How many of you hate Ikea furniture? How many of you loathe and despise Ikea furniture? You open the box and it's in 491 pieces, right? You have bolts that are labeled A through W or X, right?
And you're trying to figure all this stuff out. The boards end up being in the wrong place. It kind of looks, you know, it kind of looks like it's supposed to be a bookshelf, but in the end it probably ends up looking like the Tower of Pisa, yes? Like here's this first picture here.
That's a bookshelf that I would build, right? And the bookshelf looks like it's going to a rough spiritual season, doesn't it? Okay? But then after all this work you do on this bookshelf, you realize you see it, you forgot this one, tiny support beam.
There's one support beam that would change everything. It's so tiny, it's so insignificant. You thought to yourself the whole time when you saw it, you're like, I'm not going to need that piece. What a joke of that.
And you just move on without it. And you realize that the whole thing isn't supported like this next slide, right? Okay, that's how the bookshelf into functioning and working. So we do the same, right?
We do the same in our lives. We build our families, our careers, our routines, our schedules. We build an image online with an online persona. And we do all these things, but we skip the foundation.
We skip the support, we skip the pillars that can actually support and hold the weight that comes with it. And so when the trials of life come for each one of us, the fear, the trials, the stress, the disappointment, the loss, everything starts wobbling. And we feel like our spiritual life is like this bookshelf, yes. And so that's how we're going to do this series called pillars.
Pillars is an awesome idea that we had to bring this back of the foundations of the church, of who we are at the church. How many of you were here in the year 2015 when we planted the church? Let me see a show of hands. Okay, quite a few of you.
I don't know if you remember this, but we did a series back then where we took every one of these five pillars, these five purposes that we have at the church, every single one of them. And we took a few weeks on each pillar, and we taught through it that way. So we're going to do the same thing 11 years later. And if you want to see on the back of your hand out, there's a 2015 throwback, you see that?
That was the lesson from 2015 on what I'm teaching on today in a different way, okay? So that's something you can look at as you go home. I think there's some valuable stuff on there. If you guys look in the middle there, it says 20 ways to encounter God through the Word.
This is all stuff you can be doing. This is all stuff that we can have an encounter with the living God. And then it says encounter God through the Word prayer. We're going to actually pray this at the end of our sermon today, today is our lesson.
So with that said, the name of the church is what? Encounter, right? We believe that if you encounter the living God, everything's going to be different, amen, right? It's an encounter with the living God.
And so we're going to encounter God in many ways, but we're going to start the first three weeks of our series that will last all through summer on this idea of encountering God. And today we're going to be looking at just this idea of encountering God through his Word, okay? How many of you love your Bibles, people? Come on.
How many of you have a Bible today? Let's hold it up. Let's see, who's bringing their Bible to a Bible study? Who's bringing their Bible to say, hey, I'm here to study the Word of God.
Well, today we're going to talk about how you encounter God through the Word. Now God's Word is blank. Fill it in for me. What would you say?
True, flawless, love, what? Amazing. Everlasting, number one. Gordy, doesn't change.
Complete, what? Alive, practical. Yeah, the Word of God is still powerful, you guys. I don't want you to miss this.
So we're going to look at it today of what the Word of God is and how you can encounter it. But I want you to get that picture of that rec bookshelf. Your life is going to look like that if you're not calling the Word of God. But if you encounter God through His Word, you're going to get to know God better.
You're going to get to see who He is. And you're going to be blessed. If you have your Bible to open to John 8, I want to read verses 31 and 32 today. And Jesus said this himself, look how powerful Jesus knows the Word to be.
Jesus said this in verse 31. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, if you abide in my Word, what does the Word abide mean? Anyone? Live in?
What else? Remain? To abide? Live in, right?
OK? So if you abide in my Word, Jesus says, in verse 31, you are truly my disciples. And you will know the truth. And the truth is going to do what?
It's going to set you free. None awesome. So that's the Word of God. And that's the start we do.
And then you get verses like Joshua 1, 8, where it says, do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth, right? Be careful to do everything written in its study at meditate on day and night. So you don't forget its commands and its precepts. And that you have that power running through you.
So these are the foundations of encounter church we're starting with, encountering God through God's Word. And I have seven things for you today on your hand out. If you want to fill these in. As we go, seven things that you can encounter God through His Word.
Number one, somebody already said it. The Word is alive. Anybody thankful that the Word is not dead, but it's alive, right? It's not just manuscript or text from ancient, ancient text that you can say, oh, this is a really good book or has some good ideas in it.
The Word is actually alive. Look at what one of my favorite verses on anything about scripture is in Hebrews 4, 12. It says this, for the Word of God is living and active. It's sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
I love this verse. It comes out so strong and says, look, the Word of God, you got to know this isn't just some book. It's living and active. And it's like the Bible says in Ephesians 6 that.
All right, so the Word of God is this sword. It goes and it penetrates. So you're saying, I don't understand life. I'm confused, I'm lost.
And the sword comes in and it penetrates. It separates soul and spirit. So out of nowhere, you're like, whoa, this Word did something to me. It convicted me.
It challenged me. It changed me. It moved me. The Word of God has that ability because it's alive to come in and say, not that, Jason.
Yes, that, Jason. Don't be there, Jason. Do be here, Jason. This is what life looks like with the Word of God.
So you encounter God through His Word because the Word is alive. Second verse on the screen, 2 Timothy 3, 16. I love this one. All scripture, how much of it?
All of it, man. All scripture is God breathed, is breathed out, different translation. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for what? Teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness.
Other translation says it's good for rebuking. Like to stop what's going on in your life. Other translation says that the Word of God comes in and it just changes things. It just comes in.
This is what God's Word is for. It's profitable. All of it is God breathed. Right?
We don't have time today to do a full study on how the Word of God came together and how the Holy Spirit designed perfectly for generation after generation after generation and 40 different authors to come together to give us God's Word. But I'm telling you, it's all God breathed. Pretty powerful. Underneath number one, it says this phrase that the Word becomes living and active in your heart.
And then we encounter God. That's what happens when you start saying, I'm going to give God's Word that place in my life. I'm going to give it the number one priority. I'm going to give it that mantle in my life where I say, all right, I'm going to let God's Word be alive and active in my heart.
And then you start encountering God. Amen? Like it's not like, and I need you to get this before I move on to number two. I don't want you to sit here and say, I've got to read my Bible today.
OK. Chapter done. OK. That's good enough.
I've got to move on to the rest of my life. But that's not how you're going to encounter God. The Word of God is living and active when you say, I'm stopping everything. This is God's Word to my life, to my heart.
And I'm going to treat it as holy. This isn't a checklist to do today. It's not something that I have to get through so that I can go do my taxes or my work project or anything else or go watch a show. Like this isn't the idea.
The Word of God, you encounter it because it's living and active. You spend time in its presence. And then it changes lives. And then it changes hearts.
It encourages you. It strengthens you. It points you to the truth. All right.
Number two. In counting God through his word, number two, the word is Jesus. The word is Jesus. So first the word is alive.
Now the word is Jesus. We know at the beginning of John chapter one, it says, in the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God.
And the word, look at this. And John 1 14 on the screen. The word became flesh. And it dwelt among us.
And we have seen his glory, glory, as of this only son from the Father full of grace and truth. So that's how the gospel of John starts saying that in the beginning was the word, right? The word of God. It was the word of God.
And the word was with God. And the word was God. And that word became flesh, Jesus. And he dwelt among us.
Also, John chapter five verse 39 on the screen says, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And it is they that bear witness about me. You see that the scriptures are going to bear witness about Jesus. The word is Jesus.
So the word shows us who God is. It shows us his character, his plan, his promises all through Christ. We want to know what God looks like? You just got to look at Jesus.
Okay. Number one, it says this. I know number two, I'm sorry. Through knowing our Savior, we have we encounter God.
Has anybody ever wondered what is God like? Let me see, show hands. Have you ever wondered what is God like? What's the number one way to know what God's like?
You just look at Jesus. That's it. You see Jesus, the word is flesh. Word became flesh dwelt among us.
You see Jesus's life. Now you know what he says. Now you know his heart. Now you know his character.
You see Jesus, you see God. It's done for you. That's number two. The word is Jesus.
Number three, the word is transformative. The word is transformative. Now I don't want to spend too much time on this point because like I said, we're going to do a whole couple of three weeks on radical transformation when we get to it. But when we talk about the word of God, I can't go past this one point.
The word of God actually transforms and changes your life. Look at Romans 12, 2 on the screen. It says, do not be conformed to this world. Don't do it.
But be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. So you're going to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And then it says in 2 Corinthians 3, 18, that, and we all with unveil face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
So he's changing you. You don't look the same. That's what God does. Like there's a sense that the word is transformative.
Underneath number three, I put this on your hand that it says through time in the word, we become more like Jesus and we encounter God. Do you believe that church? Through time in his word, you're going to become more like Jesus. And what does it say there?
And we're going to encounter God. We're going to become more like Jesus. We're going to encounter God if we just spend more time. How much time?
The more the better, right? The more the better. I'll tell you. Sometimes the word of God takes a backseat in our life, doesn't it?
I don't know if you've ever had those seasons that you don't read it that much. Or sometimes you're like, man, it's been a whole week or a whole month. Or man, I have trouble reading God's Word or whatever. If you take that and say, like, I'm going to be committed to this.
How committed are you going to be? I feel like I see other religions all the time and they're so committed. I've been on international flights where there's dudes that have to pray six times a day and they lay out a carpet in the middle of the plane ride, in the middle of the aisle and they bow toward the sun and all that stuff, like for a false God. And then I've seen even right next door to my parents, it lives a rabbi, a Jewish rabbi.
He's walking around with a word of God open to all the time. He's always like in it. He's always in it. And yet somehow he's missing Jesus.
And yet, what about you? What about me? Are we in the Word of God? How much of the Word of God is a part of your life?
I was talking with a brother this last week who's going through a divorce, just a terrible time. And I just said, he's just so hurt. He's so just beat up. He is just going through the worst season of his life.
I was crying with him. And just saying like, he's like, hey, tell me so. I don't even know how to face this day. I don't even know how to face tomorrow.
I said, all right, bro, listen, I'm going to do something with you. And I challenged him. Take out a note card. Write down Proverbs three, five, and six.
You guys know this verse, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean on your own understanding. But in all your ways, acknowledge him. And he will set your past straight.
I said, write that down on a note card. I want you to carry it around all week with you. I'm going to do the same. I'm going to carry it around with me all week.
And every chance you get, I don't care if you're eating or driving, put it on your dashboard, or if you're getting ready in the morning, put it on your mirror, or if you're in the bathroom, take it out and take a look. Like whatever it is, take out that card as much as you can, and you're going to look at that, and you're going to recite it. And you're going to say, OK, I'm freaking out. I'm having the worst day ever.
My wife just left me. My wife just served me divorce papers. I'm at the end of my rope. I don't know what to do.
Pull out a card. The Word of God says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean on your own understanding. But in all your ways, everything you have to face that day, acknowledge him.
And he's going to set your past straight. The Word of God's powerful. Amen? Through timing the Word, you're going to become more like Jesus.
And you're going to encounter God. My friend told me that that card was life-saving to him those last few days. He told me that every time he pulled it out, it was like it was a big deal. So I'm so simple.
So I'm so stupid. I didn't think I was even giving him a good advice. I'm like, oh, I'm giving him a kindergarten project to do it. I got to even know.
And yet it meant so much to him. And I just encourage you guys, let the Word of God be transformative in your life. Once you start reading it, once you start knowing it, you're going to love what Jesus loves. You're going to hate what Jesus hates.
There's going to be a sense of like, he's my Lord. Like all this waffling we do spiritually, the more you're in the Word, you're going to stop waffling. You're going to start saying obedience matters. You're going to start saying faithfulness matters.
You're going to start saying God's laws, his precepts, statutes matter. Boy, when I meet with these men, men of God Tuesday morning, and we're going through the book of Nehemiah and studying how these men were rebuilding the temple and how they were so committed to the Word of God and to God's commands and God's statues, man, they had so many accountability measures lined up. And I'm sitting here with a dozen men every Tuesday morning at 6 AM, and we are so built up to hear about these guys, just like guys like us that struggled with all kinds of things, nothing special about them. But the Word of God was their guide.
It was their light and it transformed them. Amen. Amen. Number four, the Word is applicable.
The Word is applicable. Isn't that great? Amen? Yeah?
It's applicable. You can apply it to your life. You can actually be changed by it. Psalm 119, 9 through 16.
It's going to be on the screen. How can a young man keep his way pure? My gardenate according to your Word. With my whole heart, I seek you.
Let me not wonder from your commandments. I've sort up your word in my heart, but I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. With my lips, I declare all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies, I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes. I will not forget your word.
Amen? Church, you have scripture, huh? And then look at this point under number four. It says this, encountering God, sorry, through hearing and obeying the Word of God, we're going to encounter him.
So we listen and we hear and then we obey what God's word says and apply it to our lives. It's applicable. And through that, we encounter God. How many of you are listening to the Word of God right now?
The Word of God being preached, yes? We just read a scripture together, yes? You're hearing the Word. Any chance you guys get to hear sermons or to hear podcasts or somebody sharing the Word of God and sharing truth.
You're hearing the Word. It's transforming you and you're obeying. It's becoming applicable in your life. We encounter and engage scripture in so many ways, right?
How many ways can you say we encounter and engage scripture? You read it, you study it, you meditate on it, you memorize it, what else you do? What's that? Apply it, sleep on it.
Yeah, like really let it sit, meditate on it, you're dancing it, yeah? Memorize, teach it, good. Yeah, and so it's applicable. And we do everything we can to engage the living God and his Word.
Number five is the Word as a foundation. The Word is a foundation. Can we tell me how that chorus starts with the song we just sang, firm foundation? Christ is what?
Yeah, and who is Christ? He is the Word. He's the Word. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was God, the Word was with God, and the Word became flesh and told it's among us. So Christ is our firm foundation. And here at number five, we say that the Word is a foundation. Look what Jesus said in Matthew seven, 24 and 25.
He said this, that everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is gonna be like a wise man who built his house on a rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house. Translation there, life got psychotic. Yes, look how bad all that stuff is. Like if you are grounded in the Lord and he's your foundation, all this stuff is still gonna come.
All the pain, trials, hardship, you name it. It's still gonna come. And then it says, but it did not fall. Why?
Because it been founded on the rock. The Word is a foundation to your life. And then Psalm one, one through three. Well, why don't you love this?
You guys Psalm one. Blessed is the man who walks not in the council, the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is what? It's in the law of the Lord, it's in God's word.
And on his law, he meditates day and night. And this person that places their hope in the Word of God, they are like a tree planted by streams of water that yield this fruit in its seasons. And its leaf does not wither. And in all they do, they prosper.
I mean, come on, come on church. Yes, not good. So it's like this image, I just talked to someone about this last week too, a different person about this very Psalm. It's like you want it, be grounded in the Lord.
You want it to be your foundation? It's like, plant yourself by the river bed, the river of God, the river of life, be in the Word of God. Let the Word wash over you. You know what you think about how limited is a tree that's potted in a pot.
Anyone? It's limited, right? But you can imagine a small pot and a tree's planted in there. How big can that tree even get?
How big can the root system be? I mean, it's limited, but you take that tree out and you plant it right by a river bed, a bank of a river with good soil, with shade and everything it needs, all the good soil and the roots go down through the bank and the roots actually end up in the water constantly. Flowing water over these roots. Like that's the idea of the Word of God for your life.
You're going through this psychotic life we live in. And if you are planted in the Word, if the Word is your foundation, you're gonna have roots that go down into the river of God. And every day the Word is just gonna keep washing over you. And you may have those hardships in those trials, but you still get washed by the Word every day.
The Word of God is your foundation. This is your life in Christ. Now number five, I wrote this by laying deep roots and producing lasting fruit, you're gonna encounter God. Yes, of course, right?
Throw. You do it through all of life storms. The trials of suffering and hardships, the temptation, the uncertainty, the spiritual warfare, whatever it is, but the Word of God is gonna give you roots so that you can continue to grow bear fruit, never wither and always prosper because of the Word of God, because you're firm. Number six, the Word is a guide.
It's a guide. And aren't you thankful it's a guide? Man, where would you be without the Word of God? Wouldn't life be really confusing and tough?
Someone in 1905 says this, that your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light and to my path. You wonder which way you should go? There you go. The Word's a light.
You're in the darkness, the Word's a light. You need direction, it's a lamp onto your path. It's gonna show you take this path, right? The Proverbs three, five and six just said, don't look to your own wisdom, but also completely depend on everything that the Lord has for you in all your ways, acknowledge him.
He will make your path straight. He's the one. He's a guide. So the Word is a guide underneath number six.
I wrote this through the direction and leading of the Word. You're gonna encounter God, but you gotta read it. You gotta be in it through the direction and the leading of the Word. Out of the Word, you're gonna get wisdom.
Who wants that? Let me hear it. Who wants wisdom? Who wants hope?
Who wants discernment? Who wants strength? Who wants direction? Well, the Word is a guide.
You can have it all. You can have it all for free. I'm not gonna charge you anything. The Word doesn't charge you anything.
It's God has this for you. The Word points the way and he nourishes the soul for each of us. And number seven, fill this in. The Word is the game changer.
I joked with Pastor Billy. I wanted to spell V with two E's, but I know it would be grammatically incorrect. But I want you to sound it like that. The Word is the game changer.
It's the game changer. There's no other game changer like it. The Word is it, man. If you haven't discovered how powerful the Word of God can be in your life, trust me.
Get in it, start reading it, start memorizing it, start meditating on it, start studying it, start living it and letting it just wash over you like that, River of God does. The Word is the game changer. Quashions 3.16 on the screen says, my favorite verse in the Bible. The Word of God dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another and as you sing Psalms and hymns and praises and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
But the Word dwell in you richly. Let it dwell in you richly. It's the game changer of all. Underneath number seven, I said this through knowing the Word and growing spiritually, you're gonna encounter God when you know it.
So your faith is gonna deepen. Worship and prayer is gonna get deeper. Your love increases. Your fruit is produced.
Sin loses its power and we share good news with people. Doesn't that sound great, you guys? So stay with me. Don't check out.
I know the feelings are done, but that doesn't mean you're done. Okay? So the closing challenge is this. Am I rooted in God's Word and is it shaping my daily life?
And some of you are ready to just move on. I don't want you to move on. Let's read that challenge again at the bottom. Am I rooted in God's Word?
Start asking yourself. You know, I'm not gonna call you up one by one and you stand up here and answer the question of the microphone today. Where should we do that? Should I start calling you up?
I'm not gonna do that. However, I need you to really come to terms with this. Don't pass this over. Don't think, oh, the message is over.
My feelings are done. I don't need to do this exercise. This is what matters the most. This is maybe the holiest moment of the whole service because the Holy Spirit wants you to ask yourself right now am I rooted in God's Word?
Is God's Word not just a part of my life, but the part, the game changer is God's Word alive in my life? Is Jesus the Word? Is it transformative in me? Is it applicable in my applying things?
Am I letting it be a foundation? Am I letting it be a guide? Am I letting it be the game changer in everything I do? And is it shaping my life daily?
Is what God's Word say, and this is like, I know this is advanced Christianity 101, but taking God's Word, if you just know it, that's one thing, but if you do it, if you actually apply it, does it actually shape your life? It's like saying God's Word is number one. And if, well, let me ask you this, has anybody in this room, as a Christian, all your years have been a Christian, have you ever faced something that you didn't really want to do, but because God's Word said it, you had to be obedient, anybody? I hope that's all of us, okay?
It's the idea of coming to terms with, oh shoot, I just read something that's gonna have to be dealt with, right? You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, okay, this is what God's Word does. And unfortunately, there's a lot of Christians in America and in the world that will say, I really like this Christianity thing, I like this God's Word thing, I read it sometimes, I even like church and I'll be in a part of a community, it's all good for me, but there's just certain parts of the Bible that I don't really enjoy, that I don't really agree with.
Yeah, this part seems a little too judgmental, this part seems a little too dividing and polarizing, I'm not okay with this. Is that God's heart for you? It's God's Word, it's absolute truth. And when we face it, there's not room for that sense of like debate or it's like, is he your foundation?
Is he the game changers, the Word of God shaping your life on a daily basis? So I close with this idea, what will you do with this week with God's Word? All right, I don't wanna ask you to raise your hands, but how many of you just don't raise your hands? How many of you are reading God's Word on a daily basis?
Every day, like no matter what, it's the daily word, it's the daily bread, of course I am Pastor J. God's Word, I couldn't imagine going a day without it, you know? Some of you might be like, well, I don't read it every day, but I read it as when I can, as often as I think of it, some of you are like, yeah, I read it at least once a week, that's good, or some of you are like, no, I haven't read it in weeks. Some of you might not have read it in months.
And whatever the case is, I think God this morning is calling us, if you wanna really encounter God, you encounter him through his Word. And I challenge you this week to become people of the Word. And what does that look like for you? So if you haven't been reading, or if you wanna just be a little more consistent, here's a couple simple challenges.
Couple simple challenges, you ready? Couple simple challenges of this. Number one, could you read a paragraph a day? Just a paragraph.
So like for instance, if you started with the book of Colossians, let's just call it that. The book of Colossians, could you just open it up and read a paragraph? Somebody tell me quick, how long approximately would a paragraph take to read? How much?
Five minutes, that's really digging into the paragraph, right? Well, no, that's a great answer too. You can spend five minutes on a paragraph. That's beautiful.
But if you're just gonna read it word for word straight through how long would that paragraph take? I mean, 10 seconds, 15 seconds. You're talking to paragraph, right? Could you commit to reading one paragraph of the Bible a day if you haven't reading at all?
Could you? Could you read a chapter a day? Just say, okay, I'm gonna start with the Gospel of John, Romans or 1 Corinthians or something. And you say, I'm just gonna read one chapter a day.
Or I'm gonna read one Psalm a day. I'm gonna read one proverb a day. And you're just gonna go through it that way. You could do this, yes?
Yeah, right? Yeah, the Bible app. How many of you have the Bible app? You version, okay?
Of course you have the verse of the day on there. You could do that. But it's the idea of saying like, I'm gonna put God's word in my life on a daily basis. One chapter, one paragraph, one verse.
And how about this? Again, you don't have to raise your hand, but how many of you start your day with the word of God? You know, for me, some people say, oh, I just can't read in the morning. This is what I say.
And I'm not gonna eat that day until I read the word of God. That's just what it is for me. Like if I don't do that, to be honest, I'd probably miss it a lot of days. I'd probably miss a lot of days in God's word because I would just get so busy, so caught up in what my agenda would be.
And I'm like, no, I wanna start the day with God's word. And then the biggest challenge of all, and this one's for me, if you don't mind, I'm gonna get myself a challenge. Is this okay? Is to slow down.
How can I approach God's word? If I really wanna encounter God through his word, how can I slow down as I read it? There's, it would be impossible for you to accuse me of not being in God's word for even a day. In the last, I wanna say like four or five, six years, I'm in it every day.
But if you asked, yeah, but Jason, have you slowed down, I'd be guilty the majority of the time. Cause sometimes I'm just rushing through it. But slowing down and saying, God, let your word wash over me. Let me be like a tree planted by that river bank, where my roots just go down and I just take time in the river of God.
I just take time in God's word, washing over me. So that's the challenge. And I don't know what you guys are gonna do with that. I don't know if you've just done your last sentence, you fold your paper away and head off to your next thing.
But my challenge, what Pastor Billion and I talked about is pillars series that we're gonna do over the next 15 weeks. We're not trying to like just give you a bunch of information. We're trying to say like, we want you guys to have these pillars in your life, big, strong, whole firm foundation pillars that you stick your whole life on. And it starts here intentionally.
We started with the word of God. You encounter God through his word. And man, if you, I'll base my whole life on this, you know, but God be true in every man or liar. The word of God is true.
It is living and active. It's powerful and effective. It's sharp and it separates soul and spirit.