The Power of the Word of God

Transcription

1 The Power of the Word of God There are three critical, foundational, biblical precepts associated with true, biblical, scriptural revival which I believe is where we are headed. 1. Return to the Word. 2. A desire to unify occurs. 3. The return of Supernatural signs and wonders I want to focus upon Gods word this evening starting in Jeremiah. Jeremiah was called by Adonai to prophetic ministry c. 626 BC. The Lord gave him the task of prophesizing Jerusalem's destruction by invaders from the north. Adonai was warning them, they had a choice for a different scenario if they repented because Judah had turned away from God, they d been unfaithful to the laws of the covenant and had forsaken God by worshiping Baal. As a nation they had deviated so far from God that they had broken the covenant, causing God to withdraw his blessings. Jeremiah was guided by God to proclaim that the nation of Judah would be faced with famine, plundered and taken captive by foreigners who would exile them to a foreign land. God challenges Jeremiah to find one righteous man in the city of Jerusalem: Jeremiah 5:1-5. Roam the streets of Yerushalayim look around, observe and ask in its open spaces: if you can find anyone (if there is anyone!) who acts with justice and seeks the truth, I will pardon her. 2 And though they say, 'As ADONAI lives,' the fact is that they are swearing falsely." 3 ADONAI, your eyes look for truth. You struck them, but they weren't affected; you [nearly] destroyed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than rock, refusing to repent. 4 My reaction was, "These must be the poor, the foolish, not knowing the way of ADONAI or the rulings of their God. 5 I will go to the prominent men, and I will speak to them; for they know the way of ADONAI and the rulings of their God." But these had completely broken the yoke and torn the harness off. Jeremiah looked but he couldn t find one righteous man! This is a reoccurring issue throughout human history! This isn t relegated to Israel alone! Why does this happen? Why or how could a nation whose identity, culture, and government that s founded and based upon their relationship with Adonai turn away from Him? Adonai prophetically knew it would happen and warned how in the beginning back in: Deuteronomy 8: "Be careful not to forget ADONAI your God by not obeying his mitzvot, rulings and regulations that I am giving you today. 12 Otherwise, after you have eaten and are satisfied, built fine houses and lived in them, 13 and increased your herds, flocks, silver, gold and everything else you own, 14 you will become proud-hearted (Veram: arrogant, lifted up, haughty, prideful-the result of wealth and material blessings levavecha: heart, inner man, mind, will, heart, soul) Forgetting ADONAI your God - who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves; 15 who led you through the vast and fearsome desert, with its poisonous snakes, scorpions and waterless, thirsty ground; who brought water out of flint rock for you; 16 who fed you in 1

2 the desert with man, unknown to your ancestors; all the while humbling and testing you in order to do you good in the end 17 you will think to yourself, 'My own power and the strength of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.' 18 No, you are to remember ADONAI your God, because it is he who is giving you the power to get wealth, in order to confirm his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as is happening even today. America is the wealthiest nation ever known in human history! God has granted us such an overwhelming abundant blessing of wealth and prosperity upon America that we ve fallen into the same condition of apostasy that God warned Israel about in Deuteronomy 8. As Jeremiah shared, He has struck us numerous times, but we are not listening, we profess trust and faith (Adonai Lives) but are swearing falsely. America heavily relied on, looked too, leaned on, and trusted in God as our nation was being birthed in the first 160 years! Divine Providence, God's intervention in the affairs of Humans, was routinely mentioned by our founding fathers when they spoke and wrote of America s birth and victory in the Revolutionary war. Are we a perfect nation? No! But America has and continues to be a nation that always pursued and live by Gods command in: Deuteronomy 16: You are not to distort justice or show favoritism, and you are not to accept a bribe, for a gift blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of even the upright. 20 Justice, only justice, you must pursue; so that you will live and inherit the land ADONAI your God is giving you. What s amazing is just last weekend as we celebrated Shavuot, Pentecost and received the prescribed Shelamim offering as commanded in Deuteronomy 16:16-17-these two verses immediately precede this command. We don t have a perfect history. Yes, America treated the First Nations harshly, yet the Virginia Tribes recently received Federal Recognition! A step in the right direction towards justice. Yes, the nation was guilty of the scourge of slavery yet approximately 360,000 Union troops died during the American Civil War to end slavery. Racism and segregation continued until the civil rights movements (led by Reverend Dr Martin Luther King -we tend to overlook that biblical foundation of the civil rights movement) brought the injustices of segregation and racism before the nation invoking ongoing change and restoration over the last 50 years. It s a process that s ongoing but the point is we are a nation founded upon biblical principle, pursuing justice. Now after years of abundant blessings, both material and wealth we arrogantly, with prideful hearts think we did these things ourselves and forget about or even worse remove God and His teachings from our Government, Culture, homes, and families. As a nation, though it s not 100% everyone, there are exceptions, but as a nation we ve forgotten who got us here and what we ve been delivered from! Verse 19 gives the end result of the Sin of Pride: Deuteronomy 8:19. If you forget ADONAI your God, follow other gods and serve and worship them, I am warning you in advance today that you will certainly perish. 2

3 The prideful are so blinded by their arrogance, their haughtiness that they believe they have no need for God. God warns us about pride, His distaste of it and the consequences of Pride: Proverbs 16: Pride goes before destruction, and arrogance before failure. 19 Better to be humble among the poor than share the spoil with the proud. At the very beginning of the birth of our nation our Godly founding Fathers who honored, served, and obeyed God sought His help in every area of our independence! On April 30th, 1789 at the Inauguration Address given by George Washington our first president, he gave a prophetic warning: We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and the right which heaven itself has ordained. President George Washington s warning echo s the words of Adonai in Deuteronomy 8 that if we, America depart from God, He will remove His blessings, His prosperity and His protection from over our nation. President Ronald Reagan address our nations departure over 30 years ago: "To those who cite the first amendment as reason for excluding God from more and more of our institutions and everyday life, may I just say: The first amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny." - Ronald Reagan There is a clear connection between Adonai s blessings and obedience to His word, the whole word. We Extoll King David, a man after Gods own heart who was an acclaimed, mighty warrior, anointed worshipper, musician, and poet who authored many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms. Scripture details Messiah's direct descent and lineage from the line of David. We have many, many recorded biblical examples of David s combat skills, profound love for God, humility, zealous, passionate worship, and sin and repentance! David wrote about the word of God in: Psalms 19:7-10. The Torah of ADONAI is perfect, restoring the inner person. The instruction of ADONAI is sure, making wise the thoughtless. 8 The precepts of ADONAI are right, rejoicing the heart. The mitzvah of ADONAI is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of ADONAI is clean, enduring forever. The rulings of ADONAI are true, they are righteous altogether, 10 more desirable than gold, than much fine gold, also sweeter than honey or drippings from the honeycomb. 11 Through them your servant is warned; in obeying them there is great reward. The author of Hebrew also records the profound power of the Word of God and once again, I know I sound like a broke record when this was written there was no New Testament: Hebrews 4:12. See, the Word of God is alive (zao {dzah'-o}: Quick, to live, breath, powerful, living water, vigorous, gives power to the soul)! It is at work and is 3

4 sharper than any double-edged sword - it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart. God s word is alive, sharp, a double edges sword judging your inner reflections and heart, so profound and powerful! Leaving the word, departing from the word separates the child of God from these convictions and reflections in our life! The issue of departing, of straying from God isn t non-believers, atheists, or Agnostics. It s those who profess and say they are saved, those who use the name of the Lord yet are not truly serving Him as Jeremiah stated. Yeshua powerfully speaks to this issue in: Matthew 7: "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants. 22 On that Day, many will say to me, `Lord, Lord! Didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we expel demons in your name? Didn't we perform many miracles in your name?' 23 Then I will tell them to their faces, `I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness (anomia {anom-ee'-ah}: Without Torah, contempt, ignorance, and violation of Torah, iniquity, wickedness) Yeshua was rebuking some P rushim, Pharisees about legalistic oral traditions saying in Mark 7:13: Thus by your tradition (paradosis {par-ad'-os-is}: Oral Tradition, manmade traditions) you make null and void the word of God!. Yeshua addressed this again by quoting Isaiah 29:11-12 to them: Matthew 15:7-9. You hypocrites! Yesha`yahu was right when he prophesied about you, 8 `These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me. 9 Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.'" Even more profoundly Yeshua said to some Tz'dukim, Sadducees who were trying to trap Him in Matthew 22:29. Yeshua answered them, "The reason you go astray is that you are ignorant both of the Tanakh (graphe {graf-ay'}: Written scripture or its content which when He said this was only the Tanach, the Old Testament) and of the power of God. In these two instances Yeshua is speaking to those within the Kingdom! The body of Messiah is flooded with those who say they are believers yet doing everything possible to avoid, do away with, denounce, and subvert Gods word! Ill share this again, I ve quit reading religious books, I don t troll the internet for theologies or apologetics videos, it s almost all heresy! Everything God wants me to know and learn is found between Genesis 1 and Revelation 22. I m not espousing Judaism with all of its oral, legalistic traditions-yeshua clearly and succinctly rebuked them! What I am talking about is walking in the power and truth of Gods whole word, that double-edged sword - it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner 4

5 reflections and attitudes of the heart! prophets: Listen to the words of the Nev im, the Jeremiah 23:29. "Isn't my word like fire," asks ADONAI, "like a hammer shattering rocks (Sala: Fortress, stronghold, rock)? Gods word can and will break any stronghold in your life, any and all addictions, fear, trust, and invoke trust! Remember the well known and often quoted passage faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God! - Romans 10:17. God s word also retains the power to heal! Psalm 107: In their trouble they cried to ADONAI, and he rescued them from their distress; 20 he sent his word and healed them, he delivered them from destruction. We are commanded to not forget Adonai in Deuteronomy 8, because it is he who is giving you the power to get wealth, in order to confirm his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as is happening even today. This explain why we are suffering so many diseases and sicknesses, terror attacks, famines, and unnatural storms and weather patterns. This memorial day we need to remember the Lord our God and return to Him! Sha ul, Paul shared in this weeks Divine Mentor readings: Romans 1:25. They have exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, by worshipping and serving created things (ktisis: created by man, anything created, built, fabricated) rather than the Creator praised be he forever. Amen. Rome in many, many ways also parallels America today! Both based on classic Greco/Roman culture and education. Most Americans today like Romans back then have exchanged the truth of God for manmade man created falsehood! People who attend with us, experience the presence of God, have tasted and known He is good still espouse that Torah is done away with! They continue to worship the man-made things vice focusing upon and seeking the truth! We are very familiar with the words of Yeshua in Matthew 5 that give us a warning: Matthew 5: Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah -- not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others (didasko {did-as'-ko}: teach, to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, instill doctrine) to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. These words as Yeshua s, Jesus s word whom John 1 stated: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Sha ul, Paul confirmed the words of Yeshua in: 5

6 Romans 2:13. For it is not merely the hearers of Torah whom God considers righteous; rather, it is the doers of what Torah says who will be made righteous in God s sight. For some reason religion doesn't quote or teach this, it's overlooked as Yeshua's words are in Mat. 5: Yet His words and Paul's teaching here are shouting to us through the halls of time to submit to God's word, to establish righteousness and holiness according to God's commands and mitzvahs! It's not the hearer of the word, it's the doer! This is one of the foundational keys necessary for the next outpouring of Gods fire! I ve been praying and seeking Adonai s wisdom for 18 years regarding the ability to teach and convey this in a non-confrontational loving way that the scales will fall away from Christendom, that Gods children will follow and obey Him in spirit and truth!! I Jon profoundly, powerfully captures the essence of everything the Ruach wished for me to convey. It would have been easier to just read these four verses and be done but that s not possible. To overcome 1,700 years of various religious errors and theologies it ll take a little time to lay out the truth and unpack where Adonai is taking us. The book of John and I John were written by the same author, John. The Gospel of John was written to unbelievers, I John was written to those who were already believers as recorded in I John 5:13. Written by John in Ephesus, the audience were Messianic Congregations in the diaspora made up of Jews and Gentiles. This letter/epistle was probably carried by itinerant emissaries to different synagogues throughout the region and read aloud to the congregations establishing the correction foundation and expression of worship. I know you habitually hear me say this and some listening might be agitated yet we know for a historical fact that for the first 300 years after Yeshua s death and resurrection Jews and Gentiles met on Shabbat in Synagogues and kept the feast days! Christianity as we know it today was birthed by Emperor Constantine in the meeting known as the Council of Nycea in 325 A.D. Even then it took over 100 years for the changes to come into effect.. I John 5:1-4. Everyone who believes that Yeshua is the Messiah has God as his father, and everyone who loves a father loves his offspring too. 2 Here is how we know that we love God's children: when we love God, we also do what he commands. 3 For loving God means obeying his commands. Moreover, his commands are not burdensome, 4 because everything which has God as its Father overcomes the world. And this is what victoriously overcomes the world: our trust. 6