What’s the word?
Proverbs 30:5-6
Have you ever been somewhere in some situation and heard the statement, “What’s the word?” Maybe it’s been where you have been sitting in the waiting room and someone comes out with what you hope to be an update. You ask, “What’s the word?” Maybe it is a delay in a sporting event due to the weather or something and someone goes to talk the officials and when they get back you ask, “What’s the word?”
And that will be our question this morning. What’s the word? And sense this is God’s house, then we will not be asking this morning about an update on any information but we will be talking about what is the word of God. So let me give you some words about the Word of God. First…
The word of God is consistent
1 Peter 1:22-25 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever”.
I know all of us who have kids might not have been as consistent in our words. Kids know our weaknesses. “No” sometimes changes to, “ok, go ahead”. They can either look at you with those sad eyes or they wear you down but consistently bugging you. But God’s word is consistent. It is the same yesterday, today, and forever more. His word never changes.
Now some people would have you to believe that His word changes, after all this is the 21st century. What was written 2000 years ago does not apply to today’s world, but God’s word is consistent, it never changes.
The word of God is consistent and…
The word of God is contagious
Acts 6:7 The word of God spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priest were obedient to the faith.
Then we read that the word spead to the Gentiles.
Acts 11:1 Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
All through the beginning of the church we read about the spreading of the word of God.
I heard the story of a man who asked for a Gideon Bible …He said the paper is very fine and perfect for rolling his cigarettes. The Gideon gave him the Bible on the condition that he before using the pages that he read them front and back. The man proceeded to smoke his way through Matthew, Mark, Luke and a then came to John and stopped when he read chapter 3:16 – and he gave his heart to the Lord
When I hear the word contagious I think about the spreading of something.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
In order for it to be contagious then we as Christians need to be the one to spread that word.
The word of God is consistent, and contagious and also…
The word of God confirms
Luke 8:19-22 Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.” But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
Here we find the mother of Jesus and His brothers coming to see Him but they were unable to because of the crowd. Someone informed Him that He had company and Jesus declared that His true family was those who hear and do the word of God.
If you want to confirm your relationship with the Lord then you need to ask yourself; Do I hear and do the word of God?
What do I mean by that? If you profess to be a Christian then there will be a change. The Bible tells us that old things will pass away, behold all things will become new. You will want to do the will of God and the way to know the will of God is by the word of God.
1 John 5:1-5 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keeps His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Will we be perfect? No. But if you truly received Christ as your Savior then you will want to please Him by doing your best to keep His commandments.
The word of God conquers
Ephesians 6:17 And take on the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
This is what is known as the Bible as one part of the “Armor of God”. And the Bible tells us to put on the whole armor of God. The other parts of the armor are “Grid you waist with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation”.
All of the other parts are made for protection or defense. The only one that is made for offence is the sword of the Spirit or the word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword…
Once again we see the reference of the word of God as a sword. This tells me that we by ourselves are not capable of fighting against the “Wiles of the devil”.
Remember the example Jesus left us with when He was tempted in the wilderness. Each time Satan tried to tempt Him to sin, each time Jesus responded with the word of God, “It is written”. So if Jesus used the word to conquer Satan then we can to.
Now my boys play this game called Socom II. And as I try to play with them, the one thing that I have learned is that there are different weapons that you can use. And some are a lot better than others. I don’t know very much about the difference but they sure can tell me.
In order to use the weapon you have to know it. Is it a single shot, a three shot burst or a fully automatic? How is the accuracy? How much recoil do you have? There is one gun on there that you aim for their feet and there is so much recoil that you end up with a head shot.
My point. In order to properly use God’s word then you have to know it. It is not like what a cross is to a vampire where just waving it at Satan and he well flee with fright. You need to know it. Read it, memorize it, Study it, as the pledge to the Bible says, “I will hide thy words in my heart that I might not sin against God”.
But in most cases that is not how we do it.
I heard about a pastor was delighted to see brand new Bibles placed in each pew. When he opened one to see what version it was, he was dumbfounded by what he saw. In large, red letters these words were stamped inside the front cover, “NOT TO BE TAKEN FROM THE CHURCH.” Here was the word of God, “not to be taken from the church.” And sadly that is the way we treat the word of God.
We bring our Bibles to church to church then we never open them again till the next time we come to church.
It’s called our DAILEY bread. We need to take time out daily to read God’s word. We read the paper, we read the news, the magazines and more and more we read the e-mails and the Internet. We read everything else but we don’t take the time to read the best seller of all times and the greatest book that was God breathed and it has been given to us so that we can conquer anything this world ever throws at us.
The word of God condemns
John 12:47-48 And if anyone hears My word and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him-the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Think what it would be like if we didn’t have “The word of God”. It gives us direction. It tells us how to raise our families, how to be a good husband or how to be a good wife. It tells us how to do every thing we do. But as the verse we just read it tells us, our faith comes from hearing the word of God.
It is the word of God that tells us that we are sinners.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short f the glory of God.
It was the word of God that also told me the punishment and the payment for those sins.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The word of God not only condemns but it gives us the solution.
Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
So I have given you the word. Now it is your choice as to what to do with it. One more scripture I want to look at is in Luke 8:11-15
Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, least they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear they receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among the thorns are those who, when they heard, go out and are choked with the cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
So which one were you? Were you the one who hears the word but does not receive it? Or maybe you fit in the category that heard the word, received the word and now you are not where you should be in your relationship with the Lord. Or maybe you are the one who hears the word and then get mixed up in their priorities. Our goal and what we all should strive for is the last of the choices, the one who receives the word and go out and bear fruit with it, so one day when we stand before God we can hear Him say. “Well done thy good and faithful servant”.
One night as a family was preparing for bedtime, a four-year-old daughter began singing the BIBLE. As she came to the end, she combined another song. Here is what she sang. "I stand alone on the word of God, that’s what it’s all about." By mixing up the BIBLE and the Hokey Pokey, Claire nailed the way that each of us should view God’s word. That’s what it’s all about! That’s the word.
