Why is God's Word powerful? Because God guarantees it. Dr. Tony Evans says God's promises don't depend on odds. They rest on His omnipotence. And because God is all powerful, God's Word is absolutely effective. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. There's no doubt that words hold power.
They can leave a mark on us for better or worse. But when it comes to God's Word, that mark can go even deeper. It has the power to cut through confusion and reveal what's true in our lives. Today, Dr. Evans explains how Scripture penetrates our hearts with the ability to bring lasting transformation.
Let's join him as he explains. Isaiah 55 verse 11. It says, So shall my word be, which goeth forth from my mouth.
It shall not return to me empty without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. He makes a statement here about the Word of God that it is powerful. What do we mean by the Word of God being powerful? When we say that the Word of God is powerful, what we're saying is that it accomplishes its designated purpose. In other words, it's not just random power. It's not power out of control. It is not power without purpose. It is purposeful power.
Seven times in the first chapter of Genesis, God spoke the Word. Let there, let there be light. And I like the way it ends. It says, And it was so. Let the water be separated from the land.
And it was so. God's Word is so powerful that it can bring about whatever God's will is because God stands behind His Word. All of us have in our homes electrical outlets. Those electrical outlets are for your appliances so they can plug in and do whatever they were created to do.
Lights come on, refrigerators come on, toasters work, can open, electric can openers can open cans. All of that, all around your house, there are electrical outlets designed to give power so that an appliance can fulfill its created reason for being. But the power is not in the outlet. All the outlet does is give you a contact point for the power to reach the purpose. The purpose is in the appliance. The outlet is the contact point. But the power is in the plant.
It is a power plant providing to your home and my home electrical power coming through electrical outlets so electrical appliances can fulfill their purpose. What God has done in His Word is given you and I a contact point. A point where the physical realm can make contact with the spiritual realm in words we can understand. But the power is not in the appliance or the one receiving it nor is the power simply in pieces of paper stitched together in a book. The power is that there is a God behind the Word who stands behind what He says and thus His Word is powerful like you would view the outlet as being powerful because it is the conduit to introduce the supernatural power of God to our functioning as people in history. There's a little verse I want you to notice in Luke chapter 1.
Luke chapter 1. God has told Mary she's going to have a baby. Now this is blowing her mind because this is not humanly possible. She wants to know how is this possible. She's never been intimate. She's a virgin. So this is an impossible situation. I cannot get pregnant. He says in verse 36, And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age.
That was another impossibility. And she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. So before we ever talk about your problem, Mary, let me tell you about your relative Elizabeth. Your relative Elizabeth has gone all of her life without the ability to conceive. Now she's too old to conceive, but yet she's six months pregnant. So first of all, I want to let you know you're not the only one I'm working with.
I got stuff I'm doing all over the place, including in your own family. But I know you're probably saying, but yeah, it's one thing for a woman to have a husband and get pregnant even though it was impossible for her to get pregnant. Yeah, we'll call that a mini miracle. But what you're talking about now is a maxi miracle.
Because I have not been intimate. God then says to her an astounding phrase in verse 37. He says, For nothing will be impossible with God. Now I want to say a word about the word nothing.
Somebody say nothing. Some of you have in your Bibles a note. Some Bibles have it, some don't. Some may even translate it this way. But the word nothing in verse 37 literally means not any word.
So if we were to put that phrase in where the word nothing is, what God literally says is not any word will be impossible for God. Let me translate what he's saying. He's saying, I just told you, girlfriend, that you're going to have a baby. I know you're a virgin. We want it that way. I know you have never been intimate.
But this is not a normal situation. You're going to give birth to the Son of God. In fact, he told them you shall call his name Jesus in verse 31. And he will be great, verse 32. He will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And his kingdom will never end. And that's when she says, but how can this be? I'm a virgin, she says in verse 34. This cannot be.
God's point was, no, no, you're not listening. I'm working out a plan. This is part of a program. I even have the details. I'm going to tell you what you're going to name him. I'm going to tell you what he's going to do. I'm going to tell you what he's going to be.
And in order to pull this off, I need a virgin. He's got to be the Son of God and the Son of Man. He can't be the Son of God if I got a human man involved. So because of my purpose and because of my plan, I have you in an impossible situation. But don't let your focus, Mary, be on the impossibility of the situation. Let your focus be on my word. Not any word that I say will be impossible with God. Why is God's word powerful?
Because God guarantees it. And because God guarantees his word and because God is all powerful, God's word is absolutely effective. Now, God's word is so effective that it cannot be thwarted in terms of it accomplishing its goal.
We saw that in Isaiah 55. It will always accomplish its goal. Now, I don't care what you try to do to stop it. I don't care what you try to do to hinder it.
Be assured the outcome is not in doubt. Our God who has all power, when he speaks his word to accomplish all that he has set forth to do even when it looks like it's not working because the enemy has thrown what appears to be a curveball. Let me tell you about curveballs thrown at God.
The reason why curveballs can't work when they're thrown at God is because they're thrown at God. You see, God is omniscient. God knows what was, what is, what will be, and what could have been.
He knows all the possibilities. You say, but then why does it look like sometimes God's way is not winning? Because God has allowed in the process of accomplishing his word human decision-making.
That is a reality. He doesn't just pretend that you have a human will and ability to make a human decision. He guarantees that your human decisions will be incorporated into his divine program. Now, it won't determine the program because his word will accomplish his will. He will accomplish his goal. His word is sure. What he says is that his word is sure. His word is effective.
And Dr. Evans will take a look at creation itself as living proof of that power when he returns in just a moment. Now, if you've been encouraged by what you've heard so far today, I hope you'll take a moment to check out the full-length version of this message, and even more importantly, the complete 10-part series it comes from. It's called The Glory of God's Word, and in it, Tony takes a deep dive into the power, purpose, and authority of Scripture. And right now, we're offering the entire collection on both digital download, as well as on either CD or USB flash drive.
They're our thank-you gift when you support the alternative with a financial contribution. Plus, for a limited time, we're also including a powerful companion book from Tony called The Transforming Word, designed to help you not just read the Bible, but receive it in a way that changes your life. Visit tonyevans.org today for the details, or call us at 1-800-800-3222 to make your request.
That's 1-800-800-3222. We'll get back to more from Dr. Evans right after this. I urge you to take this course. Dr. Craig Evans, renowned expert on the New Testament, serves as the special guest lecturer for the Tony Evans Training Center course on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible. It covers very important ground, what they are and what they're not. One of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy of the Bible. These ancient manuscripts offer a treasure trove of historical and spiritual significance. They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and shed light on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to the New Testament. The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus. You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins better than you ever have before.
Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Dive into the Dead Sea Scrolls with special guest lecturer, Dr. Craig Evans. Discover this and other fascinating biblical studies at tonyevanstraining.org.
Explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. If you doubt the power of God's Word, the only thing you have to analyze is creation. For example, the psalmist says in Psalm 33, he says in verse 6 and verse 9 these words, By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his might all their host. Verse 9, For he spoke and it was done, he commanded and it stood fast. Now that's power, because his Word is powerful. It has the ability to create.
It not only creates, but look at what Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 says. And he, Jesus, is the radiance of his, God's, glory. That is, he's the manifestation of God. And the exact representation of his nature.
Let me throw in a little parenthesis. What that means is Jesus is God. You cannot be an exact replica of God without being God.
But look what it says. It says, And upholds all things by the word of his power. God's Word not only creates, but according to this verse, God's Word that creates also sustains. In other words, what he brings into being, he keeps into being until he doesn't want it into being anymore. So God preserves what he creates. Isn't that a good news about your salvation?
The reason you can't lose your salvation is what he creates or recreates, he keeps. That's why John 10 says, Nobody can pluck you out of my hands because it's mine. When Mary was told she was going to have a baby, the first time she said, That's not possible. God says, Oh, there's nothing that's not possible with me. The next verse after that, verse 38, she says, Whatever you say. She said, I'm going to go with your word. It doesn't make sense. Can't explain it.
No medical doctor can advise me on this, but I'm a go with your word. She submitted to what God had said, the power of the word. But look at a great verse in this regard. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12. For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, and both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart.
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. He says the word of God is alive. In other words, the Bible is not dead words on a page.
It says it is a living, breathing document. It says, And the Spirit of God hoover'd over the waters. The earth was without form and void, but the Spirit of God hoover'd over it and animated it. Well, what the Spirit of God did with creation, He does with God's word. He hangs over it and breathes life into it so that you're not reading the Bible like you're reading a novel. You're not reading the Bible like you're reading a history book. You're reading the Bible for it to take on life. And it can take it on because it already possesses it. How do you know when the Bible is becoming alive to you? It's already alive, but how do you know when that life is taking on life in your experience?
It's simple. It's going to cut you. It says, The word of God is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword.
The word active means powerful. So it's alive, and it's powerful, and it's got a double-edged sword. It cuts you both ways. It is sharper than a two-edged sword.
Now, Romans had a two-edged sword. It was sharp on both sides. So if they stabbed you with the sword, it would penetrate you. It would enter you. It would cut you. It would be sharp.
You would die from the incision. It was a two-edged sword, so the whole sword would enter into you, and you would be totally penetrated and separated at the point of entry. He says, if you think that's something, let me show you a sword. He says the Bible is so alive and so powerful that when it penetrates the life of the believer, it can divide soul from spirit.
Now, there's not a sword in the world you've ever heard of that can do that. A sharp knife that cuts you can only cut body. It cannot separate the spiritual you from the personality you. It says the Word of God is so sharp, it can keep you from being confused about what's you and what's God.
Spirit and soul. It is so sharp. In other words, what God's Word does is spiritual autopsy. It slices you open to show you what's in the spiritual inside of you. It opens you up, and He says it's like a two-edged sword piercing. Have you ever been pierced with the Word? Has God ever sliced you open with His Word, either reading it or hearing it proclaimed, and you felt exposed? You ever felt exposed? Have you ever been in church and looked around and wondered if anybody else knew?
Because you were exposed? Well, that's what the Word of God does. That's the cutting of the Word of God. It exposes you to you. It lets you see what God's looking at. It lets you see what God sees, whether good or bad or ugly.
The Word of God lays us bare because it's alive and it is powerful. One of the great things you can do is give God permission to cut you open. To give God permission to do surgery. Why would you give God permission to cut you open spiritually? The same reason you give a doctor permission to cut you open physically. If it's a good doctor, and if the doctor cares about you, he's only going to cut you to help you. A criminal is going to cut you to hurt you.
A doctor is going to cut you to help you. When God permission to slice you open gives him permission to show you stuff you didn't even know was in there. To show you tumors before they have metastasized. To show you things to investigate, if you will. It's like an x-ray machine. An x-ray machine shows you the inside you cannot normally see. An MRI machine lets you see the inside you couldn't normally see.
What? To expose what's really there. That's why it says that there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are open and laid bare.
Put on the operating table and expose. Giving God the right. This idea of separating the soul and the spirit and the joints and the marrow comes from this concept of winnowing.
Winnowing where the shaft would be separated from the grain. The worthless would be broken off and thrown away and that which had substance and significance would remain. What God is saying is I want to slice you open so we can get rid of the stuff that doesn't belong and keep the stuff that has value because right now you've got both of them all mixed up together. We've got to separate them so that that which has eternal benefit continues to operate with you.
So what's the point? The point is simply that what God wants to do with his word is show you his power. Through his word you will come to see him in ways that you could not come to see him otherwise. To try to operate with God apart from his word is to operate with God apart from his power. Sure there's prayer, sure there's dependency on the Holy Spirit, but they all go back to the veracity, truthfulness, and power of his word. Dr. Tony Evans reminding us that God's power is unleashed when we align our lives with the truth of his word.
And he'll return with one final illustration to wrap up today's message in just a moment. But first don't miss your chance to get Tony's powerful 10-part series The Glory of God's Word along with his insightful book The Transforming Word. This is a limited time offer and both resources are yours as our thank you gift when you support the ministry of the alternative. Visit us today at tonyevans.org to make your request or call 1-800-800-3222 to speak with a member of our resource team.
Again that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. In a world overflowing with advice, it's easy to overlook the one source that actually works. Tomorrow Dr. Evans will explain how scripture gives us wisdom, joy, and direction, meeting our deepest needs with divine sufficiency.
Right now though he's back with this closing illustration for today. You've noticed on TV them showing soldiers looking through the night goggles seeing the enemy in the darkness. That's what the Word of God is. It is able to let you see things you can't normally see because God can show you what's happening at night in your heart and in your life. The Word of God is powerful. The Word of God is active. And he will give you the ability to have victory even at night because he will show you what you need to see so that you can deal with what you need to deal with because this Word has power.
