🎵Music🎵
Great singing and welcome to Verity Baptist Church in the Wednesday evening
Bible study let's open up and we're prayer father God thank you so much
for this church Lord these people come out here in a Wednesday evening to
serve you I pray they're singing with glorify you Lord I pray that you bless
the service and the preaching to come in Jesus name I pray amen
all right turn your song clicks page number 433 page number 433
we're gonna sing away in a major now we don't get to sing this song too
often so let's sing it let's sing it good
and I'll try my best as well page 433 let's sing it out on the first
🎵Away in a manger no crib for a bed🎵
🎵The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head🎵
🎵The stars in the sky looked down where he weighed🎵
🎵The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay🎵
Page 433 and we can sing it a little bit better so let's sing it out
on the second 🎵The cattle are lowing the baby awakes🎵
🎵But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes🎵
🎵I love thee Lord Jesus looked down from the sky🎵
🎵And saved by my cradle till morning is nigh🎵
Let's finish it out on the third 🎵Be near me Lord Jesus I ask thee to stay🎵
🎵Close by me forever and love me I pray🎵
🎵Bless all the dear children in thy tender care🎵
🎵And take us to heaven to live with thee there🎵
Great singing!
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
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