Let's read a couple of verses
with me in Hebrews 4, verse 12 and 13. Hebrews 4. The Word of God is quick and
powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the dividing of the joints
and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. Neither Is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight? But all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." This book
you have that you just read from is more, much more than a mere
book. The word Bible means book much,
much more than a mere book. This is God's word. And I want you to turn over to
John, chapter one with John, chapter one, God's word. God speaking. This is how God
speaks. When you speak, when I'm speaking
right now, what I'm doing is expressing myself. Right? I'm expressing myself. My word
is the expression of me. Right? That's what this book
is. The word of God is the expression
of God. All right? It's the expression
of God. It speaks of someone. And he speaks through this, too. John chapter one, look at the
first three verses here in John one. In the beginning was the
Word. Now, not the Bible. Not the Bible. No, read on. The Word was with
God, and the Word was God. So he's talking about someone
here, not a thing, not a book. Talk about a person, isn't it?
A person who is the expression of God. Verse 2, the same, or
this one, was in the beginning with God. All things were made
by him. And without him was not anything
made. that was made. You remember in
the beginning where it says, God spoke and said, let there
be light. That's the first thing he created,
wasn't it, Deborah? When God first spoke, expressed himself,
first thing, light. It's all so significant. Verse
fourteen, look at verse fourteen, the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. and we beheld his glory." Who? The Word, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse
seventeen, the law was given by Moses, or the written word,
yes, but grace and truth came by this person, Jesus Christ. All right, now turn back to Hebrews
chapter four. So you see, when the Word, when
it talks about the Word, it's not talking about a mere book. talking about a person. And this is what the old writers would call the
incarnate word. Incarnate, the word carnal, flesh
comes from that word incarnate, in flesh, God manifest in flesh,
incarnate word. That's what that means. The incarnate
word, or that is The word was made flesh. Maybe we ought not
to use incarnate, just say the word was made flesh. But Christ, Jesus Christ is the,
Hebrews says, express image of God. God's the spirit. Now listen, God's the spirit.
Nobody's ever seen God. Never will. God's the spirit. Doesn't it say that? Scripture
says he dwells in lights which no man can approach unto. Can't
do it. A consuming fire. Flesh can't
get near it. But God became flesh. God does not speak out loud per
se. He's spirit. But God became a man and spoke
to men. Jesus Christ speaking as a man,
the written word. Now, the written word that you
have right here, this is the written word, talking about the
incarnate word, person. The written word is all that
he did and said, recorded. The written word is Christ's
person and work, recorded. All right, and yet it's more
than words. This is more than work. This is more than just
a book. It's more than words on paper.
This is what God uses to work. Just like in the beginning, when
God in Genesis there said, Let there be light, and how he did
it was he spoke. God works now through this written work. This
written work. the word and how as it speaks
of Christ as it reveals Christ to you. All right, look back
at Hebrews four here. Now, listen, I'm not talking
about this being a magical book with magical powers. If you just
open it up, you know, it'll just not at all. Not at all. I could set a match to this piece
of leather and paper right now and I had too much respect for
it to do that, but I'm just telling you, it's just millions of these. But yet what's in here? The Word is what God uses, is
how God works. Powerful. If God the Holy Spirit
takes what's in here and uses it, power is exerted. up here in Hebrews 4, and this
is what he's saying here. And now listen, why did I talk
about Christ, the Word? Why don't I talk about the written
Word? Because they're synonymous. They're one and the same. Everywhere
you read Word, you can substitute Christ for it. Isaiah 55 came that close to
telling you to turn there. Because it says everything Hebrews
4 said, doesn't it? The Word. We might get there eventually.
Well, look here at Hebrews 4, verse 12. The Word of God is
quick. The Word of God. Who's that?
What's that? The Bible? Well, no, Christ must have the
preamble. We're going to talk about him
first. Christ is quick. The Word of God, the Word was
with God, the Word was God. The Word was made flesh. Christ
is quick. What's quick, man? It doesn't
mean fast. That's what we think of, don't
we? We mean runs fast. Well, if God sends it, it runs
well and works quick. But the Word here is life. Life. The Word of God is Look at 1
John, 1 John, the first epistle of John, chapter 1. Christ is
life. He is life. And the way that
he produces life is through this right here. This is the seed. Christ is the seed. Christ is the seed. Yeah, but
this is the seed. You see? Some of you do. Christ
is life. Look at 1 John, chapter 1, verse
1 and 2. That which was from the beginning. That, John, what are you talking
about? That. You remember when the angels
announced the birth of Jesus Christ to Mary? They said, this is exactly what
they said, that holy thing which is in you. He said, Rebecca, they didn't
know what to call it. There's never been anything like
it before. God had never entered a body
before. He had now. God was a fetus. The angels didn't know what to
call it. What do we call it? God, we call it man. What do
we call it? We'll say that. They said, that
which is in you is of the Holy Ghost. And John, when he saw
him, too, when John saw his power and his glory and his person
and his work, he said, Is he God? Is he man? What is he? That,
read verse one, which from the beginning, which we've heard,
is not just a man. Some came to take him one day,
and they said, and they came back mesmerized. They said, Where
is he? They said, No man spake like
this man. When he spoke, it wasn't a man speaking. No, he's not
just a man. The same thing can be said for
this word when God uses it upon somebody. The Thessalonians one
time, Brother John, the Thessalonians heard Paul preach and they received
it as the word of God, didn't they? Not as the words of man,
but as it was in truth, the word of God. That which we've heard, which
we have seen with our eyes, is he man? The disciples touched
him. Read on. We've looked on him.
We've handled him. What is he? The word of life. Read on. Life was manifested. We've seen it and bear witness
and show unto you that eternal life. Life. So the text says the word of
God is life. Christ is life. All life comes
from him. Listen. Scripture says in him
we live and move and have our being. All flesh receives its
life, its being, from Jesus Christ. Yes, sir, he's life. He's the
author of life. All receive their breath from
him. All receive their permission
to live from Jesus Christ. whether they believe him or not.
That's so. But especially spiritual life.
I want you to turn 1 John 5 a few pages over. Spiritual life, though. True life. Real life. The life
of God. 1 John 5, verse 12. Look at this. He that hath the
Son hath life. You say, but I have life, preacher.
I'm breathing. That's not life. That'll end. Life he's talking about is eternal
life, real life, life more abundant, much more. It's eternal. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. I don't care how alive they feel
or what this and that and the other they're involved in. Well, Christ is life. The word is quick, quick, and
Christ uses this word right here to create life, to create life. James, you don't have to turn,
but James 1.18 says, Of his own will begat he us, or gave birth
to people, by the word of truth. Couldn't have said that, John,
James 1.18. And then over in 1 Peter 1, it
says, we are begotten of incorruptible seed, which is the living word of God,
the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. And then
he said in verse 25, and this is the word which is by the gospel
preached unto you. This is how God, the preaching
The sowing of seed, a preacher is like a fellow with a bag of
seed, throwing it out there. God the Holy Spirit, and that's
what it is, the Word, and more importantly, Christ. He's preaching
Christ, preaching Christ, Christ, Christ, preaching, sowing, spreading
the news of Christ. But the Holy Spirit's got to
make that seed, got to plant it. There's a heart, there's
one of my chosen, there's one of my elect, and he puts that
word, that gospel, which is life. Life, see the life's in the gospel
if that person hears it and sees it. If it takes root in the heart,
life comes forth, eternal life. This word through Christ. Now,
I look at the next word here in Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4. Some of you prove right now that
you have that life, because you're interested. You're interested. Those that don't have it are
not interested. It's as clear as that. The Word comes and opens
the ears to the truth, opens the eyes, loosens the tongue,
plows up the heart. All right, verse 12. Look here
at Hebrews 4, verse 12. It says, The Word of God is powerful. The Word of God, the Bible, well,
we're talking about Christ here, aren't we? We're talking about
the incarnate Word, the Word made flesh. We're talking about
the written Word. It's powerful. Now listen to
me. Jesus Christ is not a powerful
person. People say about, you know, they
say some rich fellow says he's a powerful person. They see this
strong man and say, He's a powerful man. Jesus Christ is not a powerful
person. He said, All power is given unto
man. He's not a powerful person. He
is all power. It all comes from Him. He has
all power. He is power personified. Powerful. Christ has all power, not just
a powerful person. Power over all flesh. And every
other power, whether it's a rich man or a strong man, receives
their power from him. Scripture says this. He says,
I kill and I make alive. Death had no power over him,
did it? Death had no power over Christ,
did it? Uh-uh. He had the power of death. He said, no man takes my life
from me. Why? I'm life. Death has no power over him.
He has the power of death. He has the keys of it on his
side. He decides. Nobody dies until
he says so. Nobody lives unless he says so.
Right? He's not a powerful person. He
is power. And all authority comes from
him. He wounds, he heals. No germ has more power than he
does. He controls every germ. Right? All right. The written word. Christ. Now, the written word
is powerful. Powerful. This has been the means. This has been the main what I'm
doing right now. It's been the means that God
has used from the beginning of the world to absolutely change. Well, not changing his will,
but to fulfill it. This has been the means that
God has used from the beginning, just like he created in the beginning
with a word. He didn't God didn't take his
hand and he just spoke. He just spoke, let there be. And God has made his people and
made everything to happen that has happened down through the
world, down through the ages, by the speaking and the preaching
of his word. Preaching of his word has been
the means that God has used to control this world. Listen, whether
men and women believe or even read this book. They're fulfilling every page
of it. Whether people read this book or believe it or do their
utmost to go against it, they're fulfilling it. It's amazing.
I still get amazed. I still never cease to marvel
at all the modern education and modern technology that man comes
up with, yet they come right back to what God said from the
very beginning. And they make the same mistakes.
They do exactly what God said they did, in light of, or in
spite of, higher learning. And that's what God said. He
said, professing themselves to be wise, they become fools. Rejecting God's word, absolutely
rejecting it, thumbs down. Yet they come right back to it.
Let me just give you an illustration. You know, there was, for so long
a time, there was this, in Raising children, disciplining children
is a public outcry. Don't spank your children. Don't. Oh, you shouldn't do that. That's
so barbaric. Do not do that. We're above that. Just time out. That'll do it.
Time out. It'll work. We've been educated
now. What you need to do is time out. Send them to their room. Yeah,
we're Nintendo and we're the TV. That's real punishment. Yeah,
that'll work. It'll work. The American Pediatric
Society, not too long ago, put out a paper that said, they have
come to the conclusion that children who have been spanked are more
well-rounded children. That's just one among many. I
just want to bring that up. But they come right back to it,
right back to the truth. Rejected, thumbs down. We're
above that now. We're above that now. It's the word of his power. He
controls all, works all things, especially this thing of salvation. Some of you have absolutely been
transformed, a new creature. What did it? Personal resolve. turn it over a new leaf. Psychologists, sociologists,
school counselors, programs, tough law program. I did it. A man standing in a pulpit doing
what I'm doing right now, preaching the Word. And God Almighty, through
His Holy Spirit, saying, now, boom, power. Look at the next line here says
it's sharper than a two-edged sword. Sharper than a two-edged
sword. Sharp. Look at Revelation 1.
Turn over to Revelation chapter 1. Sharp. What's sharp mean? It means cutting. Cutting. Got a good sharp knife or something,
it'll cut you on it. Sharp. Cutting. When Christ spoke,
when Christ speaks, he cuts. He cuts. He never, he never soft-soaked
or minced words or, you know, I don't want to offend you. Oh,
exactly what we need is offended. Isn't it? That's exactly what
we need to do. What if a surgeon, and the whole
picture here is a surgeon who gets you on the operating table.
We'll see in a moment. What if a surgeon said, I really
don't want to, I hate to do that, I don't want to cut you. Some
of you wish they hadn't. But if we're going to get to
the problem, we've got to cut wound, right? Lay open. Well, Christ spoke and he cut
to the bone, cut to the heart. Cut men down. Tell y'all not
to cut people down like that. We need cutting down because
Scripture says he that is cast down. I'll raise that. Cut out the heart. Christ cuts
out the heart. You cut my heart out. We need
it cut out. Didn't he say there in Ezekiel
36? I'll give them a new heart. They
need a new heart. One that's all bad. It's diseased. When Christ spoke, often there's
no more heart in them. How sharp is it? Piercing. Piercing,
Revelation 1, 16, it says, he had in his right hand seven stars,
and out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword. That's Christ. The whole, Revelation 1 is a
description of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I often poke
fun at those pictures people have of that fellow, you know,
with the long hair and the little pointy beard, looks like Wild
Bill Hickok. That's who he is, not Lord Jesus,
just Wild Bill Hickok. You look at a picture of the
Old West, there's an old fellow named Wild Bill Hickok. Looks
just like that guy. You say, oh, boy, you're being
crude. That's an idol. That's not Jesus
Christ. Right here he is, right here
he is described, Revelation 1. That picture up there, I don't
see a sword come out of his mouth. I don't see a face shining as
the sun in all its countenance, like this Revelation 1 says.
No, you can't paint that! God paints it in his people's
hearts. The light, the knowledge, the glory of God. And they say
he's too glorious to paint a picture of. It wouldn't do him justice. We don't worship Wild Bill Hickok. We worship him who has a sword
coming out of his mouth. I was standing. Except to say
it's it's this right. Read back in the text now. Hebrews
four. What is this sword? He says it's
sharp. How sharp is it? First, well,
it pierces piercing. Piercing. It pierces, I mean,
it probes it cuts the probes to the death. Look at it, verse
twelve, dividing asunder, splitting wide open. Splitting wide open. What's dividing? Well, you divide
something. You separate it, don't you? Divide,
you separate. Now, read on. It says, dividing asunder the
soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow. You see, the
picture here is of a surgeon opening up somebody, splitting
them open. Just keep splitting. He's dividing
the dermis from the epidermis, the sub, whatever, you know,
the tissues are. He keeps cutting, cutting, dividing,
dividing, dividing. It cuts away the muscle from
the bone, and on and on and on it goes, right? Dividing, separating. Well, look here what it says
that Christ and the Word divide. Verse twelve, the soul and the
spirit. What's that talking about? It
divides the soul and the spirit. Well, that which I'm not sure I can
totally, I don't completely understand it myself, much less make it
understandable. But here's what some more knowledgeable
than me say, that the soul is the natural.
or that which animates the body. It's human life. All right? God breathed, then the Adam he
became a living soul. All right? The life of God is
what? Spirit. Spirit. The Word of God, Christ separates
or divides between or differentiates between the natural and the spiritual. Are you following me? Soul and
spirit. Christ knows his sheep from his
goats. Goats look alive, don't they?
They have a soul, they don't have a spirit. He said, and how does his sheep,
how do they have this spiritual life? They hear his word. They
hear his voice. That's how they get it. You know, it's not so, they're
not so easily distinguished by men, are they? Just like me,
I'm trying to tell you soul and spirit, and I can't easily distinguish
them or define them, right? So it is sometimes with people
that appear to be God's people and people that are God's people.
Who knows? Christ said, I know my sheep.
How does he know? He said, I send my speak and
they follow me. My word. You see that? It slips. His word divides them. Sheep
follow him. Goats, you know what goats do?
What are goats known for? Anybody ever had a goat in here?
Do you just, do you, when you go out there and approach that
goat, do you just turn from him, kind of walk, kind of calmly
walk away from that goat? Keep your eye on him. Why? He'll
butt you. He'll butt you. And that's, that's
just exactly what unbelievers do to the Word of God. They say,
the Scripture says in Romans 9, Purpose of God according to
election must stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was
said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. Jacob hath
but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but. Wait a minute, I'm just reading
God's Word. Yeah, but. There must be a goat. Sheep hear that and say, Oh,
more, more. Keep eating, eat it. More, more,
more. No buts. No buts. I love that description Brother
Bill Clark gave of the sheep and the goats in Africa. He said, and this is a good illustration
here, dividing asunder between the soul and the spirit, or that
which is not easy to divide. Brother Bill said, over in Africa,
there are sheep and goats that look just alike. I mean, they're
goats that look just like sheep. You can't hardly tell them apart.
But the trained eye can. He said, because he said the
goats, the goats walk around with their tails sticking straight
up. Stick their tails straight up
in the air. You've seen turkey and roosters,
and anything that sticks his tail up is strutting, right? I am somebody. He's just a goat. Turkey. Oh, no, I'm somebody. I'm something. I'm worth something.
Sheep have their tails tucked between their legs. Is that a
good illustration? That's the difference between
God's people and those who are not. humility as opposed to self-righteous
pride. Big difference. Soul and the
spirit. The word of God divides, asunder. And, oh, there's so much more. Emotions. Religion is not, salvation
is not emotion. Everybody gets in trouble and
sicknesses and deaths and problems come, and everybody gets religion.
That doesn't mean salvation. That's not salvation. Salvation
is not getting in trouble and seeking somebody to help me out
of my trouble. Salvation is from sin. That's how these preachers get
all these mobs of people to come down front and accept Jesus,
you know. They say, you've got this, you've
got that, you've got arthritis, you're in trouble, aren't you?
You've got drugs and problems and all that. Come on, Jesus
will help you. Well, yeah, I've got problems and everybody comes
down in a fit of emotion and music playing and feeling something
comes up. Feeling, feeling, feeling. That's
not salvation. Salvation's a soul of a soul. Salvation is the soul troubled
by sin. Salvation's a person laboring,
heavy laden in their sin, and coming to Christ to put their
sins away. That's salvation. It's not based
on feelings of trouble, but If we come to Christ, it doesn't
mean our troubles are over. It means they might really, really
start beginning. You see, it separates the soul
from the spirit. Mere passion or an emotional
religion from a soul-needing, spirit-needing of Christ. You follow me? Well, look at the next thing.
The word divides the joints and the marrow. The joints and the
marrow. Now we're getting down to specifics.
When you think of joints and marrow, I wish I'd have brought
an old bone. They're all over my yard. I wouldn't have had
to look far. The old bone, deer bone, he drug
up somewhere. You hunters, old bones have ligaments
and tendons and even parts of a joint still stuck in the end
of that bone, don't they? That joint is kind of a, you
know what I'm saying. It's hard to separate that. That
thing is vitally connected down through that bone. The very marrow
holds that together. So what it's talking about, the
joints and the marrow. Look over at Luke chapter twelve with me.
Luke chapter twelve. The Word of God, Christ, the
Scripture, divides that which seems to be inseparable. Did
you hear me? The Word of God divides what
seems to be inseparable. All right, what's the old saying
about blood and thicket and water, right? And you know how it is. Family
ties. You got the same name. I'm telling
you, it's strong. Strong tie, isn't it? Strong tie. Not as strong as
Christ. People seem to be inseparable.
Sisters, brothers, brother and sister, mother and her daughter. So it seems to be father and
his son, and father and his daughter, and vice versa. seemingly inseparable. Why, nothing. They're life to me. Not when
Christ comes along. Look here at Luke 12, verse 51.
Luke 12, verse 51. Christ said, From henceforth
there shall be five in one house divided. Divided asunder. Three against
two, two against three. Brother Todd Neibert, I'm going
to preach here next weekend. His wife, Lynn, his wife named
Lynn, or maiden name is Moore, Lynn Moore. Three children in
that family, Lynn, Leanne, and Chuck Moore. All right? Those three children loved the
gospel, believed the gospel, loved dearly the gospel. Neither one of their parents
want anything to do with it. Despise it. Todd's father-in-law
absolutely despises the gospel he preaches, while his own daughter
loves it. It's her life. Three against two, two against
three. Read on. It says in Luke 12,
verse 53, "...the father shall be divided against the son."
Joints and marrow he can separate. He sure does. Son against the father, mother
against the daughter, daughter against the mother, mother-in-law
against her mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
divided. Christ said, I didn't come to
bring peace, but a what? A soul. Dividing joints and marrow. seemingly
inseparable. I'll never separate us. Right there, you're looking at,
and she used to be Mindy Ballard, a daddy's girl. I mean a daddy's
girl. She'd never left the town of
Asheville. She'd never been kissed till I kissed her. That's not
so. But I wanted to think that, you
know, when she was about 18. But a daddy's girl, homebound. Ashland bound. City slicker. You'll never get her away from
daddy. You'll never get her away from Ashland. No sir, not crossing
the bridge. Not going anywhere. She met a
man. Well, give me the benefit of
the doubt. She met someone, you see, and
she left her father and mother. Go where you go to cleave to her husband. Love will do that. And so will love for Christ in
the gospel. It'll do that. Daddy, I want so badly for you
to love this Christ I love. Believe this gospel I believe.
Oh, how I love it. But you don't. And I'm here to
tell you, Christ is my life. You have me, you have my Christ. And quite often, that is, they
say, quite often there's an absolute, a literal irreconcilable differences,
even in blood relation. What's the irreconcilable difference?
They will not be reconciled to God. You're God. You're God. Nor you. It's a difference. It's a division because of him.
A division. Well, and I close with this.
In verse 12, it says, "...a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart." Boy, I like that. God's Word exposes us, gets down
to our very thoughts and motives and our heart. Has it happened
with you that the Word of God is read or preached, that it
absolutely exposes exactly what you're thinking and feeling at
that very moment? Has it happened with you? Are
you and your husband, or are you and your wife talking about
something in particular the night before, and the man stands up
and absolutely addresses it from the Word of God, almost like
he's listening to him? Christ is the Word, and it was
said of Christ when the Pharisees were standing over the side,
and he was quite a ways from them, and it says, perceiving
the thoughts of their heart. And he said, Why are you reasoning
in your heart that the... He knows our thoughts. He sure
does. He sure does. That's what verse
13 says. There's no creature that's not
manifest in his sight. It's all naked and open before
the eyes of him. with whom we have to do. And
you know, there's nobody impassive about this, sitting in a crowd
like this. Nobody's impassive. Nobody unaffected. Some appear not to be affected,
but nobody's unaffected. Didn't he say there in Isaiah
55? My word will not return void. It draws a line. It separates. Indifference shows Maybe a hardening. The Word sometimes hardens hearts.
But the ones that are God's people, the Word keeps piercing, keeps
piercing. It's a two-edged sword. I like
this. It's a two-edged sword. It's a two-edged sword. One edge
is used for cutting wide open, cutting down. The other edge
is used for healing. Right? Same word which cuts and wounds
also heal. Christ, the mom of Gilead. All right. Best I can do. Joe, you got a hymn? 227.