Applied Word of God II
By Pastor Donny Granberry
In our last message we looked at what the gospel is and why it must be applied.
The Gospel is:
• The Incontestable word of God – No one will ever be able to successfully come up against the word of God, there is no contest there.
• The Incorruptible word of God - There is not a taint or a blemish of any corruption in it. No matter how much they try, man cannot corrupt the word of God. It has even withstood shoddy preaching.
• The Indestructible word of God - The word of God is fresh, it is alive, and it is indestructible. How men over the centuries have unsuccessfully tried every way imaginable to destroy it, yet it stands today as the indestructible word of God.
This time we look at The Indispensable Word of God.”
1 Peter 1:23-25
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
IV. The Indispensable Word of God
v. 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
No bible, no church. No bible, no Christianity.
Why is the gospel so important? It is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you.
A. The gospel provides the Churches Message.
v. 25 And this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you.
What is our message? The Gospel, we have no other message.
Paul said, “I know no other gospel except Jesus, & him crucified.
Everything we preach springs from the gospel and then reverts back to the gospel.
Then, what is the Gospel? It is history’s central event, Jesus came, Jesus died, Jesus was buried, & Jesus arose from the grave.
Our gospel does not need to be reformed, it needs to be retaught.
We do not need a new and modern gospel for a new and modern age.
The gospel did not begin in the New Testament; it began in Genesis and goes through the New Testament.
The bible teaches us that Jesus saves.
The bible has but one villain – the devil.
The bible has but one hero – Jesus Christ.
The bible has but one message – Jesus saves.
Church, we must be preachers of the gospel.
I enjoy being known as a bible preacher, and although there are some who can preach this gospel better than I can, there is no-one who can preach a better gospel than I can.
This book provides the churches message and that message is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Not only does this book provide the churches message,
B. The Bible Prescribes our Method.
Now, the method and the message are ties together.
v. 25 And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
The method is preaching. God’s plan is that the gospel be preached.
In many churches preaching has gone out of style.
They have passions, plays, suppers, concerts, and many other things, but no preaching of the word.
The bible makes it clear that the method is preaching.
And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:21 KJV
… it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Not foolish preaching, but the foolishness of preaching.
It may be preaching from the pulpit.
It may be at a bible study.
It may be at you place of employment.
It may be going door to door.
It may be at you families Thanksgiving celebration.
But it is the proclamation of the saving message of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Churches message is the gospel.
The method is the preaching of the gospel.
C. The Gospel Produces the Churches Members
v. 21 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Being born again, that is alive.
The bible is the seed of the word of God.
If you put a seed in the ground it will bring forth life that corresponds with the seed that is planted.
There is life in the word of God.
God’s word is like a sword that cuts.
“” “” “” a fire that burns.
“” “” “” water that quinches the thirst.
“” “” “” a hammer that breaks the rock into pieces.
You are a product of the word of God.
The person sitting next to you is a product of the word of God.
We are born again, not of corruptible seed, but by incorruptible seed, the word of God.
You see, you do not become a member of the family of God by joining a church, or from your parents church affiliation, you do so by being born again.
Nicademaus was already religious, but Jesus told him, you must be born again.
If you are only born once you will die twice.
1st death – physical, 2nd death – eternal death (Lake of fire).
If you are only born once and die twice, you will wish that you were never born at all.
If you are born twice, you can only die once.
How are you born again? By the incorruptible seed of the word of God.
John 1:1-2, 10-14 KJV
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 3:16-17 KJV
6 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.
Church, we must preach the gospel, we must tell the truth.
I’ve heard it said that people cannot handle the truth.
I don’t believe that, I think that what people cannot handle, nor afford, is a watered down message.
I believe that if we pray down the anointing and preach the gospel, then the supernatural will take place.
There are people that sit on the pews of this church that others have said that they were too far gone for the gospel.
No one strays too far for the gospel.
People’s lives are radically changed by the gospel.
This gospel is seed that brings life.
John 6: Jesus said “The word that I speak unto you, they are spirit and life.
The bible is incontestable, it is incorruptible, it is indestructible, therefore it is indispensable.
When we get under that word, we have incredible authority.
Billy Graham said this,
When I was a young biblical study major in college, I had questions that many young believers have.
I struggled with what I thought were inconsistencies in the word of God, and therefore I had little power in my ministry. My anointing was lacking.
In 1949, he I got alone in the mountains of California and walking down a trail and begin to tell the Lord of the intellectual battle that I was waging in my mind and felt caught in the crossfire.
Finally in desperation I surrendered my will to the living God revealed in scripture.
I knelt before my open bible and said, Lord, there are many things I do not understand, but you said that the just shall live by faith.
Here and now, by faith, I accept the bible as thy word; I take it all without reservation.
What I do not understand, I will reserve judgment until after I receive more light.
If it pleases thee, give me authority as I preach your word.
The next week, Billy Graham began the Los Angeles Crusade where thousands were saved and his ministry began to attain world wide influence.
He said that people came to his crusades not to hear a great orator of the word, but to hear what God had to speak through his word.
He said that after that, he found that the word of God was a flame of fire in his hand.
Central, there is power in the word of God.
I said this morning, you read other books, but this one reads you.
Jesus did not come against satan with emotions, reason, or threats, but with the word of God.
I remember when my walk was like a rollercoaster, and every obstacle would throw me for a loop.
Then I began to get the word of God in me.
