FBC Morning Light – September 6, 2022

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Encouragement for the journey from God’s Word. Today's Scripture: Hebrews 4 / Psalm 104:24-35

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Well, good Tuesday morning to you. Did you have a good holiday yesterday? I hope so. I hope you're able to get maybe a little extra rest, have some outside activities,
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I hope, and just enjoy the holiday. Well, today we're in Hebrews chapter four, and there's a couple of verses here in chapter four that are challenging to us because of their revelation about what
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God's word is like, and they're challenging because we have to acknowledge what
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God's word does and is capable of doing, and therefore it holds us account of our interaction with God's word.
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I'm thinking of verses 12 and 13, and I want you to notice four qualities of God's word that these couple of verses share with us.
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Let me read the verse. It says, For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.
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And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we must give account.
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Well, there's a challenging statement, isn't it? That all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him to whom we have to give account.
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We are to be held accountable to the Lord. But I want to focus on God's word and what it's like, as verse 12 tells us.
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Notice in the first place, it's living. It's not a dead book. It's alive.
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It is a living book. So the canon of scripture was closed about 1900 years ago, a little over, 1925 years ago with the writing of the book of Revelation, the book is done.
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And it has been penetrating, it has been working, it has been active and used in people's lives for the last two millennia.
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And even the Old Testament scriptures before that. So it is a living book.
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It's not a dead book like the writings of Shakespeare and some of these other things.
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Those were good classic works, et cetera, et cetera. But it doesn't have the character, the living character of God's word.
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And then secondly, it says it's active. The word of God is living and it is powerful.
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It's active, it does things, it does things. And if you've been in a situation where you read the
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Bible and all of a sudden you feel a sense of weight and conviction, that's the
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Bible doing that. It's a powerful book. On the other hand, you're reading the
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Bible and you read something that is encouraging and it's a blessing, it's a promise and it gives you joy and rejoices your heart.
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Why is that? Because it's a powerful book. It's a living, active, powerful book.
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And furthermore, it's penetrating. It's penetrating. It says it's like a two -edged sword, sharper than a two -edged sword because it divides between the soul and the spirit, the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow.
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In other words, it gets down to the very depths of your being and slices through to the reality of what's going on inside of you.
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It's sharper than a sword because a sword, well, it can penetrate your flesh and can do a lot of damage, but it can't penetrate the depths of your heart like the
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Bible does. It reveals the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.
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Only God's Word can do that. Only God's Word can do that. So it's living, it's active, it's penetrating, and then notice it's personal.
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It's personal. It's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart. And as verse 13 says, there's no creature hidden from the sight of the
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Lord. So this is a very personal book and I want to encourage you to personally get involved with it, personally get yourself in a place where you hear
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God's Word preached regularly and you hear it taught. Why? So that that Word can penetrate and change your life for God's glory and for your good.
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Interact with God's Word yourself on a daily basis. You listen to these devotionals, that's great.
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There's a kernel of truth, I hope, every day that's available for you from God's Word.
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Sometimes I hope it's penetrating, sometimes I hope it's encouraging and gives you reason to rejoice.
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Sometimes I hope you realize because of that confrontation with the
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Word of a truth inside of you that you've not wanted to face and now you've got to face it because God's Word has brought it out, it's pointed it out to you.
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So it's a personal book. Take advantage of this incredible, living, powerful, penetrating, personal book that we call the
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Bible, the Word of God. Father, I thank you for your Word. I thank you for its power.
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I thank you for its effectiveness. I thank you that your Word does not return to you void but that it always accomplishes the purpose for which you send it.
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May your purpose be accomplished in our lives today, even in these few moments of our involvement with your
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Word. We pray it in Jesus' name, Amen. All right, have a wonderful Tuesday.