God’s word is timeless and has the power to mold hearts of every age and every walk of life, so long as we use it every day.

This world is such a diverse place. Even here in this room we have men and women from all kinds of different backgrounds (education, ethnicity, upbringing, gender, age, maturity level, etc). Our elders admonished us to read from James 2 last Sunday night, did you go home and read it? We see this horrible problem in the church where people would divide themselves by income level, and James rebukes them for their partial treatment. One of the things that struck me from James 2 was how Abraham was counted as a righteous man, but so was Rahab the harlot! We need to realize that God’s word is powerful to change everyone’s life, no matter their background.

God’s word is timeless, and relevant to people of every age, every stage, if we will use it every day! “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17) It’s not enough just to know … we have to put it into practice! “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:47–49) Tonight let’s consider the great power of God’s word and how amazing it is that our Creator has given us a book that is just as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.

EVERY AGE

  • God’s word is something we, as those who are older, should be sharing with our children. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4–9).

  • Paul admonished Titus to encourage men and women of all ages to be faithful to God. “But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.” (Titus 2:1–8)

    Application

  • We are and example of righteousness to our younger generation. Sharilyn and I are very against using “baby talk” with Ashlyn, because we want her to grow and learn to communicate from our example. Are you presenting the right kind of example to the children here (yours or otherwise) about how a faithful child of God should act?
  • Listen and learn from the advice of those who are older and more experienced. Nothing will get us into trouble quicker than relying on the inexperience of our peers for guidance. We have such a great blessing to lean on one another’s wisdom in His kingdom … are you using it?
  • There is no such thing as retirement for a Christian. I said that once about 10 years ago in a bible class with predominantly older Christians, and many took issue with that statement. We will never reach an age where we are done being accountable to God’s word, or that we’ve somehow completed our service to Him. No matter our age, we are always growing, always pushing forward, and always leading others to know Him more completely.

[What a fantastic blessing that this same book is applicable to the young, the middle aged, and the older alike]

EVERY STAGE

  • Just because you’ve been a Christian a certain length of time, does not guarantee you’re at the spiritual maturity level that you should be. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.” (Hebrews 5:12–13).

  • Being young does not mean you can’t be spiritually mature. “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:12–16).

    Application

  • Starting with knowledge and moving to wisdom. It’s not enough for us to acquire knowledge of the bible, we need to seek wisdom in how to apply it to our life. It can be very easy to slip into the trap of memorizing facts and events and wrangling about the meaning of words, but we need to be looking for the meat – the application in our lives. “Knowledge is knowing the tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting in your fruit salad.” Are you looking for the application and striving for wisdom?
  • Continued progress is critical. We all have different starting points on our journey with God, whether you come to Christ as a young man like Jake or a not-so-young-man like Johnny Ray, God doesn’t lay out a timeline for when we should reach spiritual milestones. He only asks that we continue to grow and continue to reach forward. Let go of the past, take hold of today and what you can do for Him now. Are you growing in your faith or have you become stagnant?
  • We all have different backgrounds but God’s word is powerful to change even the vilest sinner! The easy path is to wait for someone in nice clothing to come ask us for a bible study, the harder path is to approach someone who’s obviously in sin and show them the light. Are we comfortable with that?

[So His word is powerful and applicable to all men, so what? What do I need to do about it?]

EVERY DAY

  • Jesus helps us see that God’s word should be like food to sustain us. [during the temptation of Jesus] “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4).

  • David was one who meditated on God’s word day and night, and blessed Him each day. “I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:1–3).

    Application

  • Did you study your bible every day this past week? If you missed a day, do you remember which day it was? Did it bother you to skip a day in study of God’s word? I believe (like the attendance issue) that until we crave the bible, until we desire it, until is satisfies us emotionally, we will never put daily bible study into practice. Until then, we will know the right thing to do, but we’ll be ok just skipping it until Sunday.
  • Is the bible woven into the routine of your day? Remember back in Deut 6:7 how we should talk about God’s word when we’re at home, when we travel, when we go to bed and when we wake up in the morning? How is the bible incorporated into your daily life? Like going to the grocery store to prepare for a meal, have you prepared your heart beforehand to include the bible into your daily conversation?
  • Does the bible permeate your conversations? Nothing is more satisfying to me than talking to my brothers and sisters about spiritual things and listening to their insights. I enjoy casual conversation, but start talking about spiritual things and I’m in! Do we open up to each other about the lessons we’re learning during our daily bible study and helping one another grow?

[Are you going to let another week go by without setting aside time each day for study? Please recognize the great power in His word and treat it like food for your soul.]

What a wonderful blessing that we can all take part in the same revealed truth!
EVERY AGE – Applicable to the young and the old
EVERY STAGE – Applicable to those in countless walks of life and stages of spiritual maturity
EVERY DAY – Powerful only when we put it into daily practice in our lives

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26–28)