(A Solid Grip On The Christian Life) The Living Word of God — Zac Poonen

So, we are thinking in these days of holding tightly the Christian life, not losing our grip on the Christian life. And I use the example of the hand, where when we hold something, the palm is what gives the support of the back, and then five fingers.

The Living Word That Proceeds From God's Mouth

We looked at the blood of Christ, first of all, and I want to speak today about the Word of God, and not the Bible as the Word of God, but the Word that proceeds from God's mouth, which is different. You can read the Bible every day for 50 years and never hear the Word that proceeds from God's mouth even once.

There are many people like that. So don't ever think the Word of God means, I've got a Bible, I read the Bible in ten different translations, and you can read it in any number of translations and never hear God speak to you even once.

Jesus' Temptation and the Appropriate Word of Scripture

So we'll begin with the first spoken word of Jesus in his ministry. The very first word that Jesus spoke in his public ministry, it was in the temptation in Matthew 4, where the devil tempted him to turn the stones into bread because he hadn't eaten for 40 days.

And Jesus' reply was, in Matthew 4, verse 4, it is written. So, Jesus, whenever he was tempted, quoted scripture each time when he was tempted. The second time when the devil said, oh, you're going to quote, it is written, he said, okay.

The devil says, jump out of the temple, it is written, he says, just like you said just now, he will give his angels charge over you, concerning you, and they'll bear you up in their hands so that you don't strike your foot against a stone, verse 6.

And then Jesus replied, it is also written. See, that's the response of a person who's listening to God. He's not blindly quoting a verse, and then when somebody confronts him, he's stuck. He doesn't know what to do.

Those are people who just memorize scripture, but don't listen to God. But Jesus was in touch with God, so when he quoted a verse and the devil confronted him with a verse, he said, it is also written.

That is a result of listening to the word that proceeds from God's mouth. And then the third time the devil tempted him, again, he quoted scripture, it is written, but it was a word that he got from scripture, the appropriate word.

And then throughout his ministry, you find, because Jesus was listening all the time, in every situation, he had the appropriate word. Was it a group of people? He had the appropriate word. An individual who came to him with a question, he had the appropriate word.

And when he had to chase out the money changers from the temple, he had the appropriate word from the father. A woman caught in adultery, he had the appropriate word. So this is what we need to remember.

Living by Every Word That Proceeds From God

The first words of Jesus, Matthew 4, 4, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds. And like I've often said, it's not something that proceeded, past tense. These are words that, in the Bible, that proceeded from the mouth of God 2 ,000 years ago, 3 ,000 years ago, but here it's not referring to that.

Many people read the word that proceeded from the mouth of God thousands of years ago, and it was just printed in a book. But here it says, man shall live by every word that proceeds. The word of God is always coming out of God's mouth every day.

And it'll be through his word, of course. But once you get very familiar with the word, God uses that and speaks to us. But then God spoke to Jesus many other things which are not written in scripture.

For example, when the woman caught in adultery, Jesus did not say, it is written, let the one who is without sin cast the first stone. That's not written anywhere. That was a word that proceeded from God's mouth into the heart of a man.

Jesus lived as a man who was always living by that word in every area of his life, always listening. When tempted to get angry, listening. When tempted to lust after a woman, listening. When tempted to love money, listening.

When tempted to react in anger or murmur about some situation, listening. And because he spent 30 years listening, the Father said, this is my beloved son, I'm well pleased with him. And to such a man, in situations where there is no written word, God gives a word to what to say.

Shall we pay tax to Caesar? Render to Caesar what is Caesar's, render to God what is God's. It's a wonderful thing to develop the habit, not just reading the scriptures, but listening to God. That's why I've often said, read the scriptures slowly.

Have set times when you read large sections. I used to sometimes read, say, a whole book at one sitting. But in addition to that, have time for reading slowly. And if you have time only for one, then read slowly, that's more important.

And meditate someone, blessed is the man who meditates on the law of the Lord. It's an amazing promise. If you listen and think about what God is saying, turn to Psalm 1, the power of the word of God.

Psalm 1, blessed is the man who delights in the law of the Lord, verse 2. And in his law, he meditates day and night. He's not reading it just once. He's meditating on it 24 hours, or whenever he's awake.

Even if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he's meditating on it. And such a man, see the life of such a man, first of all, he'll be firmly planted. He won't be shaken. Have you seen these trees?

Some trees are uprooted in a hurricane, and some trees remain. That's because some trees have got solid roots, and some trees don't have solid roots. And the other thing is, he will always bear fruit in the right season.

There will always be fruit in a person's life, in the right season. And his leaf will not wither means he will never be dry. You see leaves that are dried up. Do you know that it is God's will that you should never be dry?

You should never be the type of person who is discouraged or gloomy or be in a bad mood. To be a dry leaf is to be in a bad mood. The leaf that is green means always in a good mood. His leaf will never wither.

What a wonderful thing it is. You know, when I read in the scripture that we must walk as Jesus walked, I thought, was Jesus ever in a bad mood at any time? No matter what happened at home or in his ministry, never, never, never.

Faith for Victory Over Discouragement

To walk as Jesus walked means never to be in a bad mood. Now, if you don't achieve that, you will not achieve that in one day, but you'll never achieve it if you don't make it your goal. If you make it your goal, you can achieve it over a period of time here on this earth, not when you go to heaven.

I mean, if your faith is only that it'll happen when I go to heaven, then it'll happen only then. But if you think God's word is written for us, that when you go to heaven your leaf will not wither, no.

Here on earth, your leaf will not wither. If you have faith for that, I have faith for that. I said, Lord, I'm not gonna overcome discouragement when I go to heaven. No, I'm gonna overcome discouragement here on earth.

I'm not gonna overcome bad moods when I go to heaven. I'm gonna overcome here on earth. Most believers don't have faith for it. They don't get it. According to your faith, be it unto you. You think you'll overcome bad moods only when you go to heaven?

Okay, according to your faith, be it unto you. It'll happen to you only when you go to heaven. I hope you get there. But those who have faith that if God commands something, it can happen here on this earth, according to your faith, be it unto you, it'll happen to you on this earth.

And you'll be a world of difference between you and the other average believer who roams around. That's how it should be. His leaf will not wither, and he'll be firmly planted. The streams of water, the Holy Spirit, and the other wonderful promise, whatever he does, he prospers.

Prospers doesn't mean money. Some people whose mind is only on money, they read that and they think they'll make a lot of money. No, Jesus prospered more than billionaires, not with money. He prospered in the sense that he completed his father's will before he left this earth, that is my understanding of prosperity.

That God has planned something for my life and I must finish it before I leave this earth. Whatever size of house I live in, whatever my bank account may be, whatever hardship I may go through, I prosper if I have completed the will of God on earth and can say like Paul, I finished my course, say like Jesus, Father, I finished the work you gave me to do.

God's Plan and the Danger of Self-Directed Living

Do you know, my brothers and sisters, that before you were born, God knew that you would be born again, those who are born again here. And if you are one of those who's really born again, chosen by God before the foundation of the world, then God has made a specific, detailed plan for every day of your life.

From that day, you read that in Psalm 139, all the way till the end of your life, and you cannot fulfill that if you don't hear the word that proceeds from God's mouth. If that's not the passion for your life, you will go around doing whatever appeals to you, whatever you think is right, and like it says in Proverbs 14, there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death.

That's repeated in Proverbs 14 and in Proverbs 16. Why? Because just in case you missed it in chapter 14, the Lord says you better hear it again. There is a way that seems right to a man, but end is death.

That's why we need to listen to the word of God all the time. And there's a wonderful chapter, Psalm 119, which is talking about the word of God. And I don't know whether you've read Psalm 119, but there's one thing about Psalm 119, there are 176 verses in it.

And every single verse refers to the word of God. Every verse refers to the word of God. It's called your testimonies, your statutes, your commandments, your judgments, and different, different phrases.

But all referring to the word of God, 176 verses. And here are a few wonderful things in it. In Psalm 119, it says here, verse 9, how can a young man keep his mind pure by keeping it his way according to your word?

Verse 11, your word I have treasured not in my mind, in my heart, then I will not sin against you. Now David who wrote that, I think that was his ambition, but he couldn't achieve it because he didn't have the Holy Spirit dwelling within.

That's why he sinned. But for us who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within, we say your word, the word that proceeds from God's mouth I treasure. That means I value it so immensely in my heart, and the result is I don't sin against it.

Here's another verse, verse 18, open my eyes, O Lord, that I may behold wonderful things from your law. It's a very good prayer to pray when you read the Bible, or even that spirit of it, even if you don't actually pray it every time.

Open my eyes that I may behold the things that are hidden from the clever and the intelligent, but that you reveal to the humble in your word. There are many things hidden in God's word, which you cannot understand if you don't see God for light.

Turn now to Psalm 119 and verse 105. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Or today we'd say a flashlight that shows me the immediate future, and a light to my whole path like the lights along the road that shows me the entire way of where my destiny lies.

God's word shows me the immediate step I have to take and the distant future as well. And here's another wonderful verse, Psalm 119, verse 130. The unfolding or the revelation, we would say today, of your word gives light.

And it gives understanding to a simple-minded person. The revelation on your word, that's what we need to seek for, the unfolding of your word, the word is sort of closed up. It says that in 2 Corinthians 3 that there is a, if you come to the word of God and according to the letter, there's a veil over it.

It's like putting a handkerchief over the Bible and you can't read it. But when you turn to the Holy Spirit, it says that handkerchief is taken away, the veil is taken away, and suddenly I see, hey, I didn't realize this verse meant this.

I've had many such aha moments, and you must have such aha moments in scripture. You know what that means, that oh, I discovered something here, I never saw that before. We must have that frequently. I have such moments, not every day, but many times in a year.

And Psalm 119, verse 165, those who love you have great peace. And the King James Version says, nothing will offend them. Isn't it wonderful to live a life on Earth where you're never offended by anything anybody does or doesn't do, you're never disturbed, never offended.

I'm just giving you a few things in scripture that come through listening to the word of God that proceeds from God's mouth. And we already heard in the memory verse, someone quoted Luke 10 in verse 42.

Sitting at Jesus' Feet and Listening

That's a word, one of the first words the Lord spoke to my heart, which I can say proceeds from God's mouth. I had the habit of reading scripture as soon as I was born again, at the age of 19 and a half.

And as I read scripture, I learned many things, but one day God spoke to my heart, and that was Luke 10, 42. One thing is needful, what Mary did to sit at his feet and listen, verse 39, sit at his feet and listen to the word that proceeds from God's mouth.

Now I'm very thankful that early in my Christian life, soon after I was born again, God told me that the most important thing you need in your life is to always be listening to my word. And I've tried my best to do that, I have slipped and failed many times, but God's been merciful.

But that word has helped me to overcome Satan, has delivered me from fear of the devil. You come to the point, I remember the Lord saying to me, for many years that you were afraid of the devil, from now on, the devil will be afraid of you.

What a word, the devil being afraid of me? Well, you say, are you arrogant, Brother Zack? No, I'm just believing scripture in a way that perhaps you don't. Turn with me to 1 John chapter 4. I just believe scripture, it proceeds from God's mouth.

I read it many times, but one day it proceeded from God's mouth to my heart. 1 John chapter 4, and verse 17, the last part. As Jesus is, so also are we in this world. I'm sure all of you have read it, but to many of you, it has not proceeded from God's mouth like it did to me one day.

As Jesus is, so are you in this world. Then I asked myself the question, was the devil scared of Jesus? He certainly was, as Jesus is, so am I in this world. The devil's gonna be scared of me. The world is full of people who are afraid of witchcraft, afraid of the devil, afraid of his agents, afraid of this and afraid of that.

Jesus was afraid of nothing. And here is a word that proceeds out of God's mouth to my heart. As Jesus is, so am I in this world. I say yes, it's true. And I've had many opportunities through the years to prove not only the negative statement, I am not scared of the devil, which is a very good thing, but more than that, Satan is scared of me.

It's by the word of God that we overcome. Was John the apostle perfect when he said that? No, but I believe I'm clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Christ is my righteousness. I live with a clear conscience, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

That I can say. I live with a clear conscience, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Because as soon as I'm aware of some prick in my conscience, a thorn in my foot, I do not delay in taking it out. I do not delay in apologizing to the person, no matter how humiliating it is or whatever it is.

There's nothing that can humiliate me, impossible. My Savior was humble, but he couldn't humiliate him, no. And I read in Revelation in chapter 12, a word that proceeds from God's mouth. It says here that Satan accuses us before God, day and night.

Overcoming Satan by the Blood and the Word

And the more wholehearted you are, and the more radical you are in following Jesus, and the more useful you are in God's kingdom, the more Satan is going to attack you. Satan is going to attack the frontline soldiers in God's army.

I mean, if you're a backslider and half-hearted, probably not even converted, the devil will leave you alone. It's the greatest insult you can face when the devil says to his demons, leave that fellow alone.

He's useless, he's useless. I don't want the devil to say that about me to anyone. But I believe the devil says that about a lot of Christians. Ah, he's not going to disturb my kingdom at all. He's so useless, he just sits in church, sings the songs, and listens to the message, and goes home.

He is absolutely useless because his heart is in money. His heart is in advancement in the world. He goes to church to ease his conscience. You demons, leave him alone. Don't waste your time with him.

He is useless. He will never in his life accomplish anything for God. And probably, the devil says, he'll finally end up with us in hell. I don't want to be like that. But he accuses those who are wholehearted to God day and night.

And what do these people who are being accused do? They don't get condemned. No, it says they overcame him, verse 11. They overcame Satan. Have you read that? Satan, the most powerful created being. There is no created being more powerful than Satan.

Not even one. He had powers, abilities given to him by God, which God didn't take away when he fell away, but he's misused them. Like a lot of preachers who are anointed by God, definitely anointed by Christ, and got a gift, and then used it for themselves, and God didn't take away that anointing.

They still preach powerfully, but they'll go to hell one day, as we read in Matthew 7, 22 and 23. So they overcame the most powerful created being. Think of that, that you can overcome the most powerful created being on earth.

And how do you do it? Not by saying I lived a perfect life. No, by the blood of the lamb. That's why we started with the blood last Sunday. When you're accused, the subject is accusation, verse 10. When you're accused, and accused, and accused, and accused by Satan, and by Satan's agents.

I wanna say to you, whenever you accuse a believer, you are holding hands with Satan, and Satan says, great. Thank you for holding hands with me. Let's accuse that person together. And you say, yes, let's talk about him, and you go around accusing people, different people, and you haven't realized in all these years that you were a co-worker of Satan holding hands with him.

And Satan tells his demons, hey, we've got a co-worker in that church, working on our side. He's our spy there in the enemy's camp. Cuz he's going around accusing some of the others in his church, speaking evil of them.

It's exactly what the devil does. But here's another group of people in the church who overcome that, and they overcome them by the blood of the Lamb. When they're accused by Satan, we all slip up. Till the end of our life, we'll slip up.

But I don't overcome Satan by saying, well, I'm not gonna do that again, no. I overcome Satan by saying the blood of Jesus has cleansed me, because I've repented and I've come into the light and I've said it right.

I've confessed my sin to God and to man. The blood of Jesus cleansed me, and not only that, the blood of Jesus Christ has made me righteous. Christ is my righteousness now. And it says here about the word of their testimony, verse 11.

That's what we are thinking of today, the word that proceeds from God's mouth. What testimony is this? This is one thing to give your testimony in the church. Like these little children gave a testimony, that's good.

But this is the word of a testimony to Satan. They overcame Satan and gave the word of their testimony to him. Have you given your testimony to Satan? No, I'm not talking about testimony then saying I was converted on so and so date.

No, your testimony about what the blood of the lamb has done for you. That's the meaning here in its context. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb, which they gave to Satan as the word of their testimony.

And they did not love their lives unto death. It's a wonderful way to live. Man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And the devil will not be able to shut that man's mouth from speaking God's word.

The Living Word and the New Birth

It is very, very important. And see what it says in 1 Peter in chapter 1. It speaks here about being born again through the living word of God in 1 Peter 1 .23. Do you know that our new birth came through a living word of God that came to our heart, which brought faith?

If that has not happened, you are not born again. You believe in your mind. I believed in my mind for 19 and a half years. I had no false doctrine. I believed with all my heart from the time I came to consciousness because I had God-fearing parents.

They sent me to a good evangelical Sunday school. And I knew from early childhood Christ died for my sins. I was a sinner. I needed to repent. And numerous times I asked Jesus to come into my heart. I was never sure whether he came or not.

But one day, when I was 19 and a half, a word from God came into my heart and I was born. It was a living word. And I was born of God. It's not that I didn't make mistakes after that. And a child makes so many mistakes after it is born.

He hasn't learned to walk. He hasn't learned to talk. That takes time. But I was born. And I was sure I was born. You don't tell a child who slips and falls when he's six months old, hey, you haven't been born.

No, I was born. I hadn't learned to walk. I hadn't learned to talk. But I was born. I had that assurance. And I'll tell you something. When God's word comes to you as a, like it says you're born through the living word of God, when God has spoken something to your heart, when God spoke this word to my heart from John 6, 37, him that cometh to me, I'll never cast out.

I probably read that many times. But one day in July, 1959, it came as a living word to my heart. Him that cometh to me, I will not cast out. It's like dropping an anchor, to use a naval term. My ship has not drifted in 60 years.

All these 60 years, despite ups and downs in my life, I've never for a single moment doubted that I was a child of God. Do you have that experience, my brother, sister? Or does the devil constantly torment you with doubts?

Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? God has accepted you. Do you really believe God is your father? Are you fooling yourself? And all that. Seek for a living word to come from God's mouth through the scripture.

It was through the scripture that it came to me. Through the scriptures, I got a living word. Born again through the living and enduring, endured for 60 years now, word of God. And then once we are born again through the word of God, it says in chapter two, now that you're a newborn baby, chapter two, verse two, you must long for this pure milk of the word.

Like a baby cries out for milk, milk, milk. Now that you're born, you must cry out for the milk of the word of God every day. A healthy baby cries for milk every day. Not just once, many times. And if you've got a healthy new birth as a child of God, you don't need somebody to urge you, come on, read the Bible.

Have you read the Bible today? Did you read the Bible? You will not say, well, I was too busy today. Well, I doubt whether you're born again, brother. If you have no time, I don't mean just reading the Bible as I said earlier.

For 14 centuries after Christ, they never had a Bible. Where could they read the Bible? I'm talking about that word that proceeds from God's mouth. You know how the word for 14 centuries before there were printed Bibles, how did people receive the word of God?

How did Jesus know the word of God when he was 12 years old, when there was no printed Bible in his house? It was by what he heard in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, or what these Christians in the early days heard in the meetings through some scripture quoted by some elder who had knowledge of scripture.

They would hear it, and they keep it in their mind, and that would come to their mind, that was the word of God for them. And all that Paul wrote in the scriptures, he would go around preaching, and they heard it, and that was the word of God for them.

And they would meditate on that every day. It's so much easier for us when you have it written down. So much easier. And that milk is what we have to cry out for all the time. And it's not something you have to be taught.

I mean, if you have to force a baby, come on, drink, take this, put this milk bottle into your mouth, there's something wrong with that baby. It's probably not healthy, it's dying. And whenever I see a believer whom you have to force, come on, read the word of God every day, that's a dying believer.

I don't know how long he'll last. It's like a baby, the doctor says, the prognosis is bad, ma 'am, your child is gonna die, because it doesn't seem to have any interest in drinking milk, you have to sort of force the bottle into its mouth and then never cries for it.

A lot of babies like that, a lot of people sitting in churches and possibly here in NCCF, I don't know whether you'll make it to the kingdom of God. I'll tell you that, nothing I say will shake your faith.

Don't think I'll shake your faith. If you're rooted and grounded in God's word, the greatest man of God can come and tell you, you may not make it into God's kingdom. It won't touch you, because you know you're sure, because you've got a word that came from God into your heart.

I mean, if somebody comes and tells me, Brother Zak, you're not alive. Uh-huh, I'm not gonna shake my faith that I am alive. It doesn't change me, you don't love Jesus. I mean, it's like someone comes to tell me, Brother Zak, you don't love your wife.

They can tell me that every day, it doesn't make the slightest difference. Your faith will not be shaken. If you have developed the habit of listening to the word of God that comes from his mouth as you read the scripture, listen to the word and long for it like the pure milk a baby longs for.

From Milk to the Meat of God's Word

And one day as a baby grows up, you'll be able to eat the meat of the word of God. There's the milk of the word of God and the meat of the word of God you read in Hebrews chapter two. And that's described in, sorry, Hebrews chapter five is described like this.

The milk of the word of God is described in chapter six and verse one of Hebrews, repentance, faith, baptism, laying on of hands, one day we'll be resurrected and eternal judgment, verse one and two. That's the milk of God's word.

But then there's the meat, solid food, chapter five, verse 14. Solid food or the meat of the word of God. That is for those who have trained their senses to discern good and evil. And it is called in verse 13, the meat is called the word of righteousness.

An infant is not accustomed, it says in verse 13, to the word of righteousness. He's born again. He's an infant. He says he drinks milk, verse 13. He drinks milk. He's sure, he's saved. But his only interest in life is to go to heaven when he dies.

He's in the kindergarten for 30 years. He doesn't want to go beyond the kindergarten. He has no interest in education spiritually. Think of someone who's 30 years old and who's got the opportunity to study, but he wants to be in the kindergarten.

A lot of Christians like that. Or to use the other illustration, just drinking milk. He's 30 years old and he can't digest solid food. Still drinking milk. I tell you the picture I get in my mind of many, many Christians sitting in these mega churches with 2 ,000 people as 2 ,000 babies sitting there with the milk bottle in their mouth.

That's the picture I get in my mind. Whole lot of them who cannot stand on their own feet, who cannot hear the word of God, who have no interest in what is called the word of righteousness. When you speak to them about overcoming sin, the word of righteousness.

When you speak to them that if you really come under grace, sin will not rule over you. They're not interested in that. I'm saved. I got baptized on so and so date 30 years ago. I'm on my way to heaven.

My pastor told me that. Okay. He's got no interest in the word of righteousness. And I tell you that is the condition of the vast majority of believers. They don't live. They survive. They're barely surviving.

They remind me of, most believers, I can't say they're dead. Some of them are really born again. But they remind me of a man lying in a hospital with tubes in his nose and into his veins and lying like that.

Is he dead? No, he's alive. We come back after three years and ask Dr. How's he now? He's still alive. And you compare that with that guy who's playing soccer out in the field. That's the whole hearted Christian.

Both are alive, right? But there's a world of difference between this alive and that alive. Which type of alive are you? It depends on how much you receive God's word. The living word of God. The word of righteousness that helps you to overcome Satan.

And if you keep receiving this word, what will happen is over a period of time, like we read, that your leaf will not wither, and there'll be fruit from your life as a result of receiving this word. And gradually, you will come to the place in one, it says in one Peter, in chapter four, it's an amazing word.

Speaking as the Utterances of God

One Peter four, verse 11, says anyone who speaks for the Lord, like all of you testified here today, whoever speaks must do so as one who is speaking the very utterances of God. It's an amazing word. That means just like God speaks, it should be the same way when you speak God's word.

When you preach God's word, whether it's for two minutes or two hours, depending on the grace God gives you. It should be as the utterance of God and not the utterance of a man. This is what can happen to you, my brother, if you're filled with the Holy Spirit.

You may not have the gift of teaching God has given me. You don't need that. You may be able to speak just for two minutes in talking to someone, but it'll be the utterance of God that'll go straight to his heart.

Brothers and sisters, it's a promise in scripture. I will pour out my spirit, Acts chapter two, verse 17, on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters will speak forth my word. That is prophecy. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.