I read a story about a pastor who was visiting one of his members. The lady of the house was trying to impress him about how committed to God she was by pointing out the large Bible on the bookshelf and talking in a very reverential way of it as "the Word of God". Her young son interrupted the conversation, "Well, if that’s God’s book we better send it back to him because we never read it!"
Week after week I stand up here and talk to you guys about the Word of God…The Bible is the most powerful tool you have during this lifetime, when life gets you down you can find the answers to whatever your facing in this book, which is the very Word of God.
It is infallible – without error…
Accurate – geologically, archeologically, and historically…
This is the only book in the history of the world that can claim that it is 100% reliable, and trustworthy.
Yet, people don’t use it like they should…we ignore it, we take it for granted, and often times people misrepresent it!
However, if you ask a believer in China, Russia, or other parts of the world that have been persecuted simply for having possession of the Bible, they would tell you of it’s great importance!
So why do we in America take the Bible for granted…why do we ignore it, believing that we will have another day to read it, and simply go on doing seemingly more important things! Why do Christians devote more time to ESPN, NBC, ABC, television in general, movies, music, exercise, than we do reading God’s Word?
The Word of God is full of Power!
The Power of God’s Word
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The first thing we are going to consider today about the power the Bible has is it’s:
1. P-enetrating Power
a. God’s Word penetrates the heart of sinners. It brings forgiveness to those who repent and believe.
A young Colombian Girl received a new testament in her school. She read the new testament until one day her father caught her reading it…and told her not to read it any more because it was full of lies and fantasy…
But the girl kept on reading until one day her father came home unexpectedly found her with the NT grabbed it from her hands and put it in his pocket.
The father went off to work where he was a mining engineer. Several hours later sirens went off in the community there had been a cave in at the mine. The father was trapped in the mine. The rescue workers took 5 days to finally reach the men, but it was too late. All 31 men died including the father of this little girl
Curiously, workers found the man clutching the NT between his praying hands.
When they opened the front cover they read a note
“To my daughter” Keep reading this NT, it is true and right, and I will see you one day in heaven.
Then they turned to the back page where the father had signed the commitment card after having said the sinner’s prayer.
But that was not the end of the story,
Turning the page there were signed the names of the other 30 workers. (This illustration came from the Gideons International)
b. God’s Word penetrates the hearts of his people who are loaded down with burdens. It provides comfort to his trusting children
Psalms 119:165
Great peace have they who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble.
Maybe your going through something today…or you have some kind of issue in your life, and you’ve looked to people for advice for answers, and they just don’t have any. God’s Word can bring you comfort and it can answer life’s questions! Maybe if you were asked today about peace, you would laugh at the question because you haven’t known what peace was in a really long time…God’s Word, the Bible can and will bring you the peace your after.
2. O-vercoming Power
I don’t believe there is a better story in all the Bible that can explain the overcoming power of God’s Word as well as the temptation of Jesus…let’s read it together.
If you have your Bibles you can open them up to Luke chapter four…if you don’t that is okay…it will be up on the screen as well…
Luke Chapter 4
The Temptation of Jesus
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4Jesus answered, "It is written: ’Man does not live on bread alone.’" 5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8Jesus answered, "It is written: ’Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’" 9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written:
" ’He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’"
12Jesus answered, "It says: ’Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’" 13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
I want you to notice a couple of things here, first:
a. When Jesus was tempted forty days in the wilderness, he overcame through the power of God’s Word.
Notice it says that Jesus was tempted by the Devil for forty days…now if your anything like me sometimes you miss the real story here…he wasn’t just tempted these three times, but for forty days he was tempted, we just have three of the temptations recorded in the Bible…and he hadn’t had anything to eat the entire time, 40 days without pizza...burrito…apple…salad…nothing!
Yet Christ was able to overcome the temptation that Satan was throwing at Him by quoting Scripture.
Have you ever wondered why we give the kids stuff for memorizing the Bible? Because one day when they are tempted to do something, something they know they shouldn’t do, that verse will pop up in their head…
b. We must depend on God’s Word to overcome the onslaught of the enemy also. Like Paul, we can be “more than conquerors though him that loved us” (Romans 8:37)
Sometimes we think well I am a Christian so the Devil doesn’t really care about me anymore…yeah right! You are exactly who he is concerned with…The Bible describes Satan like this…
8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
3. W-onderworking Power
Maybe you’re here today and your saying…Ben you just don’t understand, I have problems…I need a miracle…well lets look at another example from the Bible of a pretty amazing miracle.
The Calling of the First Disciples
1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
a. Peter obeyed Christ’s Word and the miracle happened. The overflow broke the fishing net. Two ships were filled with fish.
(The miracle would never have happened if they were disobedient)
b. The power of God’s Word is the same today. Jesus said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done” (John 15:7)
UNTAPPED POWER…because we are not plugged into God’s Word…I wonder how many people here today would admit that their life isn’t as good as it should be, because they haven’t been putting in and applying God’s Word to their life like they should be?
4. E-verlasting Power
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35)
a. In today’s society few things are lasting. Temporal possessions deteriorate.
Society today is driven by stuff…how many things can you accumulate?
b. The power of God’s Word endures. Guns, tanks, not even nuclear power, can destroy it.
“Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89)
5. R-evealing Power
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
a. God’s Word reveals his will for humankind. It reveals his love and offers the promise of salvation to those who repent and believe on Jesus Christ.
God’s will is that no one would go without His forgiveness…
b. It reveals the Holy Spirit who cleanses, empowers, and directs totally committed Christians.
“He will guide you into all truth” John 16:13
