The Word of God

From the Love Word Finding studios in Memphis, Tennessee, I'm Byron Tyler, here with Kerry Vaughn, the CEO of Love Word Finding.

Kerry, Adrian Rogers has a message today I'm really excited about. It's called the Word of God. You know, one of my favorite verses is Isaiah 55, 11. My word will not return void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper wherever I send it. And that is true.

I heard this recently in the news. Sadly enough, a statistical analysis of young people who had walked away from the church shows that out of a thousand young adults who have left the church, 44% of them say they did not believe the accounts in the Bible were true and accurate. When asked what made them answer this way, the most common response, 24%, said the Bible was written by men. The Bible says that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God.

It's easy for us to stand up on it, but also, more importantly, to live it out. Well, I had a Bible professor say it was divine enablement and human endeavor. It was the two in combination, and we have the wonderful Word of God.

I love that song, Wonderful Word of Life, Beautiful Words of Life. Amen. You know? And when the Word of God meets up with the Spirit of God, we see God move.

Well, Adrian Rogers says the Bible is not like any other book. It breathes. It sings.

It weeps. It's alive in the power that it possesses. I think it's powerful. I think it's powerful as a two-edged sword, right? And we hear Adrian talk about that sword can either cut to heal you or it can cut to kill you.

Either way. Carrie, I'm reminded that Hebrews 4-12 says, 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 thoughts and the intents of the heart. Adrian said one time that we don't read the Bible. The Bible reads us.

It reads us. Amen. That's true. And that's what he's talking about here. And I love that. I love that verse, Byron.

I think you're right. I think the Bible can either cut to heal you or the Bible will cut to kill you. It is a two-edged sword. Like a lion, it will stand by itself and it will defend itself. Also, I'm reminded that, you know, God speaks through many things, circumstances, other people, but He will always speak through His Word.

Always. The special revelation, God's Word. It's available to us and it's available to us right now with Adrian Rogers in the message, The Word of God. We want to pitch our mental thoughts around this wonderful, wonderful verse. And tonight is taken right from the verse. And the title of the message is, The Word of God.

May I tell you, dear friend, that there are many words for this Word. Sometimes we call it the Bible. Sometimes we call it the Holy Scripture. Sometimes we may call it God's revelation.

And we would be correct in calling it all of these things. But do you know what God's favorite name for the Bible is? It is simply this, the Word of God. Now, when you say it is the Word of God, as Hebrews 4-12 says, then that means some things. There's some things that must follow. For number one, if it is the Word of God, that means it must have absolute perfection.

Now you think, here's the logic. If it's the Word of man, maybe some error. But a God of truth, cannot speak error. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16 says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now that means that all Scripture is God-breathed.

It is given by inspiration of God. And a God of truth cannot inspire error. Where you say, Adrian, if it is the Word of God, was it not written down by human beings? Of course it is.

Yes, it was. But that makes it nonetheless the Word of God. Listen to 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

And as we've told you before, this word moved means born along as a ship would be born along with wind in its sails. These writers of the Old Testament prophecies say, it sails up. And even though God used human instrumentality, God used the Holy Spirit to keep these men from error. And so the Bible calls itself the Word of God, written by human instruments, human penmen, but every jot, every tittle, every point, every thought there by the Word of God, every word. So when we call the Bible the Word of God, that speaks of its absolute perfection. I'll tell you something else it speaks of.

It speaks of its wonderful character. Have you noticed that God has the same name for His Son as He does for His book? Have you ever noticed that God calls the Lord Jesus the Word of God and God calls His Bible the Word of God? He calls the Word of God in John chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, the Word, and without Him was not anything made, that was made. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 13 says of Jesus, His name is called, who knows the rest of it? The Word of God. His name is called the Word of God. Now God's name for the Bible is what?

Word of God. God's name for Jesus is Word of God. Now what I'm trying to tell you is that the character of Jesus and the character of the Bible are linked together. If one is fallible, so is the other.

If one is a fraud, so is the other. You see, the same name is used for the Word of the Lord. The Lord and the Lord of that Word. And as you study the Bible, you will find out that Jesus, the living Word, honored the Bible, the spoken Word, and said the Scripture cannot be broken. But as you study the Bible, the written Word, you will find out that the written Word presents Jesus, the living Word, and the written Word makes Jesus its hero.

Now you cannot separate the two. For example, both the Lord Jesus and the Lord of that Word. Jesus Christ in his humanity and the Bible have come from God.

Listen to these Scriptures. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. How did we get the Bible? It was the supernatural work of the Holy Ghost. How did we get the living Word? Galatians 4 verse 4. But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son. Made of a woman.

Made under the law. Both the living Word and the written Word have come from God. Both the living Word and the written Word live forever.

I believe in eternity when we worship, we will use the Word of God set to music. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 25. But the Word of the Lord endureth.

What's the next word? Forever. There will never be a time when the Word of the Lord will not come. The Word of the Lord will not endure. The Word of the Lord endureth forever. Now notice what the living Word says of himself in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 18. I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive evermore. Forever there will be the written Word. Forever there will be the living Word. Both have come from God. Both live forever.

Both are absolutely unchanging. But the third thing and the thing that I want to really tighten up and focus on tonight is that it has something also to do with its authority. Its authority. It is the Word of God. When the Bible speaks, God speaks. And so look at our text again.

Go back to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12. For the Word of God, absolutely perfect, linked to the Lord Jesus Christ in character. Perfect and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Now I want you to notice with me, therefore, in conclusion, finally but not immediately, I want you to notice three wonderful things about the Word of God.

First of all, it is quick. If you have some translations, it may say that it is alive. The word quick means alive. It is zoan. That's the word we get zoology for.

We get zoan from or zoo from. That is that the Bible pulsates with life. This book is not like any other book. This book breathes. This book sings. This book weeps. It is alive in the power that it possesses. There is life in the Bible. You say, Adrian, you're stretching that a little bit. That is only print on paper.

Yes. But my dear friend, the truth that is there, and I hope you believe this. If you don't believe it, you need to believe it. The truth that is here actually has life imparting power. Listen to what Jesus Christ said and put this down and get it big and plain and straight in John chapter 6 and verse 63.

And I want you to listen to it and I want you preacher boys to listen to it. Jesus says, it is the spirit that quickeneth. That is, it is the spirit that gives life.

The flesh profits nothing. And then Jesus said, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. It's alive because it presents a living person. You see, the Bible presents Jesus and the Bible is quick.

It is alive. It pulsates with power. But not only is the Bible quick, the Bible also says of itself in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, look at it, the word of God is quick. And notice the next word, and powerful, powerful. Now that word is energies.

It's a combination of two words. It's like our word energy. That is, the Bible, not only does it have life, but because it has life, it has energy. That means it's a busy book, that it works. You read other books, my dear friend, the Bible reads you. I mean the Bible has incredible power.

It is at work. God's word works. It's not like any other book. Now it's like a sword. Do you see the Bible says the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. It does its work like a sword.

For example, you think of the saints and think of the work that it does on you and the work that it does on me. Has God ever done exploratory surgery on us, that sharp sword? Has God ever done exploratory surgery on you? Has God ever taken the two-edged sword of the word and just split you open? Listen, it does. You see, the word of God divides.

Look at it. The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow. Now what does that mean, dividing asunder between soul and spirit? And the joints and the marrow?

Well, he's making an application. If you had a sword here today and you were to come up to me, you could take that sword and slice me up. You could, first of all, open me up and find my joints and dismember my joints. And then if your knife was strong enough and sharp enough, you could split my bones and find my marrow. Gruesome, isn't it?

But God says that's what his word is like. Now what does the marrow represent? Well, the marrow is the heart of the bones.

The joints are the hinges. Now what's he saying? He's saying that God gets down to your attitudes and your actions, the heart and the hinges, the joints and the marrow. Now why does he mention that?

Well, because of the same thing that he mentions. He says it divides asunder between soul and spirit and the joints and the marrow. Now the marrow is like the spirit. The joints are like the soul. You say, what does that mean? Well, you see, dear friend, when God made you, God gave you a body, and inside that body is a soul and a spirit.

Did you know that? First Thessalonians 2, chapter 5, verse 23 says, And I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the joints and the marrow, that's the body. The soul is the soul and the spirit is the spirit.

It's all right there in Hebrews 4.12. Now the word of God is such a sharp instrument that if it were a literal sword, it could divide the joints and the marrow. Since it's a spiritual sword, it divides the soul and the marrow. And the spirit. Do you know the difference between the soul and the spirit? The spirit is that which makes man absolutely unique and in the image of God. Plants have a body, but they don't have a soul. Animals have a body and a soul, but they don't have a spirit.

Only man has a spirit, because man is made in the image of God, and God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. How important it is, therefore, that we have an instrument that can divide between soul and spirit. So the word of God, one of the things it does when you really get into it, it divides. It divides between soul and spirit.

Oh, what a sharp instrument it is. But not only does it divide, oh my friend, it discerns. Look, once God gets in there and once God takes this sword and God begins to slice you open, why does God separate soul from spirit? Why does God get into you and show you what you really are?

Well, continue to read here. It says, for the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Now, the word discerner here is the word that we get our word critic from, the word of God.

Criticizes you. That's the reason some of us or some people don't like to read the Bible, because when we're reading the Bible, the Bible reads us. My dear friend, when you come to the Bible, first of all, it'll just lay you open. It'll divide between soul and spirit. And once it lays you open, it'll tell you what you are.

It is a discerner of what makes you tick. The Bible does exploratory surgery on the same day. It does corrective surgery on the saints to search the saints, and then it does corrective surgery to sanctify the saints. Has the Bible ever cut anything out of your life? Oh, dear friend, that blessed blade will cut and remove and do radical corrective surgery on you.

Thank God for the sharpness, the sharpness of this word. But not only, dear friend, does it work with the saints, it works with the sinners. Let me show you how the word of God is used as a sword with sinners.

And this thrills me. You could not be a preacher of the word and preach as many times as I preach without being thrilled at the power of the word of God as it deals with sinners. Now, I have seen this book stab people. I mean, it's almost humorous if it weren't so sweet and so blessed.

It's almost humorous. The word of God literally as a sword just stabs people. Reading in the Bible, you find where Simon Peter was taken before a council, and they're the prosecutors, and he's on the defense, but he becomes the prosecuting attorney, and he begins to preach to them. And he's been on the defense, but now he gets on the offense, and the Bible says of this, of Simon Peter in Acts chapter 5 and verse 33, Simon Peter sliced them. They were cut to the heart.

What cut them? Peter's wit, his wisdom? No, my dear friend, that blessed blade. Another illustration, Sweet Stephen, that Bible preaching, Bible toting, Bible quoting deacon who stood up in front of them all and preached one of the most glorious sermons to preach. And the Bible says that when Stephen preached, this is what caused them to stone him. Listen to Acts chapter 7 and verse 54, and when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. That's the word of God, friend.

I've seen it happen so many times. I am telling you that the Bible works with sinners in convicting power, and it is used in converting power. Do you remember on the day of Pentecost when Simon Peter was preaching? And there had been a time when Simon Peter used another sword and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant and got everybody in trouble. What a mess he made. But on the day of Pentecost, Simon Peter took what the Bible calls the sword of the Spirit, and he used that blessed blade, and rather than stabbing people to death, 3,000 people were stabbed alive by the Word of God.

And why? Acts chapter 2 and verse 37 says, And when they had heard this, they were pricked in their heart. Again, the word of God. They were stabbed by the word of God.

Now I'll tell you something else, dear friend. Not only does the word of God have a convicting power and a converting power, it has a condemning power. Notice Jesus says it is a two-edged sword. The Gospel is a two-edged sword.

It was a saver of life unto life, or death unto death. And if the Bible does not cut you to heal you, the Bible will cut you to kill you. My dear friend, one of these days you're going to come to the judgment, and you're going to be judged by the Word of God.

Jesus says that the very words that I speak, they're going to judge you in the last day. One other thing I want you to notice, not only does the word of God cut the saved, not only does it cut the sinner, but I want you to see how it works against Satan himself. You see, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 12, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And in that battle, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 17, And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Friend, when you go to do battle with Satan, don't forget your sword. It works with God.

It is quick and powerful. It works with the saint. It works with the sinner. It works with Satan. Three times Jesus ran Satan through with this word of God. Three times Satan came to Jesus to tempt Jesus. And three times Jesus said to Satan, It is written. It is written.

It is written. And three times Satan is defeated by the word of the writers of it. Never argue with the devil.

He's not worth it. And number two, you'll lose the argument. Never argue with the devil. Point him to the word of God and then step out of the argument. I mean, just use the word of God, and therefore, from then on, his argument is with God himself.

And guess who the loser will be? Listen, the word of God is your chief weapon against Satan. It is the sword of the Spirit. And you can go forth against Satan and some of your battles are going to be fierce. And you better be able to say when Satan gets on your case, It is written.

In these days, you're going to go down if you don't know the word of the Lord and the Lord of the word. It is your sword. It is quick. It is powerful.

It is sharper than any two-edged sword. Are you facing spiritual warfare in your life and need us to come alongside you in prayer? If you can, go to our website homepage at lwf.org slash radio and scroll down. You'll find our prayer wall. There, you'll find the option to either submit a prayer request or pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs. We can't wait to hear from you.

Again, go to lwf.org slash radio. And scroll down to find our prayer wall. When you read the Bible, does it divide, discern, search, and sanctify you? Let the Bible work on your life, revealing what you need to cut out or let go of in order to become more like Jesus. And thanks for studying God's word with us today. Tune in next time for more right here on Love Worth Finding. .