Taking a Stand for the Truth

Genesis 3: 2 - 5, And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." NKJV

Luke 4: 5 - 8, Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" NKJV

God is calling on His people to take a stand for the truth. However, we must both know and practice that truth in our everyday lives in order to gain the power we need to stand up to and oppose Satan. If Christians pay little or no attention to the Word, and they don't hear the truth being preached, then they will be an easy prey for Satan's temptations; they will have no power to defeat him when he attacks them on a personal level. 

In Hosea 4, God rebuked the priests of Israel for removing the truth from the people. He told them that there was no truth or mercy being proclaimed; and as a result of that void, God said that His people were destroyed because they lacked knowledge. Therefore, we can conclude that we must know the truth as Jesus taught us in John 8 in order to be set free. 

Paul tells us in Timothy that Eve was deceived. We can only be deceived when we don't know the truth about a particular matter. In Eve's case, the temptation was about her knowledge of God, or lack thereof. Satan was able to convince her (by deception) to BOW to him in order that she might become LIKE God through sin. However, when Satan tried this same strategy with Jesus, he failed miserably. Jesus didn't act on Satan's temptation; he simply STOOD on God's Word and prevailed against the seduction. 

Satan was sure that Jesus would bow and worship him in order to gain authority over the kingdoms of the world. Nevertheless, Satan didn't realize that Jesus was the embodiment of truth. He not only knew the truth, but He obeyed God's will. As a result of knowing the truth, Jesus knew that the Father had already given Him authority and promised Him the nations of the earth, as well as the kingdoms of the world. 

Consequently, Jesus didn't bow to Satan's pressure of trying to get Him to disobey the Father so that He could gain authority and glory through sin. He didn't need to bow to Satan's evil lies and tricks. Instead, He stood on God's Word and prevailed against Satan.

As a Christian, you've probably felt the pressure that comes from living in today's society; it tries to get you to bow down and compromise your convictions. Even so, you also know that God is with you, and He will fight your battles for you. All you need to do when you come under a spiritual attack is to keep the Word and stand on it in faith. 

In our generation, we have witnessed the spread of corruption and sin. We have watched as society systematically removed God from government and schools. However, it's time for the church to take stand for God's Word and allow the Spirit of God to lift a standard of righteousness against the flood of the enemy. It's time for the tide to turn. If God be for us, then who can be against us? The Holy Spirit is calling believers around the world to prayer, fasting, and consecration. He's calling us back to His Word and back to living holy. With God, all things are possible. 

Standing on the Word,
Pastor Asa Dockery