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Amen we want to welcome you to the Wednesday evening service here at Verity Baptist Church we're glad you're with us let's go ahead and take our bulletins we'll look at some announcements real quickly I'm not sure if we have any bulletins or not but uh if you have a we have a few if you don't have a bulletin raise your hand and we'll get one to you if you need a bulletin just put your hand up and we'll get one for you the verse this week Matthew 1 23 behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Immanuel which being interpreted as God with us and that's a good verse there we like that if you open up your bulletin you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m and we do invite you of course to be with us on a Sunday morning on the Lord's day for church Sunday evening service at 6 p.m and we're glad that you are here for the Wednesday evening bible study if you look at our soul winning times our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m and then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m of course the Thursdays and Friday uh so winning time is postponed for now but we do have a soul winning time on Sunday at 2 p.m so you're welcome to be a part of that of course and if you are a first-time guest if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church we're glad you're with us we have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building tonight if you go out our main foyer if you got our secondary foyer you'll see a little table set up and on that table you'll see these little gift bags please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight there are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have when i like to highlight is this documentary that our church made it's called being Baptist very well made very interesting want to give this here as a gift so please make sure you don't leave here without grabbing one of those gift bags on your way out and if you are a guest with us please take a moment to fill out the communication card which is inserted in your bulletin if you need a pen just raise your hand and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen if you look at the announcements and upcoming events there of course we've got our vbc workdays uh coming up tomorrow tomorrow thursday november 30th 8 a.m to 9 p.m friday and saturday friday 8 a.m to 9 p.m saturday uh 1 p.m to 9 p.m after soul winning and we could really use your help guys if you can show up you've got the sign-up sheets in the in the uh in the main foyer the clipboards there and then of course we have our christmas gifts for jesus uh that has started this was a really uh great success last year and we are doing it again you should have one of these half sheet inserts there in your bulletin and these are things that the church uses that the church needs and if you would like to just present a gift to to the lord jesus christ through your local church we would appreciate it maybe as you're out and about uh shopping for yourselves or shopping for other people you can pick something up from this list and we've got a drop-off uh section in the main foyer you'll notice there's a little table there there's a poster that says christmas gifts for jesus there's a little christmas tree there so you can uh drop stuff off there i've noticed that people have already been starting to do that uh and this would really help us because these are things that we're going to have to purchase either way but if you uh purchase it and gift it then it allows us to save a little bit of money there and also we want you to notice that at the bottom of the christmas gifts for jesus it also says that you're welcome to of course make a special christmas gift for jesus donation in the offerings so if you'd like to just not purchase anything but you just want to make a special donation of course you're welcome to make a special gift donation and if you're feeling generous i'll tell you this this is the time to do it all right this is the time to help us out financially because we are spending a lot of money over on that new property so if you could help us during this christmas season with any of these things we would appreciate that of course we started a new sermon series on sunday on the nativity choir practice is at 5 pm for the adults 5 15 for the kids homeschool group they've got pe class tomorrow at 10 am and there's a ladies weight loss accountability group they meet on wednesdays at 6 15 in the mother baby room that's closest to the foyer there's other things there for you to look at please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month of november this week we had miss lexie bill's birthday on november 26th for the joshua miss edith castellum had an anniversary on november 26th for the resty santos had a birthday on november 27th and then we're remembering miss tara barrett on november 30th andrew davidson has a birthday on december 2nd and jeremy johnson has a birthday on december 2nd praise report money matters all of those things are there for you to look at and i think that's it for all of the announcements and let's take our song books we're going to go to page number 429 and we're going to sing heart the herald angels sing as we prepare to receive the offering this evening 429 heart the herald angels sing sing it out on the first heart the herald angels sing glory to the newborn king peace on earth and mercy my hope god and sinners reconcile joyful all ye nations rise and join the triumph of the skies with angelic host proclaim christ is born in Bethlehem heart the herald angels sing the newborn king good 429 sing it out on the second Christ our highest heaven adored I see her lasting lord late in time behold him come offspring of a virgin's womb veiled in flesh the god and singing pleased as men with men to dwell jesus our immanuel the newborn king go sing it out on the third hail the head born prince of peace hail the son of righteousness he lays his glory by born that's where no war may die the sons of earth born to give them second birth the herald angels sing glory to the newborn king good on the last humble the is amen good singing we'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer heavenly father lord we do love you we thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight lord we pray that you'd bless the offering lord we ask that you would continue to meet our needs here at our church lord we pray that you would meet with us as we take time to pray and as of course as we open up your words to the bible together in jesus name we pray amen so so so so so so so amen all right well let's go and take our prayer sheets uh tonight if you did not get a prayer sheet on your way in just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you you need a prayer let's just put your hand up and we will get one for you and of course the way that you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card on the back of the card there's a place for you to write down a request make sure you mark whether it's private or public if it's private only i will see it if it's public we'll put on the prayer sheet if you don't mark it we'll do our best to figure it out we usually don't add those we do add the request in the order that they are receiving they're removed after a couple of weeks so i'm going to go ahead and pray i'm going to ask that you would uh pray with me in your mind in your heart let's go ahead and pray together himaly father lord we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church family and lord we uh begin with these uh requests regarding family miss uh teresa salazar praying for the salazar family uh to stay faithful to church and to grow closer to god and also uh raul caldron praying that he could find the right uh woman to marry and andy praying for his marriage and his children as well miss amy cortez praying for her son and his court date on november 30th for the salvo praying for his family lord we ask for all these individuals we pray that you would help them and be with them also pray for these that have health requests miss cricket praying for healing and mr c praying for her sister terry's hip replacement surgery that's coming up on december 4th miss christine ortiz praying for her health and also for her sister judy's health as she battles cancer for the salvo praying for his health miss dogma praying for her pain relief there brother edgar misalina praying for your razzi to continue to be healthy of course we continue to pray for our missionary dave cavatella's a wife miss angel as she's battling breast cancer and lord we ask for all these individuals we pray you'd help them be with them that you'd strengthen them and that you would help them lord to recover that you'd give wisdom to the doctors the nurses dealing with them we also pray for the ladies in our church that are expecting miss victoria miss julissa miss ruby that you'd give them healthy pregnancies with no issues and no complications lord we also pray for these that have a request regarding salvation of friends and family miss natalie praying for the salvation of her husband and family for the ron praying for his mom and his family's salvation and miss antonina praying for their family's salvation as well miss christine ortiz praying for her family's salvation miss dogma praying for her daughter and her family's salvation lord we ask for all these individuals we pray that you would be with them and help them lord we ask that your holy spirit would work in their hearts and their lives and that his soul winner would communicate the gospel clearly to them where we pray that what can be done would be done to bring them to the place where they'd be willing to hear the gospel and receive it also pray for traveling mercies for upcoming trips miss michelle scott praying for brother graham's trip to europe for safe travel and also brother luis mendoza praying for his family as they travel traveling mercies as they travel to mexico city for the next three weeks would we ask that you'd keep both of these individuals these families safe lord we pray that you give them safe trips bring them home safely as well lord we also pray for raul calderon praying for to find a job and to find his own place and brother salvador praying for finances and work as well lord we ask that you would answer those those requests we also pray for miss christine brother salvador for the walk with you uh in their faith lord that you continue to grow them and we pray for these all of these that have unspoken requests brother george miss laura beth isabel johnson brother nate miss natalie miss kimmy all having unspoken requests brother salvador miss dogma having unspoken requests lord and you know what their petitions are you know what they're asking for what we ask that you would please answer according to your will lord we pray for our church and we pray for our prison ministry that you continue to bless that ministry and help us with that lord we ask for these work days i pray that you would help us to be able to get the work done that needs to get done in the next several weeks lord so we can move into that new property we pray for our missions and manila pampanga be called pastor stuckey and his family that you continue to bless them lord and we just pray for our church here in sacramento that you would help us lord to continue to grow and draw closer to you lord i pray that you meet our needs we pray lord that you would meet with us tonight as we open up your words to do the bible together in jesus name we pray amen please open up to hebrews four hebrews chapter number four if you do not have a bible please put your hand up and i'm not sure can bring you a bible hebrews chapter four we read the entire chapter as our custom hebrews four beginning verse number one let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it from to us was the gospel preached as well as unto them but the word priests did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it for we which have believed do enter into rest as he said as i have sworn in my wrath and they shall enter into my rest although the works were finished from the foundation of the world for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise and god did rest the seventh day from all his works and in this place again that they shall enter into my rest seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief again he limited the certain day saying in david today after so long a time as it is said today if you'll hear his voice harden not your hearts for if jesus had given them rest then would he not afterward have spoken of another day there remain is therefore a rest to the people of god for he that has entered into his rest he also had seized from his own works as god did from his let us labor therefore to enter into that rest lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief for the word of god is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the to the dividing of center of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart neither is any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and open into the eyes of him with whom we have to do seeing them that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens jesus the son of god let us hold fast our profession for we have not in high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was on all points tempted like as we are yet without sin let us overcome boldly onto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need let's pray heavenly father thank you for this evening god i thank you for your word and for our church from this year please give us all ten hearts of the message tonight and please be their pastor please strengthen him and fill him with spirit we love you in Jesus name pray amen amen all right we're there in hebrews chapter number four and of course on wednesday nights we've been going through a verse by verse study through the book of hebrews and if you remember we uh last time we were in the book of hebrews we we dealt with the first 11 verses of uh hebrews chapter number uh four and once you get past into verse 14 next time lord willing that we're in the book of hebrews uh in verse 14 begins a new subject uh which is the subject of jesus as the high priest it actually continues in through uh chapter five so we might deal next week with the last part of chapter four and the first part of chapter five uh is what we'll probably cover next week but we went up to verse 11 and then in verse 14 begins a new subject but right in the middle of this chapter you have these uh two powerful verses and in fact hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 is probably one of the most well-known verses in the bible especially if you are a church goer and it's a verse about the word of god in hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 the bible says this for the word of god is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do and these are some powerful verses these are some amazing verses dealing with uh the word of god and i felt like it would be a disservice to not spend at least one night or one sermon just dealing with these verses regarding uh the word of god so i'd like to like to really kind of use these verses as a launching point and i'd like for us to do a bible study it's wednesday night bible study it'll definitely be a bible study we'll be flipping all throughout the bible but maybe a little more of a topical style regarding the word of god and there's really three different things i'd like to uh highlight for you regarding the word of god uh and if you're taking notes and i do encourage you to take notes on the back of your course of the week there's a place of course for you to write down some notes uh the first point that i'd like to make or the first thing that i'd like to show you is the examples of the word of god and in the bible what we have is all throughout the bible we have all these different examples of the word of god and i think it can be difficult to really explain uh what the word of god is obviously we know the word of god is the bible it's scripture and there's so much doctrine that can that we could go into regarding the word of god and i've preached on the doctrine of the word of god and i'm not going to cover all those things inspiration preservation the bible says that jesus is the word of god i'm not even going to necessarily cover that uh tonight but it's interesting to me because what we have in hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 is one of the most well-known examples of the bible but it's not the only example in fact this example these examples are used all throughout the bible and i'd like to just highlight for you in fact i i i thought of eight different passages of scripture where the bible is compared to something else and i think that the reason for that is because as we see how the bible is compared then we can get an idea of what it is that the bible is and and and how it is that it works and here in hebrews 4 and verse 12 we see the first example and of course it is this that the bible is compared to a sword the bible is compared to a sword notice it again there in hebrews 4 and verse 12 for the word of god is quick the word quick is a word that is used here in a more of an archaic definition not necessarily the way that we would use it the word quick means alive like in the bible there's other passages that talk about the quick and the dead and it is a references to it's a reference to the alive and the dead and the bible here tells us that the word of god is quick and this is the first hint to the fact that the bible is not a book like every other book the bible is a special book the bible tells us that the bible itself is alive for the word of god is quick and powerful and then we see the first example here and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart so we see that the bible is compared to a sword and the comparisons being made what what the bible is trying to teach us the reason this comparison is being made is because it is compared to a sword that pierces a sword that pierces i'm not going to keep her place there in hebrews chapter four obviously as our text for tonight but go with me if you would to the book of ephigians ephigians chapter number six that's closer towards the beginning of the new testament you've got matthew mark luke john ax romans first second corinthians galatians ephigians ephigians chapter number six first second corinthians galatians ephigians ephigians six now ephigians chapter six is the famous passage of the armor of god and i'm not going to go through and preach on the armor of god tonight i've done that at other times but i'd like you to notice one piece of the armor of god and it highlights this same idea ephigians chapter six in verse number 17 the bible says this and take the helmet of salvation and then i want you to notice this phrase and the sword of the spirit and the sword of the spirit what is the sword of the spirit notice which is the word of god the bible teaches that the bible is like a sword that pierces and i what i really want you to learn tonight and what i want you to gather as we look uh through these passages is that and i don't know if you're this way maybe it's only maybe it's just me uh just because i'm a pastor or my wife because we're in ministry but oftentimes i wish uh and i would say one of the most frustrating things in ministry is dealing with people that don't change dealing with people that that just don't get it uh you you you talk to them you try to help them and it just seems like uh you you can't you know i wish sometimes that i could just kind of like input into them spirituality input into them uh christianity input into them uh uh these things and and the the the larger that the church grows tonight i don't know what i think tonight we've got uh they sent me a text i don't remember we've got over 200 people here tonight on wednesday night which praise the lord for that but the the the bigger that the church gets the more apparent it becomes to me how incapable i am of changing anybody and it can be a little discouraging at times but what the bible is telling us that what i cannot do the word of god can because the bible says that the bible is the sword of the spirit which is the word of god and the benefit to having this sword is that it can divide us under both soul and spirit it can divide us under it can divide even the joints and the marrow it is a discerner of the thoughts and intent of the heart so the bible tells us that it is the sword it is the word of god that pierces an individual and has the ability to to to enter in and pierce them even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit it can enter somebody and do a work that you and i are unable to do so the bible is compared to a sword that pierces you're there in ephesians chapter 6 flip back just one chapter to ephesians chapter 5 and and and you know when i think of this i often think of my wife my wife and i went met when we were teenagers we were working at subway and when i met her she she wasn't saved uh she had grown up catholic but she had uh been to college and had decided to become an atheist as a result of uh of the exposure in college she wasn't an atheist very long it's just something that she just kind of decided after uh taking a few classes there but i remember with my wife when she got saved you know it wasn't like i just gave her the gospel one time and then she got saved because of the fact that uh she had decided to be an atheist and decided uh to embrace evolution even though she hadn't done it for a long time but because she had made that decision there was a lot of things that we needed to to deal with and kind of work through that and honestly uh my wife getting saved it was a process of months of me preaching the gospel to her and and and a lot of that time honestly was spent debating and was spent uh giving her arguments against evolution and for creation and i don't think there's anything wrong with that i think all those things were useful and i think all those things were needed but i remember uh just kind of after talking to her and we were friends at this time obviously we weren't dating or anything but being friends and working together for weeks and weeks and weeks and every time we worked together we would talk about creation and evolution and the bible and we talk about these things and i remember one day talking to my pastor about her and just kind of letting him know what was going on and asking for some advice and what he said to me is you need to just give her the word he said all these arguments are good and all these things are fine but what you need to give her is the word of god i remember just trying to focus on uh giving her the bible and emphasizing what the bible emphasizes and talking about what the bible talks and and explaining what the bible explains and it really wasn't till i began to emphasize eternity and hell and the word of god that's really when she got saved is when she heard the message of salvation and not just salvation but hell and condemnation and it was interesting to me because the bible did something that i wasn't able to do something that i wasn't able to do for weeks and for months the word of god which is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit we might look at someone and say like we can't get in there we can't make the argument and we can't get them to see things the way that we want to them to see it but we should remember that the word of god can and the bible can the bible is compared to a sword that pierces and it pierces in a way that you and i cannot it is the the bible says it is the discerner of the thoughts and intent of the heart so we saw there in ephusion 617 that it is the sword of the spirit which is the word of god but there's other comparisons in the bible i'd like to show them to you as quickly as i can tonight another comparison is found in ephesians 5 in ephesians 5 and verse 25 the bible says this and of course ephesians 5 is a passage on marriage i'm not preaching on the subject of marriage tonight but look at the context ephesians 5 25 husbands love your wives even as christ also loved the church and gave himself for it and the analogy here is being made about husbands and wives and how they picture or they represent the lord jesus christ and his church so he says husbands love your wives even as christ also loved the church and gave himself for it again i'm not preaching on that necessarily but look at verse 26 the bible says that he jesus might sanctify and cleanse it the church that would be us with notice the washing of the water by the word so we see here another example of the bible the first one we saw was that the bible is compared to a sword that pierces but here the bible is compared to water that cleanses it is compared to water that cleanses verse 26 that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish and here we're talking about discipleship we're talking about sanctification and here's what every christian needs every christian especially when they're new but even if they're not new they need to be under the preaching and under the teaching of the word of god why because the word of god is not only like a sword that pierces the heart but it is like water that cleanses the individual and when you come here to a church like this on a sunday morning or a sunday night or like you are here on a wednesday night and the word of god is preached the bible says that spiritually it's like you're being washed by the word and the word of god is beginning to do a work hopefully in your life that that that causes you to draw closer to the lord jesus christ and it causes you to be cleansed oftentimes when people first start coming to a church like ours they'll make statements like every time i come i feel so dirty and you know i sometimes i respond jokingly or sometimes i don't but i'll say it's because you are dirty and we need to be cleansed we need the word of god to cleanse us and look all of us no matter how long you've been saved how long you've been coming to church we need to be cleansed by the word of god so we see that the bible is compared to a sword that pierces we see that the bible is compared to water that cleanses he says that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word now go if you kept your place in hebrews from hebrews go over to first peter chapter number one if you kept your place in hebrews and i'd like you to keep your place there after hebrews you have the book of james and then you have the book of first peter first peter chapter number one let me give you the third example or illustration of the word of god that we see in the bible the first that it is compared to a sword that pierces the second is the and and i just chose these in in an in in an order that would be maybe easier for you to find in the bible they're not in any particular order for any reason the bible is compared to water that cleanses and first peter chapter one and verse 23 we see the another example of the word of god or what the bible is compared to and here we see first peter 123 being born again now that phrase being born again is not used a lot in the bible it's famously used by the lord jesus christ in john chapter three and of course it's referring to salvation the new birth the new spiritual life jesus said marvel not that i said unto ye unto you ye must be born again here peter says being born again notice what he says not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible and this is a term that's used i'll show it to you in a minute it's used throughout the bible regarding the bible and it is this word seed he says not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of god which liveth and abideth forever so the bible is compared to seed and i want you to notice here the emphasis is that the seed that brings life because that's the comparison it's like a sword that pierces it's like water that cleanses and it is like seed that gives life it is like a seed that will sprout life or produce life and here we're told that it's not a corruptible seed and we know of course all the time all the way from the time of the apostle paul paul testified to the fact in the first century he said we are not as many which corrupt the word of god and we know that from the very beginning all the way from the garden of eden there has been a plan to corrupt the word of god to change the word of god today the modern bible versions are a corruption of the word of god and that's what first peter 123 is talking about is saying look we are born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible the idea is that there is an incorruptible seed and in our english language that is the king james bible the king james bible is the inspired inerrant uh infallible word of god it is the incorruptible word of god notice not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of god and then notice it again which liveth and abideth forever that's what hebrews 4 12 says for the word of god is quick and powerful it's living and powerful here we're told that the word of god liveth and abideth forever it is a it is the incorruptible seed keep your place there in hebrews if you would we're going to come right back in this direction go back and go to luke chapter 8 towards the beginning of the new testament you have matthew mark luke luke chapter 8 and look at verse number 11 luke chapter 8 verse 11 and luke 8 11 we have of course the famous parable of the sower and i'm not going to go through the whole parable but i want you to notice that one of the aspects of the parable was this luke 8 11 jesus says because this is one of the parables where jesus actually tells us what these different things represent in the parable and he said this luke 8 11 now the parable is this the seed is the word of god so we see that throughout the bible the word of god is compared to seed and here it is seed that is sown in the ground and the idea is this that when we go out and we do soul winning or even as we preach the word of god we are sowing the seed of the word of god we are and of course the parable of the sower tells us that it falls on different types of ground it can fall on hard ground it can fall by the wayside it can fall on good ground but the seed is the word of god and we are born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of god which liveth and abideth forever so we see that the bible is compared to a sword that pierces it's compared to water that cleanses it's compared to seed that gives life keep your place right there in luke if you would and go back to hebrews hebrews uh chapter number you know what go go back to first peter if you kept your place in hebrews after hebrews you have james and then you have the book of first peter first peter chapter two let me give you this one real quick this is what the bible is compared to it's the sword it's water it's seed in first peter chapter two and verse two we see this that the bible is compared to food food that nourishes and it's compared to different types of food and i guess i could have made this different sub points but i just put them all together first peter 2 2 says this as newborn babes desire the sincere milk notice of the word that ye may grow thereby so why don't you notice the word of god pierces the word of god cleanses the word of god gives life the word of god nourishes he says that we as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word is it you know when when a when a baby is born a newborn babe it's hungry it gets hungry and it desires that milk and the bible says that the milk is the word of god and notice that ye may grow thereby how do we grow according to the bible as we consume the word of god go back to hebrews chapter 5 hebrews chapter 5 look at verse 13 hebrews chapter 5 and verse 13 the bible says this everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness now the reason that it's saying this is because we saw in first peter 2 2 that milk is for newborn babes so when you're a brand new christian what do you need the sincere milk of the word but you shouldn't be on the milk your whole life just like in real life human beings as babies they drink milk but eventually they advance to other things solid foods the bible says for everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe matthew chapter 4 keep your place there in hebrews go to matthew chapter 4 matthew chapter 4 if you kept your place in luke just right before luke you have mark and then matthew matthew chapter 4 and verse 4 here's another example of the bible being used as an example of food matthew 4 and verse 4 the bible says this but he answered and said it is written matthew chapter 4 verse 4 it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god so once you notice that the bible is compared to a sword that pierces it's compared to water that cleanses it's compared to seed that gives life it's compared to uh food that nourishes that uh that that we may grow thereby the bible says that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god keep your place there in matthew if you would if you kept your place in hebrews go back to that part of the bible and go to the book of james from hebrews you have the book of james james chapter number one james chapter number one and look at verse number 22 i think it's interesting that there's all these comparisons of the bible in the bible and we're told this is what the bible does the bible is a sword that pierces the bible is water that cleanses the bible is seed that gives life the bible is food that uh nourishes notice here in uh james chapter one in verse 22 we see another example of the word of god james chapter one in verse 22 we see that the bible is a compared to a mirror that reveals james 1 22 but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is like unto a man notice here's the illustration he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass that's the first century way of saying a guy looking in a mirror he's beholding his natural face in a glass for he beholdeth himself and goeth this way and straightway forgetth what manner of man he is now of course the james who's writing the book of james is telling us that someone who is a forgetful hearer someone who hears the word of god but doesn't do it they're like a person that looks in a mirror and they behold themselves but then they straightway forgetteth what manner of man he is verse 25 but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty that's the word of god and continue therein he is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deed so i want you to notice that here we see that the bible is compared to a mirror and again what is the purpose of a mirror purpose of mirror is to look at it so that you can identify problems right that's the that's why i know some of you narcissists out there just look at every possible mirror ever even turn your phone into a mirror every five minutes just to look at yourselves but the whole point of a mirror is that you look in the mirror to see your reflection so that you can identify to have something in my teeth in my tie string whatever you can fix problems that's the purpose of a mirror and the bible says that the word of god is like a mirror that we open it up and we read it and we're supposed to see ourselves in it but not just see ourselves in it we're supposed to see our problems in it and identify our problems so that we can fix them and we are not to be forgetful hearers but we should do something we should do something with what we see just like if you look in the mirror and you see that your tie is not straight i'm not sure if my tie is straight i don't look at them but you're if you look in the mirror and you see that there's something wrong right i mean something you can fix i mean i look in the mirror every day and i think to myself there is something wrong here but there's nothing i can do about it you know but but if it if you identify something that's wrong that you can fix and you don't fix it then what's the point of looking in a mirror and the writer of the book of james is telling us that the bible is like a mirror that reveals so we see that the bible is like a sword that pierces the bible is like water that cleanses the bible is like a seed that gives life the bible is like food that nourishes the bible is like a mirror that reveals but let me give you another example go to jeremiah jeremiah chapter 23 in the old testament you find those big books of the old testament prophets isaiah jeremiah lamentations ezekiel jeremiah chapter 23 we'll see another comparison of the bible the bible jeremiah 23 29 is compared to fire that purges jeremiah 23 29 is not my word like as a fire this is what the bible says that god's word is like a fire is not my word like a fire saith the lord and all throughout the bible fire is used as an example of something that purges that purifies jobe said that he would be tried he said and when i am tried i shall come forth as gold gold or silver or precious metals would be put through fire in order to purge out that which was bad to purge out that which was of no value and we see that the bible is compared to fire that purges and look as the word of god is preached to you as the word of god is is explained to you and applied to your life it should be like a fire that purges your life so we see that bible is compared to a fire that purges but then here in verse 29 we see the next example and it is this number seven that the bible is compared to a hammer that breaks look at jeremiah 23 29 is not my word like as a fire saith the lord notice and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces so the bible tells us that the word of god is like fire that purges and it is like a hammer that breaks go to hosea chapter 10 if you would you're there in jeremiah you just go past lamentations ezekiel daniel into hosea hosea chapter 10 why is the bible why does the bible need to be like a hammer that breaks it needs to be like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces because of our hard hearts i mean the reason that you're bored tonight as we're looking at passages of the bible is probably because your heart is hard because if you love the bible you'd love learning about the bible if you love the word of god you you'd like learning about the word of god but what often happens in our lives and we saw that you see it in the parable of the sower is that when the ground is hard it needs to be broken up notice hosea 10 in verse 12 hosea 10 and verse 12 sow to yourselves in righteousness reap and mercy but see oftentimes individuals cannot sow in righteousness cannot reap in mercy why notice what the bible says break up your fallow ground the word fallow or the term fallow ground there is referring to ground that has not been plowed ground that has not been broken up ground that has dried and it's hard and it's hard to to penetrate you can't plant a seed in it because it's hard and the bible says that the word of god is like a seed that goes into the ground but the bible also says that the word of god is like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces that allows us to break up that fallow ground and look i'm here to tell you that oftentimes many christians what they need is the fallow ground of their heart to be broken the word of god to be used as a hammer to break the hardness of our hearts so we see that the bible is compared to a hammer that breaks let me give you another one go to psalm 119 if you would keep your place in psalm 119 when you get there if you open up your bible just right in the center you're more than likely following the book of psalms psalm 119 look at verse number 105 psalm 119 is a famous passage in the bible about the bible it's the longest chapter in the bible and it's about the word of god virtually every verse in psalm 119 there's a reference to the word of god it guides me it directs me it allows me to see and understand what i need to know and understand so look i want you to notice that all throughout the bible and i don't know if i missed any i don't i don't think i did but there there's all these comparisons in the bible about the bible it's compared to a sword that pierces it's compared to water that cleanses it's compared to seed that gives life it's compared to food that nourishes mirrors that reveals fire that purges hammer that breaks and lamp a lamp that enlightens i'd like you to go back i'm not sure if you kept your place in luke or not but go back to the book of john john chapter five we've been talking about the examples of the word of god but all of these are just different examples for really the same two things because really what the bible does is two things we saw the examples of the word of god i'd like to highlight for you the effects of the word of god the examples is what it is the effect is what it does what is it that the bible actually does well there's really only two things one is that the word of god brings salvation john five and verse 24 notice what the bible says jesus said verily verily i say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but has passed from death into life all throughout the bible we find this concept i won't take the time to belabor it because i've got other things i'd like to show you but the bible says this that salvation comes by us hearing the word of god and believing on the word of god go to acts chapter four acts chapter four real quickly john and then the book of acts acts chapter four and verse four acts four four says this how be it many of them which heard the word believed and the number of them of the men was about five thousand acts four four i want you to see it how be it many of them which i just want you to see this little phrase because this is how it works how many of them which heard the word believed heard the word believed that's how it works he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life go to romans chapter 10 you're there in acts just flip over to romans chapter 10 and look at verse number 17 romans chapter 10 and verse 17 romans 10 is the great passage on salvation romans 10 says this so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god notice the bible teaches that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god so we see that one of the things that the word of god does is that it brings salvation the only reason that you and i are saved today is because the word of god reveals salvation to us because it is the incorruptible seed being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of god which liveth and abideth forever so we see that the word of god brings salvation but not only that go back to john 17 john 17 and look at verse 17 if you go backwards from romans through the book of acts into into john why don't you notice john 17 because remember there's two things the bible does and all these eight examples that i gave you of the word of god they really just focus it on they're doing two different things one thing is that the word of god brings salvation the other thing is that the word of god brings sanctification notice john 17 and verse 17 notice what jesus said sanctify them through thy truth so how are we going to sanctify them through thy truth and then it says this jesus says this thy word is truth so we say that the word of god brings salvation we say that the word of god brings sanctification if you kept your place in psalms i i i thought i asked you to keep your place i don't remember but in psalm 119 if you kept your place in psalm 119 you can go back there real quickly look at verse 9 psalm 119 and verse 9 notice about what bible says psalm 119 9 wherewithal that phrase wherewithal means by means of which or out of where by what resource wherewithal shall a young man notice these words cleanse his way how will a young man cleanse his way here's how by taking heed thereto according to thy word so you see that the word of god brings salvation and we see that the word of god brings sanctification this is the effect of the word of god what's interesting to me is that we live in a day and age today that wants to de-emphasize the word of god now we're not surprised by that because the world does that today we have the world telling us that the bible is not the word of god that evolution is true that god doesn't exist all those things but even in christianity look today if you go to the average church in america today first of all if you go right now they're not going to have church because most churches don't even have a wednesday night bible study anymore but if you go to the average church in isaacson america today you know what you're going to find you're going to find a 15 or 20 minute sermon you're going to find one verse if you're lucky you know and and and a whole lot of stories and joking and laughing and even independent federal baptists i mean oftentimes when i listen to independent formal baptists it's like you're listening to a comedy show and it's just like you know one verse at the beginning of the sermon and then it's just stories and joking and laughing and look i'm all for jokes i'm all for stories i'm not against any of those things but you better understand that the power is in the word of god the reason that we give you the word of god in heavy doses here at verity baptist church is because the power is in the word the word of god is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and today we want to de-emphasize the bible we think that our ability to communicate and our ability to tell jokes and tell stories and do this and do that and look i'm all for all those things obviously as a preacher i'm a communicator and i understand that some people communicate better than others i get that i get that two preachers can preach the same passage and and just the way that they deliver the message is going to be different and and one may be better than the other one we understand that but the point is this let us never forget that the power is in the word of god we should not de-emphasize the word of god the word of god should be the focus the the focus of the church service is the preaching of the word of god the most important thing we do here is the preaching of the word of god why because it is the word of god that is effectual it is the word of god that brings salvation it is the word of god that brings sanctification even even today supposedly soul-winning baptists want to de-emphasize the word of god even in preaching the gospel i i remember going to a church brother matt burello is probably gonna is is um is is gonna agree with this but i remember going to church where literally i mean i literally went soul winning in churches where the gospel presentation was jesus loves you i mean i'm not even joking like it's like can i preach the gospel to you yeah sure jesus loves you and it's like that's it nothing about hell nothing about heaven nothing about jesus died on the cross the resurrection and look we need to remember that the power is in the word of god obviously can we explain it well can we explain it better can we use illustrations to help you understand all those things are true all those things are good but let us never forget that it is the word of god that pierces it is the word of god that cleanses it is the word of god that gives life it is quick and powerful it is the living word of god it's the word of god that nourishes that reveals that purges that breaks that enlightens it's the word of god the word of god brings salvation the word of god brings sanctification if you think about these things that the bible does it's doing these things when it pierces it does that for salvation and it does that also for sanctification when it cleanses that's for sanctification when it's a seed that gives life that's for salvation when it's food that nourishes that's for sanctification when it's a mirror that reveals that's for sanctification when it is a fire that purges that's for sanctification when it is a hammer that breaks that can be both for salvation or sanctification when it is a lamp that enlightens or guides that can be both for salvation and both for sanctification these are the things that the word of god does i'd like you to find the t-books in your bible they're all clustered together first second thessalonians for second timothy titus and find titus chapter number one and all of that was kind of just introduction just to get to this point and you may or may not agree with me i don't know because maybe i just feel this way because i'm a pastor and this is what i do for a living but when i read this when i study this as i was studying this through the bible this week preparing the sermon i personally was really excited because when i think of this i think wow i mean that is amazing i think i think if there was a church member if there was a husband if there was a wife if there was a young person that we could pierce through and we could cut out all the all the junk all the distractions all all the things that that they're focused on that that have no uh spiritual eternal value and we could just kind of move all that out of the way just kind of pierce through them and get the word of god in them wouldn't that be exciting i mean if we could take an individual we could take a brand new convert who doesn't know anything about the bible maybe all they know is salvation they're safe and we could begin to cleanse them and allow the word of god to cleanse their life and get the sin out of their life and get their heart right and get their life right wouldn't that be exciting i mean we think of the fact that we could go to those that are dead in trespasses and sins and we could present the gospel to them and we could plant the seed in their heart that would give life that would cause them to be born again wouldn't that be exciting if we could take a brand new baby christian that doesn't know anything isn't strong and is weak it's just a baby and begin to nourish them begin to feed them begin to give them the sincere milk of the word begin to give them bread and strong meat and they can grow and be a strong christian wouldn't that be exciting i mean if we could begin to look if we could get to the place where christians every day all on their own would wake up every day and open up the king james bible and look in the mirror of the word of god and began to reflect upon their own lives and began to desire to look more like christ to be more like christ and began to fix things in their own lives as a result of what they see in the word of god wouldn't that be exciting i mean if the word of god could be fire if we could have conferences like the red hot preaching conference where the word of god could be preached like fire and you wouldn't just get excited when we use the word fact you wouldn't just get excited when we use the word queer but you get excited when we preach about prayer and bible reading and sanctification and holiness and loving your neighbor and doing right and living right and that fire would purge you wouldn't that be exciting we could take some hardened christian i don't know how you come to a church like verity baptist church and not be a soul winner i don't know how you come to a church like verity baptist church and not read the bible i don't know how you come to the church i mean you must really be a hardened heart but wouldn't it be exciting to take the word of god and begin to pound and break and break that hard foul ground to me that's exciting it's exciting that a husband could get saved who doesn't know what to do with his marriage doesn't know what to do with his children doesn't know how to guide his family but we can teach them to read the bible and love the bible and this bible could begin to be a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path and can begin to guide them and say oh that's what i'm supposed that's how i'm supposed to do marriage that's how i'm supposed to raise my children that's what god wants me to do with my life i mean wouldn't that be exciting but sadly what i see may i say this excuse me may i be honest sadly what i see oftentimes is christians that are hard they have the light but they walk in darkness they have the water but they're dirty nothing can pierce them they're anemic spiritually they have the mirror but they're spiritually ugly they have the fire but they're not cleansed their hearts are hard and i think to myself well is there something wrong with this why doesn't this work why can a preacher spend hours and hours studying and reading preparing and outlining to preach the word of god to allow the word of god to be a sword that pierces water that cleanses seed that gives life and yet so many of us are dead malnourished and worldly and it is because there is a catalyst to the word of god see the word of god is all these things there's nothing wrong with this this is good the thing is that there is something that has to be mixed with the bible in order for it to work go back to hebrews chapter 4 if you would hebrews chapter 4 look at verse 2 hebrews chapter 4 verse 2 this is talking about salvation but really it can be applied to both areas of what the bible does because the bible only does two things it saves and it sanctifies it saves and it sanctifies hebrews 4 2 for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them and i think this is one of the saddest little statements in the bible and sometimes i wonder if the reason it bothers me so much is because i feel like it can describe so much the average christian but the word of but the word notice but the word preached did not profit them so you and i can go out knock on doors and preach the bible but that does not guaranteed it'll profit them i can stand up and do my best to study to outline to be dynamic to be entertaining to make the sermon memorable but the word of god preached the word preached simply the fact that it's preached does not mean that it'll profit you for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them but the word preached did not profit them now that sounds like there's something wrong with the word but there's nothing wrong with the word there's something wrong with you but the word preached did not profit them here's why not being mixed with faith and them that heard it now obviously regarding salvation if we preach the truth of the word of god and it's not accepted by faith received by faith it won't profit somebody for salvation but let me just say this when i stand up and preach the word of god and you don't receive it in faith it won't profit you either let's just be honest why don't we do what the bible says why are there areas in our lives where we know the bible says do x y and z we know god says do this don't do that and yet we don't do it you know the truth is we just don't really believe it god says ty then i'll take care of your finances and we're like i don't think he will so we don't die i mean i tied but you know what is that it's why a wife won't submit to her husband it's why a husband won't love his wife like christ loved the church it's why you won't do the things that you know god wants you to do why because at the end of the day you actually don't believe it i didn't say you're not saved i just said that this powerful book this book that is alive quick and powerful it's a sword that can pierce it's a water that cleansed it's a seed that can give life it's food that nourishes mirror that reveals fire that purges hammer that breaks and lamp that aligns its power is held at bay by you and me the word preach did not profit them and sadly that's the statement that could be said of the average christian in america today when the word is preached why doesn't it profit you when the sword tries to pierce why doesn't it pierce it says it can pierce when the hammer tries to break why doesn't it break why doesn't it produce life why doesn't it produce cleansing why doesn't it produce purging because the missing key is our faith see it does not matter what part of the bible is preached if you and i aren't ready to receive it it doesn't matter if you read the bible and check it off somewhere if you're not willing to do what it says and this is why the emphasis and all those verses that i read to you and i won't go back and read them all but the emphasis is to take heed the emphasis is to do the emphasis is to do the things you're learning in the bible apply them to your life do them because they can only cleanse you when you do it they can only bless you when you do it they can only produce what it will produce in you when you do it so here's the question i have for you how's your bible reading and see this is where we got to start because before we can get to the real question we just have to get to this question do you read the bible you've got the word of god sitting on your shelf quick and powerful a living book the word of god the lord jesus christ in print i mean if jesus appeared physically in your home would you ignore him if jesus showed up at your home at your home like like he says in revelation in the book of revelation it says i set his door knock if any man hear my voice and open the door i will come into him and will sup with him and he with me jesus wants to come in to your heart into your life i'm not talking about salvation he wants to come in and sup with you and fellowship with you and spend time with you say man if jesus showed up and wanted to have dinner with me and wanted to spend time with me i'd let him do it well he wants to do it tomorrow morning through the king james bible he is the word of god so how's your bible reading and then my question is you say oh i do read my bible okay do you do what it says do you care what jesus says go back to hebrews chapter 4 mike and look at these verses we'll finish up that's why we emphasize bible reading around here i know it's a little early but in january we'll have our nine chapters a day challenge every january we have nine chapters a day where we challenge everyone in our congregation to read nine chapters every day in the month of january of the new testament if you do that you'll read the entire new testament in the month of january one of the sweetest months around here is january one of the worst months around here is december when you and i let me say it this way the bible wants to do a work on you whatever you need i don't know what you need but god does maybe you need a sword that pierces maybe you need to be cut maybe you need to come to church and hear something that you don't want to hear hear something that you know is true and it pierces your heart and it pricks you and you think ah yeah maybe it's water that needs to just cleanse you by the way that's why you need sunday morning sunday night wednesday night that's what you need consistency in your in your in your in your church attendance and in your bible because maybe you just need the word of god cleansing you maybe it's a seed that needs to produce life of course this is referring to salvation but you know it could be referred to revival as well so many christians are just dead it's not exciting excited about everything else except the word of god maybe you need food maybe you need sincere milk maybe you need daily bread i mean we all need daily bread but maybe it's food that maybe you need to just look in the mirror and address some things if you need fire that purges a hammer that breaks the lamp that guides see the word of god wants to do a work in you but here's the key here's the key it cannot do a work in us until we begin to work with it this is what the bible says study study to show thyself approved unto god a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth why can the word of god why can't this powerful book this powerful book that wants to do a work in our lives why does it do so little work and so little lives and it's here here's the reason is because we have to work with it we have to read we have to study we have to memorize we have to show up we have to hear the sermons we have to be ready to receive the word we have to be ready to be corrected we have to be ready to receive we need to be like those uh like like the book of acts talks about they were more noble than those in thessalonika the boreans and that they receive the word with all readiness of mind that has to do with their church attendance they went to church and they went to church ready to receive the word once the last time you prayed before you got to church and said god speak to me god speak to me tonight speak to me today show me something you'd like me to do show me something you'd like me to change i want to be tender to your word when's the last time when i showed up like that instead of showing up here we go again i saw the live stream only going to go through two verses tonight why does it take so long to get through the book of hebrews why does it bother you so much you should just like the bible i like the bible i like all of it you could preach for weeks on one verse and it wouldn't be enough for the word of god is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing ascender of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart here's here's the key here's the here's the secret is you and i work with the bible when we show up like the bereans they receive the word with all readiness of mind that had to do with their church attendance and search the scriptures daily whether those things were dealt so that had to do with the bible reading they receive the word with all readiness of mind at church sunday morning sunday night Wednesday night and they search the scriptures daily that's monday tuesday thursday friday saturday whether those things were so as we work with the word of god it begins to do a work in us that's why it says the word of god for the word of god is quick and powerful and sharpening to a sword piercing even to dividing us under souls fair and of the joint tomorrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intent of the heart look at verse 13 neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight that's that's god that's jesus but all things are naked and open into the eyes of him with whom we have to do see when you and i work with the bible the bible is working on you someone said it this way we read the bible and the bible is reading us neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and open into the eyes of him with whom we have to do let me just leave you with this thought the bible has everything you need and the bible knows exactly what you need and it's sitting there some of you leave it here it's sitting there leave it on the dashboard so i don't forget it and it's sitting there on your shelf sitting there on your table sitting there everything you need is right here but it cannot do a work on you so you become a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word truth you know what i think would be amazing not that we have 208 people show up for wednesday night bible study though i'm glad 208 people showed up for wednesday night bible study but if we have 208 people who showed up to wednesday night bible study who've been reading their bibles all week who've been ready to receive the word of god who would have their hearts ready who would say god do a work in me pierce my heart break my the hardness of my heart cleanse me purge me nourish me that would be amazing the problem is not with the word of god it's us it has to be mixed with faith or it won't profit us so let us be people of the bible let us be people of the book let us be people who love god's word who know god's word who study god's word who read god's word who memorize god's word work with god's word and allow god's word to do a work in us spider heads and i wrote a prayer heavenly father lord we love you and we love your word lord i pray you'd help us i pray you'd help us to be people of the book help us to realize that what we hold in our hands is an amazing book it is quick and powerful it's a lie sharper than a two-edged sword help us to work with your book and let your book do a work in us in jesus name we pray amen we're now brother moses come up and lead us in a final song as we prepare for a baptism tonight please enter your song books page number 390 page 390 we're just saying have i done my best for jesus page 390 and let's go ahead and sing it out on the verse i wonder have i done my best for jesus who died upon the cruel tree to think of his great sacrifice at calvary i know my lord expects the best from me how many are the loss that i have lifted how many are the chain i've helped to free i wonder have i done my best for jesus when he has done so much for me page 390 on the second the hours i have wasted are so many the hours i spent for christ so few because of all my lack of love for jesus i wonder if his heart is breaking too how many are the loss that i have lifted how many are the chain i've helped to free i wonder have i done my best for jesus when he has done so much for me great all right well we have tim coming for baptism tonight and tim's been coming to our church for a while i feel like i've really gotten to know him at these work days and he's been showing up to a lot of work days and i'll tell you this is a hard-working young man and i'm thankful for him tim have you accepted the lord jesus christ as your personal savior all right tim by your profession of faith i baptized my brother in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost buried in the likeness of his death ways to walk a newness of life all right well thank you very much for being here tonight and of course i just want to encourage you to be back on sunday for the services we have soul winning on saturday and of course we've got the work days thursday friday and saturday so if you could help men we would appreciate the help there's clipboards in the back for you to sign up and we've just got a lot to do and it's not going to get done on its own so we got to show up and do the work so if you could do that if you could sign up if you could sign up for a ship we would appreciate your help with that if there's anything we can do for you please let us know and ask for the moses to dismiss us where they were to pray let's pray father god thank you for the service lord uh thank you for the sermon i was preaching tonight i pray they would remember the important things like reading our bibles and having a fellowship with you i pray to keep us safe thank you for the baptism and uh keep us safe until we meet again in jesus name i pray amen so you