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Let's open our Bibles, please,
to Matthew's Gospel, the fourth chapter, Matthew chapter 4. We
want to read verses 1-11. Then was Jesus led up of the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And
when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward
and hungered. And when the tempter came to
him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It
is written, Man shall not live by bread alone. But by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, then the devil
taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle
of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God,
cast thyself down. For it is written, He shall give
his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they
shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against
a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written
again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil
taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him
all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. And saith
unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall
down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get
thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth
him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him." I want
you to notice verse 4 and verse 7 and verse 10, where Jesus answers. And when He answered, He said,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God. But He says, It is written. Now,
verse 7, Jesus said again unto him, It is written again, Thou
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. For it is written, Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."
Three times over, his answer was, It is written. It is written. We want to bring
you a message this morning on infallibility and where to find
it. You know, in the storms of life,
in the sea of life, in the stormy seas that we all are on from
time to time, we need sometimes to get our feet on the good earth,
or terra firma we call it. Or better still, we need our
feet on the solid rock to set our feet upon. When we think
of something concrete, something solid, something we're talking
about infallibility. You know, as I was contemplating
on bringing this message this morning, about 5.30 this morning,
I was thinking about concrete. I don't know why it came across
my mind. but the thought of concrete because
of stability, solid rock, good earth, impalability, something
that we can depend upon. And you know, I got to putting
that together in my mind and I thought, what is concrete anyway?
It's gravel, and sand, and cement, and water. And it makes concrete. And I was thinking, how does
that apply to something solid for us? Well, I thought about
the gravel. I thought, well, the gravel may
represent the rough places of our lives. I mean, you know,
really rough times. And then the sand may represent
the smooth things of our life. And then I thought, well, you
put the cement in there, but you have to add water. Now, the
Bible speaks of two things there that I want to bring out. First
of all, water is symbolical of the Word of God. It says, the
washing of water by the Word. So we're talking about the Word
this morning. But what is it that cements it together and
makes it concrete? And that is Jesus Christ Himself
is the one that holds it together. He's the cement. that holds the
Word of God together for us in good times and in bad times,
so that we find that the Bible says that by Him all things consist. The word there in the book of
Colossians means that they are glued together or held together.
And by the way, that passage of Scripture is talking about
the whole universe, that by Him all things consist or are held
in their place. So I thought, I got to thinking,
that might make a good illustration for what I'm about to say this
morning. So we want something concrete, don't we? We want something
solid to stand upon. Infallibility and where to find
it. We find it in the Word of God. Now some try to find infallibility
in the Pope. Some others try to find an infallible
church. Some church that's infallible.
By the way, when you talk of churches, we find that they've
all made a lot of errors. Paul had to write to the Galatians
and correct them. The Corinthians correct them. There's one over in the book
of Revelation that had to be corrected. Jesus corrected one
over there very definitely that was in error. And we find that
churches even in the Bible were not fallible. We talk about they
were fallible and not infallible. So, we talk about, where are
we going to find it? We don't find it in a man, we
don't find it in the church, but we have the infallible Word
of God, the Bible. And Jesus quoted, it is written,
we have the Old Testament prophets saying, thus saith the Lord. They didn't say, I believe, or
I say, or I think. And by the way, I'm not here
this morning to tell you. that I think this. I'm just here
this morning to try to expound the Word of God. I would just
like now to speak on this infallible book, the Bible. It is written.
The Word of God is the unfailing weapon against all our spiritual
enemies. In the book of 2 Corinthians,
let me give you a passage of scripture. Chapter 10 and verse
4, it says, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting
down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ." So it says, the weapons of our
warfare, they're not carnal. They're not guns and swords and
spears or tanks. They're not carnal, but they're
mighty through God. Now, we're talking about the
weapons of our warfare. The Bible says that we're to
take the sword, listen carefully, in Ephesians chapter 6, and take
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Now, if you
have God's word, and you know God's word, you have all the
protection And you have the weapon of offense as well as all the
defense you need, as described in Ephesians chapter 6. But you
have the greatest offensive weapon that you could have in your hands.
Now, Jesus chose the unfailing weapon when he was assailed by
Satan in the wilderness. What did Jesus do? We just have
read it. He had a great choice of weapons,
but what did he use? He simply said, it is written.
And by the way, he quoted three times from the book of Deuteronomy.
He could have used all the Old Testament, but he used one book.
He was as much as saying to Satan, I have a whole arsenal out there,
and I'm just going to concentrate on these three little grenades
here. I don't need all of it. I mean, three quotes from the
book of Deuteronomy. When he said, it is written,
he could have quoted Isaiah. He could have quoted the prophets.
He could have quoted in Exodus. He could have gone back to Moses.
He could have gone to Elijah. He could have gone to any of
them and see what God had done in opposition to evil forces.
But he didn't. He just quoted, it is written.
He had a choice of weapons, but he took none but the word of
God. Sometimes you and I take the
wrong weapons. We take the idea that we can argue it out and
by reasoning we have the best answer and we can confront the
devil on his own ground. We don't win the battle that
way. Jesus could have overcome Satan with angelic force. Remember in Matthew, let me read
this in Matthew 26, listen, after Jesus was betrayed, and in verse
53, he says, Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? That's Matthew 26, 53. Twelve legions of angels. They
say a Roman legion was either thought of it to be from 4,200
to 5,000 or 6,000. And some say more than that. But say twelve legions of angels
and there's 6,000 in one legion. That would be 72,000 angels. We find that in the Old Testament,
let me read a verse of Scripture for you. In the book of 2 Kings.
It came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, this was Israel's
enemy, and hundred, fourscore, and five thousand, and when they
arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. One
angel, a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And Jesus said He could
have called twelve legions of angels to His rescue. And if
someone has multiplied this out in time and space and found that
that is enough, That there's enough angels to have destroyed
all of humanity upon the earth at any given time. So Jesus had
all the force he needed in angelic power. But he didn't use that.
Remember it said in verse 11, angels came and ministered unto
him. He had enough at hand to do the job. He didn't use that.
But he said it is written. We're talking about infallibility
and where to find it. So he did not use angelic force. He could have used and exercised
divine power. We know he was the sovereign
and that he is the creator. The Bible says all things were
made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. He didn't use his creative power,
even his Godhead, his sovereignty. And he shows us there that we're
not to call on the aid of force, but we're to call upon, if Jesus
used this against Satan's temptations, he said, it is written. What
are we to use? Some other thing? We're not to
go to human force or power, but it is written. Our Lord could
have used and have unveiled his own glory. If he had just unveiled
his own glory, look what would have happened. Remember the transfiguration? The Bible says He took with Him
Peter, James, and John. You find it in Matthew 17 and
Mark 9 and Luke 9. You find the story of the transfiguration.
And it says, He took with Him Peter, James, and John. They
went up into the high mountain apart, one of the Gospels says,
to pray. And the Bible says He was transfigured before them,
and His face did shine as the sun, and His reign was white
as the light. And Peter and James and John
fell to the ground and were blinded to the ground. They heard the
voice of God out of heaven saying, This is my beloved son, whom
I'm well pleased, hear ye him. So Jesus could have been transfigured
and used his majesty and glory before Satan. And this would
have caused him to fall back. Remember, it is betrayal. The
Bible tells us in John 18, chapter of John, when they come to betray
Jesus, when Judas comes to betray, it says in verse 5, chapter 18,
They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus saith unto them, I am he.
And Judas also which betrayed him stood with him. As soon then
as he said unto them, I am he, they went back and fell to the
ground." Even when he was being betrayed. They came with swords
and spears and just the fact that he said, I am. And by the
way, the word he in that passage of scripture is in italics, which
means it's in the original. It's not in the original Greek.
because it's put in there. So he was saying, I am. Isn't
that the word that God gave to Moses? He told Moses, you say,
I am a sin to thee. So we find that at his word and
his name that they fell back to the ground. We find that John
in the book of Revelation in the first chapter In verse 17
it says, And when I saw him, this revelation of Christ in
all of his glory, Christ glorified. In verse 17 he says, And when
I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. What did John do? I
fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.
I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore.
Amen. And have the keys of hell and
of death." So John fell down before his glory and majesty.
So Jesus did not use angelic force. He did not use his divine
power. He did not unveil his own glory. Jesus could have argued with
Satan on any point of the temptation and won the victory. But no,
he didn't. He said, it is written. He didn't try to meet Satan on
Satan's ground. He met Satan on his ground, on
God's ground, on his own ground. You see, the devil will come
along and try to argue with you. But Jesus didn't argue with him. He just said, it is written.
He says, I'm not going to argue about it. It is written. I'm
not going to reason about it. It is written. I'm not going
to call the angels to my help because it's written. I'm not
going to use any other source. I'm not going to use any other
way. It is written. And he said three times over
and he came back victorious. The Bible says he came out of
the wilderness temptation in the power of the spirit. The
reason he went in to the temptation, he was led up of the spirit into
the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And he came back
the same way because he used the right weapon. It is written.
He could have argued on any point and won the battle with all the
choice weapons Jesus could have used. Does not this teach us
that the very best choice is His choice, and His choice should
be our choice? Our Lord used this weapon, and
we're going to see when at the very outset of His career. He
had not yet come into his public ministry. Remember, he had just
been baptized. He was baptized, Matthew chapter
3, and he was led of the Spirit into the wilderness. He had not
yet begun his public ministry. At the very outset of his career,
he used the word, It is written. He had not come into full view
of others. We have no record of Jesus from
the age of twelve until this particular time, until he entered
this public ministry, until he was baptized of John in Jordan.
He appears on the scene at that time. It might teach young Christians,
and it might teach you and I, who may still be young at heart
in Christian service, one thing, that the strength and the power
is what? In the Word of God. It might
teach us how to get started. It was the beginning of his career.
If you turn to the book of 1 John, let me give you this. 1 John
chapter 2. John says in verse 13, listen
carefully, I write unto you fathers because you have known him that
is from the beginning. I write unto you young men because
you have overcome the wicked one. Look at that statement.
You have overcome. I write unto you young men because
you have overcome the wicked one. Isn't that what Jesus did?
I write unto you little children, because ye have known the Father.
Verse 14 is very important. I have written unto you fathers,
because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I have
written unto you young men, because ye are strong. Listen, the young
men are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you. And you
have overcome the wicked one. How is it that the young men
that are strong, and we're talking about strong in the Lord, overcome
the wicked one? Because the word of God abideth
in you, that infallible word that you need to have at hand
and the weapon you need to use. So Jesus used it at the beginning
of his ministry. You and I ought to use it. And
young converts ought to use the word. I'm thankful that little
Robert, the first Sunday he accepted the Lord, two Sundays ago, and
last Sunday he had a new Bible. Brother Robert got him a Bible
so he could start out. Right. I mean, children know
the Scripture. We had that in Sunday school
this morning. Paul told Timothy, and he says, That from a child
thou hast known the Holy Scriptures. We need to teach them the Holy
Scriptures. They're able to learn it. Someone says they don't understand. They understand a lot more than
you think. You know, I've been up here preaching time and again,
and some little girl on the front row here would, after the service
over, show me everything I'd preached. I mean, have it written
down, jotted down. An outline of the whole sermon.
And how many adults can do that? Well, we find that that's the
way it goes. They learn. And they're ready to learn. And
then he not only used it at the beginning of his ministry, but
he used it when no man was near. Think of you and I being all
alone. He was alone with Satan in the temptation. No one was
there. Think of you and I when we're
alone, when we face trials. We need to use it then. When
he was enduring personal trial, when you're enduring personal
trial, you need to learn how to use the Word of God and hear
that still, small voice. 1 Peter 1, verses 6 and 7. Let me read this for you. 1 Peter
1, verses 6 and 7 says this. wherein ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations." Sometimes we're alone, we're in heaviness, and
manifold temptations. Now, it says that the trial of
your faith, okay, if you have faith and it's being tried, You
had faith because you had the Word, because faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And that the trial of
your faith, the trial when you have the Word of God, yes, you're
tried. So was Jesus, but He had the Word, didn't He? That the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that
perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto
praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
So in the midst of trial, and even when you're all alone, You
know, it's not the world that gives you so many problems and
sometimes even Satan's presence to try to convince you of something
wrong in your life and that you don't measure up and condemn
you and cause you to doubt and say you don't belong to God.
If you were a child of God, you wouldn't act this way. The devil
has all kinds of ways of dealing with your mind. Have you ever
heard someone say, well, now, if you were a Christian, you
wouldn't act like that. Where's that voice come from? You are
a Christian and you still act like that. And we all still have
problems, but we have to have the word of God to help us through
those problems. We're not perfect. None of us.
You show me the perfect man, I'll show you only one. That's
Jesus. He never was one perfect, but him, because even Adam, though
he was created in innocence, he finally he fell. and became
the federal head of the human race, and therefore all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God, and there is none
righteous, no, not one." So we need to learn to use it when
we are in the midst of trial and when we are alone. Now, quickly
again, Jesus used this weapon under the most trying circumstances.
No one to help or to sympathize. There was no one there to sympathize
with him. You and I, sometimes we have a companion that can
say, well, you know, you've got this problem. I'll help you with
it. He had no one. So what did he look to? One thing.
It is written. It is written. When he was terribly
hungry and he had the power to do anything, he fed the children
of Israel with manna from heaven. And now he was terribly hungry.
He was afterward and hungered 40 days. And the Bible says that
Satan wanted him to turn these stones into bread. And he said,
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And by the way,
that's something you and I need to learn, too. We can live and
we know we have to have food to sustain the body, but God's
word will sustain us. And when the time comes, the
need will be provided for physical hunger, because he, after this
temptation was over, went out and I'm sure was able to satisfy
his physical hunger. and great danger on the pinnacle
of the temple. Satan wanted to cast himself
down. And by the way, did you know when Satan was doing this,
he was using the scripture, he was quoting from one of the Psalms,
and he told Jesus, he said, it is written, if you cast yourself
down, he'll not suffer you to cast your foot against a stone.
But Jesus had one that taught that. You know why? Because the
devil was misusing it in the first place. This was a sin of
presumption. You don't presume to do things
just to see if you can get by with it. You don't presume to
go out here and lay down across the railroad track and say, God
promised to take care of me, and therefore, I'll just lay
here, and when the train comes, it'll stop. It won't either. It's going to cut you half in
two. And God has given you enough sense not to play with danger,
and the sin of presumption. So, Jesus did not jump off the
pinnacle of the temple because He said, It is written, Thou
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when you do something
contrary to your own senses and your own mind and your own judgment
that God has given you better sense to do, you're tempting
God. Like these snake handlers. You say, Well, they get by with
it. Well, some of them do. Some of them don't. But nevertheless,
I'm not going to take up any serpents, are you? The Bible
says, well, they'll take up serpents and not be harmed. Yes. And Paul
did. He took up a bundle of sticks
there on the island and he was bitten and he was not harmed.
But he didn't go out there to get the serpent. He went out
there to get the sticks to make a fire. And in the process of
that, God protected him from that poison. And that's what
God meant. He'll take care of you when when
you're in danger. But he doesn't want you to throw
yourself in danger just to see if he will. And that's what the
devil wanted Jesus to do, is jump off the pinnacle of the
temple. He would not do it. Then he was shown all the kingdoms
of the world that were shown at his feet. Sometimes this has
driven men to destruction, to show them all the riches and
things of the world. By the way, Paul says, we brought
nothing into this world and it is certain we'll take nothing
out. The love of power and money and fame sometimes destroys men. He wanted them to sin. from the
temple and on the high mountain. No change in his mode of warfare
with Satan, neither should there be in ours. Jesus continued to
use his one defense even though his adversary often shifted his
point of attack. You see, the devil has more than
one arrow, and he tries to attack you from every side. And even
though it was shifted, he tempted him to distrust God for the bread.
He tempted him to presumption by casting himself down. He tempted
him to fall down in worship by offering him all the kingdoms
of the world. But at every point, Jesus said, it is written. And we need not turn from the
written Word. We cannot be in a position or
circumstances or any situation in our lives in which the Word
of God will not provide for us the weapon that we need. You
say, well, preacher, I've been here or there in my situation,
and I don't find the answer in the Word. You look in the Word,
and the answer is there. The Bible says that the Word
of God is given to us, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is proper for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness. Now listen, that the man of God
may be perfect, throughly furnished, throughly furnished unto all
good works. That means completely. We need to hide it in our hearts.
The psalmist said, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might
not sin against thee. We need to meditate upon it.
The Bible says to meditate there day and night, and you shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which bringeth
forth its fruit in its season. That's Psalm 1. You'll find that
in the six verses. In Psalm 1, there's an introduction
to all of the Psalms. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly, the Bible says. Be rooted and grounded. Be established
in the faith and in its truth and in its teachings. So we've
seen the word that we should use. Now then, the second point
of our message is, our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to what use
He makes of this word it is written. Remember, He says, If thou be
the Son of God, was said to Jesus. First of all, He used it to defend
His Sonship. He didn't say, Yes, I'm the Son
of God and I'll turn these stones into bread. He said, it is written,
to defend his sonship at his baptism. God says, this is my
beloved son. He had already said that previous
to the temptation in Matthew chapter 3. This is my beloved
son, whom I am well pleased." The Holy Spirit in the form of
a dove lighted upon him, but he did not say, yes, I was baptized
back there just recently of John the Baptist in Jordan, and I
heard God's voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son.
I am a son of God. He didn't try to reason with
the devil from that standpoint. He said, it is written. Man shall
not live by bread alone. You see, you can win an argument
sometimes, but on the other hand, why argue when you have the infallible
weapon? Why argue about it? You say,
it is written. I'll just stop right there. He
didn't have to say anything else. He didn't have to say, I was
baptized of John, and God's voice said, I'm his beloved son, and
I had the witness of it by the Holy Spirit coming and lighting
upon my shoulder. And John the Baptist witnessed
this. No. He didn't argue that from that standpoint. By the
way, the devil would have you sometimes to doubt your sonship.
Say, now, if you're a child of God, if you're a son of God,
why do you do this or that or the other and argue with him?
Say, it is written, it is written what? That God's word says, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. You believed
on Christ, so you're saved. You say, it is written. For God
so loved the world that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. You could say, it is written,
and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. You could just quote, it is written. And that proves
your sonship. You don't have to argue with
the devil and say, well, you know, I'm better than I used
to be, or I'm not improving too much, but still, I believe I'm
a child of God, or I had this feeling, or I trusted the Lord.
No, just say it is written. God's word will protect you when
your sonship is on the line. The devil would try to have you
to produce evidences that you're a son. You don't have to produce
anything. Just say it is written. And then,
of course, the scripture that refers to the fact that everyone
that is a child of God is justified and pardoned and forgiven and
accepted in the Beloved, and nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so, to defend
his sonship, and secondly, to defeat temptation. He was tempted
to distrust, to presumption on the providence of God, to be
a traitor to God and to worship other gods, but he would not.
And next, Jesus uses the word as a direction of his way. Even
though he was hungry, he would still be guided by the word of
God. This would direct him to his source and his need. Man
shall not live by bread alone. It's written. He could have cast
himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. But he would not
misuse his special gifts and privileges to disobey God. We
are not to turn the grace of God. You and I are not to use
the fact that we are a child of God and turn the grace of
God into lasciviousness. Just because we are saved by
grace, we are not to presume upon that grace. The Bible says,
The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto
all men. What does it do? It brings salvation, and it says,
teaching us, listen carefully, us how to live. And it says, denying ungodliness. First of all, what we're not
to do. And worldly lust. And how to live. Look, three
things. Soberly, and righteously, and
godly in this present world. How are we to live? Soberly. You have to live with yourself.
That's inwardly. Righteously, you have to live
with others. And Godly, that's upwardly, you have to live with
God. So, you live with yourself, you live with others, and you
live with God. Inwardly, soberly. Outwardly, righteously. Upwardly,
Godly. And the grace that saves teaches
you to live that way, and we have no right to try to turn
the grace of God into lasciviousness. You know, every once in a while
I talk to folks, and I can see they're just itching for a verse
of Scripture that can justify them and their sins. I mean,
you know, where can I find that Scripture that says this is okay?
You're not going to find it, friend. If God is convicting
you in your heart, and His Word is said, Thou shalt not, it means
exactly that. And every time you start to commit
that sin, it's going to say, Thou shalt not, and you're going
to know it's wrong. And every time it tells you what
it's right to do, you're going to know what's right. So you
don't have to worry about it. But I've found folks that come
up, Brother Joyce, doesn't it say this, so and so? Not hardly. You know, it just doesn't say
that. I've quoted before where A lot of people want to justify.
Now, you can go out of this world any way you want to and be buried
any way you want to, but they try to justify a cremation, and
they say, well, the Bible says ashes to ashes and dust to dust.
The Bible doesn't say that, friend. It just doesn't say that. Now, if you want to be burnt,
that's all right with you. And I'm not going to argue with
you about it, but it doesn't say that. It tells us about Abraham,
he was buried in the sepulchre. Joseph was buried, and Isaac,
and all of them, and so on and so forth. And Jesus touched the
bier of the young man that was on his way to the burial, the
coffin. He touched the coffin, raised the young man, gave him
back to his mother, so on and so forth. But that's another
story. But I want us to see that a lot of people presume upon
the grace of God and they try to turn the grace of God into
lasciviousness and make up their own rules and regulations as
to how to live. Now, I realize it's getting long
and I have to hurry to get through this message because I'm nearly
halfway through already. Now, the kingdoms of this world
were offered to him, but he felt of no advantage. But he said,
it is written. The Bible teaches that he kept
on saying, it is written. Now, for personal maintenance,
for maintaining his own spirit, he was in perfect calmness. By
the way, when you have the Word of God at your back and at your
side, you don't need to worry about not being strong. Because
it's your strength. It's that infallible Word. You
don't have to worry about it. Thy Word have I hid in my heart,
that I might not sin against thee. The Word of God is Hebrews
4.12, quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.
piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit,
of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart." And verse 13 there says, "...neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but
all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom
we have to do so." God's Word is there, and it's quick and
powerful. And it's used to vanish the enemy,
to chase him away. You're to take the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God against any assault of Satan. Now, last point of our message.
As Jesus chose the weapon and taught us its uses, so he showed
us how to handle it. How are we to handle it? First,
with deepest reverence. First, let every word be law
and gospel. Never trifle with the word of
God. Pray for understanding of it. And sometimes it's a very
personal word to us. Sometimes when you read a passage
of scripture, it seems like that's just exactly what God is saying
to you. And it's your answer at that
point in time in your life. Paul says that the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the
hope of his calling. And so he wants your eyes to
be enlightened. Secondly, always have it ready.
Know where to find it. Make no mistake in quoting it.
Do not quote it wrong. I've always taught folks here
learning the Scripture. If you're saying the Scripture
and you run across a word and you think or are doubtful that
that's correct, go look at it before you start getting it in
your mind. Make sure that you get it right. And by the way,
quote the King James Version. Make no mistake in quoting it.
Hide the Word of God in your heart. Jesus used one book of
the Bible, but he had plenty more to use. You and I need more
than just a little bit of ammunition. He was not short of ammunition,
neither are we. He used three verses of Scripture
from the Old Testament. Think of how many verses are
in the Old Testament. And he well knew all the Scripture.
Think of how much you and I should know of the word of God. And
we not only need to have deepest reverence for it and always have
it ready at hand, but understand its meaning, discern between
its meaning and its perversion. There are people that pervert
the scriptures and twist them and change them. Paul says there
would be some that would pervert the gospel of Christ in Galatians
chapter one. And he says twist the word there
means to twist it or change it to mean some other way. But the
gospel according to Paul and according to God's word is that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures it is written.
He was buried. He rose again the third day according
to the scriptures. So it is written. Learn its meaning
and understand its meaning. The devil adds to it. The devil
changes it. The devil takes from it. He perverts
it. And you need to be able to discern
which is right and which is wrong. We need to so know it and understand
it that we may truly apply it to every situation. in our lives. Someone ask you about something?
You can apply the Word of God properly. Learn also to appropriate
the Scripture to ourselves, because it is food for our souls. Job
of old said, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than
my necessary food. It is written, and it's food
to the soul. It's a personal message to each
and every one of us. It's bread on the table, and
it's on the plate. But it must be in your mouth
before you can assimilate it. And so, the Word of God, you
say, well, preacher, there's the Bible. Yes, there's the Bible.
It's preached. It's taught. So it might be food
there on the table for you. So you say, I have it on my plate.
Well, you must take it into your own personal being. It must become
a part of you for you to appropriate it for yourself. You know, if
mother calls the kiddos to dinner and says, food's on the table,
it's time to eat. The children say, well, yeah,
I know it's there. Well, they're not going to get
it unless they go. They're going to go to the table. They go to
the table. It's on the plate. They're still not going to get
it unless they eat it. And that's exactly the way the Word of God
is to you in the New Testament. Peter says, desire the sincere
milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. We need to desire
it and appropriate it to ourselves. Now, another thing quickly. We
said we have to use it with deep reverence. This is how to handle
it. With deep reverence and always have it ready and understand
its meaning and learn to appropriate it for ourselves. And then quickly,
stand by our text, whatever it may cost. Stand by the Word of
God. Do not follow men and their diversions
of it. Do not follow men or angels from
heaven. If they preach any other gospel,
Paul says, though an angel from heaven comes down, he says, let
him be accursed if he preaches any other gospel. So you and
I are to stand by it with our convictions. If we have people
today, and I trust and I believe most of you do, that will stand
by God's Word, appropriate it to themselves, and take their
stand there and use it as it should be used, we'll have some
victorious and wonderfully satisfied folks. Remember, lastly, that
Jesus was filled with the Spirit. Now, Jesus is the author of this
book, and the Word of God, apart from the Spirit of God, will
be of no use. So you must pray that God will
help you to apply it as it is to your heart and life. The Bible
says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. The Bible
tells us we have a more sure word of prophecy. That's the
word of God. 1 Peter 1.23, being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Hebrews 4.12, the word of God
is quick and powerful. We've already quoted it. Psalm
119, verse 89, for ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.
Psalm 119.130, the entrance of thy words giveth light. Psalm
119.160, Thy word is true from the beginning." Psalm 119, verse
11, "...thy word hath a hidden mine heart, that I might not
sin against thee." Isaiah 40, verse 8, "...the word of our
God shall stand forever." I say, 820, to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them. Ephesians
6, 17, And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God. Psalm 119, 105, Thy word
is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119, verse
9, Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed
thereto according to thy word. Two more, Jeremiah 15.16, "'Thy
words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me
the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.' And last of all, Jeremiah
23.29, "'Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and
like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?'
Infallibility and Where to Find It
| Sermon ID | 419081258192 |
| Duration | 39:55 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | 2 Corinthians 10:4; Matthew 4; Psalm 119:89 |
| Language | English |
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