“I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one.”
and the word of God abides in you,
The secret of the strength of young men was their knowledge of the Word of God and their ability to apply it to their experience. They did not dissipate and debilitate their lives through sin. On the contrary, these young men disciplined and directed their lives by allowing the Word to indwell their lives and center their lives in Christ.
Ep 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…”
PRINCIPLE:
The basis of victory over sin is the Word of God.
APPLICATION:
One of the foundations of Christian living is the application of the principles of the Word of God to experience. This is victory in God’s economy. This is the way to gain victory over the world system.
Ps 119:9-11, 9 “How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
10 With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You!”
Some people take cursory glances at the Word occasionally. They do not consistently see its principles, so they cannot apply them to their experience.
1 Jn 1:6, “… do not practice the truth. 8 … and the truth is not in us… 10 … and His word is not in us.”
Christians who develop an affinity for the Word of God grow in the things of God. We must hunger, thirst, and develop an appetite for what God has to say.
Dt 6:6, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.”
Dt 11:18, “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”
Ps 1:2, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.”
Pr 7:3, “Bind them on your fingers;
Write them on the tablet of your heart.”
Je 15:16, “Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.”
Je 20:9, “Then I said, I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name.
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not.”
Job 23:12, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth
More than my necessary food.”
Jn 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
Co 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
