THE WORD OF GOD IS OUR ULTIMATE RULE

A Sure Covenant

The Word of God is our final authority. Our experiences have to be judged by Scripture, and not the other way around. The Word is already and forever settled in the Kingdom of Heaven, all we have left to do then, is make sure it is settled on earth.

Psalms 119:89-92

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.

Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

Hebrews 8:6

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

God’s Word never changes and is utterly unmovable. It will say the same thing in 100 years that it says this very day and you should surely believe it today. Don’t wait 10, 20, 30 years or more, because it will still say the same thing.

How do we settle God’s Word on earth? We must believe it,  stand on it, fight for it, and receive it. It’s as simple as that. Think of God’s Word as a Last Will and Testament. A will reveals the nature and intentions of the person who wrote it, and that’s what we have in the Bible.

The Sovereignty of God is just that: sovereign. It is not fickle. It doesn’t mean that He will pick and choose those He wants to keep His Word to. If that were the case, we could never pray a prayer of faith, as is found in James 5:14-16.

Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

You can’t have faith past what you believe of the will of God. You must have knowledge of what his will is, and then be ever faithful in the pursuit of His Will. It is important to note here, that “unspoken requests” are not Biblical. If we are to agree with someone about something in prayer, we have to first know what it is.

The Authority Of The Written Word

2 Peter 1:16-21

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

When we come to a place where we accept the Word of God as the final authority on any matter, we have to then start retraining our minds in order for our thoughts to line up with the Will of God.

What IS the will of God? The Bible, the very inspired Word itself. Everything we could ever possibly need to know about living life the way God intends for us to, has already been given to us in that Word.

Romans 12:1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We are required, by God, to “prove” those things that are good, acceptable, and perfect in the will of God. If His will continually changes, how could we possibly prove it? This leads to the question of how to actually prove His will. The same Scripture above answers that very question: “But ye be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

The only way to renew your mind is by reading the Word of God. Renewing your mind is actually changing the way you think about any given thing, until every thought you have is in agreement with what the Bible has to say about it. There’s really only one way, in two manifestations, that can make that happen:

1. First, you must diligently and systematically study the Word in order to find out what it has to say about various topics you wish to learn about.
2. Turn what you learn through that reading into a solid statement. These are more commonly known as “confessions” and can help you to remember what the Bible’s position on the topic really is.

Most often, your mind retains memory until new information replaces the old. It is important, in that respect, to not just learn Scriptures, but to pull down thoughts that disagree with what the Bible says. About anything.

1 Corinthians 10:3-5

And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

If the Word is to be truly effective in our own lives, we have to get to a place where our first thought about anything is just what the Word says about it. Not that we stop and think, “What does the Bible say about this,” but rather, our own thought process should be in line with the Word because we have come to have the very mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:12-16

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

But the natural man receiveth no the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

Ephesians 4:22-24

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts;

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Colossians 3:10-11

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

When we are born into the Kingdom of God, we are born into a royal family, with all the rights of royalty already in place. What keeps us from exercising our rights to dominion in every area possible? Our lack of knowledge and understanding pertaining to those rights. As we begin to learn more and more of what our rights are, and what our responsibilities are, as children of God, we start to look more like Jesus. How do we learn our rights and responsibilities? By renewing our minds, lining up our thoughts with the Word of God.

That very act of renewing makes it possible for what is inside of us to actually come out. To allow this new and real “you” to come forward, you must not only know what the Word has to say about all subjects, you have to be ready to ACT on those Scriptures as soon as you learn them.

Most Important For Healing

Romans 8:14

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

James 1:22

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only , deceiving your own selves.

In many instances in Church teaching, these two Scriptures actually contradict one another. Some teach a Christian should do nothing they don’t feel “led by the Spirit” to do. Others say Christians should only move when receiving a specific Word from God.

In actuality, Romans 8 is simply talking about putting to death the deeds of the flesh. It has nothing to say regarding the benefits of Atonement, or obeying and applying every Scripture that applies to their life. If that were the case, something along the lines of “if the Spirit tells you to” would have to be added before every command and teaching in the New Testament.

It would also make James 1:22 quite misleading, assuming that we wouldn’t know when to act and when to not act on specific Scriptures. A Christian’s mission, primarily, is to manifest Jesus in every single situation you happen to be involved in.

You are anointed by God:

1 John 2:27

But the anointing in which ye have received of him abides in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

You are destined to be conformed to the image of Christ:

Romans 8:29

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

We are commissioned to do the same works that Jesus did, but more still, GREATER works than He did, BECAUSE He went to the Father. In other words, He did His part by going, and it is now our turn, with our job being to do greater works.

John 14:12-14

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.

If we are to do the same things He did, what are they?

1 John 3:8

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil hath sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

And how, exactly, did Jesus destroy the works of the devil?

Acts 10:38

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.

Now that is exactly how we must do it, too!

Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to Your name be the glory
Because of Your love and your faithfulness!