July 12, 2009
Morning Worship
Text: Hebrews 4:12-13
Subject: Part 5 in the Seven Steps to Receiving God’s Miracles
Title: Trust His Word
Let’s start this morning with a two-part question.
First, do you have anyone in your life that you can absolutely trust all the time? I mean, that without any doubt, you know that person will be there for you in every circumstance to stand behind you. You know that person has your back at all times. I would hope that most of us has a person like that in our lives.
Now, the second part… If you have someone like that in your life, and I hope you do, are you willing to actually come to the place where you are willing to put that trust into action? Not just saying you trust but actively trusting!
How many of you remember your first time on an airplane? Tell me the truth; were you a little apprehensive about the ability of a thing so huge flying through the air? There is a story that goes like this:
Uncle Oscar was apprehensive about his first airplane ride. His friends, eager to hear how it went, asked if he enjoyed the flight. "Well," commented Uncle Oscar, "it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be, but I’ll tell you this. I never did put all my weight down!"
Many Christians can relate to Uncle Oscar in their relationship with God. They are apprehensive when they first get on. They see that it works just fine, but they never put their full trust in Him. That creates a real dilemma. First, how can you ever come to the place of complete trust unless you make a conscious decision to do so? Second, if you haven’t placed all your trust in Him is it really trust?
We have the ability to know God as He truly deserves and desires to be known. We have a holy book that is God’s perfect revelation of Himself to mankind. It is His word! And since it is His word and not our rendition of His word we can trust it. 2 Peter 1:20-21, 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
So, if this book that we hold so dear, is what it claims to be – God’s Word – then we must realize that in order to receive a miracle from God one of the steps we must take is to trust this word completely and without doubting.
Lord open my eyes to see and my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
I. GOD’S WORD IS LIVING 12For the word of God is living… The Greek word translated “word” here is “logos. I have often taught you that the logos refers to God’s written word and the rhema is God’s spoken word. That is somewhat accurate but not it goes deeper than that. Logos refers to God’s disclosure or revelation of Himself to the world. It comes from the root word lego which means, to lay forth, or an individual expression or to break silence. If you look at the logos in that way we can see three things. 1) The word lays forth a foundation – God spoke the world and all of creation into existence with what? His word!. In Genesis 1:3,6,9,11,20,24 before each creative act we read, “and God said…” 2) God’s word is an individual expression of His being. John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The very nature of God was revealed through the person of His Son Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:3, The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. 3) the word of God breaks the silence. Since the fall of man there has been a great disconnect between heaven and earth. It is not that God was silent in that He did not speak to men, but it has become increasingly difficult for men to hear God’s voice. But through the work of the cross and because of His written word the silence is broken. We can understand the very nature of God by looking at Jesus and by seeing His nature revealed through the scriptures. Now, that tells us what the word of God is and that should be enough to make you trust His word. But let’s go a step further. What is God’s word doing? First, it is a living word. One of the great arguments to be brought against the bible is exemplified in this statement from an article written by a muslim apologist Ahmed Deedat, "Yes, the Bible is human, though some, out of zeal which is not according to knowledge, have denied this. Those books have passed through the minds of men, are written in the language of men, were penned by the hands of men, and bear in their style the characteristics of men." In this same article Deedat quotes so-called “Christian leaders” as saying that they themselves do not believe the bible to be the word of God. But our passage and the internal evidence of the bible itself dictates that we profess otherwise. The word of God is living. It is not some ancient manuscript that has outlived its usefulness. It is timeless. Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. There is a great theological chasm that is cast between bible believers and liberal theologians. We believe that the bible is God’s word. They believe that it contains God’s word but is not totally God’s word. One of the evidences that we have is the evidence of changed lives. A side note here; I read on Friday that an Episcopal Bishop has proclaimed that individual salvation is a heresy. Salvation can only come through the church and the church alone and for anyone to believe that an individual can be saved by his repentance and confession makes him a heretic. I don’t know what bible they have been reading, but when I read the bible it changes me. I am saved by grace through faith and the word is still changing me because it is active. The truth of the word is to be taken literally unless it is declared within itself to be symbolic. That is why there is such a vast difference in understanding of the Word. Many try to make too much of the bible an allegory instead of taking the words for face value. The word is not only living, it is active. Isaiah 55:10-11, As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. But the truth of the Word is hidden from unbelievers. 2 Corinthians 4:1-4, 1Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. If you want to take a step toward receiving God’s promises you must come to the place where you can confess that, One, it is God’s word, two, it is a living word, and three it is as active now as it has ever been.
II. GOD’S WORD IS PENETRATING. 12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates… Though the enemy of your soul has blinded the minds of unbelievers we must understand that the word is intended to touch the hearts of man. Yes it is true that some may come to salvation by understanding the gospel first, but salvation does not come until the word of God takes root in the heart where the seed is planted. It is interesting that in Ephesians 6 Paul tells us that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God. This sword is sharp. The word translated “sharper” refers to a blade that is able to do its work with a single stroke. It does not need to keep hacking away. But since it is a double-edged sword it can protect and attack from either side regardless of the angle of attack. As a Christian you do not need any other weapon. How deeply does the word go into a man? What activity takes place when the word of God is proclaimed? …it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. We are learning in our evangelism class how to present the gospel in a way that bypasses the mind, the place of argument, and go straight to the heart or conscience. The word works that way for salvation but it also works that way for receiving all God’s promises. You see, until you can bypass the mind, the place that is the place of argument where the spiritual battles take place, and allow the word to go directly to the heart or spirit man, you cannot have the faith to receive His miracles in your life. Faith never stems from the soul, or the mind or emotions, but from the spirit or heart. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. We do not allow our thoughts to steal the victory away from us. God’s word divides soul and spirit. It is sharp enough to separate the joints and the marrow – like a surgeon’s scalpel – and it judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart or your motives. Look at what James says about having the right motives in receiving the work of God in your life. James 4:1-3, 1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. There are three things James talks about here concerning motives: 1). Your relationships with other Christians are not where they should be. Your desires control you instead of your relationship with the Lord. 2) You allow doubt to enter your mind and control your life so that you don’t even bother asking God for the very things you need. 3) You want what you want when you want it. Your prayer is always about you and never about God. You won’t receive anything that way. But the word, when applied to the heart, will change that if you let it.
III. GOD’S WORD IS REVEALING 3Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. As I prepare to wind this down I want to take a closer look at this one verse. First of all, 3Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare… That pretty much covers everything doesn’t it? 3Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything has been created. The creator knows everything about His creation. I like to dabble with oil paints. I have a hard time getting the paint to go where I want it to go sometimes. But occasionally I get it to work and when I am finished I know every color, every brush stroke, the purpose and intention of every line. My creation cannot hide anything from me. I know that it is not perfect but it is my creation. It is the same way with us in relation to God. Since we are His creation, we cannot hide anything from Him. He knows your thoughts, but what is more important is that He knows your heart. Everything is uncovered and laid bare… Now I don’t want your train of thought to stop there. I want you to go on to the rest of the verse. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. You are accountable to God for all things in your life. 1) You are accountable for your own salvation. Psalm 37:39, The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. Every human being from Adam to the last people standing when all things are created anew will have to give an account to God for their spiritual status. God has given all men the opportunity to be saved and at the end all who refused will give an account. 2) The word of God judges sin in the lives of all people. That is the whole purpose of the commandments – to show people their sin and their need for a Savior. 3) Even believers will be judged for their actions and their failings. This is not to determine heaven of hell but their rewards in heaven. But I want to go beyond salvation. Since we are talking about trusting God’s word in order to receive a miracle in your life one of the things God will ask you will be, “Why didn’t you receive the promises I had in store for you while you were on the earth?” Luke 18:8 asks, However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Many have taught this to mean that when Jesus returns will there be saving faith on the earth. But we know that when Jesus comes back in the clouds He is coming for His bride, the church. So there has to be faith, right? I take this to mean that even among the saved will Jesus find full, complete trust in His word. He is asking, when I come back will my word still be living and active in the church. Psalm 119:57-58, 57 You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words. 58I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.
We can only trust God’s word when we have come to the place in our lives where we are willing to 1) consecrate ourselves – be set aside through salvation for God’s purpose. 2) stand in the river of the Holy Spirit and let Him fill you to overflowing, 3) Follow God’s presence; go where He goes and do what He does and say what He says. 4) Trust God’s word. See, if the word of God were some contrived manuscript intended to make people spiritual robots it would be no different than Hitler’s Mein Kampf or Mao Tse – Tung’s little red book. But this book is different. It is spiritual and not philosophical. It is life changing. Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
The problem with our ability to trust God’s word is that we too often focus on what the word says we cannot do instead of all the wonderful things that are available to us right here and right now.
Author Tim Hansel writes, One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, "Hey Dad! Catch me!" I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and them yelled "Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.
When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???"
He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure...because you’re my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted. Isn’t this even more true for a Christian?
Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, pp. 46-47.
God is asking you today, “Will you just believe my word? I have so many wonderful things in store for you before you even get to heaven. And if you will just accept them by faith you will see My name glorified in all the earth.”
