“IMPACT OF THE WORD” Acts 6:1-7
INTRO – Was listening to podcast of Jim Cymbala this past week. He made a statement that caught my attention. The statement was that, based on research form 4 different reliable sources, Every day in America, 1200 people stop reading the Bible. Why?
- Some say it’s hard to understand
- Some say it’s got errors in it
- Some say they don’t have the time to read it
- Some say it doesn’t apply to their life
- Some say it’s old-fashioned & doesn’t mean the same thing now
- Some say it’s not any more important or any more holy or any more special as other holy books – the Quran, the Book of Mormon, Watchtower materials from the Jehovah’s Witnesses
Our students have been in DNow all weekend. Theme: “Word.” You’ve studied the Word this weekend about the Word. You’ve focused on Heb. 4:12 – “For the Word of God is living & active. Sharper than any 2-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul & spirit, joints & marrow; it judges the thoughts & attitudes of the heart.” Listen to the way The Message version puts Heb. 4:12-13 – “God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.”
Those of you who are members of CW & have been here since the 1st of the year know that we are focusing on IMPACT right now & this year in our church. And if there is ANYTHING that will impact our lives, it’s the Word of God. It’s the Holy Spirit working through & speaking through the Word of God.
But in order for God to truly impact your life through His Word, you’ve got to believe that it is truly His Word. You’ve got to settle in your mind once & for all that it is true. You’ve got to believe that it is perfect; that there are no errors or mistakes in it; that it’s the standard for our lives; that God still speaks through it to our lives every day.
In the passage of the Word that we read today, we saw that when the Church began, the apostles – the original pastors/teachers for the Church – realized that the most important thing that they could do for the Christ-followers in the Church was “the ministry of the Word” (v. 2). They didn’t need to get sidetracked by other things – they needed to “give their attention to prayer & the ministry of the Word” (v. 4). They knew that if the Church didn’t have the Word, the Church would be weak, powerless, ineffective, & would eventually die. We see that today in many churches & denominations. There are entire denominations that have turned away from the truth of God’s Word & have begun teaching aberrant teachings. They’ve begun accepting things that are serious deviations from the truth. They’ve begun adhering to sinful false teachings. And those denominations & churches are now weak, powerless, ineffective, & are dying, in a day when there is a desperate need for the TRUTH to be proclaimed in every corner of our society.
So, today, let’s talk about the IMPACT OF THE WORD. Write the word “WORD” down the side of your note page, & consider these 4 points about the Word:
WORSHIP & WIN – First, the Word teaches us the importance of worshiping God. This is the 1st point in the message today b/c it is to be the 1st priority of our lives. We simply cannot truly worship God w/out the Word.
- It teaches us Who God is.
- It teaches us What He has done, is doing, & is going to do
- It teaches us What worship is & How we are to worship Him
- Of all Scriptures dealing w/ worship, the one which most clearly establishes the basis for worship is Rom. 12:1 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy & pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”
And our worship of God leads us to win others to Christ – to witness to the lost – to evangelize. Back to Acts 6:7 – Look what happened when the Word of God spread – the IMPACT of the Word! Acts 8:26-36 – Philip & Ethiopian eunuch. Focus on v. 35. We CANNOT, we MUST NOT, we DARE NOT move away from the truth of the Word of God that ALL of us who are Christ-followers are called & commanded to win others to faith in Jesus!
OBSERVE & OBEY – Great Commission – Matt. 28:19-20 – Foundational truth of the Church. We MUST make disciples – win people to Jesus, then start walking w/ them in the Christian life. V. 20 – “teaching them to OBSERVE all that I commanded you…” – Gk. word for “observe” – “to attend to carefully, take care of; to guard; to keep.” We must observe the Word. 5-finger method of getting a grip on the Bible: Hear it – Read it – Study it – Memorize it – Meditate on it – Apply it.
And when we observe it, we must obey it. Ps. 119:34 – “Give me understanding, & I will keep (OBSERVE) your law & obey it w/ all my heart.”
REPENT & REJOICE – If we truly observe & obey the Word, God will show us a lot of things about ourselves. The OT prophet Amos talks about God’s Word being a plumb line for our lives. Most you know that a plumb line is a weight on the end of a string that determines if a wall that is being built is completely vertical or not. That’s what God’s Word does in our lives. When God drops the absolutely straight plumb line of His Word into our lives, we quickly see where we are out of line, where we are not lined up straight w/ His Word. And at the very moment that we see that – whether in our own reading of God’s Word, hearing a sermon, or a Life Group Bible study lesson – we must decide to repent – to change our minds & our hearts which leads to a change of life. Jer. 15:19 – “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me…’”
After the repentance comes rejoicing! To be out of fellowship w/ God b/c of sin in our lives is a terrible thing. Talked about it last week w/ the Prodigal son. But when we repent & come back to God, there is great rejoicing! Ps. 30:5 – “…weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
DO or DIE – There is life in the Word! Why? B/c Jesus Christ Himself IS the Word! John 1:4 – “In HIS was life, & that life was the light of men.” That tells us that we have to stay close to Him, connected to Him, committed to Him if we want to have the life of God growing in us. Which means that we have to stay IN the Word – His Word! To NOT do this means that our spiritual lives will wither up & die. We won’t lose our salvation, but we can & will lose EVERYTHING else! Talk to any brother or sister in Christ who has spent some time NOT doing the Christian life & they’ll tell you what they lost that they can never get back. They’ll tell you what died in their lives. Sure, they’re thankful that they still have their eternal salvation, but they’ll also tell you that they wish they had never stopped doing the things that God tells us to do in His Word.
Or for those of you who have never trusted Christ to save you, the Word makes it abundantly clear what you must DO to be saved. Acts 16 – Paul & Silas in Philippian prison praying & singing hymns when earthquake knocked all the prison doors open. Jailer thought everyone had escaped & was about the kill himself. Verse 28-32.
What must you DO to be saved? “Believe in the Lord Jesus!” Trust Him & Him alone to save you. Confess Him as the LORD of your LIFE & you will be saved. To put it bluntly – DO OR DIE!
