Jan. 2, 2000 Hebrews 4:12-13
“Something you can count on”
INTRODUCTION
Friday morning and afternoon, I watched a little bit of ABC’s news coverage of the coming of the new millenium. Due to the fact that there are 24 different time zones on the earth, the clock struck 12 o’clock at 24 different times in the world. What ABC did is they sent correspondents to some spot in each of these 24 time zones so that they could watch as each part of the world entered the new millenium. While watching ABC on Friday, I listened to a phone call which was made from a US Navy submarine to Peter Jennings at the TV station. The US Navy figured that they couldn’t let anyone celebrate the new millenium before they did, so they sent this submarine to the time zone where it would strike 12 o’clock first. And then they positioned their boat in such a way that the front of the boat experienced it first, and the back of the boat, had they stayed there for 24 hours, wouldn’t have experienced it until 24 hours later! It was a world-wide party that lasted for 24 hours.
But not only was it a party; I got the sense that it was a watch too. Y2K was mentioned often. It seemed that as each time zone entered into the new year, there was a sigh of relief when the lights stayed on and the fireworks went up as planned. Early on in the day, when 12 o’clock hit in New Zealand, the lights did go out. But the reason for this was excessive wind not Y2K. Freedom Baptist Church over in Nutter Fort had a New Year’s Eve service Friday night. Jim Sanders, their pastor, said that he was going to go into the basement, and right at 12:00, he was going to turn off the main circuit breaker for the church just to see the reaction of the people. All kinds of people were watching Friday night to see if the Y2K bug would bite. But people were also watching to see if there would be any terrorist attacks. They wanted to know, “What will our world be like tomorrow?”
If the coming of the new millenium and the advent of Y2K have taught us anything, they’ve taught us that change is inevitable – just look at all the changes that have taken place over the last 1000 years – and they’ve taught us that there is not a whole lot that you can count on. You can’t count on the gov’t. You can’t count on the weather. You can’t count on the stock market. You can’t count on having a job tomorrow. And you can’t count on computers. So what, if anything, can you count on and still know that you are safe? There are only two things that I know of that you can count on with absolute security. They are God ((Heb 13:8 KJV) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.) and the book that tells us about God, the Bible, God’s Word. (Psa 119:89 NIV) Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Or as the KJV has it, (Psa 119:89 KJV) For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. In a changing world, it’s good for us to focus on and remember those things that never change. They give us stability. For that reason, we are going to spend this morning and the rest of the month looking at what the Bible has to say about itself and what our response to the Bible, God’s Word, is supposed to be. Let’s begin by looking at Heb. 4:12 and see what the author there has to say about the Bible and some of its characteristics.
1. The Word of God is alive.
One of the arguments that people give for why they do not accept the validity of the Bible for themselves is that they think that it is a dead book. “How can a book that was completed almost 2000 years ago in a land halfway around the world have anything to do with my life?” If that question was asked about any book other than the Bible, I would not have an answer for it. But the Bible is unique in that the author is still alive, and I have a personal relationship with Him. When I read His Book, He is able to take what I read, and show me how it affects things that are going on in my life. If there are parts that I do not understand – and there are a lot of those – then I am able to go to the Author and seek His wisdom in how to understand them.
Everything else in my world that is alive, changes. In fact, that’s one of the tests that scientists use to determine whether or not something is alive. Does it change – does it grow. That creates a problem for me. The reason that I can’t count on the different institutions in my world is because they are living, and living things change. I believe that my marriage will last until the day that either I or my wife dies, but I can’t be sure of it. I change. She changes. I don’t know what we will be like 10 years from now. Right now, in our political system, many candidates are making lots of promises about what they will and will not do if they are elected as president next November. Some of them may actually be telling the truth about what their plans are. But something about our political system and the money that floats around it and the desire to stay in office and the power that comes along with being in office changes people. Living things change. Do you know the only thing that I can count on in this world is things that were never alive. [go over and pick up a rock] Unless something living takes a jack hammer to this rock this week, next Sunday, it’s going to look the same that it does today. And unless something living moves this rock this week, it’s going to remain in the same place that I put it. It’s not going to get up and walk out of this church. I can count on things that were never alive because they remain the same unless something living changes them. But the fact that this rock remains the same doesn’t do me a bit of good. It’s still a dead rock. What about the Bible? Since it’s living, is it going to change. NO! Why? Because it is already perfect. (Psa 19:7 KJV) The law of the LORD is perfect . . . Things that are perfect don’t need to change. The Bible, as it was delivered by God through His prophets does not need any additions with an “a”– such as the book of Mormon – or editions with an “e” – things changed around or subtracted because someone doesn’t like what it says right now or because it needs updating. Have you ever heard of the Jefferson Bible? Thomas Jefferson didn’t believe in the supernatural, so he published his own edition of the Bible with all miracles and acts of God subtracted from it. I’ve never read a copy of his Bible, but I imagine that it would be pretty sad to read it. There would be none of the healings of Jesus, no feeding of the 5000, no raising of Lazarus from the dead, and Jesus would still be in the grave. When you come to the Bible, since it is a living book, you either have to accept all of it or none of it. You can’t pick and choose. That would be like me coming up to Mike and saying, “Mike, since you’ve been so nice to me over the holidays, I’m going to invite you into my home for dinner after church today. But Mike, I must tell you that there is one part of you that I really don’t like. It makes me mad every time that I look at that part. If you’re going to come into my home, you must leave behind your right thumb.” When you accept me, you accept me warts and all, or you do not accept me at all. When you come to the Bible, the promises and rewards are real nice, but if you’re going to accept those, then you must also accept the commands and the requirements that God through His Word puts on your life. Bill Gates, founder of computer-software giant Microsoft, extols the virtues of the written word: "People cannot become truly knowledgeable without being excellent readers. While multimedia systems can use video and sound to deliver information in compelling ways, text is still one of the best ways to convey details. "I try to make time for reading each night. In addition to the usual newspapers and magazines, I make it a priority to read at least one newsweekly from cover to cover. If I were to read only what intrigues me - say the science and business sections - then I would finish the magazine the same person I was when I started. So I read it all. __________ 1. "Personal Glimpses," Reader’s Digest, April, 1996, 17 If you are content to read only the parts of the Bible that you understand or only the parts that are comfortable for you, then you are treating it as a dead book. Taking out parts doesn’t affect the whole. The Bible is one complete unit that never changes.
Then in what sense is it alive? Turn with me in your Bibles to Mark 4:13-20. [read it] Did you see what happened when the seed of the word sunk into someone’s heart? It produced a change. The Word of God is not alive because it changes; it is alive because it changes me! (1 Pet 1:23 NIV) For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. A little while ago, I read Psa 19:7 which says that the law of the Lord is perfect. That verse goes on to say that the law of the Lord, God’s Word, converts the soul.
The story has been told of a South Sea Islander who proudly displayed his Bible to a G. I. during World War II. "We’ve outgrown that sort of thing," the soldier said. The native smiled back, "It’s a good thing we haven’t. If it weren’t for this book, you’d have been a meal by now!" Every person that has encountered this Book and has been changed by it is a testimony to the fact that it is living. Dwight L. Moody had it right when he said, "The Bible wasn’t given for our information but for our transformation." God did not give us the Bible just to tell us what happened in the past. He gave it to equip us to live in the present in light of the future. - Dr. Bruce H. Wilkinson, "When a Magic Marker Revolutionized My Preaching and Teaching," Proclaim, (Nashville: Sunday School Board, Oct.-Dec. 1996) 6
2. The Word of God is powerful.
A very successful evangelist was sitting down with some friends one day when one of them asked him: "What do you do Mr. Norton, in cases where the unsaved man does not accept the Bible as having any authority?" He replied: "Well, if I had a fine Damascus sword with a keen double-edged blade I would not sheath it in a fight just because the other man said he did not believe it would cut." --Sunday School Times.
Some seem to expect the Word of God to hit them like a jolt of adrenaline each time they read or study it. Although the "jolt" may hit us periodically, the benefits of the Word of God act more like vitamins. People who regularly take vitamins do so because of their long-term benefits, not because every time they swallow one of the pills, they feel new strength surging through their bodies. They have developed a habit of consistently taking vitamins because they have been told that, in the long haul, vitamin supplements are going to have a beneficial effect on their physical health, resistance to disease, and general well-being. The same is true of reading the Bible. At times it will have a sudden and intense impact on us. However, the real value lies in the cumulative effects that long-term exposure to God’s Word will bring to our lives.
Consider the difference between a strong and a weak cup of tea. The same ingredients - water and tea - are used for both. The difference is that the strong cup of tea results from the tea leaves’ immersion in the water longer, allowing the water more time to get into the tea and the tea into the water. The longer the steeping process, the stronger the cup of tea. In the same way, the length of time we spend in God’s Word determines how deeply we get into it and it gets into us. Just like the tea, the longer we are in the Word, the "stronger" we become.
3. The Word of God is sharp.
There is a story of a frontier settlement in the West whose people were engaged in the lumbering business. The town wanted a church, so they built one and called a minister. The preacher was well received until one day he happened to see some of his parishioners clawing onto the bank some logs that had been floating down the river from another village upstream. Each log was marked with the owner’s stamp on one end. To his great distress the pastor saw his members pulling in toe logs and sawing off the end where the telltale stamp appeared.
The next Sunday he prepared a forceful sermon on the text "Thou shalt not steal." At the close of the service, his people lined up and congratulated him: "Wonderful message, mighty fine preaching." However, as the preacher watched the river that week he saw his parishioners continuing to steal logs. This bothered him a great deal. So he went home and worked on a sermon for the following week. The topic was "Thou shalt not cut off the end of thy neighbor’s logs." When he got through, the church membership ran him out of town.
4. The Word of God is revealing.
It is told that many years ago, while on a visit to England, a wealthy businessman was fascinated by a powerful microscope. Looking through its lens to study crystals and the petals of flowers, he was amazed at their beauty and detail. He decided to purchase a microscope and take it back home. He thoroughly enjoyed using it until one day he examined some food he was planning to eat for dinner. Much to his dismay, he discovered that tiny living creatures were crawling in it. Since he was especially fond of this particular food, he wondered what to do. Finally, he concluded that there was only one way out of his dilemma - he would destroy the instrument that caused him to discover the distasteful fact. So he smashed the microscope to pieces!
