THE INTEGRITY OF THE WORD THE WORD is God speaking to you. “Thus saith Jehovah” is repeated over two thousand times from Exodus to Deuteronomy. God and His Word are one. The Word is always now. Jesus is the Word. Jesus is the Living Word. Hebrews 4:12, “The Logos of God is a living thing, active and more cutting than any sword with double edge penetrating to the very division of soul and spirit, joint and marrow-scrutinizing the very thoughts and conceptions of the heart” (Moffat). And now, notice carefully the next verse: “And no created thing is hidden from Him; all things lie open, exposed before the eyes of Him with Whom we have to reckon.” The Word is called the Logos. Jesus is the Logos, and the Logos is a living thing-not in the book, not on the written page, but in the lips of the believer. There is no created thing hidden from Him, this living Word. The Word searches us out, finds us. This paragraph should be studied carefully. The Word Is Our Contact with God The Word is our contact with God the Father. It is His contact with us. John 16:7-10 (American Standard Version) reads, “He convicts us of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.” We Are Convicted by the Word This conviction can come from no other source than the Word. It is a threefold conviction. First, He convicts of our union with Satan: “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged,” that the natural man is judged in Satan, is a child of Satan. John 8:44, 45 with 1 John 3:10. Note these Scriptures carefully. Second, He convicts of Righteousness, showing that although we are children of the Devil. Righteousness is available and belongs to us. And third, He convicts of sin because we believe not on Him. There is only one sin for which the sinner will be judged; that is the rejection of Jesus Christ. We Are Recreated by the Word James 1:18, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the Word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” Read John 3:3-8. 1 Peter 1:23, “Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the Word of God, Who liveth” (American Standard Version). The Word imparts to us Eternal Life. Were it not for the Word, we would not know that there was a Redemption or a Substitution or a New Creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17, 18, “Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new, but all things are of God, Who reconciled us to Himself.” Our Minds Are Renewed by the Word Romans 12:2, “And be not fashioned according to this age, but be ye transformed (transfigured) by the renewing of your mind, that ye may know what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Colossians 3:10, “And have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him that created him.” The mind is renewed by studying the Word and by acting upon it. One may study the Word for years, but if he does not act it, live it, is not a doer, the mind is not renewed. James gives us the secret in James 1:22, “Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Many Bible students are deceiving themselves because they are not acting, living, doing the Word. We Are Indwelt by the Word Colossians 3:16, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another....” What does He mean by letting the Word dwell in us richly? This is one of the most striking sentences in this epistle. John 15:7, “If ye abide in me, and My Words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” The Word here is dwelling in us, producing prayer fruit. Read carefully the next verse, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples.” It is prayer fruit. It is the Word bringing forth its own kind in the believers life. It is not only committing the Word to memory, which is valuable, but it is letting that Word become an integral part of our beings. It lives in us. Ephesians 3:17, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love. . . .” Christ and the Word are one. It is the Word dwelling in you which is equivalent to Christ personally being in you. Letting the Word have right-of-way in your life is letting Christ have right-of-way. The Word dominating you is the Lordship of Christ in you. We Are Built Up with the Word Acts 20:32, “And now I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified.” He commends us to the Word of His grace. This Word builds the Christ nature and the love nature of the Father into the individual. In other words, God is building Himself into us, making Himself a part of us as the Word dominates, rules and satisfies our spirit nature. You cannot build one up spiritually on philosophies or theories about the Word, or on the history of the Word. We are only made spiritual by living in the Word and by the Word living in us. We Are Healed by the Word Psalm 107:20, “He sent His Word and healed them.” How few of us have realized that it is the Word that heals us. We talk about faith in the Word, nothing wrong in that, but it is when Isaiah 53:4 becomes a reality in our spirit, “Surely He hath borne our sicknesses and carried our diseases (marginal rendering) and we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted,” that it operates in our physical bodies. He was stricken and smitten with our diseases and sins. And then the Word declares in the fifth verse, “By His stripes we are healed.” We read it and meditate upon it, and we know that it is true. Jeremiah 1: 12 (American Standard Version), “I watch over My Word to perform it.” We know that the Father watches over His Word and that He will make that Word good in us. He said, “Surely He hath borne our sicknesses and carried our diseases.” Then we do not need to carry them. They cannot be a part of us because He put our diseases and sins on Jesus-”made Him to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the Righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The righteousness of God cannot be sick then and cannot be ruled by sin. Satan has no dominion over the Righteousness of God unless we give it to Him. It is the Word that has made us know this. It is the Word that has saved us, recreated us, and it is the Word that heals us now. It is the Word that makes us masters of Satan. Mark 16:17, “In my name ye shall cast out demons.” It is the Word that has taught us the value of the Name, the authority of the Name, and our legal right to the use of the Name. So it is the Word in reality that has healed us. We Know the Father Through the Word John 16:27, 28, “For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” And John I7:23 says, “That the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and lovedst them, even as Thou lovedst Me.” John 14:23, “If a man love Me, he will keep My Word: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” These three scriptures prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Father loves His children, these New Creation folks, as much as He loved Jesus, and that it is a joy to make His home with them. What would it mean to have the Father and Jesus both living in your home? It would insure the rent, the taxes, and all the bills, because the Father would pay His way and enable you to meet every obligation. How intimate He wishes to become with us. (Matthew 6:31-33.) Faith Comes Through the Word Romans 10:8, “The Word of Faith which we preach.” Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our Faith.” I used to wonder how we could look unto Jesus. Then when I found that the Word and Jesus were one, I knew that by looking into the Word and acting on it I brought Jesus on the scene instantly. And when I knew how Faith is perfected by our acting on the Word, letting the Word loose in us, to live in us, dominate us, rule us, I had found the secret. Mark 16:18, “They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” This means nothing until we act on it. “In My Name they shall cast out demons.” The scripture means nothing until we act on it. John 15:16, “That whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name He will do it.” This scripture is useless, dead, until we act on it. It is acting on the Word that builds faith in the believer. You may have all the promises; you may have the mighty Spirit dwelling in you; but if you do not act on the Word, God is impotent in you. Acting on the Word makes Jesus vitally real to the believer. (2 Corinthians 5:7.) The Word in Our Lips Romans 10:9-10, “Because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord,” and “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” It is the Word in my lips that counts. The Word becomes a living thing in the lips of the believer; it brings the unsaved man under conviction; it gives him faith to act on the Word; it causes the believer to “trust in the Lord with all his heart” (Prov. 3:5). Your word becomes Gods Word, and your lips become Gods Ambassador. Gods Word in your mouth, fresh from the love in your heart, burns in the heart of the hearer. Feeding on the Word Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Jeremiah 15:16, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Thy name, 0 Jehovah, God of hosts.” Psalm 78:24, 25, “And He rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them food from heaven. Man did eat the bread of the mighty.” Job 23:12, “I have not gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured up the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” QUESTIONS What is the Word of God doing? Give the three convictions by the Word. Why is it necessary to hear the Word in order to be saved? What is a renewed mind? Discuss the difference between memorizing the Word and having the Word indwell you. Quote the scripture that shows we receive our inheritance through the Word. Discuss how the Word brings healing. Tell just what it means to you to act on the Scriptures that tell you that God is your Father. How does the Word become effective in your lips? Give scriptures that show the need of feeding on the Word. Advanced Bible Course Kindly share this post
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:00:00 +0000
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