Title: Clinging to the Word
Theme:
Text: 2 Samuel 23:10,
2 Samuel 23:10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:17 AV)
2 Samuel 23:9-10 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. (10) He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder.
Paul's fight
1 Corinthians 9:26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Word of God as a sword
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Living - active powerful – energetic, sharp – penetrating dividing – separating discerning – all things open
Armor of God
Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, [19] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (18) praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
Jesus used the Word during Temptation – Luke 4:1-12
Luke 1:4 But Jesus answered him, saying, [21] "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "
Description of the Purpose of the Word
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 perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. {throughly...: or, perfected}
Inspiration
1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.
Revelation 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
I. Doctrine-teaching
Mark 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
People are in error in their thinking, feelings, behaving and relationships simply because they "do not know the Scriptures" nor "the power of God'
We see this throughout the life of Christ when the many people such as the lawyers, pharisees and Sadducees would test Jesus only to find that they did not understand the scriptures.
Jesus made it plain when speaking to the Sadducees after they questioned him on the resurrection. They wanted to trick him by discussing married life after the resurrection. Jesus knowing this told them their problem was they did not know the scripture.
Many people are in error because they do not know they Bible. They question ideas and teaching not knowing the Bible themselves basing their knowledge on the teachings of others.
II. Reproof-rebuke
reproof-rebuke, reprove, discipline, express sharp and stern disapproval over umbilical and unchristian feelings, and reasoning, thinking, behavior and ungodly relationships
Many times we see the rebuking in scripture.
illustrations: Paul reubukes Peter Gal 2:11-14; Paul speaks of hypocrites rebuked publicly 1 Timothy 5:20; Jesus rebuked the disciples Mark 16:14;
Paul writes of the importance of it in Hebrews 12;5
Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 11 Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
III. Correction
When one is rebuked then there is two directions to go. One is to reject and run away but the other is to listen and continue on. Each step is important. One can stop with teaching but not listen to rebuking and be one who has head knowledge but not heart knowledge.
Next one can be rebuked but not corrected. Instead of softening and convicting the heart it hardens and causes rejection.
Correction is important because it shows the right direction to go. It is one thing to know what is wrong and another to lead in the right direction.
Correct-make things right after pointing out or exposing what is wrong; to correct is to help free someone from error or faults; and to correct is to help somebody to counteract the effects and operations of undesirable thinking, feelings, relationships or behaviors; and to correct is to assist the person to conform to a new pattern of living in accordance with the Word of God
IV. Instruction in righteous
Instruction is train-to train is to discipline; to train is to constantly drill; to train is to provide a series of structured and repetitive exercises to form the habit of godly thinking and a life of Bible study and prayer
Instruction must come next. Not only correction and showing the correct path but also instruction on how to be guiding on the path.
V. Furnishing-equipping
equip-to prepare; to equip is to furnish and provide the necessary spiritual, mental, emotional, relational and material resources to the counselee for personal growth, transformation and active involvement in ministries
Finally there is equipping.
1) teaching the right way
2) rebuking the wrong way
3) correcting to show what is the right way over the wrong way
4) instruction in how to go the right way
5) equipping with the right tools, (such as the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit) to go the right way.
With the equipping the we are given through Christ, the Holy Spirit and his church then we are ready to go on and take on the world but if we stop in any of these then we are as good as doomed.
One of my favorite people to listen to is the Gideon’s. Each time I hear them they have a special testimony of how lives have been changed through the Word of God. We hear about a nurse, a person in a motel, a child, etc. All changed just by reading the Word of God and accepting Christ in their heart. Sometimes we get into the mindset that a person can only know by coming to church. We may forget the power of scriptures.
If we could only place scripture in one persons hand over this Christmas season. What about a verse that we give with our gifts, anything to show the Word of God. Let us not underestimate the power of the Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
