Authority of His Word*

Last week's message dealt with removing the leaven of sin from our lives, especially as Passover approaches. One of the leavens that Jesus warned against was "the leaven of the Pharisees". The Pharisees were so caught up in legalism, that they could not see the Living Word in front of them: their Messiah, Jesus. Instead of the Word of God being the letter to us, it must become living to us. The One who IS the Word taught this: "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth (Greek word poieo meaning: to make, construct, to be the author of a thing, to produce, bring forth, to make a thing out of something) them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayngs of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it".... the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." (Mt. 7:24-29). To do the Word of God, as Jesus pointed out, produces something that is indestructible. God's Word is productive. God spoke, and it was created. When we speak His Word (not our own), led by the Holy Spirit (not our own spirit), we speak in HIS authority (not our own), and God honors His Word. The people noticed when Jesus spoke the Word, He spoke with authority. This made Him different from their religious teachers. Solomon wrote: "Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?" (Eccl. 8:4). The Word of a King is powerful and uncontestable. We also speak the Word of the King, in His authority when led by the Spirit, and it is powerful. The prophet Jeremiah was heartbroken because of those who misrepresent themselves as ones who speak the Word of the LORD, but they do not. It disturbed Jeremiah "because of the words of his holiness" (Jer. 23:9). The LORD told Jeremiah that He judged the prophets and the priest, their wickedness found in His house, to be profane. He said that they were adulterous. These prophets, said the LORD, "speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD." (v. 16). These false prophets were speaking peace and safety when, instead, the judgment of the LORD was about to fall. He told the true prophet who dreams and has the Word of the LORD to bring it forth faithfully. The LORD describes His true Word this way, "Is not my word like as a fire?...and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in peices?" (v. 29). We sometimes speak our own words in His name, and expect God to honor them. The LORD calls this adulterous and profane. The LORD described the power of His Word, and the heights of His thoughts to the prophet Isaiah, as He called His people to return to Him: "Let the wicked forsake his way; and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isa. 55:7-9). The LORD continued to say that in the same manner as the rain and snow come from heaven to water the earth and bring forth the bud, and the seed, and the bread..."So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (v. 11). God's Word does, makes, produces, accomplishes, in the same manner as Jesus described those who hear His Words, and DO them. Jesus told His disciples that they were to determine not to think and plan ahead the words that they will speak, but that He would "give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist." (Lk. 21:14-15). This is the power of the Word that the Lord gives us, which cannot be found in our own words. A Roman centurian came to Jesus to ask that Jesus heal his sick servant. Jesus agreed to go immediately to the centurian's house to heal his servant. The centurian stopped Jesus, and told Him that Jesus need only to speak the Word, and his servant would be healed. The centurian, as a soldier, understood the order of authority, and the obedience expected to be given to the command of authority. The centurian applied this truth to the authority that Christ has to meerly send His Word, and it woulld be accomplished. This is exactly as God spoke to Isaiah regarding the accomplishing of the Word He sends. Jesus was amazed at the words of the centurian and said, "Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel...Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee." The centurian's servant was healed in that same hour. (see Mt. 8:5-13). A centurian understood the authority of the Word sent by Christ, when no one else in Israel had demonstrated that faith and understanding. Do we understand that it is not the legalistic "use" of the Word of God that prospers and acomplishes, but the faith and the understanding of the authority of God behind each Word He speaks? Abraham believed by the righteousness of faith the spoken promise of God concerning him, that he would be "the heir of the world", before there was a word written in the Law of Moses (Rom. 4:12-16). It is the faith in the authority of God that the Word that He speaks will accomplish what He determines it to do. Time is passing quickly. I believe that Christ is returning sooner than we think. Are we ready to believe His Word and do it? The world is watching our nation during these troubling times. What are they seeing as they look at the believers in Christ here? We have the right to speak His Word with His authority, and believe His Word will accomplish and produce what He has planned it to do. *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 3/21/23 message to the church. To contact: Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com or PO Box 154221, Waco, TX 76705 Look for us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimesschool.com