God's Word
Sunday PM June 3, 2007
Corporate Praise
THE WORD OF GOD
Several Scriptures
The Nature of the Word of God
The phrase “the Word of God”, “The Word of the Lord” or just “the Word”
Refers to a variety of situations in the Bible.
1. It obviously refers first of all to anything that God has spoken directly.
When God spoke to Adam and Eve, what He said was the Word of God.
God spoke His word to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses.
God spoke to the entire nation of Israel at Mount Sinai when He recited the Ten
Commandments; the words they heard were His words.
2. In addition to direct speech, God also spoke through the prophets.
When they addressed God’s people, they usually introduced their statements with
“This is what the Lord says” or “The Word of the Lord came to me.”
When the Israelites were listening to the words of a prophet, they were listening to the Word of God, they were listening to God speak.
3. This was true with the apostles in the New Testament.
Even though they did not introduce their comments with
“This is what the Lord says,”
What they spoke and proclaimed was also the Word of God.
In Acts 13:16-44, Paul’s sermon to the people in Antioch caused such a stir
that “on the next Sabbath day almost the whole city gathered to hear the
Word of the Lord.”
Paul tells us in I Thessalonians 2:13 that “when you received the
Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men,
but as it actually is, the Word of God.”
4. John 1:1, 18; John 10:30; I John 5:20 tells us everything that Jesus spoke was the Word of God, for He is, after all, God.
Luke states in Luke 5:1 that when people heard Jesus, they heard the Word of
God.
The Old Testament prophets, usually began with some form of “This is what the
Lord says.”
Jesus started his sayings with “I tell you…”, in other words, He had divine
authority within himself to speak the Word of God.
5. The Word of God is the written record of what the prophets, apostles and Jesus
have spoken.
6. Though not on the same level of authority as Scripture itself, the spoken public statement by preachers or prophets in the church today may be called the Word of God.
a. Peter in I Peter 1:25, indicated that what his readers received through the
preaching of the word was the Word of God.
In II Timothy 4:2, Paul instructed Timothy to “preach the Word.”
Preaching must never stand independent of the written Word of God.
In fact, the test to determine whether God’s Word is being preached in a
sermon or message is whether it corresponds to Gods written Word.
b. What about a person who receives a prophecy or revelation during worship; is he or she receiving the Word of God?
Paul in I Corinthians 14:29, says that such messages are subject to
public evaluation by other believers; thus it is possible that such
prophecies may not be the Word of God.
The Power of the Word of God
The Word of God stands firm in the heavens.
Turn to Psalm 119:89
Turn to Isaiah 40:8
Turn to I Peter 1:24-25
The Word of God is dynamic and powerful, and it accomplishes great things.
1. The Word of God is the CREATIVE word.
According to the creation account, things came into being when God spoke His Word.
In Psalm 33:6 the psalmist, summarized “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made.”
The writer in Hebrews 11:3 writes, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command.”
2. The Word of God also has the power to sustain creation.
Hebrews 1:3 and Psalm 147:15-18 say God sustains “all things by His powerful
Word.”
3. The Word of God has the power to IMPART new life.
Peter testifies in I Peter 1:23 that we are born again “through the living and
enduring Word of God.”
This is why in I John 1:1, Jesus himself is called “the Word of life.”
4. The Word of God also releases GRACE, POWER and REVELATION by which believers grow in our faith and in our commitment to Jesus Christ.
Isaiah uses a powerful picture in Isaiah 55:10-11. “Just as water from the sky
causes things to grow physically, so also the Word that goes out from God’s
mount causes us to grow spiritually.”
5. In Ephesians 6:17 it says “The Word of God is the sword God has given us by
which we may fight Satan.”
Jesus while in the desert being tempted by Satan, defeated Satan with the
declaring, the words “It is written.”
6. Finally, the Word of God has the power to JUDGE us.
In John 12:48, Jesus himself said “His Word will condemn those who reject
Him”.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the powerful Word of God judges “the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart.”
In other words, those who choose to ignore God’s Word will one day experience it
as a Word of condemnation.
Our Reaction to the Word of God
The Bible describes in clear and unmistakable language how we should react to the Word
of God in all its different forms.
Isaiah 1:10; Jeremiah 7:1-2 and Acts 17:11 tell us “we must eagerly hear God’s
Word.”
Matthew 13:23 says, we are to SEEK to understand God’s Word.
Psalms 56:4, 10 tells us we are to PRAISE God’s Word.
Psalms 119:47 and 113 tell us to LOVE God’s Word.
Psalm 119:16; 47 say to let it be our JOY and DELIGHT.
Mark 4:20; Acts 2:41 and I Thessalonians 2:13 say, we must ACCEPT what the Word
of God says.
Psalm 119:11 says to HIDE the Word of God deep within our hearts.
Psalm 119:42 says to TRUST in God’s Word
Psalm 119:74, 81, 114 and Psalm 130:5 says it is our HOPE in its promises.
Psalm 119:9; 17 and 67, and James 1:22-24 say, Above all, we must OBEY what it
commands and live according to it.
In I Timothy 5:17, II Timothy 2:15 and 4:2, God calls those who minister the word to
HANDLE it correctly and to PREACH it faithfully.
Acts 8:4 tells us that all believers are called to PROCLAIM God’s Word wherever we go.
Thank God that He gave us His Word, to live by, to love by.
Closing Prayer