The Bible

Scripture: Hebrews 4:12

Sermon preached at Gospel Light Christian Church, Singapore
by Pastor Dr Paul Choo
on 31 October 1999

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 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.

Introduction: Bibles are freely available nowadays and this generation of Christians has more bibles than any previous generation. However, fewer Christians treasure their bible nor benefit from it, than any previous generation. Today we come to the end of our first module of the bible memorization program and will "provoke" each other to memorize more diligently through the bible memorization competition. While we do not generally memorize human writings, we memorize scripture because it is God's Word and because every word of it is precious and needful (MAT 4:4). There is no book like the bible - it is unique. Hebrews 4:12 describes its uniqueness.

Word of God: The bible is the Word of God. Every other book is the word of men. The bible is the only book that God has written and will ever write to us (REV 22:18,19). It is His word to His children - in every generation, of every culture, age, background, etc. It contains all the life principles that we will ever need (PSA 119:105). It has all the information required to make us profitable Christians (2TI 2:17). It is God's manual for true success (JOS 1:8). It contains all the information we need about the unseen spiritual world, heaven and God. It tells us all we need to know about getting to know God and having eternal life. It is the most concentrated source of information on earth. It is the most perfect "thing" on earth.

Living: The word "quick" means "alive." God's word is alive in two ways. Firstly, it cannot be destroyed. Secondly, it gives life. Since the bible is the only book ever written by God, Satan has tried to destroy it using many different means. During the time of Jesus, He buried it under much man-made traditions (MAT 15:3). During the Dark Ages (500-1500 AD), he used the Church to forbid lay-people from reading the bible. In modern times, he has used so-called science to question the credibility of the bible. His latest method is to question its readability and use bible-translators to make it more "readable" by changing its words and message. In spite of all these attempts, the Word of God is still available to God's children and read by them. It cannot be destroyed (MAT 5:18, PSA 12:6,7). God's Word is also living because it gives life. When God created the world and all the living creatures in it, He used His Word (GEN 1). God also creates spiritual life by His Word (I PE 1:23). All the persuasions and philosophies of men cannot give true spiritual life to anyone.

Powerful: God's Word gives spiritual life because it is powerful to convict (ie, pierce) man of his sin (HEB 9:27), convert him to trust in Christ (JOH 3:16), confirm him in the faith (I JO 5:13) and comfort him in his struggles as a Christian (PHI 4:13). For many of us, one single verse of scripture has "delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (COL 1: 13).

Discerning: God's Word helps us differentiate between what is normally not easily differentiated. Men usually cannot differentiate their mental (ie, soul) from their spiritual needs. Nor can they differentiate (ie, divide asunder) their motives (ie, intents of the heart). We need God's Word to help us to reveal the true condition of our heart because the heart is deceitful above all things (JER 17:9)

Conclusion: The bible is the most perfect, precious and powerful thing on earth. Let us treasure it and hide it in our heart.