GOD’S PENETRATING PLAN REVEALED
(All my sermons use illustrations found on www.sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted.)
I once heard a story with a neat lesson. There was an old man that lived in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. The old man had a big family. One day one of the old man’s grandsons approached him with a problem. The Grandson said, "PAP, I read the Bible and I don’t understand it, and what I understand I forget as soon as I close the Bible covers. What’s the use of reading the Bible!"
The Grandfather ordered the grandson to get the basket they used to carry the heating coal into the house and run down to the river and bring back a basket of water to the house. To please his grandfather, the lad grabbed the basket, ran to the river and got a basket of water. The lad ran back to the house with the water.
By the time the lad reached the house the basket was empty. The grandfather chided the young boy, hurry and go bring me a basket of water. DO IT NOW!
The lad ran quickly from the river, the basket was full when he left the river, but by the time he arrived at the house the basket of water was dry. After his third trip, the boy told his granddad, it is no use, I can not retain the water in the basket until I get here. It is useless. The grandfather looked at the disgusted young boy, and said, "So you think it is useless?" "Yes! Pap it is useless to try!" the boy repliied.
The Grandfather said to the boy, "BUT LOOK AT THE BASKET, CAN’T YOU SEE SOMETHING?" THE SMALL BOY WAS AMAZED, AFTER THREE TRIPS TO THE RIVER, THE DIRTY COAL BASKET WAS CLEAN.
Pap said, " See, that is what the Word of God does to you. As you read, you say you don’t retain and understand it, but your basket is cleaned.
THE WORD OF GOD DOES THE WORK OF GOD!
This morning, we look at a small passage of scripture found in Hebrews 4:12-13, this is a scripture that all Christians should place in their minds and constantly remind themselves of, because it is the greatest tool a Christian has in the battle with our world, and the sin that surrounds us.
Heb 4:12-13 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. 13 Nothing 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.
PRAYER
So many times, I have heard people tell me their reasoning for not reading and studying the word of God, much like the boy of the opening story. They feel as if it is of no use because they rarely remember any of what they have read. But, the scripture tells of a power that most of us forget. The writer of Hebrews explains that the Word of God, His Bible, is ALIVE & ACTIVE, the SHARPEST Sword that penetrates, judges & uncovers. A great tool that is unfortunately not used as much as it should, and many times is not allowed to do its’ work.
This morning I want to take time to look at this scripture, see what the Bible is supposed to do in the life of a Christian, and see what things we might do to enable this powerful living tool to change our lives.
I. ALIVE & ACTIVE
The words contained in the Bible are the inspired words of the Holy Spirit, Jesus told the disciples, John 16:12-14 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
The Holy Spirit has given us much more, He has guided every verse and word spoken in the Bible and has told of what is to come and how to prepare for it. The Word of God is ALIVE, it is a powerful tool that allows us to be prepared for the second coming of Christ. It is ACTIVE because it works on our hearts every time we hear it, every time we study and read, every time we go to a class or hear a sermon, the WORD works on our hearts, and it changes the way we think and the way we act. Well I guess it won’t always change the way we act, sometimes things are to important to us to give up. You probably know what I mean, there is a sense of conviction that comes from hearing the Inspired Words of God, but we fight to hold on to that one or two things that we do not want to change about our lives.
On his sixteenth birthday a son approached his father and said, "Dad, I’m sixteen now. When I get my license, can I drive the family car?" His dad looked at him and said, "Son, driving the car takes maturity, and first, you must prove that you are responsible enough. And one way you must do that is to bring up your grades. They are not acceptable. Second, you must read the Bible every day. And finally, you must get that hair cut; it looks outrageous." The son began the task of fulfilling his father’s requirements, knowing that the last might be impossible.
When his grades came out he went to his dad with a big smile. "Look, Dad, all A’s and B’s on my report card. Now can I drive the family car?" "Very good, son. You are one-third of the way there, but have you been reading the Bible?" the father replied. "Yes, Dad, every day," said the son. "Very good son. You are two-thirds of the way there. Now when are you going to get that hair cut?"
The son, thinking that he could out smart the father, responded, "Well, I don’t see why I should get my hair cut to drive the car. Jesus had long hair, didn’t he?" The father looked at his boy and said, "That’s right, son and Jesus walked everywhere he went."
I suppose it is very difficult to let go of some things, but the truth is that God’s word is ALIVE and ACTIVE. If we hear it on a regular basis, if we are willing to study and be saturated by it has a power over us. Yet some do NOT hear it very often, some do not spend time in the Word and they are not being changed by the power of God, an ACTIVE power. I believe this is because many know it will change us, or ask us to change things that we are unwilling to change, I think people avoid hearing God’s word because they know the power of conviction and it makes them uncomfortable.
I was a supply preacher for a small town Texas Church, coming in early Sunday, preaching a sermon to the congregation, and then leaving after lunch. Arriving early one Sunday I sat down at a local donut shop, opened my Bible and went over my sermon notes. A man was sitting down the counter from me and he said, "You a preacher or something?" I replied, "Yes I preach at the Christian Church here in town." He got excited and said, "Hey, I’m a member of that church." The church was small and I knew all the regulars so I said, "I’ve been preaching there for about three months and I’ve never seen you there." He looked at me kinda strange and said, "I said I was a member of that church. I never said that I was fanatical about it!"
II. PENETRATES
The second thing we see in the text today is that the word of God PENETRATES. We may not think that the Bible is working in our lives, BUT, at some point we feel the conviction, we feel the call of our Lord and I know at that point we remember what God has been doing in our lives.
One youth group member puts it this way: When I was 17 years of age I broke my mother’s heart. She had always taken us to church but by the time I was 15 or so, I lost interest. During the next couple of years I wandered farther and farther from the God who so passionately loved and sought me. Then one night, after an evening of drinking, I was stopped by police and given the breathalyzer. I failed the test! Now at age 17 I faced the loss of my freedom (my driver’s license), overnight in jail, a large fine, and a criminal record. But God was already seeking me! Through a strange turn of events I was charged with drinking under age, a summary conviction offense. But my parents had to know.
The next morning I sat in our living room with Mom and Dad and began to tell my tale of woe. They were shocked and hurt deeply. I shall never forget my mother’s tears. Then through the tears my mother said these words, "Derek, I hate what you have done more than you will ever know. But you are still my son - and I still love you very much!"
Three weeks later God would say to me, "Derek, I hate what you have done - but you are still my special creation and I love so much that my Son died for your sins." And that’s how much God loves you, my friend. Enough to go all the way to the cross. "But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners." (Romans 5:8 NCV)
The word of God penetrates our deepest thoughts, it knows what is real and what we are hiding, it has a way of getting through all the garbage and seeing the real truth, it has power to go through the strongest objections and excuses and see the truth.
In war, the enemy will try to burrow their way into a place where we can not reach them, but our weapons have become so sophisticated that they are able to bust through and get to the enemy. We have technology today that will bust through many different layers of bunkers and concrete to get to the place where the enemy hides out. The WORD of God is every bit as powerful. It will bust through every excuse and rational we have to show the truth. It penetrates through everything we come up with and allows us to see that although we might rebel, God is still full of love and grace and willing to forgive our sins.
The word of God is ALIVE and ACTIVE, and it PENETRATES, it also:
III. JUDGES
The third thing contained in this scripture passage is the phrase it JUDGES, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. The Word of God JUDGES the thoughts and the attitudes of our hearts. Not the things that are on our minds, not the words that come from our lips, the thoughts and the attitude of the heart. What is your attitude? What are the thoughts of your heart? It may be easy to control our minds, BUT, it is a much more difficult thing to control the THOUGHTS & ATTITUDES that are in our hearts. God sees this, we can not hide it from Him. His Word JUDGES those THOUGHTS & ATTITUDES, so again, what is your attitude?
Let me quote a great man of God, Chuck Swindoll. "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on Life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, or say or do. Attitude is more important than appearances, gifted-ness, or skill. Attitude will make or break a company --- a church --- a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude that we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people act a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string
we have, and that is our attitude --- I am convinced that life is 10% what happens
to me and 90% how I react to it."
How does God’s Word effect your attitude? I know that because the Word judges our thoughts and attitudes that I myself have seen the need for an attitude adjustment in my own life. It may be after I read and study, or perhaps after preaching a particular sermon that is speaking to my heart, but I feel that need for an attitude adjustment. That is God’s Word judging my heart.
I have seen the Word change the attitude of people and churches alike. I believe with all my heart that when we preach, teach, read and study ONLY God’s Word, the change happens before our eyes.
Steve Auterburn reports how a Wycliffe Bible translator in a remote village in Papua New Guinea reported the power of God’s word. He wrote, “When the opening chapters of Genesis were first translated into the native language, the attitude toward women in the tribe changed overnight. They had not realized or understood that the woman had been specially formed out of the side of the man. Without even hearing this concept developed, these people immediately grasped the ideas of equality between the sexes and began adjusting their behavior. The people heard. They believed. They obeyed. They changed. Just like that.”
The Word of God is ALIVE & ACTIVE, it PENETRATES, and it JUDGES
but perhaps the most important thing God’s WORD does is the last thing we see in the scripture passage this morning, it:
IV. REVEALS
Heb 4:13 Nothing 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.
And in the Living Version it says: Heb 4:13 He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done.
EVERYTHING about us, is REVEALED. Not only does God see what we really are, I believe sincerely that the WORD of God does a great job or revealing who we are to ourselves and those around us.
I wonder sometimes, what we would do, if we were able to really see how off line our lives are. If we spent time, looking at our lives in comparison to what God intended us to be. If we took the time to read and study His Word and allow the “exposed” us, to be compared to what it is God intended us to be. Perhaps we would issue a RECALL. After all is that not what the world does when they put out a faulty product? We see it all the time, manufacturers putting our recall for product that are not up to snuff. So what if God did the same? It would probably sound something like this:
The Maker of all human beings is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.
This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units.
This defect has been technically termed, "Subsequential Internal Non-morality", or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.
Some other symptoms:
1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish, or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion in the mental component
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion
The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this SIN defect.
The Repair Technician, Jesus, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.
The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure.
Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component.
No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:
1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control
Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers Instructions Before Leaving Earth), for further details on the use of these fixes.
WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on JESUS.
DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility.
Thank you for your immediate attention.
The Bible is a great tool, issued to us by God, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and in the form of Jesus, as the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus is the Word in the flesh. The Word of God is alive and active, it has power to change us and to move with us. It is active in our lives as we allow it to be, it can help us heal and have peace, it can change the way we think. BUT, it is only good for us if we allow it to be used.
The Word of God Penetrates, it cuts through all the garbage and arguments, it passes all rationale the world has to offer, it makes even the wisest of men look like fools. Penetrating spiritual words that can break down bunkers and change even the hardest of men.
The Word of God JUDGES, our thoughts and our attitudes. It is capable of showing us that our attitude needs to change, if we will allow it to. It is a great tool when used properly to adjust our attitude to be in tune with the way God wants it to be.
And finally God’s Word REVEALS who we really are in Christ and with God. I think it would show many that they need to make some changes.
If you are here this morning and God is calling you to His Son Jesus Christ, won’t you come forward?
INVITATION
