Scripture Produces Life

BENEFITS OF SCRIPTURE Sermon Series

“Scripture Produces Life”

KEY PASSAGE: 1 Peter 1:23–25 (NASB)| Supporting Text: Hebrews 4:12 (NASB 1995)

And so, Father God, we thank You today for a wonderful time and experience of praise and worship. We thank You for the worship band that continues to inspire us every Sunday with songs that bring You glory and honor and usher us into Your holy presence. We pray that You bless each of them as they use their gifts and talents to bless, inspire, and encourage us. May You take all the glory and honor as we continue our service. Amen.

TITHE and OFFERING

It is time for us to give to God our tithe and offering. Once again, I want to say “Thank you” for supporting the church with your substance. Your faithful giving helps us pay our bills, keeps us out of debt, and ministers the good news throughout this community. That happens because we have many faithful givers of the Lord’s work with tithes and offerings. So, thank you for your faithfulness, commitment, and generosity, and may God bless you. Ushers, please pass around the offering plates. Worship band, please lead us in worship as we collect our tithe and offering. Please follow the instructions on the screen on how to give to God.

WELCOME

Please stand up, greet some folks around you, and welcome them to worship. We welcome you to our Sunday Worship Service. We also welcome all who join us online. Let's clap for our online viewers.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Men’s Breakfast is at the church on Saturday, July 27th, at 10:00 a.m. To all the men, please attend the Men’s Breakfast this Saturday. And remember that the Men’s Breakfast is the last Saturday of the month. Please be sure to attend the weekly activities here at the church. I want to remind you all that our Wednesday Night Bible Study Connect is at 7:00 p.m. Please join us on Wednesday night to STUDY THE WORD OF GOD. Also, our church corporate weekly prayer meeting is every Saturday at 8:00 a.m. If you want to join the church, please talk to Paula and Farai; both are responsible for the new member class.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

LORD, You are holy and mighty. You are loving and forgiving. Help us to trust in You no matter what happens so we can experience Your sweet presence. We praise You for choosing us in Christ Jesus and bringing us into Your faith family. I pray that You bless the tithe and the offering as we honor You with our gifts and substance. May our giving advance the Kingdom of God. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen.

DECLARATION OF FAITH IN GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

What you eat has a lot to say about how well you are doing. If you are not eating very well, it should not be a surprise that you are not doing well. Some of the things you will experience if you are not eating well or properly include the loss of energy, loss of weight, loss of get up and go, all of that, and more. A weakened immune system and the absence of food put the vitality of life at risk (jeopardizes). Well, that is certainly true in the physical realm but also true in the spiritual realm. What you eat determines how well you are doing. And so, instead of growing as a normal person, you will wind up shrinking and shriveling because you are not eating properly.

Today, we will begin a new sermon series, "The Benefits of Scripture.” What is the Bible all about? Over the next few weeks, I want to teach us the benefits of a dynamic relationship with the Word of God. Why should Christians study the Bible? Why should believers have a dynamic, meaningful, potent relationship with the Bible? Now, our church believes that the Bible is the Word of God, being inerrant and truth. The word “Inerrant” means the Scripture is “without error.” Charles Spurgeon said believers must never adjust the Bible to the age, but the age to the Bible. Our church also believed that the Bible is canonized, illuminated, and has authority. And so, in our new sermon series, we will spend time together talking about why the Bible and your use of the Bible are critical to your spiritual well-being (to your spiritual growth) and how the scriptures produce spiritual life.

SERMON EXPOSITION

I want to talk to you today about how Scripture Produces Life. You see, everybody wants to be alive, but you have to eat to live. The Bible (which is the Word of God) is a life-giving document. Jesus says in John 6:63, he says, “My words are life.” Let’s look at Peter’s response (his confession of faith) in that same chapter in verse 68 – “Where else do we go to hear the word of life (eternal life)?” Scripture is [called] the word of life in Philippians chapter 2, verse 16. When John talks about intimate fellowship with God in Chapter 1, he says: We are writing unto you, which we have heard and handled, the Word of life. When the Bible calls itself the Word of life, it means it is a life-giving source. The Bible is the foundation of the church.

In other words, it imparts life. If the Scripture imparts life and you want to live, then it is true that you must eat to live. If the Scripture imparts life and you don’t eat it, then you don’t get life because it is the source of life, called the Word of Life. Watch this: The Scripture is made equal with Jesus Christ Himself. Open your Bible to John chapter 1 verse 1, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1, verse 14, says, “And the word became flesh.” So, the Word became a person. Jesus gives life, and His Word gives life because the two operate in connection with one another.

Let’s look at Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12. Hebrews 4:12 says that “The Word of God is alive.” It is alive so that it can impart life. Now, the only way you can get life imparted is that the thing imparting it to you must also be alive. Living things can make inanimate things, but inanimate things can’t make living things. So, in order to get a life, its source must be to impart life.

The Scripture gives life because it is life, so those who eat it live. And so, if you want to live, there must be a dynamic, meaningful relationship with the Word of God daily. To understand the concept of life in the Bible, you must (have to) understand the concept of death. You all know it, but let’s turn to it very quickly and get the coroner’s report that reminds us that we were made alive in Christ. Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 1-3, gives the medical examiner’s (coroner’s) report. The medical examiner’s (coroner’s) job is to identify the distinction between life and death, and Paul the Apostle wants you to get God’s assessment of this subject. “And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among them we too all formally live in the lust of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.”

Paul is reminding us that we were made alive in Christ. Watch this: God conceived believers not by ordinary means but by the living Word of God. The medical examiner’s (coroner’s) report is in the first three verses, and Paul says, when you were outside of Christ, you were dead. And you see, death has nothing to do with simply existence. You can exist and not be experiencing real life. [Let me say that again: You can exist without experiencing real life]. I am sure there are people here today who feel like you are existing. You go through the motions of life, but you know on the inside that you are not alive. That is called existence. Paul says that men without God can walk. He says you have walked in verse 2.

The Bible says that outside of Christ, a person is dead. So, you can be affluent and still be dead if you don’t know Christ Jesus. You can be dressed up and still be dead. You can live in a beautiful and nice-looking house and be dead. So, you must look at the backdrop (the surroundings and environment) of death, which has to do with a spiritual dimension. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God (sin against God) – what did God say to Adam and Eve? God said, the day you eat of the fruit, you shall surely what? Die.

But the day they ate the fruit, they didn’t drop dead; they didn’t have heart attacks. They didn’t stop functioning. But God said, the day you eat, you shall surely die. What happened the day they ate the fruit? Let me tell you what happened on that day. The Bible says they were separated from fellowship with God.

So, what is death in the Bible? Death is the absence of spiritual intimacy with God. Death is where there is no relationship with God. Where there is no relationship (connection) with God, you are dead, even though you are walking and talking and moving and working and acting and doing all the things that people do. Because when God talks about life, He is talking about not simply existence. He is talking about a dynamic reality of His presence within.

Jesus says I have come to give you life, and then on top of that, I have come to give it to you more what? Abundantly. Jesus came to give you an abundant life. Let me put it another way. Jesus came to give you two kinds of life. He has come to give you the reality of life, and then He has come to multiply that and turn it into an abundant life. It is the job of the Word of God to move you into life and then into abundant life. God told His people in Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 47, “If you listen to my word, you will live.” Jesus says in Matthew chapter 4 verse 4, “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the” What? Out of the “mouth of God.” He says that life is tied to His Word, that you live not by the physical realm, not only by bread, not by the things you touch and taste, and see and hear and feel, not by the five senses. The five senses can affect your existence but cannot give you life. And you know what most people do? They look for life in the physical.

God says in Isaiah chapter 55, verses 2 and 3, “If you listen to me, you will live.” Material things can’t give you life, and money can’t give you life. The more money you make, the more the money will make you hide the fact that you don’t have a life. And so, what is life? The Bible tells us in Saint John chapter 17. Jesus lays it right out. He says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.” Jesus says life is a spiritual reality operating in you. Let’s get this straight. Life is a spiritual reality at work in you. So if you want life, a real life because it is spiritual and eternal life.

How do we know the Word of God is alive? Because it does what living things do. You see, the Word of God is repeatedly fresh. Now, you can’t always be fresh unless you are living (or alive). I have been preaching for about ten years (or so), pastoring for ten years, and I am just starting to understand the Bible. How can you preach from one book for ten years, and it has something new to say every week? How can the Bible have something to say every single week?

How can there be thousands of preachers preaching every Sunday all over the world, and the Scripture has something fresh to say in all one thousand pulpits to every person listening? In fact, how can you have a two-thousand-year-old book that is still as relevant today as it was the day it was written unless it is alive? Whenever I study for a sermon, I find something new to preach. The Scripture, which is the Word of God, is alive!

1 Peter chapter 1 says this about the Scripture; Peter says in verse 23, “For you have been born-again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable that is through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass and its glory like the flower of grass, the grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides forever, and this is the word which was preached to you.”

SERMON ILLUSTRATION

Peter says grass comes, and the grass goes. It is a seasonal situation, but the Word of God abides forever. Watch this: The Word of God is living when it looks like it is dead. All the leaves fall off the trees when the fall and winter seasons come. Most of the trees' leaves fall off, and it looks like there is no life. Everything about the trees appears dead because they no longer seem to support life. This is a season issue, not a life issue.

Because when springtime rolls back around, there is life in the trees, and it looks like the trees were never dead, giving you a new expression of life. And so, if you are here today and you are dying on the inside, it is because you are in the wrong season of your life. Because the Word of God says, “The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.” So, if your flowers and trees are falling off in your life, it is because you are in winter, not spring. It has to do with a believer’s relationship (connection) with the Word of God.

The scripture is alive because it is fresh. It is also alive because it produces life. And as I said, only living things can produce life. It says you were born again in 1 Peter 1:23 by the living Word of God. The reason you got saved is because the truth of God sparked life where there was death. When you got saved, your eyes popped open, and you understood the Gospel because life was birthed in you. That is why Paul says. I desire that Christ be formed in you because the Scripture produces life. And since it produces life, it produces growth. Let’s look at 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” He says the Word, like milk, produces growth in the life of a believer.

Verse 1 says that for the milk to work, you must get rid of stuff that keeps the milk from working. You say I read my Bible every day. I go to church on Sunday and Wednesday. I read Christian books, and I listen to Christian radio stations. I watch Christian television stations. I still don’t have life in me. I am still dying. I wake up dying. I am dead. I am hollow. What is wrong with me? What is wrong is if you want verse 2, you have to deal with verse 1, which says, “You may grow up in your salvation.”

Peter says to remove the hindrances so you can experience spiritual growth. Why? Because junk food gets in the way of legitimate hunger. If you are eating doughnuts and wondering why you are not healthy but feeling full all the time, it is because the milk is not welcome. It is because too much junk has got in the way. He says if you want to experience the reality of God here on earth, there must be the cleansing of life so that legitimate hunger can come in and legitimate growth can take place.

Our problem today is not the need for more Bible study. It is not the need for just more information. It is not the need for more classes. There is a bigger need for spiritual dialysis (Renal replacement therapy). It is the kidney’s job to purify your blood by removing the waste so your blood can take the good stuff to the rest of your body so that you can be healthy and function properly. But when a kidney goes bad and it is not working as it should be, the junk in the blood is filtered throughout the body.

Now watch this. If you have a bad kidney that is not filtering the junk in the blood, it doesn’t matter how good you eat. It doesn't matter how much healthy and whole food you eat. It doesn’t matter how many vegetables or how green they are. It does not matter how many fruits and how ripe they are. All that becomes irrelevant for your body because there is no filtering process, and the best diet in the world won’t keep you alive when your kidney is not working , and you are not on dialysis. If you are on dialysis, you have to go two or three times a week, every week, to keep the blood clean so that real food can do its work. This is real food. But why, if we eat it at church on Sunday, on Wednesday, and maybe read a verse a day to keep the devil away all week long, am I still dead on the inside?

Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Word of God gets down to the nitty-gritty. You know the Bible is alive because it makes you uncomfortable. Have you ever been made uncomfortable by the word? If the Word of God has not made you uncomfortable, it is because you are not listening. The job of the Scripture sometimes is to make you shout; sometimes, it is to get you excited and rowdy. But sometimes it makes you feel awkward, and sometimes it makes you cry, and sometimes the Word of God convicts you, and sometimes it makes you want to run out of the church.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION

Have you ever felt like God was talking to you? Like exposing you? Have you ever felt exposed by the Word of God? The Bible says the Word of God exposes and reveals. Have you ever felt like sliced open in public when your name was not even used? That is because the Word of God is alive. But because we don’t like exposure, none of us do (by the way), and it is easier to stay away from it, either by not dealing with it directly or not letting it deal with us.

When we hear the Word of God, we tune it out. And so, it loses its influence; it loses its connection. [You see] Satan’s job is to get us away from the Word of God, so he gets us away from the power. And when you have been away from the power for so long, you don’t hear anything from God. You want to listen to His voice but can’t hear it because you have been talking too long. You have been talking and not listening to the Word of God.

CONCLUSION

I want to close with Revelation 1:3. “Blessed is he who reads, who hears, and who heeds the word of God.” There are three things I want to leave you with as I conclude this sermon. Number one, find out what God says by reading the Bible. Start by picking up the Bible and you read. Start anywhere you want. You say where shall I start reading? Wherever you want. Let’s make it easy. Because there is no one way you can read through the Bible. You can do an Old Testament Chapter and a New Testament Chapter, or you can read a New Testament book. Just read your bible. And read regularly. That is point number one, okay? A regular time in the Word of God, because guess what, it is alive.

The second point is to hear the Word of God. You say, but nobody’s talking; I am just reading. What does it mean to hear the Word of God? Here it is. To take on (internalize) what God tells you from what you read because God has something to say. God is not saying read, so I can teach you how to read. This is not what God is saying here. God has something to say and wants you to read so He can speak to you. He says to read and then listen. Jeremiah 15 verse 16, He said, “I found your words, and I ate them, and they were sweet to me.”

A lot of Christians hang around the Word of God, but they don’t eat it. To eat something, you have to chew it. Then you have to swallow it because the goal of the food is to get inside you. Food is not only for you to be able to say that it looks nice, smells nice, has this in it and that in it. He says to hear the Word of God, meaning the Bible says in the book of Revelation, to hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches. To hear the Word is to say, God, I am reading; you start talking; I am listening. You develop that mindset for the Word, and you will hear because now you are saying, talk to me from the Word.

The Word of God must be internalized, not just read but heard. Talk to me, God; I am listening. We don’t hear the Word of God because we are not saying enough [talk to me, God] – I am listening. This means to internalize the Word of God, you have to apply faith. You have to say, Lord, I believe your Word is true. I believe you have something to say to me; I am ready to listen. Then, the Bible reading will take on a new dimension in your life because now, concepts will come off the page, and you will hear God relating to you, not just talking to the people in biblical (Bible) days.

The last point is to heed the word of God, which is written in this book. Or, as James 2 would say, be doers of the Word, not hearers only. Ezekiel 18 verse 9 says, “If you will do what I say.” Ezekiel 20 verse 11, “If you will do what I say.” Why is the Word of God not working more in our lives? Because we overwhelmed (eclipsed) this process. Some of us here today read the Word of God but don’t hear it; some read it and hear it but don’t do it. Some don’t read, hear, or do it at all. And so, guess what is happening to you on the inside? You are dying. Have you ever been to church and heard the Word preached, which was preached like it was just preached to you, and you became alive on the inside? Just for that moment, for that day, you became alive on the inside. It is because the Word of God grabbed you. It is because the Word of God got hold of you.

Faith Appeal, Call to Action, and Altar Call

Let’s change our diet and start benefiting from Scripture to produce life. When you get a taste of it and feel what it feels like to be alive, you want to live more. This is the Word of life. And that is what the Word of God does to a believer who meditates on the Word of God. And if you are here today and you are not a Christian, I am going to ask you to come to Jesus right now and accept Him as your sin-bearer. Tell Jesus that you are a sinner and you need a Savior. Go to God right now and ask God to forgive you based on what Jesus Christ did on the cross: by dying and paying your sins in full. When you surrender your life to Jesus, tell Him you want to follow Him, and He will come into your heart and give you eternal life. Let’s stand on our feet, praise the Lord, and commit our lives to Him.

BENEDICTION

Father God, thank You for Your patience with all of us. I pray that everyone who hears this message will face up to reality—that there are only two ways to live—out of God’s will or in God’s will. I pray that each of us here today will find time to read, listen, and heed the Word of God. May the Holy Spirit guide us as we study God’s Word. Keep Your Word on our lips and hearts because we want Your best. You provided it, and we thank You for it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God bless you. We will see you next week at 10:30 a.m.