Good to be with you again, and
I want to say I thoroughly have enjoyed, on behalf of my traveling
partner, Bill, myself, we've enjoyed our visit with Sherry
and Stan. I appreciate your hospitality
and appreciate your pastor. me to come and be with you today.
I was thinking about the cross, or you were singing about the
cross, and it reminded me of this Scripture here. Paul said,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We've got room to boast in Him,
and I hope God will give us the grace to see what He accomplished
on the cross for us guilty sinners. I want to talk to you tonight,
I want to go back to the book of Hebrews again, chapter four,
Hebrews chapter four. I want to look at just one verse
right here, Hebrews chapter four, very familiar verse with a lot
of folks. Verse twelve, Hebrews four, verse
twelve. He says, for the word of God
is quick. Quick. And the word there means
living. Remember, Paul said, you have
the quickened, made alive, who were dead. The word of God is
quick, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, and it's
piercing. And it's piercing even through
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. and of the joints
and marrow. And this word of God here is
a discerner of the thoughts and intent of the heart. I want to
take a look, a good look, at this verse right here. Do you
ever sometime... You know, in reading Scripture,
I'm not an expert on this, but in reading Scripture, a lot of
times I think we try to take in too much. We might try to
read maybe a chapter, two chapters, or whatever. That's too much.
As you read and study God's Word, it's so—the depth of His Word
is infinite. Just take a verse or a word.
I can get—I can look at a word all day. Redemption. You plumb
the depths of redemption for me. Salvation. God's mercy. So as we look at His Word, we
need to keep in mind the depth of Scripture and just maybe look
at a phrase or a verse or a word and meditate upon these things.
You remember David said he laid upon his bed and meditated upon
the Word of God. And Paul told Timothy, he said,
give yourself wholly unto these things and meditate upon them.
And God will bless us. I know this. God will bless His
Word, this Word of God that we're privileged to have. Oftentimes,
myself, I include myself, we neglect it. But you know what
we're neglecting? We're neglecting a great blessing
from neglecting his word, because God speaks to us, I hear, through
his word. So let's look at this verse here
closely. He said, "...for the word of
God." The word of God. Now, let me ask you a question.
Does the word of God here mean the incarnate word? Our Lord
Jesus Christ, you know, he is in Scripture called the Word
of God, isn't he? In Scripture, he's called the
Word of God. Look over at Revelation 19, and we'll see that. Revelation
19, and we'll see that he's called the Word of God in Scripture.
Revelation 19, verse 11, he said, I saw heaven open, and behold,
a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful
and True. And in righteousness he doth
judge and make war, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and
on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself." Now watch this, "...and he was
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called..."
What is that? "...the Word of God." So Christ
our Lord is called the Word of God. You know, look back at 1
John, chapter 5, I believe it is, and when John writes there
and he talks about the Trinity, notice 1 John 5, 7. 1 John 5,
7. He said there's three that bear
record in heaven. The Father, what's that there?
The Word. The Word, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, and these three are one. So we see Christ is called the
Word of God. The Word of God. Now, does this
here mean The incarnate Word, God manifested in the flesh,
or, think with me now, or does this verse reply or have reference
to the written Word of God? The Bible, the inspired Word
of God, the inspired Word of God. And I, as preparing this
message, as I often do, I read several different men on it to
see what they had to say. And there's two camps of thought
here. And you find John Owen, John Gill, and others say that
the writer is referring to Christ our Lord, the incarnate Word.
In the other camp, you find this. John Calvin, Matthew Henry, and
others declare it's the scriptures that the writer here is calling
the Word of God. Is there a conflict here? No
conflict here. No conflict here. Terry's back
there shaking his head. No conflict here. I like what
Spurgeon said, and our pastor wrote in his commentary as well,
Pastor Henry. He said it's neither one or the
other, but it's both. It's both, isn't it? It's both. And why can't it be both? Why
can't it be both, the incarnate Word and the written Word? The
Christ of God and the book of God, Christ and the scripture,
must go together. They must go together. There
is much that can be said of our Lord may also be said of his
word. He's holy, his holy word. He's merciful, his word is merciful.
You see, join the two together, weave the two together into one
thought. God has joined them together,
and the scripture says what God has joined together, he's joined
these together. He said, let no man put asunder.
I don't want to put asunder what God has joined together. So it's
both here. You cannot separate the revealer
from his own revelation. You can't do it. Any more than
you can separate the sunlight, the sunshine from the sun, the
sunlight from the sun. You can't separate it, can you?
They're both the same. So that's the way we look at
scripture. With that in mind, As Christ reveals God, the scripture
said, No man knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whom
the Son will reveal him. The glory of God is seen where?
In the face of Christ. Christ reveals who God is. So
this book here, it reveals the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
sum, substance, and subject matter of this book. He said all things
are written concerning himself there in Luke 24. So it's most
accurate, then, to interpret this verse as relating both to
the Word of God incarnate, Christ our Lord, and the Word of God
inspired. The Word of God is both. The Word of God is both. With that in mind, let's look
at this verse here. And next, the first thing we
see here, he said, is the Word of God. We see that the Word
here spoken of is divine. It is of God. It's of God. It's divine. There can be no
question No question in the believer's mind as to the deity of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was sent of God, but he who
came is the Almighty God. No doubt about that. He is the
Almighty. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And that Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the old and begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. You see, he remained what he was, eternal, unchangeable,
holy God, and became what he was not, flesh and dwelt among
us. But he remained what he was, eternal God. Eternal God. Paul said, without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness, how God was manifest in the flesh. Manifested in the flesh. You
remember in John 14. Philip said, Show us the Father. Do you remember that? He said,
Show us the Father. When our Lord said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life, he said, Show us the Father. And our Lord
turned and said to him, Philip, have I been so long with you,
and you haven't known me? If you see me, you've seen the
Father. Like that scripture you read,
Henry, I and the Father, we're one. We're one together. You
see, the Lord Jesus Christ is God. God manifested in the flesh. The deity, the divine nature
of God, dwelt in this man. In him dwell all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body, in a body. So believers don't put
a question mark around the deity of Christ. He is God come in
the flesh. Now, in regards to his written
word, neither do believers put a question mark around his written
word. You've got great problems, friend,
when you start doubting what God says. Now, the sheep don't
butt to his word. The goats do. The sheep bow to
authority of Scripture. Believers don't put a question
mark around his written word. The Scripture says all Scripture
is given by what inspiration of God, and it's profitable unto
us. Profitable unto us. Now, we know
this about the Scripture. Look over at 2 Peter. 2 Peter,
chapter 1. 2 Peter, chapter 1. 2 Peter 1, verse 20. He said, "...knowing
this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private
interpretation." That is, it is not the invention and composition
of men. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
they were moved." You see, it wasn't by the will of man, but
notice what it said here. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved, inspired by the Holy Ghost. It wasn't a human impulse,
but it was a divine influence upon them. God spoke through
them men, and as God spoke through them, they penned the words.
The Bible is verbally inspired, or God-breathed, and believers
don't put a question mark around that. It's the Word of God, Christ
and His written Word. Now, next we see this. Now, look
back at our text in Hebrews 4.12. He says, For the Word of God
is quick. And the word there means living,
living, living. The word of God is alive. The
Lord Jesus Christ is life himself. He is life. To know him is to
have life. He is the son of the living God,
this one true and living God. He said, I am that living bread
which came down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and never
die. He is life. He said in Revelation,
he said, I am he that liveth, and was dead, behold, I am alive
forevermore. He ever lives to make intercession
for us, and because he lives, we live in him. That's the only
reason we have life, is because Christ is no longer in that tomb.
He arose victorious over that tomb, and he's seated at God's
right hand. That which is true of the head.
Christ is the head of the body of the church. Is that not right?
That which is true of the head is true of the body. If the head
lives, the body lives. And we're already seated in Christ,
in the heavenlies, in him. Believers now, in the purpose
of God, now we're already seated in the heavenlies, in him. But
he is light, because I live. In him we live and move and have
our being. He is light. and his word, his
precious written word. While God liveth, and he liveth
eternally, his word shall live on, in contrast to our words
which pass away. Our words pass away. You give
me the books that were written As old as this book is. Where
are they? They're gone, aren't they? They're gone. God preserved
his word for us. His word lives on. He said, Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Look at, turn over to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. Notice what
he says here. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 24. He said, For all flesh is as
grass. And that's us, isn't it? All
flesh is as grass. And the glory of man as a flower
of the grass, the grass withers, the flower thereof falleth away. But he said the word of the Lord
endureth forever, from everlasting to everlasting. And this is the
word which by the gospel If we're going to preach the gospel, we
must preach the gospel from this word. This is what he said, the
gospel is preached unto you from this word, from this word. His
word's eternal. It ever lives. He ever lives
on. And our living God takes his word. And where his word
comes in, his word creates life where it comes in. He said, the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are
life. Look back at first Peter again.
He said, being born again, not of a corruptible seed, but of
an incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. You see, he takes that living
word, him who is life. He takes that living word and
penetrates our soul and gives us spiritual life through that
word. He said in James, of his own
will begat he us. with the word of truth with his
word the word of God the living God takes his living word and
creates and gives to us eternal life that was by nature we don't
have and which by nature we cannot merit you see the wages of sin
is death but the gift of God is eternal life. That's what
I need. I need someone to give me a gift. I need someone to
give me sovereignly of his own volition and will and power to
reach down and give this dead sinner life. That's what's wrong
with this Arminian gospel. They want the sinner to do something
for God. You tell me how a dead man can
do anything to please God. God must give life. God must
give life. He that has a son, he that has
a son, that man has life. If you don't have Christ, friend,
whatever else you have in this life, whether it be health, prosperity,
or wealth, or popularity, if you don't have Christ, you don't
have life. Now you have physical life, you
have mental life, you have emotional life, but you don't have spiritual
life. Because we're all by nature, we're born dead in trespasses
and in sin. God must come and quicken us
and give us life. And his word is living, the living
word of God. Now look back at the text. He
said the word of God is quick. You see that? It's alive, living,
the living Word of God. Now notice the second part. He
said the Word of God, the next point, is powerful, powerful,
powerful Word of God, effectual, powerfully effectual. The Lord
Jesus Christ is not only living, but he's all-powerful. Now, we
could spend the rest of the evening right here talking about Christ
our Sovereign King. A lot of people today want to
talk about Jesus as Savior, but very few people want to talk
about the enthroned Christ, the Lord, the God-man. God had made
that same Jesus whom you crucified, Lord and Christ. You don't know
who that is. God made him Lord and Christ.
You see that? People often say, make him your
Lord. No, you don't do that. He's already
Lord. God made him Lord. God highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. But
he's on his own. I, God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is seated in the heavenlies, and he rules sovereignly over
all things. In creation, he created all things
by the word of his power when expert things came into existence. He's sovereign over creation,
he's sovereign over providence. The things he brings to pass
in our lives is for his glory, and it's for our eternal good,
for our good. And he's sovereign in salvation. The Father hath given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as the Father hath given him. All power, he said, in heaven
and on earth is given unto me. You remember in Psalm 115, the
heathen asked David, said, David, where is your God? You see, they
knew where their God was. They could see their God. They
set him up in the temple. They carved, they whittled him
out of a piece of stone or a piece of wood. They could see his God,
their God. But they asked David, where is
your God? And David's reply was, our God
is in the heavens, and he has done whatsoever he has pleased. You see, He's the sovereign Christ. He's the enthroned Christ. He's
the victorious Lord. He's not defeated. He's not frustrated. He accomplished all that He purposed
to do in redemption. And He said He always did the
things that pleased Him, His Father. And the Father said,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. He shall not
fail, the Scripture says, nor be discouraged, in Isaiah 42.
He's the conquering Savior. He's all-powerful. And when this
king speaks, the Scripture says where the word of the king is,
there's power. Where the king speaks, power
goes out. Where the king speaks, power
goes out. His word effectually and powerfully
accomplishes all that he purposes. You remember the story of David,
back in 2 Samuel, when he found that God gave him the throne.
And he inquired in the house of Saul, and he inquired about
that covenant relationship that he had with Jonathan. And he
inquired about that house and found out there was an old lame
man named Mephibosheth. And he effectively, where the
word of the king is, there's power. And he said to that servant
Ziba, go down and get Mephibosheth. He said, go fetch him. Fetch
him! And what happened? That servant
went down there and said, Mephibosheth! The king says, come on, come
on. What happened? And you know what
the scripture said? Go home and read it. 2 Samuel 9, it said,
he came. When the king fetched, he came. And that's the way he
calls his sheep out. He calls, you see, God is more
than a mighty orator beseeching men. He's a mighty operator quickening
the hearts of dead men to life. And he powerfully draws them
to himself through his word. Where the word of the King is,
there is power, and His word works. Look at Isaiah 55. His word, the eternal word of
God, accomplishes all of God's eternal purpose and purposes. Look at Isaiah 55. He said in
Isaiah 55, 8, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes
down and the snow from heaven, and that doesn't return voided,
it doesn't return there, but it waters the earth, that it
may come bring forth bud, that it may give seed to the sower,
and bread to the eater." And then he says, "...so shall my
word be, that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return
unto me, boy, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and his
word shall prosper in the thing whereinto he saith it." And you
can put Christ in every one of those places where it says, it.
You can put him in there, too. He accomplished all, all that
pleased God to do. His word effectually works on
us, works in believers in a threefold sense. And you could come up
with many more, but I think essentially in a threefold sense. His word
powerfully and wonderfully works conviction of sin in a believer's
life, conviction of sin. in His people, how powerfully
His Word convinces us that we're sinners. I can't convince you
of that. I can't do it. I can tell you,
but I can't convince you. God has to do that, and He does
that with His Word. The Word of God will turn a self-righteous
man. He'll turn him inside out and
turn him upside down. He'll put him on his head and
teach him who he is. It'll cause us to see what perfection
is, that God demands it, and that we're far from it, and that
we can't produce it. His Word works conviction of
sin in our eyes. Secondly, His Word works conversion
and regeneration. The psalmist said, the Word of
the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. His Word works conversion. His Word drives away. false ideas
and false notions of self-salvation. You know, there is a way that
seems right unto man, the Scripture says, but that way that seems
right, what by nature seems right to you in your old, depraved,
rotten nature to come unto God? You know what it is? It's works,
isn't it? It's works. The way that seems right unto
man is the way of death, but his word drives us away from
self-salvation, from seeking self-salvation, from seeking
self-righteousness, and it drives us to him who is salvation. It
drives us to seek him who is our righteousness, who is our
righteousness. And it keeps us from going about
to establish our own righteousness, and it causes us to rest in him
who is my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification. and redemption. His word does. His word shuts
us up to Christ alone. That was the whole theme of the
Reformation. Christ alone, through faith alone,
by grace alone, through the word alone, shuts us up to Christ
in his word. Enables us, his word, the power
and the preaching of the gospel through his word enables us to
embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as our all and in all. He's all
things to the believer, everything. Is he everything to you? Come
on now, is he? Like one old fella said, let's
shuck right down to the cob now, is he? Is he everything to you? Is he all your life? Is he all
your hope? Is he all your righteousness?
Is he all your life, or just part of it? Don't bring your
part in. God won't have it now. Christ
is all of salvation. He's all of salvation. And His
Word shuts us up to that. And thirdly, His Word works comfort
in our hearts. His Word works comfort. I know
your pastor, Pastor Paul Mahan, this is one of his favorite verses
in Isaiah 40. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, and tell her
that her warfare is accomplished, that she has received double
of the Lord's hand for all of her sins." Double! Double portion
God has given us. He's given us complete, perfect,
perfected righteousness, and He has put away our sins. Double
for all your sins. Double! Now, let me ask you a
question. What really comforts your heart?
Now, come on. Come on, now. Going about to
establish your own righteousness or resting in the righteousness
which God has provided in Christ. Now, what really comforts your
heart? I'll tell you what comforts mine. Resting in Him. Resting
in Him. David said, blessed, blessed,
happy is the man to whom God would impute righteousness without
works. And you know, there's comfort.
There's comfort in resting. Oh, I tell you, I like to rest
in Him. Oh, to rest in Him. What really comforts your heart?
Trying to put away your own sin by your own good works, by your
religious zeal and tradition, or resting in Christ's accomplished
effectual atonement? Now, come on. What really comforts
your heart? It's His atonement, isn't it?
That's the believer's hope. It's the blood that was shed.
It was Him who died to secure my salvation. That's my comfort. That's my hope. His word—oh,
I tell you, we have to thank him for his effectual, effectual
word. And that's what Paul does over
here. Look at 1 Thessalonians 2. That's what the apostle says
here. He says, I thank God. I think 1 Thessalonians 2 verse
13. Look at this scripture. For this
cause also, thank we God without ceasing, because when you receive
the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as
the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. You
see, that's the word of God. Now what does it do? It works
effectually, which effectually worketh also in you who believe. How do you believe? If you look
over there sometime, go home and read Ephesians chapter one,
verse nineteen, you find out how we believe. You know how
we believe? According to the sexual working of his mighty
power, which he works in us. That's how a man believes. Now,
look back at the text here again. Hebrews four, verse twelve. He said the word of God is quick,
living, powerful. Powerful. He's sexual. And it's sharper, sharper than
a two-edged sword. Sharper than a two-edged sword.
The word of God is cutting. Cutting. That's what he means
here. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. The apostle here means
That is true is all you know most you take a regular soldier
has one is blown on the other side of this is a two-edged sword
it's all age it's all it cuts both ways it cuts both ways it
will. And if you. If you went to the
doctor tomorrow doctor told you that you had a serious tumor
in your body and you must have Eradication, you must have it
eradicated, you must have it cut out. You know what he'd use?
Would he use a blunt, dull instrument? You see, he's going to cut you
to heal you, isn't he? What's he going to use? He's
going to use a sharp instrument, isn't he? And that's what the
Word of God does. It's a sharp, cutting instrument,
and it cuts away things. The word of the Lord Jesus Christ
is described in scripture, you can read it in Revelation chapter
one, as a sharp, two-edged sword. The word that went out of his
mouth, and when John described him, he described it as a sharp,
two-edged sword. The word of God is so sharp a
thing, so full of cutting power, that you may be bleeding under
its wound before you seriously suspect a possibility of such
a thing. Now listen to me. Have you ever
been working sometimes, some of you men, around sharp objects? Razor sharp. Sometimes you cut
yourself. It's so sharp. You cut yourself
and you don't even feel the cut, but you look down and see the
evidence. Blood! And after a while, that pain
sets in. And that's the way the gospel
is. Sometimes you cut and you don't realize it until that conviction
works up and rots down in your heart and your soul and you ache.
I've been wounded with the gospel. God cut me to the heart with
the gospel. Now let me tell you, friend,
you can't come near the gospel now. I'm talking about the gospel,
the saving gospel, the only gospel, Paul said. The gospel of the
glory of God, this blessed gospel. You can't come near this gospel
without it having a major effect upon you. You can't. You can't
do it now. Either this gospel will be to
your salvation or to your condemnation, one or the other. You can't come
near it without having an effect upon you. A gospel will wound
the soul of the elect in order to its healing, cutting away
and killing nothing which ought to be slain. Pride, envy, self-righteousness,
lust, these things, it cuts away those things. And this same gospel
will harden the heart of a reprobate to his own eternal condemnation. The gospel is a savor of life
to some, and that same gospel is a savor of death unto others. But this gospel will have a measure
of effect upon you, one or the other. You see, God never speaks
in vain. He never speaks in vain. He draws
some to himself in salvation through his preaching of the
gospel, through his word, and others he leaves to perish in
their own sin, justly so. Justly so now look back at the
text again. He said the word of God is quick
living powerful, and it's sharp It's sharp. Oh, I tell you it's
a sharp instrument And I tell you what you take a sharp instrument
in the hand of someone of a craftsman now This hand this this sharp
sword is in the hand of the Almighty God And I tell you what He doesn't
wield his sword in a reckless manner, but he accomplishes all
he purposes to do with his sword and his word. I tell you, that
ought to wake us up. Now look here, sharper, and next
we see the Word of God is piercing. Piercing. Piercing. I tried to
think in my mind what would be piercing, and I tried to think
about something that was scriptural that would be piercing. And I
think what we could find is the Word of God, though it has an
edge like a sword, it has a point like an arrow. It pierces. You know, an arrow, that's the
design of an arrow, these hunting arrows, isn't it, you men that
hunt. It's to pierce that animal, isn't it? It's to pierce it.
It's not to blunt it and knock it down, is it? It's to pierce
it. It's to pierce it to do its damage,
isn't it? And so this gospel has a point like an arrow piercing,
it says here, to the dividing of thunder, soul, and spirit. The scripture says in Psalm 45,
the arrows, the arrows now, of the word of God are sharp in
the heart of the king's enemy, whereby the people bow or fall
under him, the heart of God's arrows. You see, the scripture
says our heart. It describes our heart vividly,
the heart of this depraved humanity. It says our heart is desperately
wicked, above all things. Desperately wicked, who can know
it? It calls our heart foolish, foolish-hearted people. It calls
our hearts darkened hearts. It calls our hearts hard-hearted
people. But you know what? The Scripture
also says that our heart is as fat as grease. We have a heart
by nature that's soaked up with the fatness of sin. And you can't
penetrate a sinner's heart apart from this piercing Word of God.
You can't do it. You can't do it. There is no
spiritual penetrating the heart of a man except by this Word
of God. The gospel arrows—now watch this—the
gospel arrows that God sends—you see, he's the bozeman. He takes
aim on a sinner's heart, and he took aim in eternity. In his
eternal decree of purpose, when God Almighty takes aim with that
gospel arrow, it never misses its target. It'll hit every sheep
right in the heart. It'll penetrate that fat, hardened
heart of Greece, and it'll cut it open, and it'll reveal to
him who he is and who Christ is, what Christ has done, and
why he has done it. Why he has done these things?
You see, he never misses. A man may be wrapped up in false
refuge of lies. He may feel content in his self-righteousness. His soul may be flooded with
doubt and unbelief, but the Word of God will find its way to the
very marrow of a man, and it'll pierce his heart. I tried to
find a scriptural example of that piercing Word of God. And
you look over in Acts chapter 2 sometime, when Peter preached
there on Pentecost, and he declared unto them from the Word of God
that God had made that same Jesus whom they crucified, God had
made Him Lord and Christ. And you know what it says there
next? It said they were pricked in their heart. God cut them
to the heart with the gospel. He pierced their heart with that
arrow of the gospel. And that's what God does to his
sheep. He'll cross your path if you want his now. You tell
me how a man that grew up 2,000 miles away from here, out in
a heathen country, I'm talking about myself, out there in the
middle of the heart and hub of Mormonism. You know, I grew up
in Salt Lake City. I was a Mormon for 30 years.
You tell me how God Almighty takes a man like that and brings
him out of there and sets him down under a gospel preacher.
That's amazing. But God does these things. God
does these things. And He pierced my heart with
the gospel. Oh, I tell you, I'm thankful
He did that. I'm thankful that He could have
just left me there. I've got eight brothers and sisters
and a mother and dad that still live out there in that self-righteous
religion of works, going about to establish their own righteousness.
And God Almighty, and His eternal purpose and decree. He set His
love on me. My soul, doesn't that melt your
heart? It does me. God Almighty set His love on
me from eternity. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love, therefore I join you to myself with lovingkindness. And he does that to all of his
people. He draws all of his people affectionately. No man comes
to the Father. No man comes to me except the
Father which sent me. Draw him. And he draws his sheep
to himself. He does now, through this piercing
sword of the gospel. Now, look at this. Piercing even
to the dividing asunder of Saul. You see, the gospel here, it
divides asunder. This gospel divides. I tell you,
it does. I tell you, it divides. Asunder
soul and spirit. Now, some commentators say that
the soul here is referring to the natural life of the man,
and the spirit is referring to the regenerated spiritual man,
might be. But I know this. This is certain.
His word does lay down a very straight gate in a narrow way.
His Word does separate between the spiritual and the carnal,
between that which is divine and that which is natural. It
divides, friend. You think sometimes, listening
to some preachers, that everybody in religion is a Christian. That's
not so. It's just not so. You see, the
Word of God doesn't declare such a flattering estimate of our
condition. They talk about Christian America.
No such animal. God has some Christians that
live in America, but there's no Christian nation. No, sir. Scripture talks about those who
were dead. You see, it divides. It talks
about those who were dead in sin and those who have been made
alive, doesn't it? Made alive in the Hymn. The Scripture
tells us about believers. and unbelievers. The Scriptures
tell us about that one day he's going to divide the sheep on
his right hand and the goats. You see, this gospel divides
men. It talks about those who are
lost, those who are found. It divides those who are blind,
those who see. You see, this gospel divides
the Son, the Soul, and Spirit. There is nothing in this world
that divides like the plain preaching of the Word of God. It divides.
Sheep and goats. Now, it unites the sheep, doesn't
it? The gospel unite. They rally
around the shepherd. They unite around the shepherd. The gospel does. But it divides
between the sheep and the goats. It does now. It divides. Some
of you know what I'm talking about. Some of you have some
relatives sometimes. You see, error can walk together. Error can walk together, but
truth and error, they won't walk together. They won't walk together. Scripture says two can't walk
together except they be agreed. And some of you know what I'm
talking about. The Scripture says there was a division because
of him. That's division. And some of
you know what I'm talking about in your families. I've experienced
that on the job. And when you run into people
and you have the opportunity to tell them the gospel, boy,
it divides. Family, and it says here it divides
asunder, joints and marrow. You talk about a joint and marrow,
that's a pretty close relationship, isn't it? Joint and a marrow. And sometimes this gospel divides
close relationships. Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. There in Luke chapter 12, he
talks about his family. He said, I come not to send peace.
Now he's not talking about the peace that he made in reconciliation,
but he said a sword. He said, I came to send a division.
And he talks about a family. A family. Father against the
mother. Son against the daughter. Daughter
against the son. So long as this gospel is divine,
is what I'm saying. It unites the hearts of the sheep. But it divides between the sheep
and the goats. Now next, look at this. Piercing,
dividing, asunder, joints of the marrow, soul and spirit,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intent of the heart. A discerner. A discerner. The Word of God
discerns. Christ our Lord. You see, this
word exposes and it sifts and it analyzes the very thoughts
and purposes and motives of our heart. You see, our Lord, he
knows everything about us. You remember, our Lord told Peter,
he said, Peter, do you love me? And he said, yes, Lord. He said,
feed my sheep. And they asked him again and
again. Peter, the third time that Peter said, Lord, you know
everything. You know my heart. You know I love you. You see,
our Lord knows everything. Look at verse 13 there in that
chapter. Hebrews 4, 13. He said, neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but
all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom
we have to do. You see, you can fool me. You
can fool your husband. You can fool daddy. You can fool
your mommy. You can't fool God Almighty.
He knows your heart. He knows the deep recesses of
your soul. He knows yourself better than
you know your own heart. Because your heart will deceive
you, but it won't deceive the Almighty God. He knows all things
about us. Everything. He knows all things. How well does He know us? You
go home sometime to read Psalm 139, and you'll find out the
Scripture says, Thou knowest my down-sittings, mine uprisings.
Thou understandest my thoughts that fall off. And he's acquainted
with all of our ways. Our God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he knows all things. He's never learned anything either.
He knows all things. All things. And this word also means Discern
means to judge, to judge, and the Scripture says His word will
judge us. His word will judge us. Our Lord said, In the scripture it says, in
John 5, he said, "...the Father judgeth no man, but has committed
all judgment unto the Son." God has appointed a day in which
He will judge the world in righteousness by that man. God's going to judge
us by that man whom He had raised from the dead, our Lord Jesus
Christ. He's going to judge us by that living Word, Christ our
Lord, and He's going to judge us by His written Word, too.
He said, The Word that hath spoken unto you the same shall judge
you in the last day. His Word is going to judge us.
His written Word and His incarnate Word, Christ our Lord, will judge
us. Well, in conclusion, discerner of thoughts of the ten of the
heart, some lessons we ought to learn from this verse. Go
home and sometime this week, just look at this verse all week
and meditate upon it. The Word of God. quick, powerful,
sharper, piercing, dividing asunder soul and spirit, thoughts and
intent of the heart. But you know, I think we can
learn some lessons here. I hope none of us ever get to
the point where we can't be taught something. I need to learn, don't
you? I hope I'm not like those scriptures
that talks about those people, says they're ever learning and
never coming to a knowledge of Christ. I hope I can learn more
of Him through His life. But I'd like to learn some things
about His Word. Now, I think we can—we know this. I think we can learn this. The
Word of God is to be reverenced. It's to be reverenced. Our Lord
Jesus Christ and his Word are to be reverenced. If God—the
Scripture says God has magnified his Word above all his name. The Scripture said, Wherefore
God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name, that at that name every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall confess that he is Lord. If God has highly exalted
him, surely then those who reverence his name, reverence his person,
reverence his Word, will bow to authority of his word. If
they reverence him, they'll reverence his words. Secondly, the word
of God is the foundation of our faith. Now, faith has to have
a foundation. Now, Christ is the object of
our faith. No question about that. But faith
has to have a foundation. And the foundation of our faith
is the word of God. The foundation of our faith you