THE SUPERNATURAL POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD
A Bible Teaching by Jack Hartman
May, 2017
This month we will study what the Bible teaches about the supernatural power contained in the Word of God. Any Christian who truly grasps the immensity of the supernatural power that God has put into the Bible should be highly motivated to carefully study and meditate on the Scripture references this month. (All of the Scripture references are from The Amplified Bible unless otherwise stated.)
Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States, was a devout Christian. President Lincoln once said, “Take all of the Bible that you can by reason and the balance by faith and you will live and die a better person. It is the best book which God has given to all humankind.”
GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE. Are you absolutely certain that God Himself is the Author of the Bible? If you are, you will be highly motivated to consistently study and meditate on the holy Scriptures to learn the thousands of supernatural instructions and promises that God had given to you. The Bible states with absolute certainty that every word in the Bible comes from God. “Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) …” (II Timothy 3:16).
God supernaturally anointed each of the human authors of the Bible. What each of these human authors wrote was written through him, not by him. The apostle Paul said, “…I want you to know, brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not man’s gospel [a human invention, according to or patterned after any human standard]. For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] through a [direct] revelation [given] by Jesus Christ (the Messiah)” (Galatians 1:11-12).
Paul emphasized that he was not the author of the many passages of Scripture that he wrote in the Bible. Paul said that everything he wrote in the Bible was “a direct revelation given by Jesus Christ, the Messiah.”
GOD PLACES GREAT EMPHASIS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS WORD. The psalmist David said, “…You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!” (Psalm 138:2).
We are taught here that God exalts two things above everything else – His name and His Word. God magnifies His Word above His name. If God places this much emphasis on the importance of His Word, shouldn’t you do the same thing?
THE BIBLE WILL LAST THROUGHOUT ETERNITY. Any book written by a human may primarily be beneficial during the lifetime of that person. The Bible is not limited to our lifetime on earth. “…the Word of the Lord (divine instruction, the Gospel) endures forever…” (I Peter 1:25).
Please note the words “divine instruction” at the beginning of the amplification in this verse. You can be certain that God Himself is instructing you whenever you study and meditate on His Word. This verse says that the Word of God endures forever. The psalmist, writing under the anointing of God, said, “…Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity]” (Psalm 119:96).
God always emphasizes through repetition. Once again, God emphasizes here that His Word is eternal. Because the Word of God is eternal, you will be able to take everything you learn from God’s Word to heaven with you.
GOD WANTS YOU TO HAVE DEEP REVERENCE AND AWE FOR THE BIBLE. Your Father wants you to be absolutely certain that He is the Author of the Bible and that His Word is filled to overflowing with thousands of instructions and promises from Him. He said, “…this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands” (Isaiah 66:2).
Please note the words “humble and of a wounded spirit” in this verse. God wants all of His children to be humble and teachable, (see I Peter 5:5). If you are certain that the Creator of the universe actually has given you the Bible, you will “tremble” at His Word. You will “revere” His instructions. God has promised that He will “look and have regard” for each of His children who constantly approach His Word with reverent awe.
The same God, Who created heaven and earth, all the planets and galaxies surrounding the earth, and every person who has ever lived, has given you a Book that is filled with thousands of specific instructions and promises from God.
God instructs you to “tremble” at the immensity of His Word. If you have a Bible, you have in your possession the Book that God Himself has given to you to tell you exactly how He wants you to live your life. The Bible also is filled with promises of God telling you exactly what your Father promises to do for you during your life on earth. “…the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]…” (Hebrews 4:12).
Please note the words “alive and full of power” in this verse. The Bible is supernaturally alive. The Bible is filled with the awesome power of God.
THE BIBLE IS A SUPERNATUAL TREASURE. God wants you to study and meditate on His Word so much that the holy Scriptures will come up off the printed pages and penetrate deep down inside of you. “…we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves” (II Corinthians 4:7).
Please note that God refers to His Word as a “precious treasure.” If you have a Bible, you have a supernatural treasure that God Himself has provided for you. If you learn how to study and meditate effectively on the holy Scriptures, you will consistently fill your eyes, your ears, your mind and your heart with the power of God’s Word. You will activate the supernatural power of God that is contained in His Word. Your Father wants you to look at the Bible “…as it truly is, the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe [exercising its superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it]” (I Thessalonians 2:13).
If you are absolutely certain that God Himself is the Author of the Bible and you are highly motivated to study His Word as He instructs you to do (see II Corinthians 4:16), the “superhuman power” of God Word will be exercised in your life.
STORE UP GOD’S WORD IN YOUR MIND AND YOUR HEART. What could possibly be more important than obeying your Father’s specific instructions to renew your mind in His Word each day and to meditate day and night on the holy Scriptures (see Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:1-3)? The following words that King Solomon spoke to his son also are God’s instructions to you. “My son, keep my words; lay up within you my commandments [for use when needed] and treasure them” (Proverbs 7:1).
Many people in the world today are focused on storing up money. Your Father instructs you to store up His Word within yourself. If you continually store up God’s Word in your mind and your heart as a result of daily Bible study and Scripture meditation, you will be doing exactly what your Father has instructed you to do.
When the psalmist faced severe adversity in his life, he prayed the following prayer request to God. He said, “My life dissolves and weeps itself away for heaviness; raise me up and strengthen me according to [the promises of] Your word” (Psalm 119:28).
GOD ALWAYS DOES WHAT HE PROMISES TO DO. God can and will strengthen you as you consistently learn and have absolute faith in His promises. You can place complete trust in the promises in the Word of God. “God is faithful (reliable, trustworthy, and therefore ever true to His promise, and He can be depended on) …” (I Corinthians 1:9).
Who possibly could be more reliable than the Creator of the universe? In the amplification in this verse, you are told that God is “ever true to His promises and can be depended on. The following words that God spoke to Joshua also are His assurance to you today. “…Know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one thing of them has failed” (Joshua 23:14).
How can any of us spend our time more profitably than by studying and meditating on what God has given to us in His Book of Instructions, the Bible? God has given you thousands of promises that are completely trustworthy.
TURN AWAY FROM THE WAYS OF THE WORLD. The more of the Word of God that you have in your mind and in your heart, the more you will trust in the supernatural power of God’s Word. “By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature” (II Peter 1:4).
Please note that the Bible refers to God’s promises as being “precious and exceedingly great.” God has instructed us to turn away from the ways of world to the way He has instructed us to live (see Galatians 1:3-4, James 4:4 and I John 2:15-16). You can turn completely away from the world and actually partake of the divine nature of God if you are so much in awe of God’s Word that you will pay the price of studying and meditating on the holy Scriptures each day.
I pray that the scriptural contents in this month’s teaching will be very helpful to you. I pray that you will have the same reverent awe for God’s Word that you have for God Himself. I pray that you will have so much of God’s Word living inside of you that your life will be transformed.