Lesson 2 - The Prevaling Word
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THE WORD takes the place of the unseen Christ.
Meditation in the Word is a visit with Him.
The Word becomes a part of you by meditation. The Word living in us gets into our blood.
Acts 19:20, “So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.”
A revival in Ephesus was shaking the nation. It was not Paul’s preaching; it was not his logic or philosophy; it was the Word of God.
Acts 12:24, “Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.”
It grew in the minds of the people. It gained the supremacy over them.
Faith Makes the Word Prevail
Faith comes when the Word prevails over the thinking processes.
In Matthew 8:23-27, we see the Word prevailing in Jesus’ lips over the laws of nature. Jesus said, “You have so little faith.”
23 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. 27 The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!” “Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”
The Word prevailed in Matthew 8:5-12. The Word in Jesus’ lips prevailed over the disease in the Centurion’s servant. 8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. 11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When you believe the Words of Jesus, even He is amazed at your faith.
In Matthew 14:13-21, the Word in Jesus’ lips ruled the law of supply and demand. Five loaves and two fishes multiplied until five thousand people were fed and twelve baskets of fragments were left over.
John 1:1-3 1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
The Word was manifested anytime Jesus spoke!
Jesus and the Word Are One
God honors the human language by calling Jesus the Word. The whole Universe was brought into being by words.
The Holy Spirit spoke in Genesis 1:14-19, “14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.”
The Word of God, a Spirit, creates material things, proving that the spirit is greater than the material.
John 1:14a, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.”
You see, we have the spoken word in the lips of Jesus; then we have the Word made flesh dwelling in our midst; then we have the spoken Word in the lips of the Apostles before the Pauline Revelation came.
I Thessalonians 2:13, “Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God — which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.”
While Paul was in Thessalonica it was the spoken Word, but his Epistles are the written Word, the life-giving Word.
Psalm 107:20, “He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.”
And that Word was manifested in the flesh, as the spoken Word through the lips of Jesus, as the spoken Word through the Apostles, and finally was put upon paper in the language of men so that we might have a permanent record of this living Word.
The Word Prevails Over the Senses
Romans 4:17-18 gives us a graphic picture of the Word prevailing over the fear and hope and sense knowledge in the mind of Abraham. God’s Word was spoken through an angel to this man, and it declared: 17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. (and calleth the things that are not, as though they were.)
Notice carefully the next sentence: “18 Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping — believing that he would become the father of many nations. “
Hope and Faith were in combat. Faith won and made Hope a reality.
Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”
Hope is always in the future; it is a dream, it is never real.
Faith reaches up and grasps Hope and brings it into the realm of the present.
Romans 4:19-22, “19And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead — and so was Sarah’s womb.”
The man had hoped for a child. Now Faith has changed the Hope into reality.
“20Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. (spoken through an angel), In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. 22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.
This Righteousness gave the man a standing with God, the standing of a friend with God.
The Word in Our Lips
The Word of God increased as they preached and practiced what they had heard from the Master’s lips. The Word began to develop and grow until it became a mighty force in the hearts of men and women. It was the prevailing Word.
Acts 6:7 “So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.”
For me, the Word has become a living, growing force. The Word is eternal. Like God, it is forever young, it is forever new.
Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
It is a part of God... it is what God IS.
John 14:8-9, 8Philip has asked Jesus, “Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
9Jesus said, “Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?”
Jesus and the Father were one. Jesus and the Word, the Logos, are one.
John 12:49, Jesus said, “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.
You can see Jesus’ fearlessness in the presence of disease and of demons. He was using the Father’s Words and He knew that they could not fail.
II Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.”
Jesus preached the Word and it healed the sick; it broke the power of demons over men.
The Apostles preached the Word, and the sick were healed, the dead were raised, and the multitudes were recreated.
For us to preach the Word means to preach Christ, because Christ is the Word.
To preach the Gospel means to preach the Word, the good news.
The Word Makes Us Love
Until the Word prevails, John 13:34-35 will never be known in the world. “34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Love was the prevailing power, that unseen something that governed the early church.
I John 4:7-8, “7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Love here is proof of the New Birth. Only the lovers have evidence that they have passed out of death into life.
1 John 3:14 “If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.”
He has never received Eternal Life, the nature of God. Only as the Word prevails in our heart do we actually know the reality of these Divine things. The Word makes us love.
I John 2:10-11 10 Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. 11 But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
The Word of love prevailing in the heart takes you out of the realm of weakness and failure, where your words will cause offense, and your actions will lead others to do wrong.
The Word Makes Us Conquer
If a person hates his brother, he is living in darkness. The Word has not prevailed in his life. He is walking as a common man.
I Corinthians 3:3, “for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?”
How many believers, because the Word does not prevail in them, live as common men?
Disease and sickness prevail over them because they do not walk in the light of the Word.
John 8:12, Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
As long as sickness prevails over you, you are walking in darkness.
You mentally assent to the Word, but you do not act upon it.
As long as you walk in poverty, and your testimony is of your needs and your lack, the Word has not prevailed in your life.
Philippians 4:19 has no place in the life that is not dominated by the Word: “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”
When the Word prevails, you have plenty for yourself and for others.
Philippians 4:13 has not yet gained the ascendancy in the unfruitful life: “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
A faltering, stumbling confession is present when the Word has not prevailed over your reasoning faculties, and when Christ and the Word have not become a reality.
Romans 10:8, “In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:”
I never recognized the secret of Faith until I saw this truth: that the Word must prevail over my mind.
When the Word became as real to me as the word of a friend or a banker, then Faith ceased to be a problem.
I no longer thought of Faith or the need of it.
You see, Jesus never strongly suggested a need of Faith.
Why? Because He had the Father’s Words.
Did God say it? Yes! THEN IT IS!
Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation — so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?”
Did He say that He is my fortress or strength of my life? Then He IS.
I have all the strength I need for any emergency or any need.
Do I lack wisdom? (Most of us do.)
I Corinthians 1:30 says that God made Jesus to be wisdom unto us. ‘that means that we shall have ability to use the knowledge that is given to us in the Word, that we are no longer to walk in darkness, for we have the light of life.
Colossians 1:13 has become a reality: “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.”
He has delivered out of weakness, out of spiritual blindness, delivered out of the old mental state of inability, we can now do all things in Him because He has become our ability.
II Corinthians 3:5-6 has become our very own: “5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.”
The Word at last prevails. We are what He says we are. We can do what He says we can do.
He is what He says He is, and no Word from Him is void of ability to make good in us.
QUESTIONS
1. Give three examples of the prevailing Word?
2. What makes the Word prevail?
3. Give three forms in which the Word exists.
4. What does Paul say about hope in Romans 4:17-19?
5. What does it mean to have the Word in our lips?
6. Can we walk in love if the Word does not prevail? Give Scriptural proof.
7. How do we walk in the Light?
8. What does walking in darkness mean?
9. What is the relationship between the Word and a victorious walk?
Meditation in the Word is a visit with Him.
The Word becomes a part of you by meditation. The Word living in us gets into our blood.
Acts 19:20, “So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.”
A revival in Ephesus was shaking the nation. It was not Paul’s preaching; it was not his logic or philosophy; it was the Word of God.
Acts 12:24, “Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.”
It grew in the minds of the people. It gained the supremacy over them.
Faith Makes the Word Prevail
Faith comes when the Word prevails over the thinking processes.
In Matthew 8:23-27, we see the Word prevailing in Jesus’ lips over the laws of nature. Jesus said, “You have so little faith.”
23 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. 27 The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!” “Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”
The Word prevailed in Matthew 8:5-12. The Word in Jesus’ lips prevailed over the disease in the Centurion’s servant. 8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. 11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When you believe the Words of Jesus, even He is amazed at your faith.
In Matthew 14:13-21, the Word in Jesus’ lips ruled the law of supply and demand. Five loaves and two fishes multiplied until five thousand people were fed and twelve baskets of fragments were left over.
John 1:1-3 1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
The Word was manifested anytime Jesus spoke!
Jesus and the Word Are One
God honors the human language by calling Jesus the Word. The whole Universe was brought into being by words.
The Holy Spirit spoke in Genesis 1:14-19, “14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.”
The Word of God, a Spirit, creates material things, proving that the spirit is greater than the material.
John 1:14a, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.”
You see, we have the spoken word in the lips of Jesus; then we have the Word made flesh dwelling in our midst; then we have the spoken Word in the lips of the Apostles before the Pauline Revelation came.
I Thessalonians 2:13, “Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God — which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.”
While Paul was in Thessalonica it was the spoken Word, but his Epistles are the written Word, the life-giving Word.
Psalm 107:20, “He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.”
And that Word was manifested in the flesh, as the spoken Word through the lips of Jesus, as the spoken Word through the Apostles, and finally was put upon paper in the language of men so that we might have a permanent record of this living Word.
The Word Prevails Over the Senses
Romans 4:17-18 gives us a graphic picture of the Word prevailing over the fear and hope and sense knowledge in the mind of Abraham. God’s Word was spoken through an angel to this man, and it declared: 17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. (and calleth the things that are not, as though they were.)
Notice carefully the next sentence: “18 Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping — believing that he would become the father of many nations. “
Hope and Faith were in combat. Faith won and made Hope a reality.
Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”
Hope is always in the future; it is a dream, it is never real.
Faith reaches up and grasps Hope and brings it into the realm of the present.
Romans 4:19-22, “19And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead — and so was Sarah’s womb.”
The man had hoped for a child. Now Faith has changed the Hope into reality.
“20Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. (spoken through an angel), In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. 22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.
This Righteousness gave the man a standing with God, the standing of a friend with God.
The Word in Our Lips
The Word of God increased as they preached and practiced what they had heard from the Master’s lips. The Word began to develop and grow until it became a mighty force in the hearts of men and women. It was the prevailing Word.
Acts 6:7 “So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.”
For me, the Word has become a living, growing force. The Word is eternal. Like God, it is forever young, it is forever new.
Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
It is a part of God... it is what God IS.
John 14:8-9, 8Philip has asked Jesus, “Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
9Jesus said, “Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?”
Jesus and the Father were one. Jesus and the Word, the Logos, are one.
John 12:49, Jesus said, “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.
You can see Jesus’ fearlessness in the presence of disease and of demons. He was using the Father’s Words and He knew that they could not fail.
II Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.”
Jesus preached the Word and it healed the sick; it broke the power of demons over men.
The Apostles preached the Word, and the sick were healed, the dead were raised, and the multitudes were recreated.
For us to preach the Word means to preach Christ, because Christ is the Word.
To preach the Gospel means to preach the Word, the good news.
The Word Makes Us Love
Until the Word prevails, John 13:34-35 will never be known in the world. “34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Love was the prevailing power, that unseen something that governed the early church.
I John 4:7-8, “7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Love here is proof of the New Birth. Only the lovers have evidence that they have passed out of death into life.
1 John 3:14 “If we love our Christian brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.”
He has never received Eternal Life, the nature of God. Only as the Word prevails in our heart do we actually know the reality of these Divine things. The Word makes us love.
I John 2:10-11 10 Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. 11 But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
The Word of love prevailing in the heart takes you out of the realm of weakness and failure, where your words will cause offense, and your actions will lead others to do wrong.
The Word Makes Us Conquer
If a person hates his brother, he is living in darkness. The Word has not prevailed in his life. He is walking as a common man.
I Corinthians 3:3, “for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?”
How many believers, because the Word does not prevail in them, live as common men?
Disease and sickness prevail over them because they do not walk in the light of the Word.
John 8:12, Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
As long as sickness prevails over you, you are walking in darkness.
You mentally assent to the Word, but you do not act upon it.
As long as you walk in poverty, and your testimony is of your needs and your lack, the Word has not prevailed in your life.
Philippians 4:19 has no place in the life that is not dominated by the Word: “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”
When the Word prevails, you have plenty for yourself and for others.
Philippians 4:13 has not yet gained the ascendancy in the unfruitful life: “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
A faltering, stumbling confession is present when the Word has not prevailed over your reasoning faculties, and when Christ and the Word have not become a reality.
Romans 10:8, “In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:”
I never recognized the secret of Faith until I saw this truth: that the Word must prevail over my mind.
When the Word became as real to me as the word of a friend or a banker, then Faith ceased to be a problem.
I no longer thought of Faith or the need of it.
You see, Jesus never strongly suggested a need of Faith.
Why? Because He had the Father’s Words.
Did God say it? Yes! THEN IT IS!
Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation — so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?”
Did He say that He is my fortress or strength of my life? Then He IS.
I have all the strength I need for any emergency or any need.
Do I lack wisdom? (Most of us do.)
I Corinthians 1:30 says that God made Jesus to be wisdom unto us. ‘that means that we shall have ability to use the knowledge that is given to us in the Word, that we are no longer to walk in darkness, for we have the light of life.
Colossians 1:13 has become a reality: “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.”
He has delivered out of weakness, out of spiritual blindness, delivered out of the old mental state of inability, we can now do all things in Him because He has become our ability.
II Corinthians 3:5-6 has become our very own: “5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.”
The Word at last prevails. We are what He says we are. We can do what He says we can do.
He is what He says He is, and no Word from Him is void of ability to make good in us.
QUESTIONS
1. Give three examples of the prevailing Word?
2. What makes the Word prevail?
3. Give three forms in which the Word exists.
4. What does Paul say about hope in Romans 4:17-19?
5. What does it mean to have the Word in our lips?
6. Can we walk in love if the Word does not prevail? Give Scriptural proof.
7. How do we walk in the Light?
8. What does walking in darkness mean?
9. What is the relationship between the Word and a victorious walk?