Leon Fontaine - Undisputable Truths
You know, the Bible is a very interesting book. That's the way most people might look at it. It's interesting. But what most people need to realize is that the Bible is the authority. It is the power of God's Word. It's God's thinking, God's principles. It's the way God designed things, the universe, the world. When you understand the authority and the power of God's Word, you can use it to affect your future, your present, your body, your mind, your relationships, your career. Every part of your life. You can control your future as a believer by controlling your heart beliefs.
I've watched over the years, and I've seen the difference between men and women both born again going to heaven when they die. One absolutely, you can just see the Word of God working mightily on the inside of them. And others, it's almost like they just kind of vacantly are like the world. Even though they're born again, their minds' not renewed. The Word of God is not working on the inside of them. And so faith doesn't rise up for every situation. And I want to challenge you today. You got to look at God's Word and go, "Whoa! I need God's Word. I need to hear it. I need to speak it. I need to imagine it. I need the Holy Spirit teach it to me. He needs to speak to me with visions and dreams of His Word working in my life".
You need to understand. That if you don't keep the Word of God working mightily on the inside of you, somebody else's word is going to work on the inside of you. I'll never forget talking to a young man who told me that when he was a boy, that one of his uncle said to him, "That, you know, you're just like me. You're the black sheep of the family". And somehow those words took root in him and they guided his life all through his teens and his troubled twenties. That he was the black sheep of the family. Whose words govern your mind. What words are mightily at work on the inside of you? Is it a coach who said you couldn't make it? Or is there, whatever is going on in your life.
You've got to make a decision. That the Word is working mightily on the inside of me. Now, did you know that God's Word, the Bible, will prepare you for everything that is ahead. You don't have to worry that, "I don't know if I'm going to be ready. I don't know what to do. What's going to happen here or there". Listen to 2 Timothy 3:15-17, it says, "And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work". You know, when someone comes to your house to do a job. You need to know, "Are you thoroughly equipped"? You're coming down to cut a tree. Then what have you got for equipment? Do you have the manpower, the tools, what it takes to take that great big 60 foot tree down?
The Bible is saying here that as a man or a woman of God, that you can be thoroughly. Which means completely equipped for every good work. Whatever storm is ahead. Whatever thing you've got a lead. That the success of your life is here in the Word of God. I'm so thankful that my parents taught me the Word of God from the youngest age I can remember. I was hearing Bible stories. That God's people, they always rose up to triumph. That Moses led them to the promised land. That David took out Goliath. I began to look at all the stories from the youngest age of God's people succeeding, winning. That God was always on their side. And so the Bible's crucial. It's vital. That you train your children in the Word of God.
It's one thing to be entertained by Disney and Pixar and all these great little fun cartoons. But you'd better be teaching your children Holy Scriptures because then they have wisdom as teenagers. They've got wisdom as kids. They've got wisdom as young marrieds. And the Word of God will reprove them, correct them, instruct them, equip them for whatever is going on in their lives. That's how amazing the Bible is. And so we want the Word of God working mightily on the inside of us. As a young teenager, I'll never forget at age 17 is when I started listening as never before. Me, myself, I just begin to go after the Word. And as I begin to focus on the Word and realize that I and God, I could look ahead at my life. And what I was feeding on, what I was focused on, and what I was filling myself with could help. I could determine my future. I could determine the autopilot of my life.
There's something you've got to settle. God's Word is the authority. God's Word is the power. If you don't settle that, and you're going to look at some other books, some other form of religion, or some other science. Sciences are great for the physical world. The five senses determine our sciences. But they are drastically falling short of understanding the whole scope of eternity. The whole scope of the eternal world, the spirit world. They just cover a little bit of the physical world. We've got to understand and I want to be fully equipped. I always want the Word of God working mightily on the inside of me. So in my entire life, I'm going to be quipped.
When you get into God's Word, Psalms 84:7, says, "You go from strength to strength". What that means is so many believers they get a hold of God's Word. They're excited for the first year or 2 minutes. And it's just, "Yeah, whatever". No. That never ends the seasons of strength that are ahead of you. A season of strength, and then you move on as you know God, as the Word is working mightily on the inside of you. The Bible has a secret. And that is when you hear it, do it. Hear, do. Hear, do. Hear, do. Here's where a lot of Christians make the mistake. They hear the teaching of the Word but they don't do it. Now, you know why that is awful? Because whatever you know that you can't get to work or that you refuse to try to work. It creates unbelief on the inside of you.
And so we must hear the Word of God, and then we must begin to apply it to our lives. Hear it and then do it. You know, when you look at the Word of God, some people will say things like, "Well, you know, Leon. I mean, everybody can believe what they want. I mean, when you read the Bible, people get this out of it on this side and they get this out of it on that side". No. Listen to what 2 Peter 1:20 says, it says, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for this prophecy never came from the will of a man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit".
The Bible is saying very clearly. This is not some esoteric book that you could just read, take out whatever you want. This is not some book, "I believe this part and chuck the other. Oh, I believe this. Well, it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe something". No. No. The Scripture is not of private interpretation 2 Peter 1:20 and 21. There is an absolute truth, and the Holy Spirit's job is to communicate that truth to you and get the Scripture on the inside of you. So it's working mightily on the inside of you, to guide you through your future, to equip you for every good work, to make you strong to handle whatever it is that is ahead of you.
And if you decide to go to some private interpretation, "Well, this is what I think". I don't care what you think. But if that's what you want, you're a free will being. Go right ahead. But I sure hope it works for you. When storms hit and when you need some strength for a season that is ahead of you. Because if you allow Holy Spirit, who is the one who inspired the Word, to teach you the Word, and to get the Word of God working mightily on the inside of you. You'll be ready. You'll be ready not just to handle it. You'll be ready to get up and triumph over it, to have victory. Jesus taught us. Don't be worried about the world. I have overcome this world. Get up and live. Get up and go for God.
To really understand the authority and the power of God's Word. Let's look at the attitude of Jesus Himself. What did Jesus say about the Scriptures? In John 10:35, Jesus said that the Scriptures could never be broken. They could never be annulled. They could never be set aside. And in John 10:35, Jesus Himself calls the Scriptures, the Bible, the Word of God. What? You think the Bible is just some book? You think it's just another religious book like the libraries of the world filled up with religions gone by. In the last how many thousands of years religion has come and religion is gone. And some worship bulls and ducks and trees and... No. Listen to me. When we understand that Jesus Christ Himself said that nothing could set aside God's Word. It's going to happen. That God's Word cannot be broken. That this truth, this Word of God when it begins to work in the heart of a man or a woman, it creates tremendous power. It begins to shape your future, cause you to rise up and to succeed and to win. You're going to need God's Word.
Did you know that even the devil, if you're going to study the Word of God, that even the devil when he was tempting Jesus, it, he didn't dispute. That it was God's Word that Jesus was, was quoting. In fact, the devil himself quoted a verse from the book of Psalms. There was no dispute from the devil himself that Jesus was quoting the Word of God. And if it was the Word of God, then it is absolutely authority. It's absolute authority. It's absolute power. It's God's Word. The devil never argued that one bit. You see, if you want to succeed in life. You're going to have to overcome temptation. You're going to have to overcome opposition. And the only way you're going to do that, is that Holy Spirit begin to teach you the Word of God and the Word of God begins to move mightily on the inside of you.
When the devil was dealing with Eve, he wanted her to disbelieve God's Word. Now, in Eve's case, God's Word was right there verbally spoken to her. But he began to question it. Did you know that when you start questioning the authority of the Bible, of the Word of God. You're going to deny it. At some point, you're going to deny it, or you'll deny the little pieces of it, as though you get to pick and choose what truth applies to you and what truth doesn't apply to you. If you think about how God created the physical world, nobody here gets to just choose. I've just decided gravity doesn't apply to me. No, it applies to you. And the principles in God's Word are going to apply to you.
And we need to recognize that this world is going to be judged one day. And whether or not they are born again is going to determine where they spend eternity. Scripture is authoritative. It is the Word of God. Accept it, live by it, rise up, and know that you can bank your life on God's Word. Never entertain doubt about His Word. It teaches us here that the spoken Word is a sword. Now, this is important. When you look at the word "Word" in the Bible. There are, there's a number of Greek words. I'm going to tell you about three of them, okay? Now, the word "Graphe" where we get our English word graph, in the Greek it just means the written Word. And so in the Greek when the Bible was written, when they interpret it into Greek, Graphe meant the written Word. Then Rhema means speaking the Word. Okay?
So if you're going to speak and confess the Word. That's Rhema. Logos is the very revelation of the Word. And John 1 says that Jesus is the Logos. The very revelation, the wisdom, the incredible. That's what He is. But here it is telling you and I, that when you and I speak the Word of God. That it's Rhema. That this Rhema is the sword of the Spirit. That means that when you speak out loud through your mouth the Scripture, that it goes to work like a sword in a battle. Now in Matthew 4:3-11, Jesus is being tempted by the devil himself. And this is so worth learning. If Jesus needed to speaks the Scriptures, then you and I do. Listen to what, listen to the story. It is so interesting to see how Jesus defeated the enemy. And then how you and I can. It says:
"Now when the tempter came to Jesus, the devil, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.' But Jesus answered and said, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God".' Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: "He'll give His angels charge over you, and in their hands they'll bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone".' Jesus said to him, 'It is written again, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God".' Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Jesus, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve".' Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Jesus".
There's some interesting things in this story. Do you notice that the devil not once disputed the power of the Scriptures. He did not once dispute. And did you notice that Jesus, every time He dealt with the enemy. He said, "It is written". The Scriptures are powerful, incredible. That Jesus Christ Himself walking on the planet is quoting from one of the first of the five books of the Bible, Deuteronomy, and saying, "It is written". And I think you and I need to get up and start speaking a little bit. It is written that the protection of God, the angels are encamped around about me. It is written that the blessing of the Lord is upon my life. It is written that no weapon formed against me shall prosper. It is written. It is written.
Why did He say it is written? Because the Bible establishes. The Bible is to the human race. It is the written Word of God as Holy Spirit directed 40 men over 1600 years and guided them in what to write. This is an incredible amazing book. I mean, more than 80 percent of the prophecies that are in it have already taken place in the exact city, in the exact way that they were prophesied. This, we can examine this from so many different ways but you'd better settle the authority of the Word of God. The power of the Word of God. You'd better settle on the inside of you.
There's nothing on this planet that's going to look after your eternity except the Word of God. And then you'd better know what's written. And then I'm going to encourage you to begin to speak what's written. Allow Holy Spirit to begin the Word of God. Read it. See it. Speak it. Meditate on it. Let Holy Spirit have dreams and visions as to how the Word's going to look in your life, in your future. And as you do that, that's what the Bible says in the book of Thessalonians, the Word of God is working mightily on the inside of you.
God never designed you to barely get by. He didn't design you to hack it out. He didn't design you to hang in there on your last finger on the cliff. The words the Bible uses is triumph, victorious, overcome. That's the words the Bible uses. The Bible doesn't say barely get by. The Bible doesn't say, "Well just, you know, hang out on the planet". He says lead it. Be the head not the tail, above and not beneath. It says all of these promises are to you and I. But you are not going to see this affect your life unless the Word of God is working mightily on the inside of you.
I remember as a young couple, Sal and I were married. I think we had four little girls at the time. And I was working in the hospital as a paramedic. I had gotten involved in a rescue where the driver of the ambulance had left the venting into the ambulance opened and dust was streaming in. And I was actually doing CPR, trying to save this person's life as the driver was racing through the grid roads in northern Manitoba. And there must have been chemical or some over spray or something on there because it began to affect my lungs. And I remember at home sleeping beside Sal and all of a sudden, I woke up. And I sat up and I couldn't breathe. It was like my lungs were seized. And I'm going, like doing the guppy and all I get was about a teaspoon of air. Something had shut my lungs down.
And I remember Sal looking at me, "What's wrong? What's wrong"? And she could see I couldn't breathe. And she laid her hands on me and she spoke over me and I'm breathing a little easier and I'm leaning forward. And she quickly helped me get dressed. She goes, "If you're not breathing, I need to get you to the hospital". So I could breathe just enough to stop barely stopped from passing out. And I remember as I went and grabbed my jacket from the closet and I'm kind of heaving because I can hardly keep myself going.
At that time a cassette tape dropped off the top shelf and hit the floor. And it was a teaching by one of the people that we, you know, that I love listening to. And I said, "Just a minute". And I grabbed that cassette and I threw it in in our front room and I just pressed play. And I just kind of stood there and I heard the preaching and the teaching of God's Word, stuff I already knew. But all of a sudden, my focus went right back to the Word of God. And something in me just rose up as the Word of God began to work mightily inside of me. And I said, "Pray for me again". And she prayed over me and spoke the Word and wham! It just left.
There is something about the working of God's Word on the inside of you. Listen to the Word. Speak His Word. Get out to church. Listen to the series. Go on to YouTube and listen to the messages we've got there. So and every day make a decision that your focus is going to be what keeps alive on the inside of me as God's Word working. What's He doing? When it's working, it's pushing out wrong beliefs. It's cleaning out heartache and brokenness. It's cleaning out failure and your look at yourself through the sins you've committed and the failures you've gone through and whatever else's in that heart. The Bible says God's Word it begins to work and it begins to clean it out and faith begins to rise up. And all of those promises become yours and they begin to work in your life because of the faith that rises up within you.
And as you begin to obey the Word, your entire life changes. The Word must work mightily on the inside of you. Every day of your life, every week of your life, every year of your life. What God's doing on the inside of you today is greater than anything He's done in the past. And a year from today, He's going to be repairing you for an even greater future, a new season. Things you've never seen before or done before. There are no surprises to God. It doesn't matter what storm is coming. He'll equip you and get you ready. Your job get to know Jesus through the Word and prayer. And get the Word of God working mightily on the inside of you.