THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD!! The power of the Word of God in HEBREWS 4:12-13. Would you join me in turning in your Bible as I read the text? “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. (13) And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” This section begins with “for” or “therefore” tying what follows with what the author has previously told us about the consequences of Israel’s disobedience. The author wants us to get it through our thick heads that Israel’s awful tragedy can strike us as well. Today I want you to see with me four reasons why we should not disregard the Word of God! First, It is A Living Word (v. 12a) “For the word of God is living…” The Bible, the word of God, is unlike any other book you have in your home or in the library. Secondly, It is an Powerful Word (v 12b) “For the word of God is living and powerful.” The word translated “powerful” (energes) is the word from which we get energy and energetic. The word literally means “at work.” Well, it is...living and active...and so when we read its words they reach out and touch the needs of our lives in an almost tangible way. ISAIAH 55:11 describes scripture as being a living agent or messenger that God sends to touch our lives. Listen to what God says in this passage... " ....My word will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." So, unlike any other book, the Bible is living and powerful and… Third, It is a Penetrating Word (v 12c) “… sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow…” Like a sharp sword which can lay open the human body with one slashing blow, so the sword of the Scripture can open our inner life and expose it to ourselves and to others. In the Roman world there were two distinctly different swords. There was the large sword, it was long, heavy and destructive. And there was a short sword (machaira), it was lightweight and double-edged and deadly because it cut both ways. This is what Peter used to cut off the ear of the servant of the High priest in the garden of Gethsemane on the night of Jesus’ arrest (MARK 14:47). Fourth, It is a Discerning Word (vv. 12d -13) “…and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (13) And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” From this passage I want us to glean three truths. •God Sees Everything There Is No Escape. We want God to see us when we are hurting and when we are going through difficult times. We want Him to see and come to our aid. But when it comes to our sin and wrongdoing we would rather that God looked the other way. But verse twelve concludes by saying that the Word of God “… is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The word “discerner” (kritikos) is the word from which we get critic. As the word of God penetrates into the innermost recesses of man’s being it does so as his critic or judge. •God Sees Everything There Is No Hiding. Only the Word of God is capable of exposing the thoughts and attitudes of a single human heart. There really is no use in hiding. Why is it when we fear that some-thing is not quite right physically we tend to put off going to the doctor because we fear we will hear bad news. The same is true spiritually. Verse thirteen says that before God “all things are naked” or literally “laid bare.” The word (tetrachelismena) literally refers to bending someone’s neck backward so the face is looking upwards. It is a vivid term describing either the grip of a wrestler on the neck of his opponent or the grip on the neck of a sacrificial victim prepared for sacrifice. And sometimes it was used to describe how a man being led to execution had a knife placed beneath his chin so that he could not hang his head in shame and those avoid the gaze of the onlookers. Whatever the exact nature of the picture that is being drawn here it means that to be in the grip of an all powerful God is to be vulnerable, helpless and to have all our secrets known. The Word of God possesses the diagnostic perception that picks up inconsistency even in motivation. With God we cannot smooth over with outward actions, the real intentions of our hearts. We may appear to be sincere to others but God knows if there is an ulterior motive. God Sees Everything There Is No Excuse. The last part of verse thirteen says, all things are “… open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” This verse plainly tells us that there is a coming day of reckoning upon which we will each give an account for our lives. The day of excuses will be over, the book of Romans tells us there is coming a time “when every mouth will be stopped” (Rom 3:19), there will be no more excuses. The Apostle Paul warns in 2 CORINTHIANS. 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” The challenge for us is always at least two-fold. First, we must ask ourselves if we are being challenged by the word of God to take some action before we leave this place. Perhaps like me when I was thirteen, the Word of God has captured your attention and convicted you of your sin and convinced you that you need to do something about it, today. If that is the case, then I want to invite in just a few moments when we sing the closing hymn, to come and settle the matter of eternity today, before you leave this place. Secondly, we should always think through the application of what I we hear preached or read. We should pay enough attention to what the Word of God may be saying to us to write it down and think it over. Asking the question, “What action does God want me to take concerning this truth in my life?”
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 02:25:03 +0000
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