R681 The Word of God Pt, 2

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton on this edition of The Encouraging Word.

Today Dr. Wilton takes us back into our study of Hebrews and he'll be diving into everything from the divine authority of the Scriptures and more. But in the few moments we have before we begin, Dr. Wilton insists I remind you we're available to pray with you right now at 866-899-WORD. If you need someone to talk with or pray with, jot this number down. We're available 24 hours a day as a matter of fact at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 and online as well at www.tewonline.org. It's also a place to discover great resources that will help you grow in your faith.

That's online at www.tewonline.org. Now today's teaching with Dr. Wilton. Now the question is this. When were the books of the Bible recognized as inspired? The answer is that the books of Scripture were immediately recognized as inspired the moment they were written. There was no waiting period for the canon of Scripture to be established. There's another big word by the way.

We're talking about all kinds of things. The apocrypha means hidden books. Canon literally means the standard of authority that determines that the Bible is absolutely true.

The inspired infallible and errant Word of God. When was the canon of Scripture established? The entire canon of Scripture was established as soon as the book of Revelation was completed in the first century, early in the first century. Future church councils, oh they convened if you've studied church history to recognize the canon of the new state church, which was established after Constantine's conversion. In fact, after about 250 years after unbelievable persecution of the Christians.

The state church did not even authorize the canonization of Scripture. The state church merely recognized the obvious heavenly authority of the books of the Bible, which had been affirmed since the apostolic age began. Now when is the apostolic age? The apostles were those men who had witnessed literally the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the apostles were those who lived and only lived immediately during and following the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul, the apostle Peter, the apostle John and the disciples as we know them so well indeed. Now Paul, one of the apostles, he called the gospel Scripture by quoting Luke chapter 10 and 1 Timothy chapter 5. In 60 AD, about 25 or so years after the death of Jesus, Paul recognized all the Old Testament and the gospels as the inspired word of God. Peter gave equal authority to the epistles of Paul alongside the Old Testament. He called both of them the word of God in 2 Peter chapter 3. The New Testament church knew that Paul's writings were the inspired word of God way back then in the first century. The entire Bible as we have it today was recognized as the word of God by the church of the apostles all the way back then in the first century.

Now a couple of other thoughts and I'm going to move on. The Bible, my friends, is superior to all other books ever written so as to be unique and it stands in a class all by itself. It is superior to all science and to all philosophy and to every book written concerning those disciplines in wisdom, literature and otherwise. Take for example in 1903, that famous scientist and those of you that have studied science will remember Herbert Spencer, one of the most noted of all scientists, a brilliant man. Herbert Spencer culminated his long and well recognized scientific career by saying that the universe is made up of five elements.

What were those five elements? Time, force, action, space and matter. What Herbert Spencer didn't know in 1903 was that he was actually unknowingly quoting Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1 which I preached on on Wednesday night. Why? In the beginning, time, God, force, created, action, the heavens, space and the earth, matter.

Well let's go even further than that. Dr Montoy Williams and again some of you I know have studied him. I remember studying him when I majored in English literature in one of my degrees.

He was professor at Bowdoin University, professor of Sanskrit for years and for years, for over 40 years. One of the things that Professor Williams did was that he compiled a study of all Eastern religion philosophy and he compared them to the Bible with these words. This is what Professor Williams said, pile them if you will on the left side of your study table. Place your own Bible on the right side all by itself with a wide gap between the two of them. For there is a gulf between it and all the so-called sacred books of the East which serves the one from the other utterly, hopelessly and forever. The religious writings of the East are not in the same class with the Word of God. Well go back to the Emperor Diocletian.

Boy, he was a troublemaker. Diocletian, if you remember your history, created a column in Nicaea and the column even to this day still reads Extincto Nominee Christorium. Now roughly translated that means that the name of Christ is extinct.

Yet 22 years later, the Council of Nicaea met within sight of that same column to declare that the Bible is the Word of God. What about the French philosopher that infidel Voltaire, born in 1694? What did Voltaire say? Voltaire made that bold unabashed pronouncement that within 50 years the world will hear no more of the Bible.

Yet 50 years after Voltaire's death, we know the Geneva Bible Society used Voltaire's house to print and distribute Bibles. In the mid 20th century, the British Museum purchased from the Russian government the 4th century New Testament manuscript called Sinaiticus. I'm one of those unfortunate beings who have studied part of Sinaiticus.

If you've got a good microphone, my lens, you can have a look at it. And I tell you it is an awesome study of Sinaiticus with Tischendorf discovered in a monastery on Mount Sinai in 1858. On the same day Sinaiticus was purchased for 2.5 million dollars, Voltaire's first edition manuscripts were selling for 13 cents on the streets of Paris. Ladies and gentlemen, I simply want to make an announcement to you today that the Word of God is living and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the dividing of the soul and spirit joints and marrow.

It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom those of us who are in Christ must give an account. The Word of God shall abide forever.

Do I hear an Amen here this morning? And so it is my friends. What does the Bible say it is? I wish that I could stand here today and give you all these definitions but I'm afraid my mere human mentality could never reach that far. What does the Bible say it is? Well in this passage in verse 12 the Bible talks about three things concerning itself.

Number one, it is alive. That's what he says right here in verse 12. The Word of God is living. What is the Word of God? It is alive.

Now what does that mean? It means it's not dead. The Bible is a living organism. The Bible is the living Word of God.

Number two, what is the Word of God? It is not only living but it is active. Now I love that word active. That word active means that the Bible according to God's Word is actively engaged as a living organism, the Spirit of God in the hearts of mankind. Now some of you, your children have grown up, some who do not have children. Folks you want a definition of active? I've got a suggestion for all of you today.

You want to know what active is? Find a couple in our congregation who have got little children. Go to them and say something like this. I've noticed that you've got three or four or five little children. My husband and I or I would like to just do something for you. You bring them to my house next weekend, we'll look after them for you.

You will change in appearance. I promise you because children are active. By the way, could I just say a word to all the young mothers?

I want all young mothers to look at me. It's okay to be stressed out. I'm just telling you something, that precious little bundle over here, Joshua, I tell you I've watched couples who get married and they don't have any children then all of a sudden the bundle of joy arrives.

Always the bundle of joy, but boy does life change. I mean you get up in the middle of the night and no longer can you just get up and go and do whatever you want. I mean it is activity. Let me tell you something about the Bible.

The Bible tells us of itself. Number one, it is alive, it is active. There are four specific things that it is active concerning. Number one, it saves. Number two, it comforts. Number three, it nourishes.

Number four, it heals. I could go on and on talking about the activity of this living Word of God. Number three, not only is it alive, not only is it active, but in the third place the Bible says of itself, it is sharp. It is sharp. Look right there in the second part of verse 12. The Bible says sharper than any double-edged sword. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on The Encouraging Word.

Don't go away. He'll be back to complete today's message in Hebrews in just a moment, but we want to remind you that today's message as well as yesterday's, that was kind of the part one to this two-part series, and so many more resources are on our website right now at www.tewonline.org. You can hear this message as other resources as well, including the video messages from Dr. Wilton, again, on our website at www.tewonline.org. It's also a place you'll discover resources like the one called Is This the End?

So much excitement about what is gaining in the biblical perspective on are we in the end times? There's also a wonderful book resource called The King is Coming. Both are described on our website in great detail, so you can find out how you can get your copy if you'll just drop by. Again, the website is www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org, where you can connect with us on the phone as well. Call about getting your copies at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. Now you want to talk about sharp? Folks, we all know what sharp is.

The Bible says that the word of God is sharp. You know, one of the things that I love to do is go fishing. You can ask my sons and my daughter. I enjoy going fishing. I just don't do it half nearly enough.

I don't know what about it. I love to stand in a boat and catch striped bass or go and fish for trout. I've even tried a little fly fishing.

I love that. My favorite thing to do is to go to the beach. You know, I grew up at the sea, and I just love.

I love the sound of the seagulls and the sand and the crashing waves. I tell you, folks, I can go down to the beach. You know that phrase, hog heaven? You want to give me a definition of hog heaven? Hog heaven is being down at the beach in a home or a condo or something like that, right on the beach, and I can get my big old surf fishing rod, and I can get my tackle box and a chair and bait, peanut butter sandwiches, big old thing of coffee. I'm telling you, I can go down right there where the waves are crashing, get my big old rod, and I can just throw that bait out there or that lure out there or that spoon out there and fish for reds and fish for shad and fish for barracuda, and I can stand there all day, and I could just fish, and it doesn't matter if I don't catch a thing. I'm in hog heaven, but you know what I've done every once in a while, folks? I've gone down there, I've got that big old rod and that big old reel with that big old hook, and I've turned and waited, and I've looked around to see if people are watching me so they can be impressed by the way I fish, and I wait for that moment, boy, and I throw that thing.

The only problem is that hook catches in the back of my leg. It's not funny. Listen, folks, the Bible says that the Word of God, talking of itself, is sharp. It is sharper than any two-edged sword.

Now, what does that mean? It means, number one, it cuts. It cuts.

That's what the Word of God does. It can cut. I want you to just think of a knife. Every time we talk about the Word of God, every time we preach the Word of God, every time we study the Word of God, the Bible says of itself it is sharper than any two-edged sword. It can cut. Number two, it means it can jolly well hurt.

It can hurt. Now, friends, please listen this morning. Talking about the Bible, I'm going to tell you the strangest prayer that any preacher ever prayed. Do you know what I pray once in a while? And probably I ought to pray this every day. Lord, when we come to church and when we study the Bible, please, let it hurt. Let it hurt.

You cannot be cut by the Word of God if it doesn't hurt. Now, folks, listen to me. I have people from time to time, please don't ever stop saying this. I have folks come to me and say to me, boy, pastor, you got all over my toes today. Have you ever felt that before? Have you ever come to church and, man, you know, you're saying, boy, oh, man, how did he know? Oh, how did he know that?

What did my wife tell him? Have you ever felt that, folks? Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. It can cut. It can hurt.

But watch this. It can reveal. That's what it does. It reveals. That's what the Word of God does. Now, folks, listen to me. What is the Word of God?

What is the Word of God? Number one, it is alive. Number two, it is active. Number three, it is sharp. Remember those three words, boys and girls? All right, if anybody ever says to you, now, what is the Bible?

You can say, alive, active, sharp. That's what it is. But you know the Bible doesn't stop there.

If that's what it is, what does it do? The Bible does three things according to this passage. Number one, it penetrates.

Look what he says here again in verse 12. He says it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit joints and marrow. That little word there, penetrate, is the word from which we get our English word, pierce. Pierce is a very piercing word, isn't it? You can almost feel it, penetrate, it pierces.

And the Word of God tells us the extent to which it penetrates. Look here, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit joints and marrow right down to my bones. Have you ever been cut to your bone? Have you ever broken your bone? I remember my oldest son breaking his arm in a basketball game in our gymnasium. I remember the pain that we experienced as a family. I was in a meeting down here in the fellowship hall and they came and called me and I went up there and he was sitting there with his arm like this and, folks, his bone here was literally sticking out.

That's what I'm talking about. The Bible penetrates right down to the joints, to the bone. What does it mean to penetrate? It means, number one, that it opens up. Number two, it means that it explores. And that word there, penetrate, speaks to the capability and the character of the Word of God to search into the very depths of my being. All right, so what does the Word of God do?

Number one, it penetrates. Number two, it judges. It judges.

Look there in the third part of verse 12. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. We've got so many wonderful attorneys at law here in our own congregation.

And I know some wonderful godly men and women who are attorneys and lawyers. Go and speak to them about this matter of judging. The Bible says that God's Word does something. God's Word serves as judge. Well, what does that mean? It means, first of all, that it examines.

It examines. David the psalmist spoke about that quality many times. He said, examine me, try me. Remember the Lord's Supper? Jesus spoke about the Lord's Supper. Paul explained it to the church at Corinth. He said a man and woman ought therefore to examine themselves.

How? By the Word of God, by the Spirit of God. There is a spiritual examination that takes place.

That's part of the judgment that is being meted out upon us by the preciousness of God's Word. Number one, it examines. Number two, it weighs the evidence.

It weighs the evidence. You go into a courtroom, you observe that prosecutor. The first thing he will do, he will examine the witness who is before him.

When he has thoroughly examined, he rests his case. The judge summarizes, turns to the jury, and he says, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have heard the examination. I want you to weigh the evidence and do the third thing, pass sentence, right?

Pass sentence, guilty or not guilty. Now what does the Bible do for us? Every time we study the Word of God, it penetrates, it judges, it examines me, it weighs the evidence, it passes sentence. And friend, the Bible is clear cut. The Bible is going to judge me according to the Word of God, which it is. I'm going to be found guilty or not guilty. The only means by which I am rendered not guilty is when I have been washed and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

Why? Because there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in union with Christ Jesus. I am examined before the throne of God. The evidence is weighed in light of my personal repentant relationship with the Lamb of God and sentence is passed upon me. If I have given my heart to Jesus, I am tried and tested, time passed. I have received what Christ has already done.

If I have rejected Him, I will be judged in the future according to my sin and I will be sent to an eternal separation from Him. There's a third thing that the Bible does, not only it penetrates and judges, but it exposes. It exposes according to verse 13, nothing in all of creation is hidden from God's sight.

What does that mean? It means it uncovers, it uncovers, it lays bare. Nothing is hidden. Oh, beloved friends, I can spend an inordinate number of time trying to hide from the public eye, but I can never hide from the Word of God. It uncovers and number two, it tells the truth. It tells the truth to be exposed by the Word of God means that my life is laid before God Himself and the truth is laid before Him. Now, the question is this, the Word of God abiding forever, what is God's Word saying to you? I'm so glad that I believe the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation.

I wish I could speak to you from the Reader's Digest or the National Geographic, but I cannot do it because God has given me His Word. And perhaps today you've heard more than just Dr. Wilton teaching God's Word. You've heard the Lord remind you that He loves you and has a plan for your life. I pray that as you've been listening and studying along in the book of Hebrews with Dr. Wilton that now as he leaves the pulpit and steps in the studio, you'd open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much, and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you, and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you've prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. If you just prayed along with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Jesus or perhaps to rededicate your life to Christ, you need to know we're excited for you. We want to rejoice with you, and we want to put some free resources in your hands Dr. Don wants you to have. You can call us right now at 866-899-WORD and ask for your free resources if you just gave your life to Christ or rededicated your life.

That's 866-899-9673. You can also connect with us on our website at www.tewonline.org. As a matter of fact, right now there's such excitement about gaining perspective on is this the end? A powerful question.

Again, here's Liz with all the details about this very special resource. Believers around the world are asking these questions. Is Jesus about to come back? Is this the end of the world? Join Dr. Wilton as he answers these questions straight from God's word in his message, Is This the End? Also, as a bonus, you will receive The King is Coming by Erwin Lutzer, renowned theologian and friend. Both of these ministry resources will greatly bless, motivate, and encourage you in anticipation of our Lord Jesus' return. Be assured, God has everything under control.

He is our living hope. Call us at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 and request Is This the End?

In the bonus book, The King is Coming for yourself or your friend today. Thank you for listening and thank you for supporting The Encouraging Word. Now it's time to spread the gospel. That resource and more are available on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. While you're there, consider signing up for the daily devotional from Dr. Wilton. It's available in both a hard copy, a quarterly version, but also email-a-phonically.

You can receive it via email every day by signing up on our website to the bottom of our main page at www.tewonline.org. And also, while you're there, consider discovering more about who Dr. Don Wilton is, who we are at The Encouraging Word. For the last 10 years, we have been privileged to see God use this ministry to change lives on a daily basis. And there are opportunities to take this Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton not just to national but international opportunities, but we won't move until we have the resources. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider financially and prayerfully getting involved behind the scenes of becoming an encourager to The Encouraging Word. Again, the details are on our website, www.tewonline.org, or if you want to call for a brochure, a brochure, as Dr. Don would say, give us a call at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-967-3.