now when the tempter came to Him, he said ‘If you are
the Son of God, command these stones become bread.’
But He answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:3,4
Our Lord demonstrates to us how we are to deal with temptation. When placed in a situation of temptation three times He dealt with it the same way every time. He used the Word of God. Throughout the scriptures the Word of God is described as a sword[1], but also as the Son of God.[2] There is power in the Word, the scriptures say that it lives as well. It is alive in the lives of believers. The hearing of the Word changes lives. Not the speakers eloquence or mastery of the language, but the Word itself. If you are a preacher and your skills as a speaker is the reason for your success, then you are in fact doing a disservice to your listeners and to the Kingdom. The Kingdom has and will never be about any one person, but about God. The Kingdom is not in word, but in the power of the Spirit.
Our first mistake when confronted with temptation is to try to use our intellect. We are going to outsmart the enemy. The enemy has been here since the beginning of time. How long have you been here? You are going to outsmart the devil who has been with God from early on, with your few years of knowledge. He is the one who taught you everything you know about sin. The Christ did not try to outsmart Satan with his intellect, even though he had all wisdom. He went immediately to the Word of God. Satan had no defense against the Word. When we find ourselves in a tempting situation, we should try to use the Word and we will witness how the devil will flee from us. We have not taught our children to use the power that God has given them, because we do not use it. God has placed all the tools we need to overcome any situation, the problem is we do not use them. We fall for the tricks of Satan to use out intellect. You will be like God. You do not need God’s help for this.
“Your Word I have hidden in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.”
Psalm 119:11
The psalmist talks about placing the word of God deep within his heart to prevent him from committing sin. The Word of God has that power to free us from the temptation of sin. The problem is that the majority of us, evangelicals included either do not know the Word or we do no use it. I cannot win a battle with what I do not have or do not use. Are you hiding the Word of God in your heart? How much time are you spending in the study of the Word. A fire extinguisher on the wall does me no good for a fire if I do not take it and use it. God gives me the tools, but if I do not use them who is at fault? What is the power of the Word? In the beginning God brought everything into existence by His Word, then God said.[3] And that Word was none other than the Christ.[4] The Word carries the power of God that has overcome all the forces of evil, even death. There have been countless incidents where believers were confronted by evil and just the simple invoking of God’s Word caused evil to flee.
If you want to stop fornicating, if you want to stay pure then learn and use the Word of God. We of ourselves do not have the power to overcome sin. That power was given to the Word and that Word is Christ. As long as we continue to rely on our own strength and abilities, we will lead defeated lives. Why do we continue to live like peasants when we are children of the Most High God? We continue to live defeated lives when we do not have to. We live defeated lives by choice. We choose not to use what God has freely given to us. The question then becomes do we really want to live victoriously and do we want victory for our brothers and sisters? Victory is not coming, victory is here! God said, “His Word will not come back to Him empty, but will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent.[5] That purpose is to free all those who are captive, to recover that which was lost.[6] Do not stay lost. Do not continue to live in spiritual rags when the Father has the robe of Christ to cover you with.
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