Written by,
Robert Johnson
There is one power that matters, the Word of God – John 19:11 KJV “Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.”
The power of the Jesus was in him as the power of the word of God -?He was no ordinary God He was the word of God wrapped in humanities flesh –
Thus, Acts 4:10-12 KJV
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner –
“A cornerstone (Greek: Άκρογωνιεîς, Latin: Primarii Lapidis) will sometimes be referred to as a “foundation-stone”, and is symbolic of Christ, whom the Apostle Paul referred to as the “head of the corner” and is the “Chief Cornerstone of the Church” (Ephesians 2:20).”
If He is the first among humanity born from the dead is the head of all things!The Word of God
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
In Psalm 62:11 we read that, “Power belongs to God” and the great reservoir of His power is His Word the Bible. God Himself has said, “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29). If we want to know the power of God’s Spirit operating in our lives then we need to be studying and reflecting on His Word everyday and applying it to our lives. There is nothing like God’s Word that can discern the thoughts and the motives of our hearts.
In Hebrews we read, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Many believers today are longing for spiritual power in their lives but are neglecting God’s Word. Many are going in for all kinds of spiritual experiences or chasing after so called prophets for a word from God instead of going to the Word of God. Many earnest and sincere believers want God to use them in reaching others but forget that the spiritual seed for the soil of the human heart is God’s Word. (Luke 8:11)
To preach the Lord Jesus Christ is to preach His Word and to preach His Word is to preach the Lord Jesus Christ because He Himself is the Logos made flesh. He Himself is the co-author of the Bible along with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. If we do not preach God’s Word people will not have a personal encounter in their lives with the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior from sin because “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
The reason so many believers have little or no spiritual power in their Christian life and service is because they are neglecting to study and obey God’s Word. (Isaiah 34:16) Only the power of God’s Word can break down people’s stubborn hearts towards the good news about Jesus. There is nothing like God’s Word to break “a heart of rock” to pieces and to replace it with a responsive “heart of flesh.” Only God’s Word accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit can change a person’s heart from a Christ hating, Christ rejecting attitude into a Christ loving, Christ accepting attitude.
God’s Word is the instrument the Holy Spirit uses to bring people to faith in Jesus. Paul tells us that, “the sword of the Spirit is God’s Word” (Ephesians 6:17). God’s Word and the Holy Spirit are inseparable in the work of convicting and converting sinners. If we want to know ‘the fire of heaven’ in our souls then we must be regularly feeding everyday on the nutritious spiritual food of God’s Word. If we do not eat nutritious food regularly then our physical bodies will become weak, likewise, if we do not feed on the spiritual nutrition of God’s Word we will not have spiritual strength. God’s Word is all the spiritual nourishment we will ever need. There is more wisdom in the Bible than in any other book because it is God’s wisdom. If we do not take time out to read and study God’s Word then we will not have spiritual power that moves heaven and earth.
There are no short cuts to genuine spiritual power. Today multitudes of professing Christians are seeking all kinds of spiritual experiences, attending conventions, listening to top name speakers or doing seminars on evangelism and church growth but neglecting to diligently study God’s Word. They are not capable of rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Instead of studying the Bible for themselves they only listen to what others say about what the Bible says instead of being like the Berean’s, “who searched the scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true.” All of the Great men and women of God that He has used effectively have been diligent students of His Word. The truth of the Bible has shaped and molded their lives in such a way that they have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s good, acceptable and perfect will for their lives.
“Do not turn from it to the right or to the left”
Joshua succeeded Moses and he had the task of leading the people into the Promised Land. Moses was a hard act to follow and Joshua felt his own inadequacy for such a job but God told him how to be successful. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth: meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified or discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7-9)….What does God’s Word have power to do?
- God’s Word has power to convict people of sin.
(Acts 2:37) “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
Peter had been preaching the Lord Jesus Christ to the crowd assembled that day in Jerusalem. His sermon was the Word of God from beginning to end and the Holy Spirit took that sword of God’s Word and drove it home into the hearts of the listeners causing them to be thoroughly saved. In the book of Acts we see the believers using God’s Word to bring people to faith in Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord. They were preaching God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit and seeing wonderful results in their evangelism.
- God’s Word has power to impart spiritual life.
(1 Peter 1:23) “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” (2 Peter 1:4) “Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (Romans 10:17) “so then, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”
In these verses we are told that God’s Word is the instrument that the Holy Spirit uses to produce the New Birth in us. When we receive God’s Word into our hearts we are receiving the Lord Jesus Himself who is the Living Word of God. By His Word He constantly supplies us with spiritual strength and power through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. The Holy Spirit Himself takes the words of the Bible and makes them a living and active reality in our daily lives. (John 6:63)
Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit will reproduce in us God’s very own Divine and Holy nature and enable us to be set free from the spiritual corruption and sin that so easily besets us. (Galatians 5:22-25) (Ephesians 5:9) God uses His Word like a mirror in that it shows us our true spiritual condition and applies the Law of God to our hearts showing us very clearly our total inability to do anything worthwhile for God and as we continue in His Word it shows us God’s grace and the ability to set us free from sin and rebellion. (James 1:22-25)
God’s Word is living and active, a double-edged sword!
When we take the time to study and reflect of God’s Word God renews us spiritually and produces in us the likeness and image of His Son. Through meditating and studying God’s Word we will grow in ever increasing likeness into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ making our calling and election a sure thing. (Romans 8:29-30) (2 Peter 1:5-11) God’s Word itself is a living and active spiritual agent that can radically change us deep down on the inside. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
- God’s Word has power to produce faith.
(Romans 10:17) “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”
We can read God’s Word from cover to cover but never be spiritually changed unless that word becomes a personal revelation to our hearts. A person can hear that Jesus died for everyone but that won’t change them unless they have a revelation that Jesus died personally for them. Faith only comes when the Holy Spirit takes God’s Word and makes it a living reality deep down on the inside of us. Jesus is the “logos” i.e., The Eternal Word of God made flesh but that still won’t enable us to believe in Him unless that Word becomes “Rhema” i.e., a personal revelation to our spirits.
The Bible says that no one can truly say, “Jesus is Lord” unless they can say it by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3) This is why we must be born again if we want to enter into God’s eternal Kingdom. (John 3:3) When a person believes in Jesus it is important to not only show them how to believe but show them from God’s Word what to believe. Paul did this with the jailor at Philippi whom he led to faith in Jesus. Paul didn’t just tell him to believe but gave him something to believe in. We read what Paul and Silas did, “And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house”(Acts 16:32). Faith itself must have a solid foundation upon which it can grow and develop in our lives and that sure foundation is God’s Word.
- God’s Word has power to build us up spiritually.
(Acts 20:32) “Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”
Paul was about to leave the believers at Ephesus and spoke these words to the elders. He knew that false prophets and teachers would come and that even some would come from their own number to pervert the gospel and deceive the true believers. What was his remedy against this spiritual seduction soon to immerge in the Church at Ephesus? His remedy was to commit them to God’s Word. Why did he do this? Well for two reasons. Firstly, he wanted to build them up spiritually so that they could take a stand against sin and against spiritual deception and seduction coming into the church. Secondly, he wanted to enable them to see what their spiritual inheritance was in Christ both in this life and in the next.
If we would increase our faith and build up our capacity for faith then we must diligently, persistently and prayerfully study God’s Word, the Bible. Many in the church today crave signs, miracles and wonders while others crave to have gifts and blessings but how many crave after God’s Word or hunger and thirst after righteousness? Not many! Listen to what Peter says, “Like newborn babies, crave the sincere milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2).
5. God’s Word has power to cleanse our lives.
(Ephesians 5:26) “That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” (NKJV)
There are three great spiritual cleansing agents God uses in our lives to keep us free from spiritual defilement and sin. He uses the blood of Jesus His Son. He uses the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit and He uses His Word. Just as water washes away physical dirt from our bodies so God’s Word, when studied in the Spirit’s power, will wash our inner attitudes, values, desires and dispositions that resist God’s will. Apart from the blood of Jesus there is no cleansing agent more powerful in our daily lives than God’s Word. Kind David understood this when he said; “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word”…“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9, 11). As we regularly study God’s Word He is able to keep us clean from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfect in us that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. We need to wash our bodies everyday otherwise they will become smelly and polluted by our daily activities. In the same way we need to be washed spiritually everyday to keep ourselves from becoming defiled and stained by the deceitfulness of sin.
If we open our lives completely to be examined by the searchlight of God’s Word then we will not only have the dark areas of our life revealed but also removed. Through the washing and cleansing of God’s Word we will find new strength, new desires after God, new attitudes and new values being formed in our hearts and lives. Consequently we will find our characters being shaped into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we cultivate regular Bible study and prayer in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit we will find our attitudes and desires lining up with God’s attitudes and values and find real satisfaction in doing His will. (Romans 12:1-2)
Studying God’s Word will change the way in which we pray. Our prayers will be increasingly based of God’s Word consequently we will know how to pray in the will of God and in the Holy Spirit. According to His Word we will receive from Him whatever we ask because we are asking according to His will. (1 John 5:14-15) God’s Word is God’s Will. If we really love God and the Lord Jesus Christ then we will love the Bible because it is God’s Word. So then God’s Word will cleanse us and keep us from all and every sin if we seek to study and obey it in the power of the Holy Spirit everyday.
Therefore, If we want to remain continuously filled with the Holy Spirit then we need to be continuously filled with God’s Word or we will soon run out of spiritual power. We cannot remain filled with the Spirit unless we are engaged in a prayerful, deep and diligent study of God’s Word. In other words if we want to remain filled with God’s power in our Christian life and service then we must be constantly and diligently feeding on God’s Word everyday! Power belongs to God and that great reservoir of His Power is His Word!
Foolishness in the understanding of immaturity does not deserve attention – a waste of time!
Colossians chapter 3 KJV – I’m so glad –
