IT’S ALIVE!
HEBREWS 4:12
Introduction: A collector of old books ran into an acquaintance of his who had just thrown away an old Bible that had been in his family for generations. He happened to mention that Guten-somebody had printed it. "What? Not GUTENBERG?" gasped the book collector. "Why, yes, I THINK that was the name," said his acquaintance. "You IDIOT!" said the book collector. "You’ve thrown away one of the first books ever printed! Last year they auctioned one for one-and-a-half million dollars!" "Nah!" said his acquaintance. "THIS one wouldn’t have been worth a cent! Some fool by the name of Martin Luther had scribbled all over the margins!" For many the Bible is just an old book to collect dust on a shelf, press flowers with, or collect obituaries and wedding clippings in – but the Bible is so much more – It’s Alive!
I. The Word of God is “living”
A. Weymouth - “For God’s Message is full of life…”
B. Martin Luther, hundreds of years ago, said, "The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me." - copied
C. The Bible is a living book through which the living God speaks to persons today.
D. 1 Peter 1:22-23 “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”
E. The Bible is alive. The Bible is not just a story about things that happened to the nation of Israel thousands of years ago. It is not a collection of myths and legends. It is not outdated, passé, archaic, or irrelevant. The Bible is living and active and has important relevance for us today.
F. The Bible is inexhaustible and inextinguishable. The Bible is not a static book.
G. Hebrews 4;12 – “For the Word of God is quick (zao - to live, breathe, be among the living, not lifeless, not dead) and powerful (energes - active)
H. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
I. Christians need no other reason to be avid readers of the Word of God. Realizing that Scripture is "God-breathed" is motivation enough. Immediately, we see a connection between the living Word and the written Word. Just as Jesus Christ the living Word is an ever present and dynamic reality, the written Word is equally alive and active through the mind of the Holy Spirit. Every time we open the Scriptures, we should expect a personal encounter with the God-breathed Spirit of the living Word. This is reading at its very best. When the mind and spirit of a biblical author interact in vibrant dialogue with the mind and spirit of a reader, the highest purpose of the inspired Word is fulfilled. We should soar every time we read the Word of God. – David L. McKenna, How to Read a Christian Book, 2001, p. 18- 19
II. The Word of God is “surgically sharp”
A. The Bible is described in verse 12 as being sharper than any two-edged sword made and honed by man.
B. The word for sharper (tomoteros) is a comparative word indicating the ability to cut, more comprehensively or decisively with a single stroke than with repeated blows or hacking.
C. God’s Word strikes with surprising precision. It has the ability to deliver the right message in just the right place at the right time through the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.
D. Have you ever wondered how a sermon or a Sunday school lesson can be so fitted to what you are experiencing? You may even think that someone has talked to them and given them some inside information about you. The truth is that it isn’t the teacher or the preacher. It’s the Word of God empowered by the Spirit of God, delivering the right message at the right place at right the time.
E. According to Matthew Henry, the Bible is like a double-edged sword because, "it subdues and mortifies evil desires and blasphemous thoughts as they rise within; and answers unbelief and error as they assault from without. A single text, well understood, and rightly applied, at once destroys a temptation or an objection, and subdues the most formidable adversary."
F. Ephesians 6:16 “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
G. Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
III. The Word of God is “pierces”.
A. “piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow”
B. The word penetrates to the inmost recesses of our spiritual being as a sword cuts through the joints and marrow of the body.
C. Certainly, there is some distinction between soul and spirit. “The New Testament use of pneuma for the human spirit focuses on the spiritual aspect of man, i.e. his life in relation to God, whereas psyche refers to man’s life irrespective of his spiritual experience, i.e. his life in relation to himself, his emotions and thought.” (Guthrie)
D. The Bible pierces deep. The Bible pierces right to the heart. It reveals God’s will, as opposed to mine.”
E. Some thirty years ago there resided in one of the Temples of Thibet a Buddhist priest who had conversed with no Christian missionary, had heard nothing about the cross of Christ, and had never seen a copy of the Word of God. One day while searching for something in the temple, he came across a transcription of Matthew’s Gospel, which years before had been left there by a native who had received it from some traveling missionary. His curiosity aroused, the Buddhist priest commenced to read it, but when he reached the eighth verse in the fifth chapter he paused and pondered over it: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Although he knew nothing about the righteousness of his Maker, although he was quite ignorant concerning the demands of God’s holiness, yet he was there and then convicted of his sins, and a work of Divine grace commenced in his soul. Month after month went by and each day he said to himself, "I shall never see God, for I am impure in heart." Slowly but surely the work of the Holy Spirit deepened within him until he saw himself as a lost sinner; vile, guilty, and undone. After continuing for more than a year in this miserable condition the priest one day heard that a "foreign devil" was visiting a town nearby and selling books which spoke about God. The same night the Buddhist priest fled from the temple and journeyed to the town where the missionary was residing. On reaching his destination he sought out the missionary and at once said to him, "Is it true that only those who are pure in heart will see God?" "Yes," replied the missionary, "but the same Book which tells you that, also tells you how you may obtain a pure heart," and then he talked to him about our Lord’s atoning work and how that "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." Quickly the light of God flooded the soul of the Buddhist priest and he found the peace which "passes all understanding." Now what other book in the world outside of the Bible, contains a sentence or even a chapter which, without the aid of any human commentator, is capable of convincing and convicting a heathen that he is a lost sinner? – copied
F. Psalm 19:7-11 “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
G. Psalm 119:133 "Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.”
H. John Piper – “The Word is the basis for your hearing Him and for His hearing you. The depth and solidity and certainty of your walk with God and your communion with God will rise and fall with whether God’s own written Word is the warp and woof of the fabric of your fellowship.”
IV. The Word of God is “discerner”
A. “…a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
B. Discerner = critic. The Bible critiques or judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. The Word of God gets right to the heart of the matter.
C. An African woman was asked if she enjoyed reading her new Bible. She replied, "Sir, I am not reading this Book. The Book is reading me!" - copied
D. 1 Chronicles 28:9 “...for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts.”
E. Someone has said that the inner life of the believer is often a strange mixture of motivations both genuinely spiritual and completely human. The “thoughts” are the inner reasoning; the “intents” are the inner purposes and designs. The Bible exposes our real motives, emotions, and thoughts. It brings us face to face with reality.
F. When we are exposed by God’s Word we have a choice to make at that moment – to follow our thinking and intentions or God’s intentions.
G. Verse 13 states “No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.” (HCSB) He sees our hearts and knows how to touch them with His Word, and we must give account for how we respond to His touch and His Word.
H. One night a physician went to hear D.L. Moody. Although he had no thought of such a result, he was converted. He testified, "I went to hear Mr. Moody with no other idea than to have something to laugh at. I knew he wasn’t a scholar, and I felt sure I could find many flaws in his argument. But I couldn’t get at the man. He stood there hiding behind the Bible, and fired one verse after another at me till they went home to my heart straight as bullets from a rifle." - copied
