“The Power of the Word of God.”
Word Of God (BIBLE)
Creed by Rich Mullins
I believe in God the Father almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ
His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the Virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried
I believe that He who suffered
Was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell and
On the third day, rose again
He ascended into Heaven where
He sits at God’s mighty right hand
I believe that He’s returning to
Judge the quick and the dead
Of the sons of men
I believe in God the Father almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son,
Our Lord
I believe in the Holy Spirit
One Holy Church, the communion of Saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never ends
And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man
I believe it, I believe it, I believe it, I believe I believe it, I believe it
It is what makes me what I am.
The question is what makes you what you are?
Is it the books you read other than the Bible? Is it the songs you sing outside of Christian songs? Is it Netflix or streaming TV? I promise you everything that you put into your mind goes into your heart.
It is what makes you what you are. I want to talk to you for a few moments tonight about the Word of God
You remember the Children’s song: “Be careful, little eyes, what you see; be careful, little ears, what you hear.” The Father up above He is looking down with love, so be careful, little eyes, what you see.
It applies to the older folks too. What we put in us is what the world gets out of us.
As a Christian, Christ is what makes us what we are. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit sent by our heavenly Father, God.
We need not give up. As I’ve said time and again, God’s nowhere near done here. We just trust Him and keep the battle going. He’s gonna do a miraculous work here, but He’s got to do that through His word.
Just don’t give up. Follow after God’s plan, not man’s plan. We make mistakes. God does not.
In 1889, a schoolteacher told a ten-year-old boy, “You will never amount to very much.” That boy was Albert Einstein.
In 1954, a music manager told a young singer, “You ought to go back to driving a truck.” That singer was Elvis Presley.
In 1962, a record company told a group of singers from England, “We don’t like your sound. Groups with guitars are definitely on their way out.” They said that to the Beatles.
Man is prone to make mistakes. And man will make mistakes, but hear me well: God does not.
So how do we know what God wants us to do? It’s in His word. That’s what I want to talk to you about tonight.
Those who reject the Bible should take the time to look at the evidence before they come to a verdict:
Understand it’s not about what I say or any other preacher but what God says through us!
John Vernon McGee (June 17, 1904 – December 1, 1988) was an American ordained Presbyterian minister, pastor, Bible teacher, theologian, and radio minister.
Thru the Bible
In 1967, he began broadcasting the Thru the Bible radio program. In a systematic study of each book of the Bible, McGee took his listeners from Genesis to Revelation in a two-and-a-half-year “Bible Bus trip”, as he called it. He had earlier preached a “Through the Bible in a Year” series of sermons, each devoted to one chapter of the Bible, at the Church of the Open Door. After retiring from the pastorate in January 1970, and realizing that two and a half years was not enough time to teach the whole Bible, McGee completed another study of the entire Bible in a five-year period. At the time of McGee’s death, the Thru the Bible program aired in 34 languages, but has since been translated into over 100 languages. It is broadcast on Trans World Radio throughout the world every weekday.
In 1965, doctors told J. Vernon McGee he had six months to live. He responded by starting the radio program that would walk the entire world through every single book of the Bible. He’s been gone since 1988. The program is still running.
In 1965, a doctor sat across from J. Vernon McGee and told him he had six months to live. Cancer.
McGee was sixty-one years old. He had spent decades studying God’s Word. He had pastored the Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles — one of the most historic churches in America. He had preached the Bible his entire adult life.
And a doctor was telling him it was almost over. Most people would have stopped. McGee started a radio program. Two years after the diagnosis — two years after being told he had six months — he launched Thru the Bible. A daily radio broadcast that would walk listeners through every single book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Chapter by chapter. Book by book. The whole thing. He called it the Bible Bus.
And for the next twenty-three years — twenty-three years he was never supposed to have — J. Vernon McGee drove that bus. 800 radio stations in North America. More than 100 languages. 160 countries.
He kept going until December 1, 1988, when he fell asleep in his chair mid-conversation — talking about making sure the ministry would continue after he was gone. And it did continue.
Because before he died, he said something that he never stopped believing — and that most Christians have heard and never truly acted on.
“In my opinion, the greatest sin in the church of Jesus Christ in this generation is ignorance of the Word of God. Many times, I have heard a church officer say, ‘Well I don’t know much about the Bible, but…’ and then he gives his opinion, which often actually contradicts the Word of God.”
The greatest sin in the church. Not immorality. Not unbelief. It’s the Ignorance of the Word of God.
And then the line that breaks me every time I read it.
“The only way you and I are going to stay close to Jesus is to stay close to His Word.”
Not close to Church. Not close to sermons about His Word. Not close to other people who know His Word.
Close to His Word itself. And in that you will be close to Christ Himself
Inside His Word. Understanding His Word. Letting His Word get into you the way it got into McGee — the way it kept him going for twenty-three years after a doctor told him he had six months.
But here’s what most Christians never figure out — and what nobody in the pew seems willing to say out loud.
Most of us are not close to His Word.
We are close to the idea of His Word.
We own it. The Bible, We carry it to Church. We set it on the seat next to us. We start reading plans in January and stop in April and feel guilty about it until December.
And we tell ourselves that counts.
McGee said it didn’t.
He said it plainly for over twenty years on the radio while the cancer that was supposed to kill him in six months kept not killing him.
“The greatest sin today in the church is the man in the pew who is ignorant of the Bible.”
And he spent every year he had — including every year he wasn’t supposed to have — trying to change it. He knew what the problem was. It wasn’t that Christians didn’t love God. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to read. It was that nobody had ever walked them through it.
The Bible is letters, poems, prophecies, and histories written for specific people in specific moments in history — without anyone telling you who wrote it, when, why, what was happening in the world at the time, or how it all connects together.
Not one word written to me every single word written For me With me on His mind.
That’s why it can feel impossible. That’s why you start in January with every intention and stop in April with a fresh set of guilt.
Not because you’re faithless. Because nobody ever got on the bus with you.
“The only way you and I are going to stay close to Jesus is to stay close to His Word.”
I used to think that was about discipline. About making yourself sit down every morning. About willpower and intention and not quitting. But now I understand something different. You can’t stay close to someone you don’t understand. You can’t stay close to a Word you’ve been reading for decades without it ever getting inside.
We can spend a lifetime studying the Word of God and never make the smallest dent in the knowledge of what’s in God’s Word.
We need to listen to what the Bible tells us, not just hear it but hear it and apply it.
Chuck Swindoll says, and I try to practice this every time I preach, that the preacher’s job is to tell you what the Bible says, what the Bible means, and how it applies to you.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
When Moses said “Hear,” The Hebrew word is SHEMA (sh’MAH,)
In Hebrew, SHEMA (sh’MAH,) means “To Hear,” but it is never just the sound of the ear; it means listen, pay attention, and respond. Do something with it don’t just get it apply it
James 1:19-20 19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:23-25 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
The Bible’s central prayer begins hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Deuteronomy 6:4: to SHEMA (sh’MAH,) God is to let His voice shape your life. Hearing leads to action. Listening becomes obedience. It’s not only about words; it’s about trust, love, and faithfulness
I am going to give you 5 things that make the Bible unique.
Compiled by Justin and Jordan Drake (The Evidence Bible.)
- It is unique in its continuity. Steadiness
If just 10 people today were picked who were from the same place, born around the same time, spoke the same language, and made about the same amount of money, and were asked to write on just one controversial subject, they would have trouble agreeing with each other.
But the Bible stands alone. It was written over a period of 1,600 years by more than 40 writers from all walks of life.
Some were politicians. Others were generals or kings, shepherds or historians, tax collectors, fishermen, a Doctor, prophets, and preachers. And Paul was a tent maker and part of the Sanhedrin.
They were from three different continents, and wrote in three different languages.
They wrote on hundreds of controversial subjects, yet they wrote with agreement and harmony.
They wrote in dungeons, in temples, on beaches, and on hillsides, during peacetime and during war.
Yet their words sound like they came from the same source. And it very much did come from the same source!
So even though 10 people today couldn’t write on one controversial subject and agree, God picked 40 different people to write the Bible-and it stands the test of time.
- It is unique in its circulation.
The invention of the printing press in 1450 made it possible to print books in large quantities.
The first book printed was the Bible.
Since then, the Bible has been read by more people and printed more times than any other book in history.
By 1930, over one billion Bibles had been distributed by Bible societies around the world.
By 1977, Bible societies alone were printing over 200 million Bibles each year, and this number does not include the many other Bible publishers.
No one knowing the truth can ignore such an important book.
- It is unique in its translation,
It has been translated into over l,400 languages. There is no single exact count, but the entire Bible has been translated into more than 770 languages, with partial translations existing in over 4,000 languages worldwide. In English alone, there are roughly 900 different translations, paraphrases, and revisions. No other book even comes close.
Global Translation Statistics
- Full Bibles: Translated into over 770 languages.
- New Testament only: Translated into nearly 1,800 additional languages.
- Portions/Stories: Available in more than 1,400 other languages.
- Total reach: At least some Scripture exists in over 4,000 of the world’s ~7,400 languages.
- English Translations
- We have William Tyndale Bible 1526
- Matthew’s Bible 1537
- Geneva Bible 1560
- And then the King James in 1611. All these are English translations
- Total count: Estimated at 900 distinct printed versions and paraphrases since 1526.
- Major types: Range from literal word-for-word translations to loose thought-for-thought paraphrases.
- Common versions: Include the King James Version (KJV), New International Version (NIV), English Standard Version (ESV), and New Living Translation (NLT). And most theologians and Bible scholars will tell you the closest thing to an English translation that we have is the New American Standard Bible (NASB)
- It is unique in its survival.
In ancient times, books were copied by hand onto manuscripts, which were made from parchment and would decay over time.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of roughly 900 to 1,000 ancient Jewish manuscripts. They were found between 1947 and 1956 in 11 caves near Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. Dating from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD, they include the oldest known copies of biblical texts
Discovery and Composition
- Who found them: Bedouin shepherds looking for a stray goat. They threw a rock into a cave, and he heard pottery break. He investigated and found tall clay jars holding ancient letters and manuscripts and later, archaeologists discovered the texts in caves in the Judean Desert.
- Materials: Most texts are written on animal skin parchment or papyrus, with one famous exception—the Copper Scroll—chiseled onto metal.
- Languages: The fragments are written mostly in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
It’s amazing how the Dead Sea Scrolls survived all those years because they were in a perfectly balanced, humid cave, wrapped in linen and placed in a clay jar and the right kind of containers to preserve them. How can you say God wasn’t involved
Ancient books are available today only because someone made copies of the originals to preserve them.
For example, the original writings of Julius Caesar are no longer around. We know what he wrote only by the copies we have.
Only 10 copies still exist, and they were made 1,000 years after he died. Only 600 copies of Homer’s The Iliad exist, made 1,300 years after the originals were written.
No other book has as many copies of the ancient manuscripts as the Bible.
In fact, there are over 24,000 copies of New Testament manuscripts, some written within 35 years of the writer’s death.
- It is unique in withstanding attack.
No other book has been so attacked throughout history as the Bible. In A.D. 300, the Roman emperor Diocletian (Dia-a-clee-tion) ordered every Bible burned because he thought that by destroying the Scriptures, he could destroy Christianity.
Anyone caught with a Bible would be executed.
But just 25 years later, the Roman emperor Constantine ordered that 50 perfect copies of the Bible be made at government expense.
The French philosopher Voltaire, a skeptic who destroyed the faith of many people, boasted that within 100 years of his death, the Bible would disappear from the face of the earth.
Voltaire died in 1728, but the Bible lives on.
The irony of history is that 50 years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society moved into his former house and used his printing presses to print thousands of Bibles.
The Bible has also survived criticism.
No book has been more attacked for its accuracy, and yet archaeologists are proving every year that the Bible’s detailed descriptions of historic events are correct.
Hebrews 4:12-13 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. 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.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick (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.
Today we come to the power of the Word of God. 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 heads that Israel’s awful tragedy can strike us as well.
Stewart Briscoe when you see therefore see what the therefore is therefore because therefore is there for a reason
Matthew Henry’s Commentary
“The word preached did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith in those that heard him, v. 2. Observe,
- The word is preached to us that we may profit by it, that we may gain spiritual riches by it; it is a price put into our hands to get wisdom, the rich endowment of the soul.
About Sunday School Expound?
- There have been in all ages a great many unprofitable hearers; many who seem to deal much in sermons, in hearing the word of God, but gain nothing to their souls thereby; and those who are not gainers by hearing are great losers.
- That which is at the bottom of all our unprofitableness under the word is our unbelief.
We do not mix faith with what we hear; it is faith in the hearer that is the life of the word.
Though the preacher believes the gospel, and endeavors to mix faith with his preaching, and to speak as one who has believed and so spoken, yet, if the hearers have not faith in their souls to mix with the word, they will be never the better for it.
This faith must mingle with every word, and be in act and exercise while we are hearing; and, when we have heard the word, assenting to the truth of it, approving of it, accepting the mercy offered, applying the word to ourselves with suitable affections, then we shall find great profit and gain by the word preached.”
Now 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 quick,)
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick (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.
(1.) That is quick; it is very lively and active, in all its efforts, in seizing the conscience of the sinner, in cutting him to the heart, and in comforting him and binding up the wounds of the soul. Those know not the word of God who call it a dead letter; it is quick, compared to the light, and nothing quicker than the light; it is not only quick, but quickening; it is a vital light; it is a living word, zon. Saints die, and sinners die; but the word of God lives.
1 Peter 1:22-25 22 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, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the LORD endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
Zechariah 1:5-6 5 “Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 Yet surely My words and My statutes, Which I commanded My servants the prophets, Did they not overtake your fathers? “So they returned and said: ‘Just as the LORD of hosts determined to do to us, According to our ways and according to our deeds, So He has dealt with us.’ ” ‘ ”
“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. The Library of Congress lays claims to being the largest library in the world, with more than 130 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 29 million books and other printed materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.8 million maps, and 58 million manuscripts. Yet among all these volumes, the only ones that can lay claim to being alive and powerful are copies of the Bible. This places the Bible in a unique category all to itself.
The word “living” is placed in the definite position in the original language. The word of God is no dead letter, but as the word of the living God it cannot itself fail to be living.
As the living word it continues through each age with compelling importance. “Gipsy Smith told of a man who said he had received no inspiration from the Bible although he had “gone through it several times.” “Let it go through you once,” replied Smith, “then you will tell a different story!”
[source unknown – www.bible.org/illus/Bible (application)]
The Word of God is not only a living word but
Secondly, It is an Powerful Word (v 12b)
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 translated “powerful” (energes) is the word from which we get energy and energetic. The word literally means “at work.”
Charles Swindoll comments, “News articles may inform us. Novels may inspire us. Poetry may enrapture us. But only the living, active Word of God can transform us.” [Charles Swindoll, p. 73]
(2.) It is powerful. When God sets it home by his Spirit, it convinces powerfully, converts powerfully, and comforts powerfully. It is so powerful as to pull down strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
To raise the dead, to make the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk. It is powerful to batter down Satan’s kingdom, and to set up the kingdom of Christ upon the ruins thereof.
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 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
This 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…
That’s how preachers who are doing wrong see souls saved; it is not the person but the WORD.
Jeremiah 23:29 29 “Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
fire: warms and devours
Hammer a. fashions – knocks off ruff edges
- separates
- breaks the ties that bind
- unites – hammer and a nails together
Third, it is a Penetrating Word (v 12c)
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick (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.
(3.) It is sharper than any two-edged sword; it cuts both ways; it is the sword of the Spirit,
Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
It is the two-edged sword that cometh out of the mouth of Christ, Rev 1:16.
Revelation 1:16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
It is sharper than any two-edged sword, for it will enter where no other sword can, and make a more critical dissection: it pierces to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, the soul and its habitual prevailing temper; it makes a soul that has been a long time of a proud spirit to be humble, of a perverse spirit to be meek and obedient. Those sinful habits that have become as it were natural to the soul, and rooted deeply in it, and become in a manner one with it, are separated and cut off by this sword. It cuts off ignorance from the understanding, rebellion from the will, and hostility from the mind, which, when carnal, is hostility itself against God. This sword divides between the joints and the marrow, the most secret, close, and intimate parts of the body; this sword can cut off the lusts of the flesh as well as the lusts of the mind, and make men willing to undergo the sharpest operation for the mortifying of sin.
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).
I like weapons. I had the closest thing to being my grandchildren in my house around Christmas time last year, and they came into my study, and they saw my swords propped against the shelves. They asked if they could pick them up, and I told them the difference in the Swords and why I had them. One was a double-edged broadsword, and the other was a small hand sword like Peter had in the garden.
What the author is saying is that God’s Word can reach into the innermost recesses of our being! No heart is too tough, and no soul is too dark.
“When God wills it, his word can pierce anyone as a certain Mr. Thorpe in the 18th century Bristol found out. Thorpe was a part of a band of men who called themselves the ‘Hell Fire Club.’ Their reason for existence was to mock and ridicule the work of the famed evangelist, George Whitefield. On one occasion, the ‘Hell-Fire Club’ gathered at a pub for such mockery. Mr. Thorpe offered his brilliant imitation of Whitefield, whom he and his friends called ‘Mr. Squintum’ because of Whitefield’s eyes. He delivered his sermon with brilliant accuracy, perfectly imitating his tone and facial expressions as he quoted Scripture and Whitefield’s exposition. Suddenly, amidst the laughter, he had to sit down, for he was pierced through and was converted on the spot.
Mr. Thorpe was a thoroughly nasty man, engaged in a nasty action, yet the Word of God pierced his heart and changed him in an instant. Mr. Thorpe went on to be a prominent Christian leader in the city of Bristol” [C. H. Spurgeon. The Metropolitan Pulpit. Vol. 34. (Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Pub, 1974) p. 115]
The Word of God Is Not Only a Penetrating Word but…
Fourth, It is a Discerning Word (vv. 12d -13)
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick (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.
Hebrews 4:13 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.
(4.) It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, even the most secret and remote thoughts and designs. It will discover to men the variety of their thoughts and purposes, the vileness of them, the bad principles they are actuated by, the sinister and sinful ends they act to. The word will turn the inside of a sinner out, and let him see all that is in his heart. Now such a word as this must needs be a great help to our faith and obedience.
James 1:22-24 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
What are you looking for? Some type of correction; we can’t hide from a true reflection. No matter how hard I look in the mirror, my hair is still gone. I see a true reflection, and that’s why the Word of God exposes what we really are
Do we correct the problem or cover it up? Correct by doing what it says, doer, not hearer
Before you try to get to His presence, look at yourself
From this passage I want us to see three truths. Time….
- 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 that when we fear that something 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. As we said in Sunday school this morning in Psalms chapter three, God took David’s chin and raised his face looking upward. 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 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 Cor. 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.”
Let me conclude by sharing something written many years ago by Samuel Chadwick. “I have guided my life by the Bible for more than sixty years, and I tell you there is no book like it. It is a miracle of literature, a permanent spring of wisdom, a wonder of surprises, a revelation of mystery, an infallible guide of conduct, and an unspeakable source of comfort. Pay no attention to people who discredit it, for I tell you that they speak without knowledge. It is the Word of God itself. Study it according to its own direction. Live by its principles. Believe its message. Follow its precepts. No man is uneducated who knows the Bible, and no one is wise who is ignorant of its teachings.” [Samuel Chadwick from 1001 Great Stories and Quotes. R. Kent Hughes. (Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1998) p. 77]
Application
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. 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. And do it.
Secondly, we should always think through the application of what 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?”
“The Transforming Power of the Word of God.”
The Four Reasons That We Should Not Disregard The Word of God.
First, It is A Living Word
Secondly, It is a Powerful Word
Third, It is a Penetrating Word
Fourth, It is a Discerning Word
God Sees Everything; There Is No Escape God Sees Everything; There Is No Hiding God Sees Everything; There Is No Excuse.
Hebrews 4:14-16 14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Word of God Speak by Mercy Me
I’m finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it’s okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say
Word of God speak
Would you pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That you’re in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In your holiness
Word of God speak
I’m finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice
I’m finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it’s okay
Calvary Baptist Church August 8 2026 PM
