New Year's Food

I was twenty-four years old ... when I first became aware ... of what it meant to be ... under the scalpel of God's word.

It was then ... that I heard and understood clearly ... that I was a sinner .... and as such .... had no right to eternity ... in heaven.

I remember being cut through ... with the conviction of my sin.

There and then ... I received Jesus Christ ... as my personal Savior and my Lord.

That was my first experience with the penetrating power of the Word of God ... but it would not be my last.

Over the years ... there have been many times ... that the Word of God has cut me .... and convicted me.

Today we come to the classic text on the power of the Word of God in Hebrews:

BIBLE "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (13) And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." END (Hebrews 4:12-13)

This section begins with the word "for" or "therefore" ... tying what follows ... with what the author has previously told us ... concerning the consequences ... of Israel's disobedience.

The author wants us .... to get it through our thick heads .... that Israel's awful tragedy ... can strike us as well.

Today ... I want you to see with me ... four reasons ... why we should not disregard the Word of God!

First, .... It is A Living Word "For the word of God .... is living" (Hebrews 4:12)

The Scriptures, .... the Word of God, .... is unlike any other book you have in your home ... or in the library.

The Library of Congress lays claim ... to be the largest library in the world, ... with more than 150 million items on approximately 838 miles of bookshelves.

The collections include more than 32 million books and other printed materials, ... 3.0 million recordings, ... 15 million photographs, ... 5 million maps, ... and 61 million manuscripts.

Yet among all these volumes ... the only one that lays a claim to being alive and powerful ... are the Holy Scriptures.

This places The Word of God ... in a unique category all to itself.

The word "living" ... is the translation of zon (???), a present participle of the verb zao (?a?) "Zah -- O" ... which means "to live, to be alive." "Zah-O"

The Word of God is alive, ... actively alive, ... and as the tense indicates, ... constantly alive.

The word of God is no dead letter, ... it is living, ... it is alive.... And it will penetrate ... your very soul. (Pause)

A story is told ... of a man who said he had received no inspiration from the Bible.

"Let it flow through you once," replied the elderly pastor ... "then you will tell a different story!"

The Word of God is not only a living word but

Secondly, ... Is an Active Powerful Word

"For the word of God is living and active." (Hebrews 4:12)

The word translated active (energes) "N-air-gAce" ...is the word from which we get the word ... energy and energetic.

The word of God is energetic "N0air-gAce

The word literally means "at work."

The word of God is continually at work.

Charles Swindoll comments, "News articles may inform us.

Novels may inspire us.

Poetry may enrapture us. But only the living, active Word of God can .... transform us."

Beloved ... It is alive!

One of the most dramatic examples of the Scriptures divine ability to transform men and women ... involved the famous mutiny on the Bounty.

Following their rebellion against the notorious Captain Bligh, ... nine mutineers, ... along with the Tahitian men and women, ... found their way to Pitcairn Island,... a tiny dot in the South Pacific only two miles long ... and a mile wide.

Ten years later, ... drink and fighting had left only one-man alive John Adams.

Eleven women and 23 children made up the rest of the Island's population.

So far this is the familiar story made famous in the book and motion picture.

But the rest of the story ... is even more remarkable.

About this time, ... Adams came across the Bounty's Bible ... in the bottom of an old chest.

He began to read it, ... and the divine power of God's Word .... reached into the heart of that hardened man on a tiny volcanic speck in the vast Pacific Ocean .... and changed his life forever.