"I, the Lord, silence you, Satan!" (Zechariah 3:2). We cannot silence Satan. The Lord can silence Satan. This is why we must answer Satan with the Word of the Lord. Satan has no answer to the Word of the Lord. "See, I have taken your sin away from you, and I will dress you in fine clothing" (Zechariah 3:4). This is God's great salvation: our sin is removed, and we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Satan has no answer to this. He may try to accuse us, but the Lord's Word will prevail over him: "For those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation" (Romans 8:1). Those who have been forgiven by the Lord are called to "live according to His ways" (Zechariah 3:7). We are to walk in the Spirit. He gives life to us. He raises us up from and above the way of sin and death (Romans 8:2). "These men are a sign of things to come" (Zechariah 3:8) - a sign that pointed forward to Jesus, God's Servant, "the Branch" (Zechariah 3:8). We are to point to Jesus. We are to bring something of heaven and its glory into the lives of the people we meet. "The stone" - Look at the stone (Zechariah 3:9). This is a call to look to Jesus, the cornerstone, the Foundation Stone of our faith. "I will remove this land's sin in a single day" (Zechariah 3:9). The forgiveness of our sin comes in a day. Its effects last for a lifetime - "each of you will invite your neighbours to sit under your vine and fig tree" (Zechariah 3:10). We are to invite people to rest in Jesus.
"I am filled with the power of the Lord's Spirit" (Micah 3:8). This is what makes true ministry of God's Word so different from 'prophecy' that doesn't come from the Lord. Without the power of the Lord, there can be no Word from the Lord. We need the Word, and we need the power. "Let's go to the mountain of the Lord ...He will teach us His ways so that we may live by them" (Micah 4:2). We are taught by the Lord so that we might live for Him. Teaching and living - they belong together. We do not learn from God's Word so that we can amass more head-knowledge. We pray for a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ - a life-changing knowledge that gives us the strength that we need to live for the glory of God.
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