It Is Written

Two weeks ago we took the first step of this series. We confessed our hidden things to தேவன், and He forgave. தன் பாவங்களை மறைக்கிறவன் வாழ்வடையமாட்டான்; அவைகளை அறிக்கை செய்து விட்டுவிடுகிறவனோ இரக்கம் பெறுவான். The one who covers his sin will not prosper, but the one who confesses and forsakes it finds mercy.

But most of us leave those small sins unconfessed because they seem too small to mention. Jealousy is one of them. Think of two brothers in a house. One day the older boy takes his younger brother's chocolate and eats it. The next day the older boy is eating two chocolates of his own, and the younger one comes and asks for one. "No, this is mine, I forgot it at school last year and I am eating it today." So out of jealousy and anger the younger boy does not go to his father, who could buy him a fresh chocolate, or the whole shop if he asked. Instead he digs out a year-old chocolate and eats that, and tells himself he is satisfied. That is what jealousy does. It makes us grab something worthless while the Father stands ready to give us everything. And most of us have never once told தேவன், "Father, that day I was jealous, I was angry, forgive me."

So step one was to confess our sin to தேவன். This week is step two: we confess His Word over ourselves. Our series word, அறிக்கை, carries both halves. In English there are two words for it. One is confession - admitting a fault, owning that I did wrong. The other is proclaim - a public notification, the way the government publishes a new law openly for everyone to know. Last time we confessed the wrong. This time we proclaim what தேவன் has said about us. And Hebrews holds the two together:

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." - Hebrews 10:23 (NKJV)

"நம்முடைய நம்பிக்கையை அறிக்கையிடுகிறதில் அசைவில்லாமல் உறுதியாயிருக்கக்கடவோம்; வாக்குத்தத்தம்பண்ணினவர் உண்மையுள்ளவராயிருக்கிறாரே." - எபிரெயர் 10:23 (TAOVBSI)

Two Voices Are Speaking Over You (இரண்டு குரல்கள்)

Look at what happened right after Jesus was baptised. As He came up out of the water, the Father's voice was heard: இவர் என்னுடைய நேசகுமாரன், இவரில் பிரியமாயிருக்கிறேன் - "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (மத்தேயு 3:17). The whole crowd heard the Father name Him. Then the Spirit led Him into the wilderness (வனாந்தரம்), and for forty days He ate nothing, alone. When His body was at its weakest and most tired, the tempter (சோதனைக்காரன்) came. And notice the very first word out of the enemy's mouth: "IF you are the Son of God..." The Father had just said Son. The devil came straight to Jesus and put a question mark on it.

That is exactly the pattern in our lives. Here in worship தேவன் speaks to us. Maybe this morning He said to you, "You are My child. I washed you in My own blood. I received you as My son, as My daughter, with the Spirit of adoption." You heard it, you believed it here. Then you go home, and a little while later another voice starts: "Don't I know who you are? You are a liar. You are a drunkard. You have a filthy tongue. And you came to pray today?" The voice will speak. The Bible even gives that voice a name:

"...for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down." - Revelation 12:10 (NKJV)

"இரவும் பகலும் நம்முடைய தேவனுக்கு முன்பாக நம்முடைய சகோதரர்மேல் குற்றஞ்சுமத்தும்பொருட்டு அவர்கள்மேல் குற்றஞ்சாட்டுகிறவன் தாழத்தள்ளப்பட்டுப்போனான்." - வெளிப்படுத்தல் 12:10 (TAOVBSI)

He is the accuser (குற்றஞ்சாட்டுகிறவன்), and this is his full-time work, day and night. He does not need to invent new lies to trap you. He simply uses your true past. He reminds you of the very thing you already confessed. But here is what he hides from you: தேவன் has already forgiven that very sin. In heaven your case is closed (க்ளோஸ் ஆயிடுச்சு). தேவன் shut the file and threw it away. The accuser keeps prying it back open in your mind and saying, "Look, it isn't finished, you didn't really change."

So two names are spoken over you. One voice says guilty (குற்றவாளி), bound (கட்டுண்டவன்), finished, you can never change. The other voice says forgiven, cleansed, My son, My daughter. Whether you want it or not, both voices keep sounding in your ears. You cannot pray them into silence. They will speak. The only thing you decide is which one you say "amen" to. Amen means "yes, that is right, let it be so." To confess the Word is to stop saying amen to the accuser and start saying amen to தேவன்.

Answer With What Is Written (எழுதியிருக்கிறது)

Three times the enemy pushed Jesus. Three times Jesus did not sit down and argue, did not explain Himself, did not offer a long theological defence of why He would or would not do it. We are the ones who explain. Someone asks why we came late, and we give ten reasons. Jesus gave three words and won every round: என்று எழுதியிருக்கிறது - "It is written."

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." - Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)

"மனுஷன் அப்பத்தினாலேமாத்திரமல்ல, தேவனுடைய வாயிலிருந்து புறப்படுகிற ஒவ்வொரு வார்த்தையினாலும் பிழைப்பான் என்று எழுதியிருக்கிறது." - மத்தேயு 4:4 (TAOVBSI)

He did not answer with "I feel" or "I think." He answered with what the Father had already spoken and had already been written down. If the perfect Son, full of the Spirit, answered the accuser with the written Word and nothing else, how much more do we need it. And notice the difference between knowing the Word and confessing the Word. A Bible sitting on the shelf did not help Jesus. The Word in His mouth did.

There is a small piece of research from the world, not from Scripture, that shows this exactly. Take two people who both smoke and both want to stop. Ask the first, "Do you smoke?" He says, "I'm trying to quit." Ask the second the same question, and he says, "I don't smoke. I am not a smoker." Both are smokers today. Both want to stop. But the one far more likely to succeed is the second man, because he has already taken hold of a new identity. He knows who he is. The first man still calls himself a smoker who is trying.

That is precisely how we answer the accuser. When he says, "You are still a sinner," most of us fold and agree: "Yes, I am a sinner, I'm trying to get out of it." But the one who is really listening to தேவன் says, "I am not a sinner. I am a righteous man washed in the blood of Jesus. When I stand before Christ, He looks at me as someone who never sinned." That is not pride. That is agreeing with what is written:

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

"ஒருவன் கிறிஸ்துவுக்குள்ளிருந்தால் புதுசிருஷ்டியாயிருக்கிறான்; பழையவைகள் ஒழிந்து போயின, எல்லாம் புதிதாயின." - 2 கொரிந்தியர் 5:17 (TAOVBSI)

Your feelings will change every morning. You wake up tired, by evening you are more tired, after some sleep you feel a little better. One day you feel strong and you can speak loudly; the next day you feel dull and no sound comes out of your mouth. But the call தேவன் placed on you never changes, and the grace He gave you never changes. So do not answer from your feelings, and do not even think much about your circumstances. Answer from what is written.

Once you know who you are in Christ, you learn to put down what was never yours. Suppose a debt lands on you. You say, "This is not mine. I am the King's child, and debt has nothing to do with me. Somebody dumped this on me." Look at how differently we treat our own mess and someone else's. If the drain water in your own kitchen leaks a little, you wipe it once and leave it, you sit with it for days. But if I carried my kitchen's sewage water and poured it into your house, how fast would you clean it? Instantly. Why? Because it is not yours. You do not have to carry a burden that is not yours. Sin, curses, the curse of parents and ancestors - the devil piled all of that on your head, but Jesus nailed every bit of it to the cross and finished it there. It is not yours. So tell தேவன், "Lord, this is not my burden, throw it far away," and watch how your prayers and your faith begin to change. A prince does not walk into the palace with a bag of sewage in his pocket and call it his own.

This is why the confession has to be positive as well. The promise over this year is that we would be like an unfailing spring and a well-watered garden:

"The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail." - Isaiah 58:11 (NKJV)

"கர்த்தர் நித்தமும் உன்னை நடத்தி, மகா வறட்சியான காலங்களில் உன் ஆத்துமாவைத் திருப்தியாக்கி, உன் எலும்புகளை நிணமுள்ளதாக்குவார்; நீ நீர்ப்பாய்ச்சலான தோட்டத்தைப்போலவும், வற்றாத நீரூற்றைப்போலவும் இருப்பாய்." - ஏசாயா 58:11 (TAOVBSI)

Look at your life today and you may see no spring, no water, no plant, just dry ground, and half the soil missing. So say it plainly to தேவன்: "This is not what I see here. What I am seeing today is not the truth. Your Word is the truth. In my life I will be an unfailing spring and a watered garden. That is what is true." One warning goes with the promise, though. This is not a chant. It is not magic. It only flows out of relationship. Cut the connection to தேவன் and it will not happen. Stay joined to Him and walk it out with Him, and it certainly will.

Say the Name God Says (அவர் சொல்வதை நீங்களும் சொல்லுங்கள்)

தேவன் does not call you by what you are today. He calls you by what He is going to make you. Watch where He found Gideon:

"The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!" - Judges 6:12 (NKJV)

"கர்த்தருடைய தூதனானவர் அவனுக்குத் தரிசனமாகி: பராக்கிரமசாலியே, கர்த்தர் உன்னோடே இருக்கிறார் என்றார்." - நியாயாதிபதிகள் 6:12 (TAOVBSI)

Where was Gideon when தேவன் called him பராக்கிரமசாலியே, mighty man of valour? He was hiding in a winepress, threshing his wheat in secret, afraid the Midianites would come and carry off the harvest. Normally you thresh grain out in the open. He had crept into a walled pit to keep quiet and unseen. And to that frightened man crouching in the pit, தேவன் shouts, "Mighty man of valour!" Gideon jumps up like a man startled out of sleep: "Me? I'm the one hiding here in fear, and You call me a mighty man?"

That is how தேவன் speaks to us. If He described the state we are actually in, it would be an ugly description. But He refuses to call us by that. He calls us by the name of the future He is going to bring about. He knows we will change, so He names us by the change. He told Abram he would be the father of many nations (ஆதியாகமம் 17:5) when Abram did not have a single child. He looked at Nathanael, whose heart was full of the very calculating, cunning thoughts we all run, and said:

"Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" - John 1:47 (NKJV)

"இதோ, கபடமற்ற உத்தம இஸ்ரவேலன் இவன்தான் என்றார்." - யோவான் 1:47 (TAOVBSI)

உத்தம இஸ்ரவேலனே - an Israelite of complete integrity. We look at ourselves and think, integrity has nothing to do with me. But தேவன் can make us into that later, and He knows it, so He calls us by it now. Your part is to accept the call. You have to agree with தேவன். When your whole situation says the opposite, when you are in poverty and in debt and cannot even see how His words could come true, that is the very moment to say, "Amen, Lord. Let it be so in my life. Whatever You call me, let me become."

I can tell you this from my own life, and I am not just handing you a phrase. For many years the devil said to me, "You will never stop drinking. You will never stop smoking." He said it and walked off. But I kept seeking தேவன். I prayed to be free. I fell again and again and again, and each time I turned back and put my trust in Him once more, believing, "My circumstance today is not it, but I know for certain He will set me free." And after many years தேவன் gave me complete deliverance. He knew all along how I would turn out, so He called me by that. Only yesterday, in a business conversation, someone said to me, "How do you do all these things? I need to learn all this from you," thinking I had always done it this way. I told him it took me twenty years. Twenty years ago தேவன் promised me many things I could not imagine happening, and He was quietly forming me all that time for who I am today. He named my future over my present, and He is still doing it - there is much more He is going to make of me, and of you.

And you are not left to argue with the accuser alone. Above every voice from below, there is One who speaks for you from above:

"...consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus." - Hebrews 3:1 (NKJV)

"பரம அழைப்புக்குப் பங்குள்ளவர்களாகிய பரிசுத்த சகோதரரே, நாம் அறிக்கைபண்ணுகிற அப்போஸ்தலரும் பிரதான ஆசாரியருமாயிருக்கிற கிறிஸ்து இயேசுவைக் கவனித்துப்பாருங்கள்." - எபிரெயர் 3:1 (TAOVBSI)

On the ground below, one voice keeps saying, "You will not change. You are a liar, a coward, a heart full of deceit." But above, our High Priest, Jesus Christ, is saying, "Your sins are all forgiven. You are an Israelite indeed. You are a mighty man." Heaven backs the word தேவன் gave you. Your part is to receive it.

The Word in Your Mouth (உங்கள் வாயிலே வசனம்)

The accuser works day and night (வெளிப்படுத்தல் 12:10). So the Word has to be in our mouth day and night. We answer his "day and night" with தேவன்'s "day and night":

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." - Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)

"இந்த நியாயப்பிரமாண புஸ்தகம் உன் வாயைவிட்டுப் பிரியாதிருப்பதாக; இதில் எழுதியிருக்கிறவைகளின்படியெல்லாம் நீ செய்யக் கவனமாயிருக்கும்படி, இரவும் பகலும் அதைத் தியானித்துக்கொண்டிருப்பாயாக; அப்பொழுது நீ உன் வழியை வாய்க்கப்பண்ணி, புத்திமானாய் நடந்துகொள்வாய்." - யோசுவா 1:8 (TAOVBSI)

Keep the words தேவன் has spoken about you from leaving your mouth, meditate on them in your heart day and night, and your ways will surely prosper. தேவன் is able to change everything. He can change you. He can change your father, your mother, your children, your husband, your wife. Whatever the situation, He is able. The only question is whether you have a heart to believe it. Nobody in your family has to stay outside the love of தேவன். Not one has to remain unwashed by the blood of Jesus. It looks impossible from where you stand today, but it will surely happen, because it is written.

Three things to carry home:

1. Two voices speak over you. Choose தேவன்'s Word over the accuser's version of your past (வெளிப்படுத்தல் 12:10).
2. Answer the way Jesus did, with three words - "It is written" (மத்தேயு 4:4).
3. தேவன் calls you by the name He is making you, not by the name your past gives you (நியாயாதிபதிகள் 6:12; எபிரெயர் 3:1).

Next week is Part 3: நம்பினவரிடம் அறிக்கையிடுங்கள் (Confess to a Trusted Listener). We were never meant to fight alone; the Word in your mouth grows stronger when a faithful brother hears it and prays with you.

Declaration Prayer · அறிக்கை ஜெபம்

பிதாவே, நீர் உம்முடைய வசனத்தில் என்னைக் குறித்துச் சொன்னதை நானும் சொல்கிறேன். குற்றஞ்சாட்டுகிறவனின் பழைய பெயரை நான் இனி ஏற்கமாட்டேன். நீர் என்னை மன்னித்தீர், சுத்திகரித்தீர், உம்முடைய பிள்ளையாக்கினீர். இன்றைய என் சூழ்நிலை என்னுடையது அல்ல; உம்முடைய வார்த்தையே என்னுடையது. எழுதியிருக்கிறது - அதுவே என் பதில். உம்முடைய வசனத்தை என் வாயில் இரவும் பகலும் வைத்து, அதன்படியே வாழ எனக்குக் கிருபை தாரும். இயேசுவின் நாமத்தினாலே, ஆமென்.

Father, I say what You have said about me in Your Word. I will no longer accept the accuser's old name for me. You forgave me, You cleansed me, You made me Your child. Today's circumstance is not mine; Your Word is what is mine. It is written, and that is my answer. Keep Your Word in my mouth day and night, and give me grace to live by it. In Jesus' name, Amen.

One Thing This Week · இந்த வாரம் ஒன்று மட்டும்

This week, take one verse that answers your battle. Write it on a slip of paper and keep it in your pocket. When the old voice comes, take it out and say it aloud until you believe it. இந்த வாரம், உங்கள் போராட்டத்திற்குப் பதில் சொல்லும் ஒரு வசனத்தை எடுத்து, ஒரு தாளில் எழுதி, பையில் வைத்துக்கொள்ளுங்கள்; பழைய குரல் வரும்போது, நீங்கள் விசுவாசிக்கும்வரை அதை சத்தமாகச் சொல்லுங்கள். When the accuser asks, "Who are you?", the answer is not a feeling. It is written.