THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD
Hebrews 4:12
Introduction:
Read Hebrews 4:12
Today I have a word from God.
If you came here today with a hope in your heart
That you might hear from God,
Then you’ve come to the right place
Today I want to tell you that there is power in God’s Word! (pause)
The Word of God laid the foundations of the earth!
The Word of God set in place the cornerstone of those foundations!
The Word of God controls the seas!
He told the sea where to stop!
The Word of God placed the atmosphere the earth is clothed with!
The Word of God took the dust form the earth and caused bones to be made
Then the Word of God caused sinews or muscle and flesh to cover those bones
The Word of God put breath into man and caused him to take his first breath!
The Word of God has raised up many might armies! And defeated many also! (pause)
- Hewbrews 1:3 tells us that by the power of Jesus’ word all things are sustained.
And by the power of that same word, He could withdrawal that sustaining power
Then nothing would exist except God!
In Hewbrews 4:12 that word “quick” in the King James Version means that it is alive
The Word of God is alive!!
It has an active part!
This whole book is the living Word of God!
And there is nowhere in this book that should be dismissed as irrelevant
It’s living and it’s powerful, and all of it, every word of it can effect your life and does!!!
How it does depends on how you choose to first accept, and then apply it. (pause)
The 16th century monk named Martin Luther believed in the power of God’s Word.
After accidentally finding a Latin version of the Bible, and much study
He cam to understand the doctrine of justification by faith
Which was contrary to the churches’ teachings
Upon this he nailed his 95 theses to the doors of the Wittenberg Church
He was labeled a heretic and brought before the emperor who demanded that he withdrawal his challenges of the church!
His response to the emperor was this:
“Unless you prove to me by scripture and reason that I am mistaken, I cannot and will not recant
My conscience is captive to the Word of God
To go against my conscience is neither right nor safe
Here I stand
There is nothing else I can do. God help me.” (Pause)
As Martin Luther stood in front of the emperor
He said, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.”
And then he said, “To go against my conscience is neither right nor safe.”
Martin Luther was willing to stand on the power of God’s Word.
These are two very powerful statements
When I read them, I am filled with awe at the wisdom in the words.
It is almost indescribable.
These words should pass by the lips of every Christian with the same devotions as that of Martin Luther
In fact, his devotion ran so deep in his heart he was willing to proclaim them
And then put his life in the hands of the emperor
“Here I stand. There is nothing else I can do. God help me.”
Had Martin Luther lived in New Testament times
I believe that it is very likely those words would be in scripture today
I can make that because that statement lines up with scripture in every way (pause)
Just in this one incident in Martin Luther’s life
He typified the life of Christ (pause)
Just as Jesus was willing to stand before the Pharisees and proclaim that the Word of God was paramount
And that the traditions of men made a mockery of God’s love and plan for our lives
Luther was willing to stand by the Word of God as paramount over the traditions of man
Just a s Jesus reasoned with scripture
Martin Luther did also
Just as Jesus called on men to also reason with scripture
Martin Luther did also
Just as Jesus’ conscience was captive to the Word of God when in the garden of Gethsemane he prayed, “Not my will but yours Lord,” to God in heaven above
Martin Luther also said, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. To go against it is neither right nor safe.”
Today, you might hear me say that phrase a few more times
And if in the process, it is engraved in your minds and you cannot seem to get rid of it
Much like the tune of some song you hear that you didn’t really want to remember in the first place
Then I have been successful here today!
Because all of our consciences need to be captive to the Word of God
And we must know that to go against it is neither right nor safe
Jesus Christ was willing to die living by and proclaiming the Word of God
“Thou couldest have no power over me except it were given thee from above.” Jesus told Pilot.
Martin Luther stood before the Roman Emperor, nobles, and ecclesiastical dignitaries of Central Europe.
“Here I stand. There is nothing else I can do. God help me. Amen”
Martin Luther gave himself over and was willing to die for the Word of God. (Pause)
The average Christian shrugs off such stories of men like Paul, Peter, John and Martin Luther today (short pause)
They say well, those were supermen ordained by God to do a specific task.
But, you see they weren’t any more supermen than you or I are. (Pause)
That high school senior, Crystal Bernall, at Columbine High School who was willing to stare down the barrel of a gun and say, “Yes, I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.”
She was no more a superman than you or I. (PAUSE)
But, all of these people I just spoke of had two things in common
First, they had a heart conviction of the authority of God’s Word.
In other words, they had such a relationship with God that they were able to face the wiles of the devil right in the faceand boldly proclaim the Word of God to be true.
And the second is very simple (pause)
They were available.
Today, I want to talk to you about these very points
The purpose in this message today is to exhort you to take God’s Word out of your head and get it in your heart, and also to show you that you can and must be available to God.
I. There is power in the Word of God for the weak I Samuel 17: 40-51
In looking at this, I want you to look to David, later known as King David. (Pause)
Most memorable stories of him are David the Warrior, The Goliath Slayer, King David, The Apple of God’s Eye.
But what we do not see most of the time is David the Cave Dweller
David, Man on the Run
David, the Lowly Shepherd (pause)
Let’s take a look at David, the Goliath Slayer
Read I Samuel 17: 40-51 (blue clip)
So here was the ruddy young fellow, not very big
Did not look like a threat to a lamb, much less a threat to a giant Philistine.
No physical armor, no physical sword or breastplate, no physical shield
Just 5 smooth stones, a slingshot, and God
“I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the god of the armies of Israel” David cries out.
Where in the world does a little guy like that get the courage to face a man like Goliath?
David was not going tout there just to stall this man for more time
David said (read verse 45 and 46)
David had definite plans for this dude
He had not fighting experience, no training, no size, and very little weapons
So how does a fellow like David come to have such courage?
And I mean this isn’t just a one-time incident
He had courage for every day living.
Back up in Chapter 17, David tells Saul how he grabbed a lion by the beard
And beat him to death
And a bear came by another time
And he slew the bear!
This guy had courage every day of his life!
When he saw what was happening with the Philistines, he did not flinch or hesitate (short pause)
How?
How did he come across this kind of courage for every day living? (pause)
If you will look in Psalm 19, we will see.
Read Psalm 19: 7,8
There we have it!
This psalm written by David shows his heart
He exposes the source of his courage
The Word of God is perfect
The Word of God converts the soul
The Word of God is sure
The Word of God makes the simple man wise
The Word of God is right
The Word of God brings rejoicing to the heart
The Word of God is pure
The Word of God opens the eyes
In two simple verses, David gives 8 different descriptions of the Word of God
It is quite obvious David saw the Word of God as living!
He saw it as powerful!!
It is quite obvious God’s Word was active in David’s life and instilled in his heart (pause)
Psalm 1 backs up David’s psalm
“Blessed or happy is the man whose delight is in the Word of God.
Blessed is the man that meditates day and night on the Word of God.” (Pause)
Where do you get your courage for every day living?
Can you stand on the Word of God like David did.
He was physically weak in comparison to Goliath
But, he was spiritually strong
In fact, spiritually, he towered over Goliath (pause)
Folks, we need to get into the Word of God
Read Psalm 1 when you get home
Then read it in the morning and read it at night
Memorize it (pause)
Psalm 1 tells us prosperity comes from loving the Word of God
And what do we do when we love something? (Pause)
We spend as much time with it as we can.
Well, not only is there power in the Word of God for the weak,
II. But, There is Power in God’s Word for the Weary (Hebrews 12:12)
Read Hebrews 12:12
“Let us lay aside every weight.”
The word “weight” here in this verse is the Greek word “ogkos”
It is a burden or hindrance
Burdens can make us weary
After a while, they can become very tiresome
And I want you to see today that God said, lay it aside
Lay it aside and continue on
What is your burden today?
Is it something in your past?
Sometimes we have sin in our past
and we never receive God’s forgiveness.
By that, I mean that we beat ourselves up over it almost daily
And we consider ourselves not worthy of forgiveness
Not worthy to receive all of God’s love
But you come to church hoping to catch some of the crumbs off the table like a dog!
Just waiting for bits of God’s love to fall on you
Never having any faith that you can sit at the table and eat with the rest of us
And I am here today to tell you to get up off of the floor
You need to be supping in the chair with the rest of us.
Listen to what Paul wrote in Hebrews 12
Which is what we know as the Word of God!
Lay aside that weight, that burden
It is hindering what God has planned for you (stop and turn)
Psalm 105: 10-13 (pink clip) (give illustration of east to west)
God says He doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
But, you have to love him! (Pause)
Do you love the Lord today?
If you do, then today I can say with all boldness and confidence
It is with great courage that I can tell you it is time to get up off of the floor
And sit with the rest of us
Romans 6:23
“The wages of sin is death. But, the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus.”
Jesus has a gift for you man!
A gift is given freely
You do not go mow someone’s lawn for it
You do not give $10.00 for it
You cannot even earn it! (Pause)
So how do you get a free gift?
You simply reach your hands out open and receive it
Let it lay in your hands
Pull it close to you and make it yours
You need to receive it!
Receive God’s free gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus
You might say, Oh! I’ve already done that!
Then if I am talking to you right now, get off the floor!
God has a plan for you
God has a purpose for you
God has a position for you
Lay aside that silly burden
Nail it to the cross where Jesus intended for it to be
Let Jesus’ blood run down all over it and wash it white as snow! (Pause)
Are you weary not because of sin maybe?
You’ve already put that behind you, but you have some limitations?
You say, I do not speak very well
I do not know how to talk like that to people. (Pause)
That’s what Moses said.
You might say I have physical limitations! (Pause)
So did David
I’ve got some problems I have had for years
Well looking on down in Hebrews 12:2, it tells us how to address your problems
Your limitations, your inability to speak
Look right there at the first few words of verse 2,
“Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Pause)
Matthew 11:28 - “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
Folks, we need to look into the written word and discover the living word
Jesus said in John 16:33, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (Short pause)
Jesus overcame the Satan’s temptations with the Word of God
He overcame the Pharisees with the Word of God
He, as the living Word of God, overcame death.
Now it is time for Christians big and small, weak and strong, to be over comers!
And the Word of God is means by which we do that! (Pause)
Romans Chapter 8 is a great chapter for encouragement
Psalm after Psalm exhorts and encourages those who love the Lord
The books of1, II, III John, and reminds us of God’s love
Books like Colossians, I and II Thessalonians, Ephesians, James
Give us the guidelines by which to walk daily with God as Jesus did
The first 5 books of the Bible show us why we need God
The books of the prophets reveal God’s wrath and His mercy
The book of Revelation shows us what we have to look forward to
And the book as a whole points us to Jesus
The 4 synoptic Gospels reveal the living Word (pause)
When our belly grumbles and our eyelids get droopy, we make time to eat and sleep
And while it is true that we need those things to survive
It is also true we need the Word of God to survive!
Without it, we would be spiritually anorexic!
We become spiritually tired! (Pause)
Where are your priorities?
But, today, I want to warn you in Revelation 3:16, Jesus is sending a message to the church of Laodicea via his angel
Jesus said you are neither hot nor cold
Because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth (long pause)
As I said earlier, in the books of the prophets, we learn of God’s wrath
But, we also see God’s long suffering, His mercy, and His patience with us
His constant desire to meet us at our need
When Jesus died on the cross, He came down here to us and met us at our need
He has always done that, and always will
But, even knowing that, we still cannot afford to put Him off, or to the side until it becomes convenient to us.
Folks, we need God’s powerful Word in our lives
III. There is Power in God’s Word for the Witness
Matthew 28: 18,19,20 (read clip) read it
With His power
With His authority
Jesus told the disciples to go
Go preach the Gospel, lead them to the Lord
Teach those same people they lead to the Lord to live by God’s Word
And remember that during all of this, Jesus is with them in all that they do
As a result of faith and obedience of 12 men, you and I are here today
There is a cycle to be followed here
Lead them to Jesus
Teach them God’s Word
Then they should do the same (pause)
Have you gotten into the cycle?
You need to remember first of all that Jesus will be with you
And second, you cannot skip the part of learning God’s Word.
I Peter 3:15
“But sanctify the Lord in you hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
There was a time when sharing Jesus intimidated me
I had a fear of it.
Turn with me to II Timothy
But you see, II Timothy 1:7 says,
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
And I can look to verse 12 of that Chapter that says,
“I am not ashamed; For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
Until Jesus returns, I can trust in Him who I believe to keep me, guard me, watch over in all that I do for Him
And I can also know that,
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine for reproof, for correction, for instructions in righteousness.” (II Timothy 3:16.)
And in this very next verse
Verse 17, God tells us the outcome and purpose of verse 16.
That the man of God (you and I, men and women alike) may be perfect
That word “perfect” does not mean without sin, but refers to a completeness or maturity. Thoroughly furnished.
Or thoroughly prepared unto all good works
The Word of God prepared us to live
To witness, and
To love
Conclusion
Is your conscience held captive to the Word of God today? (Pause)
I have shown you today that there is power in the Word of God!
And it is a power we need to sustain every day living
There are 3 challenges I want to put before you today, to commit to:
1) Study God’s Word fervently;
2) Love God’s Word whole heartedly; and
3) Share God’s Word effectively.
