Good evening, let's all stand
together and we'll sing hymn number 272. 272. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely
face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground
is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood When all around my soul gives
way He then is all my hope and stay On Christ the solid rock
I stand All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking
sand When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in
Him be found, Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless
to stand before the throne. ? On Christ the solid rock I
stand ? All other ground is sinking sand ? All other ground is sinking
sand Thank you and be seated. Let's sing hymn number 224, 224. I know not why God's wondrous
grace to me he hath made known, nor why unworthy Christ in love
me for his own. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed. unto him against that day. I know not how this saving faith
to me he did impart, nor how believing his word brought peace
within my heart. But I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I know not how the Spirit moves
Convincing men of sin Revealing Jesus through the Word Creating
faith in Him But I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him
against that day. I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me Of weary ways or golden days Before his
face I see But I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that
He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day. I know not when my Lord may come
At night or noonday fair Nor if I walk the vale with Him Or
meet Him in the air But I know whom I have believed And am persuaded
that he is able To keep that which I've committed Unto him
against that day Good evening. If you have your
Bibles, let's turn to Ephesians and we'll read chapter 1 together. Ephesians 1. Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are
at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to
you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in our wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things. in Christ, both which are in
heaven and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory
who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that ye believed, You were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of
His glory. Wherefore, I also, after I heard
of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints,
cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in
my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead. and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality,
and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head
over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. Amen. Let's pray. Our great and merciful Heavenly
Father, Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we approach
the Holy Throne in his name giving thanks for the day Lord. Thanks
for that many mercies. We ask thee to send a spirit
among us Lord. We may not worship in vain tonight.
We asked to be with the preachers. He brings the word open our hearts
and give us years to understand. West the sick of the congregation
Lord touch him and heal him. Could be that will. We ask these
many things in Christ name, Hymn number 125. I hear the Savior
say, Thy strength indeed is small, Child of weakness, watch and
pray, find in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to
Him I owe. Had left a crimson stain, He
washed it white as snow. Lord, now indeed I find Thy power
and Thine alone Can change the leper's spots and built the heart
of stone. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. For nothing good have I Whereby
thy grace to claim I'll wash my garments white In the blood
of Calvary's Lamb had left a crimson stain, he
washed it white as snow. And when before the throne I
stand in hymn complete, Jesus died my soul to save, my lips
shall still repeat, Jesus painted all All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter
4. I read two verses. Verse 12 and
verse 13. I pray that God will help me
to say a few things about them. For the word of God is quick
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing thunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature
that is not made manifest in his sight, But all things are
naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
I want to talk about the Word, the living Word, the living Word. And that's why it's called the
quick and powerful. That word quick means living,
living, bringing life. Now our Lord Jesus Christ is
called the Word of God. In verse 1 of John's Gospel,
chapter 1, the Word is capitalized three times just in that first
verse. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God. The same was it with
Him in the beginning, and all things that was made was made
by Him. By who? By the Word. By the Word. and there's not anything made
without Him. And so that tells us that everything
that God does, He does by His Word. And you know our Lord Jesus
was the eternal, living Word of God, and by Him everything
that was ever made, ever made, is made by Him. Everything that
was created was made by Him. And everything that's upheld
in this world is upheld by Him. Doc and I were talking this morning
that if you take all the Old Testament prophecies concerning
the man that s to come, take every prophecy from Genesis all
through Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, go through all the
prophets, And you take all those things and put them together
to make a garment, and that garment won't fit but one person, and
that's the Lord Jesus Christ. It will not fit any other man
that's ever lived on this earth. But it'll all make a garment
that shows us that it's the Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you,
we cannot make too much of the living Word. We cannot make too
much of Christ. We just can't make too much of
Him, the living Word. And neither can we make too much
of the written Word. of the written word, this blessed
book that's written down here, it's in black and white, in black
and white. Somebody, you know, they have
red letter Bibles, I have no fault with that, I find no problem
with it, but everything our Lord said is His Word, whether it's
in red letters or black letters or anything, it's all His Word,
it's all His Word. I don't have to see what's written
in red to see who's speaking, I know who's speaking, the Lord's
speaking, God's speaking. And I tell you, we can't make
too much of the written word, and the Lord Jesus Christ is
the sum and substance of the written Word, and you take Christ,
you take Christ and sever Him from the written Word, then you've
taken out the Living Word who makes the Word of God to be what
it is. You sever Christ from the Scriptures, you take Him
out of the Scriptures, and you've got nothing, nothing, absolutely
nothing. And I tell you, everything would
be vain And you can't separate the written word from the living
word. You can't do it. People say that you can, but
I don't believe you can. How do you separate Christ who
is the living word? By Him we live, move, and have
our being. He's the one that give us life.
He read it tonight. He says, the same power that
raised up the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead is the same power
that God used to raise Christ from the dead, the same power
that worked in us. give us life, the same exact
power that raised Christ from the dead is the power that they
said is exceeding great toward us, that same power. And so I
ll tell you what, scripture is what it is because the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself is in it, in it, and that s why we look for Him.
And this verse that I read to you tonight, the Holy Scriptures,
And what is meant by, you know when He talks about the Holy
Scripture, what is meant by quick, and powerful, and sharp as two-edged
sword? Well, the Scriptures tells us,
by His own will, James 1, 18, by His own will, begat He us,
with what? The Word of Truth. And so let's
go through these verses, these two verses here, and see what
God has to say about them. First of all, I want to talk
about the QUALITY of God's Word, the QUALITY of it. We know it's
God's Word because it's the Divine Word, it's the Word of God. Thy Word, you know, thy Word
is, the Word of God is quick and powerful, and it's called
the Word of God, not words about God, the Word of God, the Word
God says, and everything you read in this, God's speaking,
God is speaking. And I tell you, it's the written
Word of God. You know, Psalm 119 verse 89 says, Thy Word,
Oh, Lord, is forever settled, forever settled. Where at? In
Heaven. It s settled. It s settled. I used to hear Henry say, Well,
I believe in that settles it. No, no, God says it and THAT
settles it, whether you believe it or not. We don t settle nothing.
God s already settled everything. He settled His Word in Heaven.
I tell you what, you know, and He said God does what He does
by His Word. He created the world by His Word. He said, Let there be, and there
was. Let there be, and there was.
Let there be, He said. He said, Let there be, and there
was. Everything God says, Let there
be, it happens. He spake and it was done. He
commanded and it stood fast. When God commands, He works all
things after the counsel of His own will. And I'll tell you,
God, everything He does, He does it by manifesting His will. Now
let me tell you something. If God ever does anything for
anybody in this world right here today that we live in or any
other age that we've ever lived in, God does everything He does
by His word. Moses come with the Word of God. He said, Thus saith the Lord,
and all the prophets say, Thus saith the Lord. Nothing else
needs to be said other than, Thus saith the Lord. He created
the world by the Word, and you know the only way we can ever
know Him is He revealed Himself to us in His Word. We can't know
God apart from the revelation He gives of Himself in His Word.
Is it possible to know God? You don't discover Him? You don't
find Him? You don't bump into Him? You
don't find Him by searching Him? That's what Job said, Canst thou
be found out by searching? I can search this world and you
can't find God! Search your heart, you can't
find him. Search the world, you can't find him. Search religion,
you can't find him. The only place you'll find him
at is in his blessed word, and he takes that word and reveals
himself by his word. That's the only way we'll ever
know anything about him, what he says about himself. And that's
all a preacher does, is he just, we just tell you what God's already
said. That's all we do. Oh my. The Scriptures, you know how
old they are? As old as God Himself. That's what He says, Thy Word
is forever settled in heaven, in heaven. Oh my! And then look
what, not only is it the quality of the Word, it's nature, it's
the Word of God. Then look what it says, it's
the Living Word, because it says it's quick, it's quick. That
word quick means it gives life. He quickened us. He quickened
us from our death of our trespasses and sin. And that's what the
word says. It quickens. It's a living word. It comes
and it quickens. It gives life. It gives life. David said twice in the 119th
Psalm, he said, Oh Lord, quicken me, quicken me, give me life
according to your word, according to your word. You know, It s
a LIVING Word, and I tell you, it comes and the Word of God
brings LIFE with it. It brings life with it. We ll
come in here sometimes as cold as a wedge, and God in His sovereign
mercy will bless us, and we ll come in here, we ll think, Boy,
oh boy, I don t feel like going, but I m going to go. And then
when you come and you go and you leave here better than you
did when you got here. You know why? Because the Word
s LIVING! It brings LIFE with it! OUR WORDS WILL PASS AWAY! OUR WORDS WILL ONE DAY PASS AWAY!
IVE BEEN IN GRAVEYARDS WHERE THE WORDS AND THINGS ON THEM
HAVE JUST BEEN WASHED AWAY BY TIME! WASHED AWAY BY TIME! AND OUR WORDS WILL PASS AWAY!
BUT I TELL YOU ONE WORD WILL NEVER PASS AWAY! The Word of
God said, ALL THINGS SHALL PASS AWAY, BUT MY WORD SHALL NEVER,
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER PASS AWAY! And that s why it s so WONDERFUL
to believe it! Now keep Hebrews 4 and I want
you to look in I Peter chapter 1 and verse 23. Right over back
to your right there a little bit. I Peter chapter 1 verse
23. This is what we re talking about,
a LIVING Oh my, look what he talks about.
This is why we're talking about the Living Word. 1 Peter 1.23,
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. Listen to this now, by the Word
of God, by the Word of God. How long is that Word going to
live? How long is that Word going to abide? It lives and abides. How long? Forever. We'll be gone, but God's Word
goes on. The apostles preach the Word.
Christ preached the Word. And the apostles are gone, but
the Word of God still goes on. The men who wrote the Bible,
they're gone, but the Word lives on. The Word lives on. And oh,
and I tell you, it creates life wherever it comes. Talk about
the Living Word. You know, Paul told the Thessalonians,
our gospel came unto you. It didn't just come in words. told us, you know, Thessalonians
1, 5, he said, It didn't come unto you just words, but it came
unto you in POWER, POWER, and in the Holy Ghost. And when it
come, it comes with MUCH ASSURANCE that what you're hearing is God's
Word, God's Word, the Word of God itself. And our Lord Jesus
Christ said, The FLESH profits NOTHING, the WORDS, the WORDS
that I speak unto you. are alive, life, the words that
I speak unto you. You know, that's why it's so
imperative to deal with the Scriptures you're dealing with. You know,
when we talk about God giving life, you know, the Word of God
cannot be destroyed, it cannot be exterminated. It gives life
when it comes to, and I tell you what, it's effectual. You
know, A fellow I read one time, a fellow was rolling cigarettes.
Had found him a Bible and he had tobacco and he was rolling
cigarettes out of an old Bible he found. He'd rip a page out
and roll him a cigarette, you know, and fire it up. And he
said, I might ought to read some of this thing here before, you
know, and he smoked a cigarette. He started reading it and found
out that it was alive, that it does something for him and nothing
else did. God, in His sovereign mercy, opened his heart for the
scriptures. William Cooper, or William Cowper,
that wrote There is a Fountain, he was in an insane asylum when
he was a young man, and he got out, and the scripture said he
was reading in Romans about how God could be just and justifier
of them that believe in Christ. And he understood that, and God
blessed that to his heart and his mind, and he got converted.
And him and John Newton were wonderful friends for years and
years and years. He lived in a little house beside
where John Newton was, and they wrote hymns together. But what
I'm telling you is that God uses His Word to speak to people. Martin Luther was crawling up
on his knees going up the Spanish Steps and doing penance for his
sins, and God opened the Scriptures in his mind, crawling up there.
What am I doing here when people are justified by FAITH? What
am I doing crawling on my knees? And that man, God saved him,
and he was used to start the Reformation! That s how powerful
the Word is! God can, listen, when He sends
His Word, believe me, it's gonna do what it intends to do, it's
effectual. And I'll tell you what it says
over here in our text again. It's effectual, it's called it's
quick and it's powerful. It's quick and it's powerful,
oh my. It's living and it's also got
power with it, got power with it. Now keep, Keep Hebrews here
and look over in Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, back to your
left just a little bit. I want you to see 1 Thessalonians
2.13. I want you to see what he says over here about this,
about the word. 1 Thessalonians 2.13. Look what it says. FOR THIS CAUSE ALSO, THINK WE
GOD, WITHOUT CEASING, WHEN YOU RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD WHICH
YOU HEARD OF US, LISTEN TO THIS, YOU DID NOT RECEIVE IT AS THE
WORD OF MEN, THOUGH MEN WAS DOING IT, BUT AS IT IS IN TRUTH, THE
WORD OF GOD, LISTEN TO THIS, WHICH EFFECTIVELY WORKETH ALSO
YOU THAT BELIEVE. It gets the job done, that's
what it said. It effectually worketh in you,
that belief. It gives thanks for that. And
I'll tell you something people don't ever, you never hear much
about anymore, it's conviction. conviction means that you re
convinced of sin. You re convinced that God is
not for you. You re convinced that you cannot
save yourself. You re convicted of your sin. You re convicted of your rebellion.
You re convicted of your resistance of God Almighty and your rebellion.
And when God convicts you of your sin, There ain't but one
place you can get rid of that conviction, and that's coming
to Christ. And that's why He convicts you. The Word calls
it CONVINCED, but you read in the margin it says CONVICTED.
And when somebody's convicted of a crime, God convicts His
people of their sin, their rebellion, their inability, their powerlessness,
and the Word of God comes along and tells them where that power
comes from, where that life comes from, where salvation comes from.
And oh my, and not only does it convict, but it converts.
Now what's the difference in the new birth and conversion?
In the new birth, God saves us, We have no part in that. That's
a mysterious thing. God regenerates us, gives us
life, and quickens us from the death of our sins. But conversion
is when you turn, and you turn to God because you can't do anything
else. New life comes before you ever
turn. You turn to Him in faith. You turn to Him in repentance.
You turn to Him as a new creature and start crying. You cry like
a baby to your Father. That's why new birth is we don't
have nothing to do, but conversion is you turn toward Him. And once
you start conversion, let me tell you something. You're always
being converted. You're always repenting. You're
always turning to God. You're always turning to Him
for mercy. Always turning to Him for grace. Always turning
to Him for everything. And oh, and I tell you what,
I tell you something else it does. It, oh my goodness, what
comforts it gives. Oh, what comfort the Word gives.
And oh, and how it confirms us. The Word confirms whether we're
one of His or not. One of His or not. And I tell
you, it has power, quick and powerful. It has the power to
raise our hearts up to joy, to peace, to comfort, to assurance,
and joy, and happiness, and every once in a while, let's say, we'll
make a new commitment to Christ. I'm gonna commit myself to Christ
like I never have before, and we'll do that. Say, Lord, I'm
gonna commit myself to you. Oh my, renew us to commitment. And then it s cutting, look what
else it says over here. The Word of God, it s God s Word,
it s quick, life-giving, it s powerful, it s got power behind it. The
Word of God, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
And then it s sharper. Oh, it s cutting, it ll cut you,
it ll cut you. It s sharper than any two-edged
sword. And you know when it cuts, sometimes it cuts and it hurts. I tell you some things, it cuts
and it helps. Some things, it cuts all over.
It s all edge. It s a sharp, two-edged sword. Both sides is sharp. And I tell
you, you know, it cuts all over. It s all edge. It s sharpness
itself. It wounds and also it heals at
the same time. You know, I'll tell you, when
you talk about something sharp, boy, be careful with the word,
because it sure will sharp. I heard somebody said one time,
said, boy, he was sure getting on people's toes today. Well,
I'll tell you what, if that's all it gets on you, it's your
toes. You missed it. We're not shooting for toes.
We're shooting for hearts. And that's what it's talking
about. It cuts all over. It's sharp, sharpening a two-edged
sword. Has it ever cut you? Has it ever
cut you to the heart? Has it ever cut you to the soul?
Has it ever cut you to your mind? Oh, my! You know, there was a
written about a fellow one time that he was watching some people,
a missionary went and brought a Bible, and people started getting
converted, and they started reading their Bible. And the Word produced
a great, great change in them. And he walked up to them and
asked them, he says, Does that Word talk to you? Does the Word
talk to you? And they said, No, no, no, it talks
to us! It talks to us! It talks to us,
and that's what the Word does. It talks to us. It talks to us. Because this is the Word of God.
Well, they asked him, What does it say? It speaks to my heart. That's what they said, It speaks
to my heart. And I'll tell you what, and I'll tell you something
that kills. This sharp two-edged sword, it'll
kill self-confidence. It'll kill self-righteousness. It'll kill anything that's unlike
the Lord Jesus Christ. It'll kill it. I mean, it comes
and it cuts and cuts and cuts. You know, you've heard this illustration
time and time again about the fellow that's went in an old
store, an old pot-bellied stove, and he went in there, an old
country store one time, and he saw these dogs up on the ledge
around in that building, and they was all painted up, some
of them looks black, some spotted, different colors, and a fellow
sitting there by that old stove just a-whittling away, he said,
What are you doing? He said, I'm making a dog. And
he said, well, how do you get them dogs to look like that?
He said, I cut away everything don't look like a dog. And that's
what God does for us. He cuts away everything that
doesn't look like Christ. And you know what he does to
do it with? That right there. That right there. Ain't you grateful
that it does it? Ain't you grateful that the word
of God still has an effect upon you? That still speaks to you? that still speaks to you. It
kills self-righteousness, it kills sin, it'll kill unbelief,
it'll kill it, it'll kill it, it'll cut it, and cut it, and
cut it, and cut it. And then look what else it says
about it. Not always sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing,
piercing even to the dividing asunder. Not only is it cut,
but it pierces, it pierces. And what does it pierce? It divides
things. It cuts things in two, divides,
separates things. And you know what it does? It's
so piercing that it'll find its way into a heart. and take out
a stony heart and put in a heart of flesh. God will do an operation
with His Word, and He'll pierce in that heart, He'll cut that
thing open, and He'll take out that old stony heart, and He'll
put in a heart that FEELS, a heart that BELIEVES, a heart that REJOICES,
a heart that can be TOUCHED, a heart that can be TOUCHED.
It FORCES its way. I tell you something else, it
divides. It pierces asunder, it causes light and darkness
to cut asunder. It calls light and darkness.
I mean, you're either in light or in darkness, and it'll show
you which one it is. You know, if you're in darkness,
you're not in light. If you're in light, you're not
in darkness. And that's what it appears to divide and asunder.
And it's discriminating. It's dividing and asunder, look
what it says, asunder of soul and spirit. My it cuts it discerns
between the things that look seem alike and looks like thing
But it's separate things this seemed to be an awful lot of
like it separates them And I'll tell you it separates Natural
religion and that's what you know, that's what free will is
this natural religion? Everybody let me tell you something
Everybody that's born into this world is born an Armenian born
of free will born of works person Everybody's born in this world
is born Believing that they'll eventually end up being with
God because they done something. That was good They think I'm
gonna be a good person, you know, they're living also and they'll
they'll set up and say well I'm going to straighten up I'm gonna
start doing better and I'll tell you what and they'll Everybody
thinks when they get to the end of the way God's gonna accept
them some way somehow and You know and it all ends up depending
on them on them and what they do. That's man's natural, man's
born religious. He is. That's why these church,
that's why these mega churches exist. That's why millions of
people, they go to these churches and just pack them out. There's
churches got 15, 16, 17,000 members and they just, I mean, just huge
monstrosities. And why, you know, and why is
that? Because the preacher is giving
them what they want, which is natural to their flesh. They got them for singles, they
got them for married, they got them for old people, young people,
new people, married people, anybody, they got something for EVERYBODY!
And we can't spell church without you, that's natural religion!
Natural religion wants to wear Jesus on a t-shirt. Natural religion
wants to have, you know, I saw a fellow the other day that had
on the back of his truck, let me tell you about my Jesus. Well, I'd like to tell him about
mine, the one that I know. But here's the thing about a
natural religion, it separates the natural religion and spiritual
religion. When God does something for you
because of this Living Word, He makes you a spiritual person.
You hear people say, I'm a spiritual, I'm not religious, I'm just spiritual. You know, you can't be in Christ
and not be a spiritual person. He MAKES you a spiritual person.
He puts His Spirit in you, puts His Word in you, puts the Spirit
of God in you, and you become a person that understands what
God has to say, you believe what God has to say, you rejoice in
what God has to say, and you want to keep coming and hear
what the Lord has to say. And I tell you what else it does,
it separates truth from tradition. You know, there's people that
have their traditions. I like, old David Abbey was talking about,
I like that old, give me that old time religion, give me that
old time religion, you know. He said, what is old time religion?
It's good enough for granny, good enough for me. But oh my,
it separates tradition from truth. A man can have all kinds of traditions,
but boy, there's a difference in a tradition and in truth.
Our Lord says, You take your TRADITIONS, He told the Pharisees,
and we went through that here a few weeks ago. You hold to
your traditions and you make the Word of God of none effect
by your traditions. You'd rather have your traditions
than what I say. You make the Word of God of none
effect. And I tell you what, it divides from the outer and
the inward. The outer and the inward, what
does that mean? It kills its flesh and it feeds
that new man. You know, our Lord says, you
Pharisees, you make clean the outside of the cup and the platter.
He said, you make clean the outside of it, it looks great. It looks
fine, but he said, oh, you blind hypocrites. He said, cleanse
first the inside, the inside. You clean the inside of it, and
then you'll have, then that's what everything, everything has
to be, God starts with the inward man. He don't start with the
flesh. He starts with what's in here. He starts with that
man inside you. He starts with that soul. He
starts with that spirit. God deals with things of the
soul. That's what God's dealing with.
And you know, it divides between flesh and spirit. Our Lord told
Nicodemus, you must be born again. He's the first thing that old
man said was, how in the world is that going to happen? How
in the world is that going to happen? I'm going to enter my
mother's womb and come back out a new man. He says, no, no, no,
no, that's not the way it works. That that's born of the flesh.
If you could go back to your mama, you'd come out just the
way you did the first time. That that's born of the flesh
is flesh. And he says, that which is born
of the spirit is spirit. And he said, that's what the
new birth is. He becomes spiritual man. And I tell you what, it
cuts asunder, divides asumber, religion of the heart, the head
from religion of the heart. Oh my, I know a lot of folks
that's got religion in the head. It cuts to the joints in Myra.
Oh, it cuts to the joints in Myra. So many people got religion
of the head. I heard Scott Richardson one
time got up and preached up at 13th Street one time and that
you know Henry had three preachers in the morning and two at night
five preachers and Old Scott got up one time
and he said Would you all please quit preaching to my head? I?
My head is so full of things that you don't, I don't need
nothing else for my head. Please speak to my heart. Speak
to my heart. And that's what God does. He
speaks to the heart. And I'll tell you, I know a fella,
I know three or four fellas, oh my goodness. There's this
fella that's got Calvinism. Right down his arm, and he's
a preacher. Got big old tattoo right down
his arm. Calvin did. Calvin. Calvin. Got it right on his arm. Got
tattoos over here. And he's a preacher. But he's
one of the meanest people you've ever been around in your life.
And he says he's a Calvinist. But you know, I'm going to just
give you an illustration of what he believes. I was preaching
one time on St. Corinthians 521, where you read
it tonight. God made Christ to be sin, who
knew no sin, that the righteousness of Christ might be given us,
and that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
I preached on that, and I said, now, we can't never understand
the wonder of that. We just quote, I just quoted,
but oh, the wonder of that. How are you going to plumb the
depths of God Himself? Taken his beloved son, his precious
son, the son of his love, the son of his bosom, the one that
he raised up with him and all with him throughout eternity.
How could God take his son who knew no sin, knew no sin, not
equate all and then made him to be sin? What it is, how do
you take somebody that never knew sin and make them to be
sin? Why would you do that and then
turn around and take that Christ being made to be sin and turn
around and take the righteousness of Christ and give it to us? If you could ever figure out
that He knew no sin and ever figure out how God made Him to
be that, And then how we're made the righteousness of God in Him.
If you can plumb the depth of that, I'd like to meet you. But
I preached on that and I said, you'll never, I can't plumb the
depth, that's just too wonderful for me. It just fills me with
awe, fills me with wonder when I deal with those things. You
know what he said? He said, that's one of the simplest
verses in the Bible. He said, it just means that Christ
was made a sin offering. a sacrifice for us, and then
God turns around and makes us righteous. But that's not what
it says. Don't even come close to saying
that. And you know, everybody knows
Bruce Crabtree. There's not a sweeter man, a
kinder man, a gentler man, and a better preacher on this earth
than that man. And this fella told him, you know, right to
his face, I don't want to hear anything else you got to say.
I don't want a bulletin from you. I don't want to hear what
you got to say. I don't want nothing to do with you. That's religion of the head.
Oh, I don't want that. Do you? Oh,
no. I don't want that religion of
the head. And that's what God does. He changes. He makes a
difference between what you got in your head and what you got
in your heart. He does. And oh my, joints and marrow,
the Word of God has its own penetrating, discerning qualities itself that
nobody else does. And then look what else it says
now. It says it's a revealing Word.
It says it's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It discerns. That word discern
means to Weigh rightly, weigh correctly, and understand correctly. And that's what it is. It deserves what you think, the
thoughts that you have. And not only that, but it deserves
the intents of what you intend to do. You know, I've been a
time or two that I've intended to do something and God noted
and changed my intention. Just hearing the word. Oh my, oh my. We have to observe things as
they appear to be, but God sees things as they really are. He
sees the motives. He sees the attitude. He sees
things as they are. Oh my. It s a discerner of the
thoughts. You know, a fellow s asked me
the other day, he was talking about some scriptures, and he
said, Boy, I find them hard to understand. So I said, Well,
listen. One of these days you'll come
to service and God will explain exactly what those verses that
you have a problem with, He'll explain exactly what they mean
one of these days. What you're thinking and what
you intend is that He'll reveal it to your thoughts and your
heart, your intentions, and He'll make you understand what it's
about. That's the way He does. And what this heart is, it's
like a man taking a big old carcass and just splitting it right down
the middle. And that's what God does. He can take us and split
us and our thoughts and intents of our hearts. And oh, He lays
bare the thoughts and intents and the inner workings of our
mind and our heart. And, oh, He can criticize us
and judge us, putting the right estimate on them. We can't. It
shows us what they're really, really like. And, oh, my, how
many times have you come in here and the preaching of the Word
of God revealed what you thought or what you was intending and
what you wanted to hear? And, oh, look what it says here
in the next verse then. He s a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart, neither is there any creature that s
not manifest in His sight. The fellow said, Boy, God don
t know what I m doing. Oh, yes, He does! Neither is
there any creature that s not manifest where God sees it. But ALL THINGS All things, thoughts
and intents of the heart, joints and marrow, all things are naked
and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do with
that Word of God. And I tell you what, I started
out saying that we cannot esteem the Word of God as highly as
we should. You know what the sword of the
Spirit is? In Ephesians 6, he said, taking the sword of the
Spirit. What's the first thing he says when you're talking about
the armor of God? Taking the whole armor of God.
The first one is taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word
of God. That's a sword. That's the only
one we got. Got nothing else. My opinion ain't worth nothing.
My thoughts ain't worth nothing. Put that right there. That's
worth everything, what it does for us. Oh, our blessed, blessed Savior,
how thankful we are that you let us have another day. Let
us deal with your word twice today. And I pray in your sovereign
mercy and in your own will and own time, that you'd bless the
word to the hearts and minds of your dear people here and
those that's listening at home. God bless the word to their hearts,
their minds, their souls. And Lord, make us students of the word.
Make us students of the word. Teach us thy word, oh Lord. Break
the bread of life. Lord, we thank you for the dear
saints of God. Thank you for your people. Thank
you for your word, especially, and what it does for us in this
world, this world. And oh, Lord, we are so blessed
to have a Bible that we can read for ourselves. And don't have
to have anybody tell us, but you, we can read for ourselves.
God bless them. Lord, keep them and preserve
them for Christ's sake. Amen. Jesus Christ is made to
me. All I need. All I need. He alone is all I need. He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness, and power. HOLINESS FOREVERMORE, MY REDEMPTION
SURE AND SURE, HE IS ALL I NEED. AMEN. I'LL SEE YOU WEDNESDAY,
GOD WILLING. LORD BLESS YOU.