Our true opposition in this world is not the men and women we are sent to, rather it is the unseen enemy that opposes the glory of our God. We are protected from this deceiver by grounding our understanding upon God’s Truth!
Observations:
- Satan is your adversary when you are sent into the world
- God’s protection from satan is accomplished through sanctification
- Sanctification is accomplished through transformation by the truth
- God’s Word is truth
Conclusions:
- A disciple without God’s Word is lost and vulnerable
- God intends for you to be protected while under attack
- God’s Word is your map of sanctification
Application: How can you be “in” the world but not “of” the word?
- by delighting in (reading, meditating, memorizing) God’s Word
Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
2 Timothy 4:3
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
Proverbs 29:18
“Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.”
Psalm 119:114
“You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.”
Colossians 3:16
“Let the Word of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
Ephesians 5:25-27
“Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the Word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”