Can You Bear the Sharp Word of God? <Heb 3:7-8; 4:2, 11-13, 14-16; Ac 2:37-42; Isa 55:11; Jer 23:29>

· Read <Heb 4:11-13>

1. Some people do not like the sharp, piercing word of God which is like “double-edged sword”.

1）Only like one side of God’s word, but do not like the “double-edged” aspect.

· Only want comfort, but not rebuke.

· Only want grace, but not self-denial.

· Only want power, but not submission.

· Only want to be built up, but not torn down.

· Only want glory, but not humility.

2）Only superficially commit life to the Lord, but withhold the innermost being, and do not wholly commit heart to the Lord.

3）But appropriate piercing is actually good for man.

· If heart is not pierced, will easily slumber, forget God’s word, and be shaken.

· Only when people are cut to the heart because of God’s word, will they be driven to actions and submission.

· Read <Ac 2:37-42>.

· If a person really wishes to be blessed, his heart must first be pierced by God’s word.

2. God’s sharp word is living and active.

1）God’s word can “pierce and divide”.

· God’s word exposes our true self, making us understand ourselves more accurately.

· Words like “double-edged sword”, “sharp”, “pierce and divide”: Surgery, operation.

· Although the process of surgery and cutting is painful, it is critical to thorough healing.

· God also wants to perform circumcision on our hearts and remove our vestigial sins.

· “Double-edged” implies that not one part is not sharp. None of God’s word is useless or redundant.

· Read <Isa 55:11>.

2）If it is someone whom God wants to touch, no heart is too hardened for the word of God to penetrate.

· Example of the initially hardened people in <Ac 2:37-42>.

· Example of someone named Thorpe during the times of George Whitefield.

3. God’s word can be a sharp and lethal weapon.

1）God’s word is dangerous like a double-edged sword.

· <Jer 23:29> “Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

· <Heb 4:2> For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.

2）God’s word as a sharp sword can also be an useful weapon against the enemy.

4. Must not be hardened toward God’s word!

1）Man is either softened or hardened by God’s word.

· Read <Heb 3:7-8>.

2）God’s word will bring about distinction.

5. Although God’s word pierces, it also heals most effectively.

· Read <Ac 2:38>.

· God’s word reveals our sins, but it is also God’s word which points us to Christ who can save us.

· Do not be discouraged just because God’s word is very sharp or hard to obey.

· Read <Heb 4:14-16>.