1 Peter 1:22-25 The Power of the Word
TPC 10a
Intro: If you are one who happens to keep up on what people are reading / following the trends on the NY Times / other Best seller list
A)You
Discover that there is real similarity in the Books
that People are buying & Reading these days
B)
The
Similarity is this – they all deal w/ the subjects of Human Growth or Human Potential
1) They used to be called SELF HELP books – but the Latest Politically Correct name for that Movement – Human Growth or Human Potential
1)
Current #1 - Who Moved My Cheese?” DR. Spencer Johnson
How
to Deal With Change in Your Work and in Your Life
D)"Discovering The Art of
Happiness" Dr. Howard Cutler, a
psychiatrist in private practice, collaborated on this book with the Dalai Lama.
E)Money Problems
"The Millionaire Mind" tells the stories of how people went from being a bus driver, to a Fortune 500 CEO—by adopting the millionaire mindset to become financially independent.
F)Relationship Problems :
"Relationship Rescue" – Another
Psychologist Phillip McGraw tells how his more than two decades of counseling
experience helped him develop this seven-step strategy to Rescue Troubled Relationships
G)Books on Nutrition
"Body for
Life" / "Eating
Well for Optimum Health"
Eat Better / Live better / Feel Better/ Do better in Business
A)Each book advocates the latest
breakthrough insight in learning how to better your life
B) So If you can find the
time to read all these books – follow Principles – A Better You
Here is what is interesting about all these books and all these
most of these authors – All written Best sellers before on similar topics
A)First book comes out – This is the
Key – Oprah recommends it - it
becomes a best Seller - & sells for 25 dollars
B) A year or so later that book is in
the Bargain Bin / and the Guy comes out w/ a new Book – re-hashing of earlier ideas
1) Then 5 to 10 yrs these ideas come back in a New Book - / New
Title /Author Popular for a season – then Fades
The Christian Community at times is also Prone to get caught up in
this Pursuit of the latest thing to improve your life !! -
A)A few yrs back the hottest book in Christian bookstores – a Book called Colors
B) The book explained that all people can be divided into 4 color Categories
Red , White, Blue, Yellow
1) Yellow
– Happy go lucky / White –Pure /Blue Depressed,
Red-
hot head
C) The Point was to help people
understand themselves and others better by placing people in these 4 Color
Categories
1) Book was really just a Recycling of the Spiritual Temperaments Rap that was Popular in the early 80’s
D) 4 Categories
–Phlegmatic / Chyloric/Sanguin/ Melancholic ( same deal)
Where
did that come from?
1)
That whole Humanistic Philosophy that infiltrated the Church sprung out of Greek
Philosophy & Paganism Dating back to the time B.C.
Now
that type of recycling of ideas & recirculating of Old concepts is so
typical of what goes on in the “Human Potential”
Movement
A)Here today / gone tomorrow – a hot
new idea springs up and then fades away WHY DOES IT FADE? One reason – IT DOESN’T WORK !!!
B) Solomon was right when
declared ECC.12:12 Of making many books there is no end,
C) Peter in
our text today – ECHOES the same sentiment v.24
"All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its
flower falls away, 25 But the word of the LORD endures forever."
All
the Philosophies and Ideologies of man spring up like grass green for a season
–but Ultimately withers & dies
A)The glory of man -his Brilliance- his ideas - they Buds like a Flower
When they come on the scene –Glory is for a Moment / Wk/Month/yr
B)Man’s Philosophies – come & go – but the word of the Lord Endures forever !!!!!
1) Just ask Voltaire – Famous French Philosopher – Atheist –considered a real deep thinker in those days
C)Voltaire – made this statement in 1778 while on his death bed –Voltaire said that w/ in 100yrs of his death the Bible would be forgotten
1) Only found in the Archives of Libraries and in Museums
D)This
is great!!! After his death his house was Purchased & is still being used
by the European Bible Society
1)
Where they Produce – 100’s of thousands of Bibles every
yr. And send them all over the World
E)Voltaire like the Grass withered and like the Flower
faded – but the Word of God ENDURES FOREVER !!!!!!!
1) Why does the Word endure forever ?
I.THE WORD IS UNIQUE IN IT’S
ORIGIN
A)Inspired by God – 2 Tim 3:16,17
16All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Susan Wright was sitting next to her first grade daughter during
morning worship one Sunday, … looked
down at her open Bible. In a low whisper, she asked, "Did God really write that?"
"Yes," Susan quietly whispered
back.
Looking down at her moms Bible again, the little girl said in
amazement, "Wow! He really has neat
handwriting!"
B) The Bible is Unique in its origin because it is inspired by God – God Breathed – He instructed the writers on what to write
C)
It is profitable for DOCTRINE (what is
right), for REPROOF
(what
is not right), for CORRECTION (how to
get right),
1)
and
for INSTRUCTION in righteousness (how to stay right).
U.S. News & World Report, 80% of Americans believe
the Bible is the inspired Word of God:
Yet 48% of Americans believe there is no one set of values that is right:
D)
D.L. Moody, I know the Bible is inspired because it inspires me.
II.The Bible is unique in
its origin because of its structure
A)1500yrs
/ 40 authors – varies backgrounds / 3 Continents / 3 lang.
1)
Says
the same – Points to Jesus
III. The Bible is
unique in its origin because it is infused with Life
HEB 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
A)The
Word of God Lives – it is Living & powerful –all 66 books / all 1,118
Chapters/ all 774,746 verses /
1)
All 3 Million 500,000 and 34 words are all inspired & Living
B) Every word /Every verse/Every Chapter/ Every Book/ inspired all Living
1)But That is why Jesus
declared Man shall not live by Bread alone – but by every word that Proceeds
out of the mouth of God !!!! Life in the Word
v.23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but
incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever
A) The word in the Greek – here for seed is really descriptive – sporio
in the Greek from which we get our English word – Sperm
1)So when The Seed is Planted in the woman /
the result is a Baby is Born
B)
Peter says that when the Word of God is implanted by the H.S. w/ in our hearts-
New life is the Result
1)
We
become a New Creation in Christ
C) We have a similar picture in Nature – the seed sown in the Soil –
the seed has life in it – Planted in the ground – and a New Creation –comes
forth
D) Jesus illustrated this In the Parable of
the Sower – seed representing the Word of God – Gospel – is sown in
different soil – Human hearts
1)
Soft
soil representing a receptive heart = much fruit – You could say that Seed is
Born again – New life results
Now some of you no
doubt remember back to when the word Born again was Considered a Derogatory
term by some
A)I remember asking someone Are you a Christian – and getting this
response – Yes, but I am not one
of those born again types
B) Which meant – I am not one of those
radical Jesus freak ex-hippie Christians – I am more conservative in my faith
& Belief
C) The Description radical Jesus freak Ex-Hippie Christian is really not a bad description – because it speaks of a radical Change
1) Which is exactly what being born again means – It speaks of having a whole New Nature / Becoming a Brand New Creation
D)
Which is what Happens when we give our lives to Christ – It is not becoming
Religious – Being Changed / Old passed away ……NEW !!!
Now the Phrase Born again first
appears in the Bible in Jn. 3 in a meeting Between Nic. & Jesus / The
teacher in Israel/ Nic at night –
A)We know that You are a teacher come from God; for no
one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
B) Jesus answers the unasked question of Nic. Heart -Jesus
answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to
you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
C)Nic is confused by this statement – How can man be …..is Old
1) Jesus born of flesh is flesh ….. Spirit is spirit
D) Nic - You need a Spiritual rebirth n/need to be born of the Spirit
Now at this point Jesus makes
an interesting statement – He says to Nic
Are you the teacher of Israel,
and do not know these things?
A)In other words - Nic should have understood this concept –
B) His
mind should have went to Ezk 36 where Ezk Prophesied of this experience that
would come thru the New Covenant. / Jesus was about to Initiate
1) There the Lord declared
v.26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;
I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My
statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
C) The Phrase I will give you a New heart – signifies the New nature – brand new nature – which happens / the moment we are Born again
1) Nic should have drawn the Connection
D) Then In Ezk 37 the Lord shows Ezk in a Vision a picture of the nation of Israel – Valley
full of Dry Bones
And the Lord said to Ezk “Son of man, can these bones live?”
Ezk answered
“O Lord GOD, You know.”
A)Then the Lord told Ezk to “Prophesy to those bones, and
say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the
LORD!
B) When
Ezk spoke the word of the Lord to the Bones they began to move
suddenly
there was a noise, a rattling;& the bones came together,
1) Foot bone Connected to ankle bone & the ankle bone to leg bone / leg bone to the Knee bone
C)Then the bones were covered w/ flesh – but there was no life in them – no Breath the Lord – said to Ezk. Prophesy to the Wind = Spirit
1) Spirit came into them – filled w/ Life
The vision of Ezk 37 is a Prophesy of the restoration of the Nation of
IS
A)But it comes on the heals of the Prophecy in Ezk. 36 of the New Birth pictured in the New Covenant.
B) It also serves as a neat picture of what it means to be Born again
1) When the Word is received and the spirit gives life
C)
Jesus was telling Nic. That he being THE TEACHER in Israel should have drawn
the connection
1) Then Jesus answers the 2nd unasked question on Nic. Mind – Who then can be Born again ?
16For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18“He
who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God.
D) Jesus revealed that The Miracle of regeneration is available to whoever
Believes –
Paul echoed this in Rom. 1:16
16For I am not ashamed of the gospel £of
Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for
the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness
of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall
live by faith.ӣ
A)And that is why we need to follow Paul’s example in sharing the Gospel / in planting seeds – because there is Life in that seed
1) Power for Salvation the Moment a person believes
B) So the miracle of regeneration takes place when we receive the word of God into our hearts / then indwelt w/ the H.S
1) We
are Born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word
of God
C) Simple stuff – Known this for yrs – But here is what we need to understand before we go our way today
1) What
happened to us initially at Conversion –when we were born again by the incorruptible word of God that lives & endures forever
D)That
same dynamic can penetrate our lives and impact you & me in any area of our
lives where there is dry bones / Barren
1) Perhaps your marriage has become dry / stale / Maybe you have a teenage son or daughter who is struggling/ dry not doing well spiritually
E) Here is the Key the word of God uniquely has Power to Change that marriage / to work in the life of that friend / teenager
The Lord declared thru the Prophet Isa. Concerning His word Ch. 55
10 "For as the
rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water
the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater, So shall My word
be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall
accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent
it.
A)The
Lord declares here that His word is like the rain that comes down from the sky
and hits a dry parched hillside
1)
Suddenly a few weeks later you see on that dry barren
parched hillside there is growth taking place
B) You might not see the impact right away – this week / this month / this year – it might take a while but the Lord declares
1) MY WORD WILL NOT RETURN TO Me void, it shall accomplish
what I please, & it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
C) Oh how we need to believe that – the Word is like a seed sown / like the rain it is working even when we can’t see it
1) That is why the Lord pleads w/ us as parents to give the word to our Ch
Duet. 6 6“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
D)The Lord says speak the word to your Children wherever you are / wherever
you go / when SIT dinner - devotions/
when walk / in the car /
1) When you rise ( in the morning) when lie down – at night go to bed
E) Signs in your house – Idea is the word always before you
Because
the Lord Knows the Power of His word – those seeds planted that He wants us to
constantly be sharing the word w/ Kids
A)The Psalmist declared 119 :11Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
V.9 How can a young man cleanse
his way? By taking heed according to Your word.
B) My conviction – lately lazy
– doing what I preach not to do –My kids go to Christian school / in Church
twice a week – Lax
1)
God convicted me
C)See if we really believed what the Lord says in Isa.
About the word not returning void – we would be
sharing it all the time
1) Spiritual Uni-bombers – Planting Scriptures all over the Place
U.S. News & World Report, 80% of Americans believe
the Bible is the inspired Word of God:
Yet 48% of Americans believe there is no one set of values
that is right:
Maybe
you feel dry or barren yourself spiritually – Two Scriptures done
Luke
1 Mary – No word is w/out Power
A)v.38 Then Mary said, “Behold
the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”
B) Luke 5 Peter – toiling all night -
1) Jesus request doesn’t make sense
C) 5But Simon
answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing;
nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
Maybe
in your Life / your marriage – You have been giving God reasons why what He
says in His word will not work in Your Situation
A)Maybe like Peter and the Boys you have been toiling all night – day after day and have caught nothing / nothing you have tried has worked
B) Jesus says/ There is POWER IN THE WORD – doesn’t return VOID
When embraced it has the Power to take that which is barren life
1) That which is dry – bring back to life / that which is parched – growth
1 Peter 1 22Since you have purified your souls in obeying
the truth £through the Spirit
in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
1Pet.2:2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word,
that you may grow thereby,