Discuss
Does the Lord speak to you in your daily life? If so, how does He speak to you?
Discover
Focus: Though He was God in the flesh, Jesus took the position of a man to overcome Satan. Whereas Adam and Eve failed to overcome the enemy, Jesus stood on the word of God and overcame him. We also must stand on God’s written word and learn to follow Him according to His spoken word.
I. Read the verses below. As you do, try to find the answers to the questions presented in II and III.
II. What was Satan’s strategy in tempting Eve and the Lord Jesus?
III. How did the Lord overcome Satan’s temptations?
A. It is important to note that even though He was God in the flesh, Jesus took the position of a man (seen in Matt 4:4) in His confrontation with Satan.
B. He confronted the enemy’s temptation not by His own word but by the word of the Scriptures, quoting from Deuteronomy. Can you find the verse He quoted?
C. Matthew 4:4 indicates that the Lord Jesus took the word of God in the Scriptures as His bread and lived on it. How is this a pattern to us? What does it mean to take the Lord’s word as our bread?
IV. In Greek there are two words that translate into “word”. They are logos and rhema. The written word of God is known as logos. But when it is applied in our situation it becomes rhema, the instant word of God.
A. In this temptation, all the words quoted by the Lord from Deuteronomy were logos, the constant word in the Scriptures. But when He quoted them, they became rhema, the instant word applied to His situation.
B. The Greek word rhema is used in Matthew 4:4 when Jesus said, man shall live “on every word.” Why is this important and how does this relate to the word of God being our bread?
C. In order for the Lord to speak to us (rhema), we must read and know His written word (logos). His spoken word always goes along with and confirms His written word. The Lord is able to speak to us more if we read His word more.
D. If you have time, read the following excerpt (see below). Make sure you leave enough time to discuss the questions in the Apply section
Apply
I. How can we overcome the enemy’s temptations? See Rev 12:11.
Rev. 12:11 – And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their soul-life even unto death.
II. Can you explain the difference between logos and rhema? How can we convert logos into rhema in our experience?
III. How can we increase our chances of hearing the Lord’s direct speaking to us?
Excerpt
One day a messenger came to tell a mother that her son had been run over by a car and was at the point of death. The mother immediately opened the Bible and happened to turn to John 11:4: “This sickness is not unto death…” Because of this verse, she felt peaceful and even began to rejoice, but when she arrived at the scene of the accident, she found that her son had already died. Did this mean that what is recorded in the Gospel of John is not the Word of God? It is the Word of God, but it is the logos, not the rhema. The word she grasped was not the word which God spoke to her at that specific instance. Both logos and rhema are the Word of God, but the former is God’s Word objectively recorded in the Bible, while the latter is the word of God spoken to us at a specific occasion.
John 3:16 is a verse many of us can quote from memory. Perhaps we have known it for ten or twenty years. Is this verse the Word of God? Certainly it is the Word of God, but it is logos. There comes a day, however, when we read this verse and it is entirely different to us than it was before. “For God so loved the world….” Now, God does not just love the world, He loves me. “…that He gave His only begotten Son…” God did not give His Son just to the world, but to me. “…that everyone who believes into Him…” It is not that someone believes into Him, but that I believe into Him. “…would not perish, but would have eternal life.” It is I who will not perish, and it is I who even now have eternal life. This word is now rhema. God speaks the word to us, and at the same moment, we have faith. This does not mean that logos is of no use. Logos has its definite use, for without logos, we could never have rhema. All the rhema of God is based upon the logos. We cannot deny that John 3:16 is the Word of God. But when the logos of God becomes the rhema spoken by God to us, we have faith and the whole matter is settled.
The Lord not only spoke in the Scriptures, He not only spoke to Paul and John, He is also speaking to us today. The word of the Lord has never ceased.
Verses
Gen. 2:16 – And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely,
Gen. 2:17 – But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
Gen. 3:1 – Now the serpent was more crafty than any other animal of the field that Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Did God really say, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?
Gen. 3:2 – And the woman said to the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat
Gen. 3:3 – But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.
Gen. 3:4 – And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die!
Matt. 3:17 – And behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight.
Matt. 4:1 – Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.
Matt. 4:2 – And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He became hungry.
Matt. 4:3 – And the tempter came and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, speak that these stones may become loaves of bread.
Matt. 4:4 – But He answered and said, It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.”
Matt. 4:5 – Then the devil took Him into the holy city and set Him on the wing of the temple,
Matt. 4:6 – And said to Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down for it is written, “To His angels He shall give charge concerning You, and on their hands they shall bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.”
Matt. 4:7 – Jesus said to him, Again, it is written, “You shall not test the Lord your God.”
Matt. 4:8 – Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
Matt. 4:9 – And he said to Him, All these will I give You if You will fall down and worship me.
Matt. 4:10 – Then Jesus said to him, Go away, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”
Matt. 4:11 – Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.