Truth and Power
Beloved of the Lord, what did the Lord Jesus use as his authority for truth concerning spiritual matters?
Matthew records a time when the Sadducees tried to set a trap for the Lord by quoting Deuteronomy 25:5, and then raising a hypothetical question regarding the resurrection of the dead (a belief they strongly denied). When the Sadducees attacked him, the Lord responded with one single authority.
Matthew 22:31 Nestle-Aland
And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God . . .
What was his reference for truth concerning the resurrection of the dead? He asked the religious leaders of his day if they had read what God said about it in His Word.
Seven times in the Four Gospel records we read that Jesus Christ asked the question, “Have you not read?” In each case, he then cited the Word of God, the Scriptures.
Jesus Christ was not concerned with their religious dogmas, theories, creeds, traditions, opinions, philosophy, etc. He was not concerned with their religious affiliation; he was only concerned with what God said in His Word.
When attacked by his adversaries, he constantly challenged them with the authority of God’s Word.
Our Lord knew that no man knows any more about matters in the spiritual realm than God reveals in His Word. God’s Word was his only authority concerning spiritual matters.
Matthew 22:29 AV
Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
What was the error of these men? The Lord said that they erred on two points: they did not know the Scriptures, nor did they believe in God’s power to perform them.
Isn’t it queer that the men who were supposed to represent God to His people were ignorant of His Word? It seems even stranger that they did not believe what God said. How could they give the Judeans an understanding of spiritual matters without the revelation knowledge of God’s Word? These men were spiritually blind.
This is why the lord said that they were, “. . . blind leaders of the blind.” They did not have spiritual understanding. They led God’s people away from God by teaching their man-made traditions and dogmas instead of the Word of God. “And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch”, he said in Matthew 15:14.
If we are not to make the same mistake today concerning spiritual matters, we should seriously consider what the Lord said to these men and follow his example of believing God’s Word as our reference for truth concerning spiritual matters and believing in God’s power to perform it.
When he was about thirty years of age, after God anointed him with the holy spirit, he spent forty days and nights in the wilderness fasting. Afterwards, when he was hungry, the tempter came to him.
Matthew 4:3 and 4 AV
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.
He answered, “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”, which he quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3. Moses told Israel that they should have learned this lesson in the wilderness when God fed them with manna from heaven.
Jesus Christ believed that every word of God was as necessary as physical food and that it reveals the will of God for our lives. Again, we learn that the words of God come from the mouth of God and that no one is to dismiss it.
He said, “It is written” on several occasions. In the Greek, these words are in the perfect tense. They literally mean, “It stands written”. They were not only true the day they were written, they are still in force today. God’s Word is a present reality and He promises to fulfill it for those who will believe it.
He answered each of the tempter’s temptations with, “It is written!” He believed that God’s Word was as true and vital that day as the day that God had it written.
Why did the adversary depart from him? The Lord stood on the Word of God. He did not succumb to his temptations as Eve did in Genesis 3.
From his first recorded words to his last he appealed to God’s Word as his only authority concerning spiritual matters. It was his only reference concerning spiritual matters. He staked his very life on the Word of God.
What man’s testimony can we trust more concerning the Word of God than God’s only begotten Son? Do you know anyone that knows more about spiritual matters than him?
As his followers, we should imitate his attitude concerning the Word of God. The Scriptures are THE Word of God, they CANNOT be broken, and they WILL NOT pass away. The Word of God REVEALS God’s Will to us and God has the POWER to perform it.
If we are to learn anything about spiritual matters, the Word of God must be our only reference for truth, the same as it was for our Lord. It is crucial that we do not overlook this vital truth.
Beloved, if the Lord was wrong about the Word of God, we will be wrong, too. However, if he was right, we will have found the key that unlocks spiritual understanding; understanding that will enable us to know and walk with the power of the Living God.