“The Believer and God’s Word”
Text: Ephesians 6:10-20.
Intro:
This morning we want to focus on verse 17 of our passage and in particular the latter part of the verse which exhorts us to -
“…take …the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”
The word of God is one of the spiritual weapons that the Christian has at his disposal to assistant him “to stand against the wiles of the devil”
Unfortunately, it is one of the most neglected spiritual weapons in the Christian’s arsenal.
Evidence of this can be seen all over American each Sunday Morning when families are getting ready to church
There is a house wide search for the Bible that was laid down the previous Sunday and never picked up the entire week.
The Holy Bible is used for everything but its intended purpose.
It is used as a coaster for a coffee cup.
It is used for a door stop.
It is used as a dust collector.
It is used as a place to stick mementos in.
We often forget that through the centuries men have died and been tortured because of their stand for the Word of God.
How precious it was to them.
And how precious it should be to us.
This morning I want speak awhile on “The Believer and God’s Word”
Before we begin – I want to clarify what we mean here at Evangelical Baptist Church when we speak of the Word of God.
We mean the AV 1611, King James Bible.
We make no apologizes for it.
We not only use it but also believe that AV 1611 King James Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible, preserved words.
1. You are born again by the Word of God – 1 Peter 1:23
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
The word of God is:
“Incorruptible” – free from error, not subject to decay.
“which liveth”
The word of God is alive.
Heb. 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.”
Any other book is but the words of man and they are dead words.
“abideth for ever”
The word of God dwells for ever.
The Bible tells us in Psalm 119:89
“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
The word of God has always existed.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:35
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
Read 1 Peter 1:24-25
v. 24 – “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:”
Verse 24 tells us both the body of flesh and glory of man is temporary and very fragile.
The Apostle Peter illustrates this by comparing the flesh of man with the grass and the glory of man as the flower of grass.
The point Peter is making is that both man’s life and whatever glory he achieves is short lived.
All the great speeches man has made.
All the great achievements and advancements that man has accomplished will soon falleth away.
Soon forgotten.
v. 25 – “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
In contrast the word of the Lord endureth for ever.
It will never fade away.
It will last for ever.
It will never be forgotten.
So, in verses 24 and 25 we have a contrast between the frailty of man, man’s word, and man’s glory with the word of the Lord which endures, is everlasting.
Remember, everything emanating from man comes short of the glory of God.
Verse 23, tells us that the word of God is medium of the new birth.
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
Remember it takes an incorruptible medium as it took an incorruptible Saviour with incorruptible (or sinless) blood to save you.
Faith in the shed blood of Christ is what saves your soul.
When you believe on Christ then you are born again by the Word.
So, any other words are corruptible.
The Book of Mormons
The Koran
The New World Translation – JW
The writings of Mary Baker Eddy
v. 25 – “…And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
“gospel” – death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
Your faith in the gospel is what saves your soul.
The gospel is included in the incorruptible word of God.
So, the word is the medium of the new birth.
2. You are given faith by hearing of the Word of God– Romans 10:17
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Faith does not come by hearing the preaching of the words of Socrates or Aristotle.
Faith does not come by hearing the preaching of the words of Sigmund Freud.
Faith does not come by hearing the preaching of the words of one of our past or present presidents.
Faith comes from hearing the preaching of the word of God.
Until you hear the word of God, you cannot be saved.
Illustration: Cornelius and family getting saved
Acts 10:44
Illustration: Why we need to send missionaries.
Romans 10:13-15
The seed, the word of God has to be sown before there can be any reaping of precious souls.
The word of God provides the plan of salvation.
The plan of salvation tells us what our faith must be based upon – the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
But the first you have to hear before you can receive the word of God.
Ephesians 1:13 provides us the order of salvation.
“heard”
“believed”
“sealed”
3. You are cleansed by the Word of God– John 15:3
“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”
You are not cleansed by listening to your favorite radio preacher.
You are not cleansed by water baptism.
You are not cleansed by confessing your sins to a priest.
You are not cleansed by taking communion.
No!
You are cleansed by the word of God.
You are to let the word of God saturate you like when you presoak a soiled garment to get rid of a deep stain.
We are to allow the word of God to saturate and soak into our hearts and minds to expose and cleanse the sin in our lives.
We hear so much today about modern wash day miracles, but I never found them to be as miraculous as the claims made for them.
The only true washday miracle is the cleansing power of the word of God.
We saw earlier how we are born again by the word of God and we see now how the word of God cleanses us from sin.
Then in our walk down here we get dirty and need the word of God to cleanse us continually.
That is one reason it so important to read and study the Bible, to be cleansed.
Psalm 119:9, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”
Unfortunately, the view among many believers today is that you can live any kind of life so long as you are fundamental in your belief of salvation by the grace of God.
Believe me when I tell you that God uses His word to reveal to us when we are not walking according to His will.
The real test which reveals whether a person is genuine in his relationship to God is whether he is studying the word of God.
And whether he is letting it have its way in his life.
God intends us to be obedient to His word.
The Psalmist tells us –
Psalm 119:67, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.”
Psalm 119:71, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”
My friend, God uses affliction to bring us to the word of God that you and I might be made serviceable to Him.
I don’t think that you will ever be clean before God if you don’t study His word.
Some of the most dangerous folks in the church are the ones who are busy as bees but who are reluctant to study the word of God.
My friend, we need to study the word of God and apply it to our lives because it cleanses us.
4. You are kept from sin by the Word of God – Psalm 119:11
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
So, we are to take the best thing, the word of God.
Hid it in the best place the heart.
For the best purpose – so we won’t sin against God.
How do we hid the word of God in our hearts?
We can memorize which is important but we must also obey it and understand what it means.
We are not to be like a robot and just rattle off a bunch scripture but apply it to our lives.
Not just talk the talk but walk the walk.
Put it into shoe leather.
Why place the word of God in our hearts?
Proverbs 4:23, tells us – “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
We see it is important to hid the word of God in our heart - Because
“the issues of life” are from the heart.
The things “which defile a man” come from the heart
Mark 7:20-23 – Read.
A man must believe “in thine heart” to be saved (Romans 10:9-10)
The Apostle Paul told the believers at Rome that were saved because they “obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” (Romans 6:17)
The Bible tells us that man is basically what he “thinketh in his heart” (Proverbs 23:7)
The kind of treasure a man bringeth forth comes from the heart.
Luke 6:43-45 – Read.
The Bible says this about the heart in Jeremiah 17:9.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? ”
Thus far we have seen –
You are born again by the Word of God.
You are you given faith by hearing the Word of God.
You are cleansed and kept clean by the Word of God.
You are kept from sin by the Word of God.
Number 5
5. You grow spiritually by the Word of God – 1 Peter 2:2
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
Just as a baby needs milk to grow physically each day, so a Christian needs to feed on the word of God to grow spiritually.
But as a baby can’t eat meat right away because he doesn’t have the teeth to chew and the digestive system to handle the meat.
So, the babe in Christ cannot feast on the meat of the word after he first gets saved.
A baby takes in a little more each day and grows and then finally is able to start to eat meat.
When that baby grows up then eventually able to eat a T-Bone Steak.
The babe in Christ is similar when it comes to spiritual food.
He can’t understand the meat of the word or heavy doctrines when he first gets saved (e.g. teachings on the dispensations).
But he has to take in a little more of the Word each day and until able to handle the meat of the word.
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 5:14
“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
But Christians that don’t study and feed on the word of God each day remain babes in Christ only able to handle the milk of the Word.
Hebrews 5:12-13
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”
The church at Corinth was such a crowd.
Notice what the Apostle Paul said to them in
See 1 Corinthians 3:1-2
6. You are to live by the Word of God – Matthew 4:4
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
In Matthew 4:3, the devil tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread.
“And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”
The devil tries to tempt us through our bellies.
e.g. “Think of the extra money could make if you worked on Sunday, instead of going to church”
e.g. “You deserve to take a Sunday off. You work hard all week. Go ahead take that nice drive to New Hampshire or Maine.
The problem with Christians is that they are not living by the word of God.
Instead they are allowing Satan to get to them through their bellies and satisfy the wicked flesh.
We are to live by the word of God.
Most of what the word of God tells us to do is counter to the world, the flesh, and the devil.
If you live by the way of the world then you are headed for destruction.
We are to live by the word of God not by our bellies.
We saw what happen to Esau when he let his belly rule.
He sold his birthright for a bowl of lentils.
The Apostle Paul warns about Christians who make their belly their God.
See Philippians 3:17-19.
During the tribulation, people will sell out to the Antichrist because of their bellies and take his mark.
So they can buy and sell.
However, the result will be God’s wrath being poured out on them.
See Revelation 14:9-11.
7. You are to be guided by the Word of God – Psalm 119:105.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
As Christians we live in a dark world.
The Bible tells us in John 3:19
“…men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Just like a lamp is used to keep you from stumbling in the darkness.
So, the word of God is to be a lamp unto your feet.
So, you won’t stumble or do wrong.
So, you won’t be overwhelmed by “the sin which doth so easily beset us”
So, you won’t go to the left or right but keep on the straight and narrow path that “leadth unto life.”
The word of God is not just to illuminate the immediate area around your feet but also allow you to look down the road or path in front of you.
“and a light unto my path.”
You are not only to use the word of God to keep you from stumbling into sin but also allow it to guide you down life’s path.
You must consult the word of God for decisions that you have to make.
Don’t consult the astrology column in the newspaper.
Consult the Word of God!!!
For every area and aspect of your life no matter what it is.
Finances.
Family problems
Child rearing
If you want to get through this life without making a lot of stupid mistakes and often costly plunders.
Then allow the word of God be “…a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
If you want to maximize your blessings on earth and rewards in heaven.
Then allow the word of God be “…a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Conclusion:
We have seen this morning concerning the Word of God.
You are born again by the Word of God
You are given faith by hearing of the Word of God
You are cleansed by the Word of God
You are kept from sin by the Word of God
You grow spiritually by the Word of God
You are to live by the Word of God
You are to be guided by the Word of God
