Arm Yourself With The Word

Good evening. Welcome to Voice in the Wilderness. I'm Don Noble with Pure

Heart Ministries, and I welcome you today with exceedingly abundantly and overflowing joy.

Well, summer is almost here, almost, not quite officially, but I'm

loving this weather. I hope you are as well. I'm excited to be

with you this evening. I hope you're sitting back, relaxing and just waiting

to hear what I have to say. I'm laughing about that. Tonight's message

is arm yourself. Arm yourself with the word. People today are always looking

for the best deals. I know I am, and I bet you are

too. That's why Black Friday is so popular. Actually, it's like crazy

that people want to be at a store at five am to knock other people

down to get that TV that they just so need. But nevertheless, people

are into great deals. We now have Cyber Monday, which I like Cyber

Monday actually, And I'll tell you, all these ministries come out of the

woodwork. I mean they have deals on their books and CDs and DVDs and

you name it. But that's I guess what makes them so popular is because

you get these wonderful deals and you can. You know, you can save

a lot of money by taking advantage of these special times of the year.

Amazon now has special sale days, Sam's Club and Costco have monthly savings on

certain items. You get a flyer in the mail and it tells you all

the things that they have on sale. Unfortunately, it's almost kind of like

the same stuff every time. But for the hard core shoppers, now I'm

talking to the hardcore. There are garage sales and antique stores that delight the

heart of that person who finds a hidden treasure. And I've gone to many

garage sales. I like going to garage sales. I mean, you can

find the most incredible little treasure. You know. They always say someone's trash

is another person's treasure, and it's true. Treasures sometimes are hard to find

though. And my world growing up in the nineteen fifties, it's so different

from than to now. I grew up in the post World War two era

when America was flourishing. America was booming, and new inventions like washing machines

and colored television were so exciting. I know that's hard to believe, you

know, it's even hard for me to say it, but you know,

we initially had a ringer washer, which I suppose almost every person who had

a washing machine at one time had a ringer washer, and I remember breaking

several buttons trying to put my cardigan sweater through those hard round cylinders. Yeah,

so I was really excited when the actual washing machine came out and we

got rid of that thing. It was nasty. The black and white TV.

You know, for the most part, black and white TV was great

because that's all you knew. You never saw anything other than black and white,

so you get used to it and you think that's wonderful. And then

we got a colored TV and it was like the wow factor. Yeah.

But today we already have every convenience imaginable. I can't think of anything that

we don't have in this world today. And yet and yet we as people

are weak, soft, and lazy. Now that's not to say, certainly

that every person has lost their go gettedness is that a word go gettedness?

But the church certainly is anemic and unable to prepare its congregants with training,

discipleship, or empowering them to do the works of Jesus. So what can

we do as individuals? Well, just like just like the person on the

hunt for the best deal. And it really is like a hunt. We

can get hungry for God's work. We can go on the same kind of

treasure hunt and get hungry for God's word. Hebrews four twelve says for the

Word of God is living, powerful, and sharper than a two edged sword,

piercing even to the dividing of soulen spirit down to the joints and the

marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Now, I don't know if you could purchase I don't believe you could purchase

anything anything, the greatest tool, the greatest fun thing, the greatest gift

ever. Ever, I don't think you can buy anything that has the same

power and is such a treasure as the Word of God. Look at that,

It's alive. Now that sounds odd, doesn't it. The word on

paper log off is alive. Yes, it's alive. And that same word

is powerful, and that same word is sharper than a two edged sword.

Well, let me tell you how sharp it is. It's so sharp it

can divide, Like just take that two edged sword and go and kind of

like split you in half. And it can divide your soul from your spirit.

Yeah, even as deep as your joins. And you can't get any

deeper than marrow. Okay, folks, the marrow in your bones. You

can't get deeper than that. That's the deepest part of the bone. And

then after all of that, it discerns, it knows the thoughts and intents

of your heart when you read it. That's amazing. The Word of God

is beyond the greatest treasure given to us as believers, other than our precious

Jesus. Of course, did you know that the word of God is a

gift? Yes, it's a gift that you can give someone. Now,

I just defined the word of God according to Hebrews four twelve, a live,

powerful, sharper than a two edged sword. But did you know that

the word of God is a gift that you can actually give to someone?

Yes? How do I know that? Well? Proverbs twenty two seventeen through

twenty one says this, incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,

and apply your heart to my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing

if you keep them within you. Let them all be fixed upon your lips,

so that your trust may be in the Lord. I have instructed you

today, even you have I not written to you excellent things of counsels and

knowledge, that I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth,

that you may answer words of truth to those who send to you.

I love this, you see. It's a commandment incline your ear and hear

the words of the Wise, in other words, God's word. So there's

something that you and I must do. We have to incline our ear and

hear the words of the wise, and then we have to apply our heart

to that knowledge. So there's some responsibility on my part and your part to

do something with God's word and cline your ear and hear the words and then

apply your heart to that knowledge. Why because the scripture says it's a pleasant

thing, and if you keep them within you, that's when you just hold

on to that word within you and you fix that word on your lips.

Let me tell you, it's going to be a pleasant thing and you're going

to be able to put your trust in the Lord. So that's a key

thing. See, we can't just gloss over things. We have to look

at things carefully in God's word, so that you and I trust. Our

trust may be in the Lord. That's why Hebrews four to twelve says,

for the Word of God is living and powerful, living, It's alive.

And so when we fix our lips on God's word, when we keep God's

word within us, it helps us to walk in that place of trusting in

the Lord. And then the writer. This is like the Lord speaking.

I have instructed you today, Even now have I not written to you excellent

things of counsels and knowledge that I may make you know the certainty of the

words of truth. See that that I may make you know the certainty there's

a certainty of the words of truth. Amen, that you may answer words

of truth to those who send to you. In other words, when people

come to you, you'll be able to answer them with the certainty of the

words of truth. That's amazing. This scripture, this set of scriptures Proverbs

twenty two seventeen through twenty one, underscores the necessity of hiding God's word in

our hearts. For that very reason. Based on that set of scriptures,

you see, there is truth that people need, and we are the vessel

to give it to them. Yes, the world is lacking truth. And

when I say truth. I mean the world is lacking God's word. Remember

that Roman governor Ponscious Pilot, standing befront in front of Jesus and he asks

the famous question, looking squarely at Jesus, and he says, what is

truth? And he's he's He doesn't realize that he's actually looking at the truth.

He doesn't even realize he's talking to the truth. He doesn't have a

clue that the only truth that exists is standing right in front of him.

You know, Jesus said in John fourteen six, I am the Way,

I am the Truth, and I'm the Life. So let's understand it this

way. When we give someone God's truth, meaning scripture from the Bible,

we are giving them Jesus. Bible says, he's the word, right John

one one, in the beginning was the Word, and the word was God,

and the word was with God. And Psalm one nineteen one thirty says,

the entrance of your word gives light. And other words, every time

you and I read God's word, the entrance of God's word into our soul,

coming into our eyes give gives us light in our soul. Jesus said

he was the light of the world and then he told us you and I,

as believers, we are the light of the world. So when we

give someone God's word, we're giving them the light from two sources, from

the Word and from us. Because we exhibit God's life light and the entrance

of God's word gives life light. We are helping to remove the darkness in

a person's life when we speak God's word to them. Why then, do

we need to be armed with God's word? That's a good question. Why

do we need to be armed with God's word? Because today people are more

broken, people are more addicted, people are more afflicted, and people are

more lost in sin than ever before, than ever before. This is a

broken society, down trodden, lost in darkness, and in many cases in

s some of the most deepest, darkest places like never before, like we've

never seen before. Of course, there's been sin all these millennia, but

now now, twenty twenty four, this is the darkest hour we have ever

lived in. And it was prophesied by Isaiah in Isaiah sixty. So when

he said, arise, shine, let your light come deep darkness on the

people. Yes, we are living in that time of deep darkness, goodness,

gracious, deep darkness on the people. So why do you and I

need to be armed with God's word? Because there is deep darkness. And

when we are armed with the word of God, you and I are dangerous

to the powers of darkness. And you and I can bring life giving freedom

to someone who's in desperate need of help. And that is the truth.

That is the truth. Ask anybody who is currently in prison when the ministers

come to minister at the prison, and many of those guys and gals get

the opportunity to sit under the anointing, and they realize that that is freedom.

Yeah, you can be free and sitting in a jail cell. So

do you realize how valuable this gift is, the word of God in us?

Do you realize how valuable money cannot buy it? You cannot put a

monetary value on the gift of God's Word. Now, I recently was in

a conversation with an elderly woman about something regarding flowers. So I was at

her grandson's garden center and she works there. So we were standing having a

conversation and she just looked at me and she says, oh, my goodness,

she said, I went to the bank, I felt fine and then

I got this terrible, terrible headache, and she said, I'm telling you,

my head is pounding and I don't feel well. She said, I

feel weak. It's like I don't have any strength. So I asked if

I could pray for her, and she said yes, and I laid my

hands on her head and I prayed a simple prayer. Now this woman is

not born again, and so we finished our conversation. I prayed for her,

and as she walked away from me, she was about, I would

say, about six feet away. She turned around and she said, oh,

my my headache is completely gone. And I said, thank you Jesus.

She smiled and went on. Just three days ago, I had called

the Garden Center and she was on the phone with me about landscaping, and

I was discussing something with her and we were ready to hang up, and

she said, oh, you know that day that you prayed for me,

not only did my headache go away, I felt so good the rest of

the day, and I had lots of strength. And she said, I

said to my self, whatever she has, she needs to give that away.

And I chuckled and I said, well, it's the Holy Spirit.

And if you ever need prayer again, please let me know. So this

is a perfect example of what I'm talking to you about, right, I'm

talking to you about the gift of giving someone the word or you know,

when you carry that word in you, when you care, you're you know,

you're not just carrying the Word in you, You're carrying the anointing.

You're carrying the Holy Spirit inside of you. Right, So when you lay

hands on somebody, it's as if Jesus is laying their hands on that person.

So remember that it's not you. You know, we give God all

the glory, we're just the con do it. And so when we lay

hands on someone, it's Jesus laying hands on someone. And I tell you

what, I was so tickled, I was so encouraged, and I thanked

her for sharing that. So I'm not anybody special, but the Anointing lives

in me, right, and that anointing blessed her, And that anointing lives

in you if you are born again. Hallelujah. Now I'm going to read

Psalm one nineteen one point thirty in the amplified version. I think you're gonna

like this. It says the entrance and unfolding of your words, your words

referring to Christ. The entrance and unfolding of your words gives light. Their

unfolding gives understanding, discernment, and comprehension to the sel. Now we see

that God's word spoken to a person brings an unfolding, in other words,

an opening up. The person is now going to be opening up to comprehend

the things of God. It's unfolding when you speak that to them. Now

listen to these scriptures in Psalm one nineteen one twenty seven through one twenty nine.

Therefore, I love your commandments more than gold, more than perfectly refined

gold. Therefore I esteem as right all yes, all your precepts. I

hate every false way. Your testimonies are wonderful, far exceeding anything conceived by

man. Therefore my penitent self keeps them hearing, receiving, loving, and

obeying them. And then Psalm one nineteen one sixty two says, I rejoice

at your word as one who finds great treasure. The Psalmist here loves God's

word, and he says, I don't only I don't only love your word.

I rejoice at your word as if I have found the greatest treasure.

And he says, I love it more than refined gold. So the Psalmist

has great value for God's word. It's priceless, That's what he's saying.

It's priceless. God's word has such value that it's priceless. There is nothing

more valuable on this earth than gold. Yet the Psalmist is not impressed with

even the finest gold available. Oh no, he says, your testimony's lord.

Oh, he's referring to God's word. When the word testimonies or precepts

is used, it's talking about God's word. So he's referring again to God's

word, and he says, and I love this. He says, it

is so wonderful that it exceeds. Oh, far exceeds anything conceived by man.

Can you imagine that? So God's word is if far exceeds anything that

man can cook up in his mind, that man, can you know,

come up with. And there are brilliant men and women in the world,

no doubt about it, And they have come up with some pretty awesome stuff,

but not even close. Can't hold a candle too. Oh no,

no, no, no, no, God's word is so wonderful it far

exceeds anything conceived by Man. Well, let me tell you that's how I

feel about God's word, and I hope you feel the same again. When

we speak or pray God's word over people, it's like we're handing them the

deal of the century. Would you like to have the deal of the century?

I mean, gosh, I sure would. I mean that's free gold.

That's free gold that has the power to transform their life. Yeah,

Paul said in Romans verse one. I'm sorry. Romans Chapter one, verse

sixteen. This is what Paul said. He said, for I am not

ashamed of the Gospel, the Good News of Christ, for it is God's

power working unto salvation, for deliverance from eternal death to everyone who believes with

a personal trust and a confident surrender and firm reliance. To the jew first

and also to the Greek. I love that scripture. I'm not ashamed of

the Gospel, the Good News of God. It's his power working unto salvation,

delivering people from eternal death, and it's to everyone. All you have

to do is believe, have a personal trust and a confidence, surrender and

firm reliance. Hallelujah. Armed with God's word, you have the power to

bring life to bring hope, to bring peace and joy and faith and freedom

and a confident assurance of salvation. Oh. Now I commission you to go

out and speak and pray God's word to the world. A men and a

men, and trust me. I hope that you will take this commission very

seriously, because I mean it very seriously. Amen. Well, this is

Don Noble. You can go to www dot pureheart dot today and listen to

this podcast again. You can download the iHeartRadio app, go to Pure Heart

Ministries podcast and listen to twenty four to seven. You can email me at

Don at pure heart dot today all one word, all lowercase da W and

Don at pureheart dot today. You can pray for me, and I hope

you are out there praying for me and this ministry. It's important prayer changes

things. Amen, and would you please consider giving to this ministry to help

me stay on the air. I would appreciate it greatly. You can write

a check to Pure Heart Ministries PO Box eighty five, Valley Grove, West

Virginia, two six zero six zero. That's Pure Heart Ministries PO Box eighty

five, Valley Grove, West, Virginia, two six six Oh. Well,

this is Don noble, I look forward to being with you again next

week. Shaloam shalam, Peace be un to you.