Introduction/Background:

I have a question for you, "why are the lives of so many believers not transformed?" "Why do believers experience such a lack of spiritual power & satisfaction in their lives?" Now I want you to make it personal. Ask yourself, “why am I not being transformed by the Word?” “Why am I lacking spiritual power and satisfaction in my life?”

I believe it is the direct result of not letting the Word of God truly influence our faith and actions.

There are so many passages in the Bible that teach about the believer's interaction with the Word of God. Romans 10:17, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Peter 2:2.

The focus for this morning is Hebrews 4 verses 12 & 13. (read) But before we get to our application, we need to look at a few things about the text.

v. 12a - “living & powerful”: The word “living” (zon) is placed in the first position in the original language. This gives it emphasis and importance. The Word of God is no dead letter, but as the word of the living God it cannot itself fail to be living. As the living word it continues through each age with compelling relevance. “Gipsy Smith told of a man who said he had received no inspiration from the Bible although he had “gone through it several times.” “Let it go through you once,” replied Smith, “then you will tell a different story!”

The word translated “powerful” (energes) is the word from which we get energy and energetic. The word literally means “at work.” it has the thought of effective or active.

The Word of God is not dead or lifeless as is a law which is no longer enforced.

The Word of God, is unlike any other book you have in your home or in the library. The Library of Congress lays claims to being the largest library in the world, with more than 130 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 29 million books and other printed materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.8 million maps, and 58 million manuscripts. Yet among all these volumes the only ones that can lay claims to being alive and powerful are copies of the Bible. This places the Bible in a unique category all to itself.

- v. 12b - “sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division. . . marrow.”

In the Roman world there were two distinctly different swords. There was the large sword, it was long, heavy and destructive. While a single edged sword can chop off your head well enough, it was not good for close in fighting.

The second type was a short sword (machaira), it was lightweight and double-edged and deadly because it cut both ways. The soldier could not only use it in a slicing motion but also thrust it. This is what Peter used to cut off the ear of the servant of the High priest in the garden of Gethsemane on the night of Jesus’ arrest (Mark 14:47).

- v. 12c - “discerner. . . heart.” The word “discerner” is best translated as “critic.” The Word of God is a critic of the leanings and suggestions of the heart. How many have felt this dimension of God’s word where it has been faithfully preached! How often has it happened that you have seen the whole of your own character, and some of the most private transactions of your life, held up as if it were in public view by the preacher; and yet you absolutely know he has no clue as to your situation! You might have even supposed that one of your neighbors must have privately informed the preacher of your character and conduct; but it was the word of God, which, by the direction and energy of the Holy Spirit, thus searched you out, was a critical examiner of the leanings and suggestions of your heart, and had pursued you through all your public haunts and private ways. Every genuine minister of the Gospel has witnessed such effects as these under his ministry in repeated instances.

- v. 13a - “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him.”

Before evil can be destroyed, it must be revealed. Some of older folks may remember the radio show "The Shadow." Remember the tag line, "What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows."

But denial that God knows our sin is mere folly.

Once, while on a visit to England, a wealthy Chinese businessman was fascinated by a powerful microscope. Looking through its lens to study crystals and the petals of flowers, he was amazed at their beauty and detail. So he decided to purchase one of these devices and take it back to China. He thoroughly enjoyed using it until one day he examined some rice he was planning to eat for dinner. Much to his dismay, he discovered that tiny living creatures were crawling in it. Since he was especially fond of this staple food in his daily diet, he wondered what to do. Finally he concluded that there was only one way out of his dilemma—he would destroy the instrument that caused him to discover the distasteful fact! So he smashed the microscope to pieces.

"How foolish," you say. But many people do the same thing with the Word of God. They hate it and would like to get rid of it because it reveals their evil nature.

- v. 13b - “. . . Him to whom we must give account.”

Our account; our reckoning is to be with God, before whom all is naked and open. We cannot pass off hypocrisy for sincerity. He will judge us according to truth, not according to appearances; and his sentence, therefore, will be just. A man who is to be tried by one “who knows all about him,” should be a pure and holy man.

The Word can speak right to our situation: comfort, wisdom, challenge, encouragement, insight.

The real question is not “What?” (what does the Word say?) because it’s a big book and different parts will speak to different people on different days because they’re in different situations.

The real question is “How?”/how can I get into a position where I can hear what the Word has to say and can harness its power in my life?

How can we see that power in our lives? How can we harness this power?

Key idea: For the Word to truly be the Word of God it must be living within us. Lettings its power energize us. And letting it penetrate our hearts to reveal the sin within that we may come clean with God.

Application:

Approach the Word believing it lives and speaks.

We must see the Word of God not just great literature/not just like every other book.

Ill: One of the most dramatic examples of the Bible’s divine ability to transform men and women involved the famous mutiny on the “Bounty.” Following their rebellion against the notorious Captain Bligh, nine mutineers, along with the Tahatian men and women who accompanied them, found their way to Pitcairn Island, a tiny dot in the South Pacific only two miles long and a mile wide. Ten years later, drink and fighting had left only one man alive – John Adams. Eleven women and 23 children made up the rest of the Island’s population.

So far this is the familiar story made famous in the book and motion picture. But the rest of the story is even more remark-able. About this time, Adams came across the “Bounty’s” Bible in the bottom of an old chest. He began to read it, and the divine power of God’s Word reached into the heart of that hardened murderer on a tiny volcanic speck in the vast Pacific Ocean—and changed his life forever. The peace and love that Adams found in the Bible entirely replaced the old life of quarreling, brawling, and liquor. He began to teach the children from the Bible until every person on the island had experienced the same amazing change that he had found. Today, with a population of slightly less than 100, nearly every person on Pitcairn Island is a Christian. --- SOURCE: Signs of the Times, August, 1988, p. 5.

Desire to become skilled with it, knowing it’s your only offensive weapon.

- becoming skilled: getting familiar with the Word/knowing where to find passages that deal with certain situations or issues/learning how to hear God speak/memorizing parts/learning how to study it.

You cannot rely on the me or any other preacher to tell you everything you need to know about the Word. Once a week is not enough and even then I may not be preaching a sermon that touches on what you’re dealing with right now.

The sword is an offensive weapon. When a Roman soldier drew his sword it was not to just block the blows of his opponent, but to disarm and most likely kill him.

Many of us are getting clobbered by the enemy, not because we don’t have a weapon to fight him with, but because we don’t know how to use the weapon.

Can you imagine a soldier going into Iraq without knowing how to operate his weapon?

How often do we complain about a problem in our lives and ask God to give us the victory, when in fact the answer is right in our hands, but we haven’t checked the book.

Open the Word knowing it will get personal.

Some read basically for trivia knowledge, but we must read it for life transformation.

Be thankful that the Word was given to help us avoid sin and disobedience, not to tell us we’ve sinned and then leave us stuck in our sin. To many people will avoid certain passages because they know that they will be convicting. Or people will say that those passages were just for that time, again because

Quit pretending God doesn’t know about your sin.

Whatever your secret sin is, you’ve got to be willing to confess it if God is going to speak to you powerfully through the Word. Unconfessed sin in your life is a giant wall between you & God.

Treat what you’re reading not merely today’s word, but the final Word.

Sometimes we can get caught up in “what’s the application to my life today”. Application is definitely good and necessary, but the Word is much more than that.

The Bible doesn’t merely speak to your situation, but it clues you in on Kingdom Come. It should ignite a vision for a life and a hope that is far different than what the world is proposing. A vision of Christ and His Kingdom.

Conclusion:

The power of the living Word if you let it will transform your life. But you must let. Even if you know that it is going to cut like a sword.

We can not think that God does not see what we do. He does. We need to not be afraid of what it will do.

We need to also know that we will be accountable for our actions whether we want to admit it or not.