The Word of God is Imperative for your life

Hebrews 4

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I joined the Air Force in 1987, I raised my hand repeated an oath signed a piece of paper, 6 weeks of Basic, Training 14 weeks of technical school, and that was it. After arriving at my first base, I was deployed without any experience on the aircraft that I had been assigned to. My Supervisor handed me a book the MH53-J-4 that covered everything that you needed to know about the hydraulic system.

In 1994 I joined the “The Lord’s Army” I swore an aleigence to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and that I would support and defend the Word of God, that I would love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul and mind and love my nieghbor as my self. And I was given a mission to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I was also handed a book, but it is more than just technical information on a page.

1 Tim 3:16 says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,”

As followers of Christ, in order for us to be obedient to our Father in heaven we must know what is expected of us. The only way to know this is to know His Word.

I like how Roger Ellsworth describes the Word of God. “God’s Word is more precious than words can convey. It is God himself speaking. It is God’s law for our lives. It is God testifying of himself. It is God providing guidance for our walk in this world.”

10 years ago when I first started looking into being a Biblical Counselor, I went through all the courses and I was reading all the books and listening to all the case studies. I remembe being amazed at how applicable the Bible was to our daily lives. I must admit before that time, I had an improper view of the Bible. I viewed much like a history book with some good words to live by. Imagine how offensive my ignorance about the Word must have been to God! I, like most of you, have grown in my knowledge and have a greater understanding of the word and see it as something so much more than just words on a page. Sometimes others can describe it better.

Simon Kistemaker states it this way, “This is not a collection of religious writings from the ancient past, but a book that speaks to all people everywhere in nearly all the languages of the world. The Bible demands a response, because God does not tolerate indifference and disobedience.”

What indeffernce and disobedience is he talking about? What seperates us from the rest of creation is the level of inteligence and reasoning that God has blessed us with. When we learn something we make a decision on what to do with this new information. We determine if the information is important or not. If deemed unimportant we treat it like I did geometry in one ear and out the other this is being indeffernt. But if our minds determine it is important then we then hold on to it and decide if there is action that we need to take with this new information. Is it something that requires action or do we store it for later.

Say your driving down the road coming to a railroad crossing and you hear a horn but the crossbucks have been lowered. You must decide should I stay or should I go. Well this actually happened to Marie and I. I decided to stop and roll down the windows and listen closer because the horn did not sound like a train, luckeliy I did, it was not a train that was coming it was a dump truck that had lost its breaks and it passed by the front of our car missing us by just inches. We narrowly escaped death that day, because I had processed what information I had about railroad crossings and horns. Around the same time in my life I escaped the firey pits of hell because I listened to a pastor explain the Gospel as he led me down the Romans Road, in my house on that day I headed the warning, and chose to follow Him.

Was that it though? Do we hear the Gospel accept Christ and thats it? NO! Every pastor that I have sat under has always stressed the reading and studying of His Word. That is how we grow in our sanctification. That is what is so great about the Scriptures they are living and active able to be applied to our lives today, and can address every area of our lives. But with knowledge comes accountability you must do something with it. As you learn

Kistemaker goes on to say--

“Nothing remains untouched by Scripture, for it addresses every aspect of man’s life. The Word continues to divide the spiritual existence of man and even his physical being. All the recesses of body and soul—including the thoughts and attitudes—face the sharp edge of God’s dividing sword. Whereas man’s thoughts remain hidden from his neighbor’s probing eye, God’s Word uncovers them.”

Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of Hebrews

For Hebrews 4:12-13

English Standard Version Chapter 4

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The Word of God is distinctive from any other book

1 The writer of Hebrews says that It is Alive, what makes it alive? The Holy Spirit. Not only is it written by man inspired by the Spirit but is also spiritually diserned with the help of the Spirit. It is not a book to be read once and put down. Your sanctification is an ongoing process that only continues with on going study and application of the Word of God.

2 He also says that it is active or another interpratation is powerful. Think about your own lives after you encoutered the powerful and living Word of God. Words on a page can motivate but the Words of God do far more than motivate they change your life. If allowed it will permeate every aspect of your life. It changes the way feel, see, interpret, the world around you.

Just think for a moment about the power of the Word of God. All of creation was spoken into existence according to Gensis 1 with words “God said let there be...., and it was” We are told in John 1:1-3 that Jesus was called the Word and He was there when it all began. As mentioned earlier about the very Word itself in 1 Timothy 3:16 it is the very breath of God captured within the pages of this book. Powerful enough to bring a sinner to their knees as it penitrates the hard outer shell.

The Word of God is Effective

1 it is affective because it is Discerning. We may be able to put on a disguse and pretend to be what others want to see but God is the only one that can see who you truly are. Your life is transparent to God / Nothing and no one is hidden from His Authority. Is that why you do not read His word, do you not want to face His prying eyes? Well here is a news flash for you God does not need you to read His word so that He can see the sin in your life, He already knows! The Word of God is for you, so that you know what offends Him. And there is no sin in your life that the Word God can not uncover, because it is effecrtive.

Ec 12:14” For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

Hebrews 4:13 speaks of His eyes that see. What was the first thing that Adam and Eve did after their eyes were open? They tried to cover their nakedness because they felt the shame of their sin. Man tries to cover his sin too whether with clothes, darkness or in the recesses of his mind, but it says all are naked and exposed. Which then it forces us to give an account

The Word of God will judge you but it is also the word of God that will save you.

hide the word of God psalm 119

I once attended a VFW meeting where the Seargent of Arms was called forward to close the Bible before they did the 50/50 raffle.

63  God did not give us His Word to satisfy our curiosity but to change our lives.

Charles Swindoll

“Our Library of Living Truth” sermon (1978)

Chuck Swindoll

The sum of all the counsel I can give you, necessary for the regulating of your behaviour towards God and man, in every station, place and condition of your lives, is contained in that blessed Word of God.

Isaac Watts

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Matthew 4:4But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

2 Peter 1:20-21 Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

Hebrews Chapter 4

The “word of God” is that which God speaks—whether it be a promise or a threatening; whether it be law or gospel; whether it be a simple declaration or a statement of a doctrine. The idea here is, that what God had said is fitted to detect hypocrisy and to lay open the true nature of the feelings of the soul, so that there can be no escape for the guilty. His truth is adapted to bring out the real feelings, and to show man exactly what he is. Truth always has this power—whether preached, or read, or communicated by conversation, or impressed upon the memory and conscience by the Holy Spirit