Two Words To Stop The Devil

Focus Keywords: But God, spiritual breakthrough, overcoming setbacks, the power of the comma, Steven Furtick, adversative conjunction, Acts 3:15, faith in the interval

This comprehensive summary and rewrite, drawing from Steven Furtick’s message, focuses on two powerful, spiritual words: “But God…” These words function as a divine conjunction that cancels out failure, shame, and sin, providing the ultimate mechanism for overcoming every setback and challenge in a believer’s life.

The Core Message: Don’t Let the Devil Put a Period

The message centers on analyzing the grammatical and spiritual power within a single verse, Acts 3:15, where Peter is addressing those who executed Jesus. Peter declares, “You killed the author of life, but God…”.

The crucial lesson derived from this verse is the importance of the comma and the subsequent conjunction.

• The Comma is Not a Period: The speaker stresses that in times of failure, divorce, shortcomings, or relapse, people tend to stop, inserting a period where God intended a comma. A comma does not mean the story is over; it means “take a breath and keep going”.
• The Spiritual Battle of Grammar: The Devil constantly attempts to put a period where God placed a comma, convincing people that failure is final. This realization—that the ongoing struggle is a matter of grammar and divine interruption—is key to spiritual resilience.
• The Interval: Life is lived in the “interval”. This is the period—which can last years, like Abraham waiting 25 years for a promise or Joseph waiting 40 years for fulfillment—between what God has spoken and what the believer currently sees. True faith must be maintained and exercised in the interval.

“But God” – The Adversative Conjunction of Breakthrough

The two words following the comma, “But God,” represent the divine interruption that guarantees breakthrough and freedom.

1. The Grammatical Power of Cancellation

The word “but” in this context is identified as an adversative conjunction. This grammatical function has a profound spiritual implication:

• Canceling the Precedent: An adversative conjunction means that “whatever comes after this but is going to make whatever came before it wish it had never even happened”. It cancels out the negative declaration that preceded it.
• Greater than the Failure: The purpose of “But God” is not to erase the reality of past events (it does not make it that the sin never happened), but to ensure that “something greater happened after that made what happened before the but” insignificant by comparison.
• Example of Human Cancellation: This concept is reflected in common conversational phrases like, “No offense, but…” or “Don’t take this personally, but…“. Whatever follows the “but” renders the preceding statement (even if it was supposedly non-offensive) irrelevant or unbelievable.

2. The Spiritual Power of Redemption

The words “But God” are the necessary response for every battle, cross, struggle, setback, unanswered prayer, and “thorn in your flesh”.

• Love in the Midst of Sin: “But God” demonstrates God’s unique love: “while we were still sinners,” God demonstrated His love. His love is revealed in the midst of the sin, not at the end of the movie when the believer has cleaned up their act. This assurance is vital, encouraging believers not to “stop because you’re caught up in a comma”.
• Whipping the Devil: Remembering and proclaiming “But God” is the only thing needed to “whip the Devil’s butt”. It is an active response against the enemy’s attack, encouraging believers to stop being reactive and instead declare the power of the conjunction.