The Power of a Superior Promise

I shall walk in freedom, for I have sought your precepts. (Psalm 119:45, my translation)

An essential element of joy is freedom. None of us would be happy if we were not free from what we hate and free for what we love.

And where do we find true freedom? Psalm 119:45 says, “I shall walk in freedom, for I have sought your precepts.”

The picture is one of open spaces. The word frees us from smallness of mind. “God gave Solomon . . . breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore” (1 Kings 4:29). The word frees us from threatening confinements. “He brought me out into a broad place” (Psalm 18:19).

Jesus says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The freedom he has in mind is freedom from the slavery of sin (John 8:34). Or, to put it positively, it is freedom for holiness.

The promises of God’s grace provide the power that makes the demands of God’s holiness an experience of freedom rather than fear and confinement. Peter described the freeing power of God’s promises like this: “Through [his precious and very great promises] you become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:4).

In other words, when we trust the promises of God, we sever the root of corruption and sinful desire by the power of a superior promise.

How crucial is the word that breaks the power of counterfeit pleasures! And how vigilant we should be to light our paths and load our hearts with the word of God!

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).

John Piper 

Bible Study

Job 32:8

    [8] But it is the spirit in man,

        the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

James 4:4-8

[4] You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [5] Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? [6] But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Romans 8:7-11

[7] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. [8] Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

[9] You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. [10] But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11] If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

1 Corinthians 1:18

[18] For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The Bible Will Not Be Destroyed

PRAY OVER THIS

“But the word of the LORD endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:25

 

PONDER THIS

There was a Roman Emperor whose name was Diocletian; he hated the Word of God. He brought in all the copies of the Word of God that there were, burned them, and erected a monument. Then he proclaimed, “The name Christian is now extinguished.” Yet, Diocletian is gone, and we still have the Word of God. The Bible is always being attacked. Almost every week you’ll read something in some magazine or newspaper about why the Bible is wrong. You have cults who twist the Bible. You have those who water the Bible down. You have the humanists who ignore the Bible. You have so-called Christians, many of them, who claim to love it but don’t study it. There’s enough dust on some Bibles to write damnation with your fingertips. These hath God married and no man shall part, dust on the Bible and drought in the heart. But, in spite of all of that, the Bible goes on endless, timeless, dateless, and measureless. “Forever, O LORD, your word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). Don’t be afraid of the enemies of the Bible; they’ll not destroy the Bible.

What are some ways people might seek to dismiss or destroy the Bible?

What are some ways you’ve seen the enduring power of the Bible?

PRACTICE THIS

Write out the ways the Bible speaks of itself, starting with 1 Peter 1:25.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Live Confident in God’s Sovereign Power

The immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe . . . (Ephesians 1:19)

The omnipotence of God means eternal, unshakable refuge in the everlasting glory of God no matter what happens on this earth. And that confidence is the source and power of radical obedience to the call of God.

Is there anything more freeing, more thrilling, or more strengthening than the truth that God Almighty is your refuge — all day, every day, in all the ordinary and extraordinary experiences of life?

If we believed this, if we really let this truth of God’s omnipotence get hold of us, what a difference it would make in our personal lives and in our ministries! How humble and powerful we would become for the saving purposes of God!

The omnipotence of God means refuge for the people of God. And when you really believe that your refuge is the omnipotence of God Almighty, there is a joy and a freedom and a power that spills over in a life of radical obedience to Jesus Christ.

The omnipotence of God means reverence, recompense, and refuge for his covenant people.

I invite you to accept the terms of his covenant of grace: Turn from sin and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ; and the omnipotence of God Almighty will be the reverence of your soul, the recompense of your enemies, and the refuge of your life — forever.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Psalm 91:1-2

    [1] He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

        will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 

    [2] I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,

        my God, in whom I trust.”

Revelation 19:11-16

[11] Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. [12] His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. [13] He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. [14] And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. [15] From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. [16] On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Romans 9:20-21

[20] But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” [21] Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

Daniel 4:34-35

[34] At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, 

    for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

        and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 

    [35] all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,

        and he does according to his will among the host of heaven

        and among the inhabitants of the earth;

    and none can stay his hand

        or say to him, “What have you done?”

How Do You Break the Hardest Rock?

PRAY OVER THIS

“…having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever…” 1 Peter 1:23

 

PONDER THIS

Do you know what the Bible says about itself? In Jeremiah 23:29, God asks, “Is not My word like a…hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” You can take the hardest rock and a sledgehammer and begin to tap. Eventually, the rock will break. Which tap breaks it, the last one or all of them?

There is power in the Word of God. You’ll never tell me there’s no power in the Word of God. I’ve preached it so long; I know there’s power in the Word of God. I have seen it change lives. I’m not talking about preachers’ little outlines and illustrations and all of that. I am talking about this Word of God, because of its inerrancy, its authority, and its vitality.

What is the “rock” that needs breaking in your heart?

How have you experienced the changing power of the Bible in your life?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of ways your life has been changed by the Bible.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Life Hangs on the Word of God

He said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” (Deuteronomy 32:46–47)

The word of God is not a trifle; it is a matter of life and death. If you treat the Scriptures as a trifle or as empty words, you forfeit life.

Even our physical life depends on God’s word, because by his word we were created (Psalm 33:6; Hebrews 11:3), and “he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3).

And our spiritual life begins by the word of God: “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). “You have been born again . . . through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).

Not only do we begin to live by God’s word, but we also go on living by God’s word: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3).

So our physical life is created and upheld by the word of God, and our spiritual life is quickened and sustained by the word of God. How many stories could be gathered to bear witness to the life-giving power of the word of God!

Indeed, the Bible is “no empty word for you” — it is your life! The foundation of all joy is life. Nothing is more fundamental than sheer existence — our creation and our preservation.

All this is owing to the word of God’s power. By that same power, he has spoken in Scripture for the creation and sustenance of our spiritual life. Therefore, the Bible is no empty word, but is your very life — the foundation and kindling of your joy!

John Piper