in the book of Isaiah here today, Isaiah chapter 40. And once you find your place, you can stand up with me and we'll read the word of God together, Isaiah chapter 40. We'll begin there in verse six. We'll read down to about verse eight. And verse eight will be the main part of my text here this morning. Isaiah chapter 40 there in about the middle part of the word of God there today. I'm thankful I have a Bible, amen. I'm thankful I have a Bible. I'm thankful I have the truth of God's word. I'm thankful out of all the things that change in this world that I have the Word of God that is unchanging. Listen, it don't matter if the Lord tarries and we're here 100 years from now, and this world is still here 100 years from now, the Word of God will still be the same. And I'm thankful that I have the Word of God today. I'm thankful for all that it stands for. I'm thankful for what it's about. and I'm just glad that in the Bible is where I found the true words of life, and I'm very thankful for that today. Let's go through the scriptures here this morning. The Bible says there, Isaiah chapter 40, there in verse six, the Bible says, the voice said, cry. And he said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass witherth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass, and the grass witherth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Let us pray. Father, we come to you this morning. We're so thankful, Lord, that we have your word in our hands here today. that we can hold, that we can read, that we can put all of our faith and trust in, that we know are the true words of God. God, I pray here this morning that you'd use, Lord, the songs we have sung, God, that you'd use your word as it goes out to speak to our hearts today, to strengthen us, encourage us, help us, Lord, even that much more to see that we can put our faith and trust in you and in your word. God, I pray if there's anybody here today that doesn't know you as their personal savior, that today they would call out, Lord, to you for salvation. We are so thankful to be here this morning, and I pray that you'd help us to use this time that we've gathered together as a time, God, to let you speak to our hearts. Help us to shut out the world for a while, and just let you have your perfect will and way in us for a little bit. And this we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, you may be seated. As we read in our text here this morning, there in verses six and eight, some comparisons that was made, and there in verses six through eight, one of the comparisons that was made is that flesh is as grass, and that we see that the flower, and the goodliness of the flower. And then it contrasts there, there in verse eight, with the word of God. Now we know that flesh, our flesh, in essence, something that is temporary, it is passing away. But listen, even man's goodliness, man's glory, all the things that man can glory in, whether it's even of himself or something else, that is short-lived as well. There's only one thing, the Bible says, that's gonna stand forever. Now listen, our flesh is not gonna stand forever. Listen, we're in a corruptible flesh. here today that is dying and one day will pass off the scene. And we also see that our goodness, listen, everything that we do, our good works and our glory and all that stuff, it will, no matter how beautiful that is, just as the flower, it's gonna fade away too. But there's one thing, despite the things that are temporary and despite the things that'll pass away, there is one thing that will not. And the Bible says that that is the word of God. My Bible tells me that the word of God is forever settled in heaven there in the book of Psalms, chapter 119 and verse 89. My Bible tells me that the word of God is forever settled in heaven. That means it is forever, it means forever. Forever is a long time, forever means that there is no ending to that. Now there are a lot of things in this world that do come to an end, but the Bible says the word of God will not. I'm thankful today for that I know that a shadow of a doubt that the word of God will last forever, that it is forever. I'm thankful that it is forever settled in heaven, that it is unchanging, just like the God that I serve. My Bible tells me that our God changed not, that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so I'm thankful for the word of God that I hold in my hand today, that is unchanging. As I said, listen, society may change, and the beliefs of people may change, and the things that the people do may change, but listen, the word of God will always remain. The Word of God will always be true and it will always stand forever. The very first truth I want us to see this morning that there in verse 8 is the Bible says the grass withereth. Now the very first truth is all I want us to see is the grass is destructible. When we make these comparisons between the grass and the word of God, now we think about the grass that's out here today. Now grass, it is something that is, grass is something that is destructible. It does not last. It is here and then it is gone the next. We mow it down there in the springtime and the summertime and then it fades away and dies off later and the sun can come and scorch it and it'd be no good And we can dig it up and cast it off and it'd be dead. We can chop it down by the roots and it no longer lasts. But listen, the word of God, the Bible says, will last forever. We may be able to destroy the grass. You can pour something on it. You can set it on fire and you can destroy it. You can kill it, you can make it. You can make it to where it would never grow again. but I'm thankful that the word of God, the Bible says, that it is forever settled in heaven. Listen, if there is anything that we can trust in and believe on today, it is the word of God. If there is anything that we as God's people need never worry about, something stifling it, or hindering it, or something, or destroying it, that is the fact that the word of God will stand and it'll last forever. Though the grass may wither, And though it may be destructible, though it can be destroyed, the Bible says the word of God will stand forever. And listen, we live in a world of things that are tangible and a world of things that are temporary, even us, even our own selves and all of our glory. Listen, all of it, no matter how bright it may seem and how good it may be, it is all just simply fading here for a moment and gone the next. But the Bible says the word of God will stand forever. forever, it has withstood the judgment of time, it has withstood everything he can to analyze the scriptures from this point to that point, trying to do everything they can to pick the Bible apart, examine it, if you will, to find all kinds of errors and all kinds of things that are incorrect, but the word of God still stands and shows itself approved and shows itself faithful. Here we see the grass, when compared to the Bible, we see that yes, the grass is destructible, but we see that the Bible is eternal. Though grass is destructible, the Bible is eternal, forever settled in heaven. And I'm thankful today that I can trust in the word of God. I can trust in it, listen, not just now, but for all time. And listen, one of these days, I'm dead and gone off the scene, my kids and my grandkids and my great grandkids and so forth and so on, if God so sees fit to tarry, They can trust in the same Bible that I'm trusting in here this morning, because our God change not. Praise God for that. Though the philosophies, as I said, of this world change and all these things change, the Bible says that the word of God is forever settled in heaven. So grass is destructible, but the Bible is eternal. But not only that, but grass is dependent. But the Bible is self-sustaining. Grass is dependent on, what is grass dependent on? Well, grass is dependent on what? The sun. It needs the sun. Grass is not only dependent on the sun, but it's also dependent on water. It needs these types of things. It's dependent on the things that are in the ground that will nurture it and make it better and feed it what it needs for it to stay alive. The Bible itself is self-sustaining. It is self-sustaining. The reason why the Bible is self-sustaining is because Christ is life, and the Bible says that he that has the Son of God has life, and he that has not the Son of God hath not life. The Bible calls itself, in essence, the word of life, the word of truth. Jesus is the word, and Jesus is life, and he gives abundant life and eternal life to all of those who seek for it. And so though the grass is not only destructible, the grass is not only destructible, but we also see that the grass is dependent. But the Lord Jesus Christ is not dependent on anything. The word of God isn't depending on somebody else making sure that the word of God is true. Listen, the word of God is always true. Don't need somebody to prove that it's true. The Word of God is true. The Word of God has stood the test of time. The Word of God, as the Bible says, is there for reproof. The Word of God says it is there for correction. The Word of God says it is there, in essence, it builds us, and it helps us, it molds us, and it makes us, and it shows us that which is true and right. The Bible shows us here, the grass withereth. the grass with us. So the Bible is, the grass is destructible, but the Bible is eternal. Grass is dependent, but the Bible is self-sustaining. Self-sustaining. Because the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the word, is self-sustaining. There is nothing that is being fed to the Lord Jesus to keep him alive, nor is it the word of God. We see the Lord Jesus, he is all-powerful. He can do all things, the Bible says, and so there is nothing that Christ is dependent on, nor is the Word of God. Listen, you can take all the books that are in this world, you can take all the books that was written by all the great people of this world, and all the things that they have that refer to the Bible, and listen, though they may be great in the context itself, and the authors may be some great people, both men and women alike, but you know what, none of that is needed to prove the Bible to be true. The Word of God is already true. Bible, the Word of God that we hold in our hand is precious this morning. It is not dependent on anything, it is not destructible. We also see the grass, the Bible says the grass withers, which shows us that the grass is not only destructible, it's not only dependent, but it's also something that is delicate. You ever heard somebody say, don't walk on my grass? Don't walk on my grass. Listen, grass breaks. Grass is not only destructible and it dies and it perishes and is temporary, not only is it dependent and it needs other things to help it to be self-sustaining and to live, but we also see that grass is delicate. Delicate. What I mean by delicate is that I mean that it's weak. It's weak. Grass is weak. But what does the Bible say about the word of God itself? Well, doesn't the Bible teach us that not only is it eternal, not only is it forever settled in heaven, not only is it self-sustaining, I mean, we can even flip over. I mean, look at just, flip over just one page, maybe perhaps in your Bible, very same chapter, look at verse 28. The Bible says, hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator, capital C there, though the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might, he increases strength. And so the Bible says that the Word of God, in essence, shows us that it is sustaining because Christ is sustaining. God is sustaining. Christ gives life. The Word of God is, the Bible says, is living that we're going to talk about even this evening. And so Christ gives life, and so the Bible is a living, because Christ is living himself. We don't serve a dead savior here this morning, but we have an active God that is present in our lives today. And we can take the word, the God that we have in our hand, and we can trust on it, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that it can help sustain me, because the Bible is sustaining. Listen, Jesus cannot give, Jesus cannot give us what he doesn't currently possess, which would be eternal life. If he did not possess eternal life, he could not give us eternal life. Does that make sense? You have to have something in order to be able to give it. And so if Jesus did not have eternal life, he couldn't he couldn't impart to us himself eternal life. And so he is self-sustaining. He doesn't need anything to keep on. He is the ever. He is everlasting from the beginning to the end. The first and the last, as the Bible says, the the alpha and the omega. The Bible says the grass wither than the flower fades. But the word of God shall stand forever. It is powerful the Word of God is. It is powerful. Not only do we see this about the grass, but we see a comparison and we see its fragileness, which would be one of the very first truths there. But what is the Bible? We see, I mean, what is, what can we see in Isaiah 48? We see the things that are fragile. What else do we see? We see the things that are fading. And of course, the flower was in a representation of the goodness of man. The goodness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass with it, there in verse seven, the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it and surely the people his grass. And the goodness of it is all the things that we do and we stand for it. Our own and our own righteousness, all those things pass off to the scene. But there's one thing that remains. And that is the word of God. And so we can see there in verse eight, not only do we see the fragileness in speaking of the grass, but we see the fading in speaking of the flower. The Bible says the grass witheth and the flower fadeth. Now when we think about this flower, the very first truth I would see under this flower that fades is that we would say a flower, we would see the Bible says that the flower fadeth. Now if a flower is fading, that means it would be perhaps doing what? losing its glory, maybe, losing its shine, perhaps. You ever seen a flower that began to slowly fade away because maybe it wasn't getting the light that it needed, or maybe because it wasn't getting the water that it needed, and because it wasn't getting those things, it then began to wilt over and begin to fade away. And when you bought it or maybe when you looked out in the field or the flower bed that she got, it looked really good, man, it was growing up, it looked really nice. And I mean, all the petals were there and man, the colors on it were beautiful and magnificent and it looked really good. But then over time, maybe perhaps because it wasn't getting the sun that it needed or maybe perhaps it wasn't getting the water that it needed or whatever attention that it needed, for whatever reason, And because it's only temporary, it began to slowly fade away. It began to lose its shine. I'm thankful here today that my Bible has never lost its shine, that my Bible has never lost its glory. Listen, there are lots of things that'll fade off the scene, even the beautiful plant, the flowers, the plants, the trees, and all these things. There are lots of beautiful things that we can see in this world, and they are just temporary at best, but the Bible says the Word of God, because it is forever settled in heaven, it will never lose its glory. It will never lose its shine. And so here this morning, we can trust in a Bible, in the Word of God that is eternal, that will never be destroyed. It is indestructible. But not only that, we see the Word of God as compared to the flower, though the field may pass away, and though the glory of the goodness of man may pass off to the sea, there is one thing that will never lose its shine, and that is the Word of God. Listen, I'm so glad I'm saved. I remember when I got saved. I've seen some people here recently get saved. I mean, what a blessing it is to see the Word of God as it begins to move in a person's life and you sit down beside somebody and you see them pray and ask God to forgive them and save them and you share in the Word of God with them and they get saved. What a beautiful sight it is seeing a new name written down in glory. But not only that. But whenever you see, whenever you see folks that are just downtrodden or cast down in their spirit and they open up the word of God, they let God speak to their heart, and it never loses its shine. Aren't you glad that you can count on the word of God to never lose its shine? It's always beautiful. It never fades. It's always so beautiful. It never fades away. Not only do we see, the flower that fades and loses its shine, but the Bible says in Romans 11 verse 36, and speaking of the word of God or speaking of Christ himself, it says, to God be the glory, it says to him be glory forever. Glory forever to the Lord Jesus. To him be glory forever and because he is the lily of the valley and because he is the rose of Sharon, he will always be the most beautiful flower that can ever be seen. The rose of Sharon. the lily of the valley, that will forever shine, that will forever be true, that will forever be beautiful, though the things of this world may get dark, and they may get confusing, and though the times that we live in, though they may get bad, listen, we can trust, and we look around, we say, oh, well, this is looking bad, and this is looking bad, and this is wilting over, and this is falling apart, and this is going on over here, but the glory of the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley still stand strong this morning, still shining. just as beautiful as it always has been. You can trust in your Bible this morning. The flower fades, loses its shine, but the glory of the Lord remains forever. What else do we see about this flower? Well, when we think about flowers, not only do they fade, but what else is a flower known for? Well, you pick a flower because it smells good. You ever went to go pick a flower and one of the very first things you did was, now how many of you are guilty? You went and got a flower and you said, because you were expecting it to smell good. Amen. How many of you ever picked a flower and you said, I don't smell anything? Or it seems like it's lost its smell. You figured you'd pick it up and it would maybe smell a little different. Some things, some flowers you pick up and you smell them and man, they smell great. The roses, they smell good. but a dead rose don't smell that wonderful. But you pick some flowers, you see it, it looks so beautiful, and you reach down, you grab a hold of it, and you bring it up to your face, and you smell it, and it smells so good, so not only do we see that the flowers can lose their shine, but they can lose their smell. And so how does that refer to the word of God today? Well, 2 Corinthians chapter two, in verse 15, the Bible says we, we, Sweet aroma of Christ and that we are saved the Bible says and then the parish the Bible says that the Word of God in you Which is Christ the Bible says it makes you smell good So when the Word of God that is within you which is Christ When Christ is active in Christ is in our lives and Christ is working in us The Bible says that we in essence become listen to those that are around us a sweet aroma a sweet aroma So you gotta ask yourself this morning, how do I smell today? How am I smelling this morning? Because when we are, when Christ's word is working in us, when Christ is in us and his word is working in us, listen, to each other and to a lost nine world, the Bible says that we are like this sweet aroma, smells good. How many have ever walked into a restaurant and you said, That smells pretty good. I like to have what that got going on in there. Or you stood outside maybe of a steakhouse, and you said, man, that sure does smell good. Or you're standing outside of a bakery or whatever kind of shop it may be, and you said, man, that smells good. The Bible says, in essence, really, that when Christ is in us, in essence, which is the word, and the word in Christ is working within us, we become, in essence, to those around us, like a sweet-smelling aroma. to the people that are around us. And so we ask ourselves this morning, how do I smell? Am I a sweet smelling aroma to the people that are around me? Or do when people come up to me, do they not really get what they need? Did the smell go away? Do I not smell as great as I used to? Is Christ not in my life like it used to be? Am I not putting off that sweet aroma of the Lord like maybe at one time I did in my life? The Bible shows us here that not only when we compare the word of God to the grass or the field, the Bible says we can also see the flower, and the flower does what? The flower fades, it loses its shine, it loses its glory, but the word of God does not. We see that the flower, it loses its smell, it begins to tilt over, it begins to wilt, and it no longer begins to smell as good as it used to. But the word of God does not in the believer's life. The flower fading. is also, not only does it lose its shine, not only does it lose its smell, but it can lose its significance. What do you mean by its significance? Well, what I mean by its significance is I mean by its value. Now, you see a flower that's blooming and doing really well, or maybe Those of you that got sweethearts in here. You call the flower shop and you say, yeah, I'd like to get some flowers for my wife, or flowers for my girlfriend, or whatever it is. When you call them, do you say, find me the deadest flowers you can get. The ones that smell the worst, the ones where the petals are falling off of them. I mean, find the most driest, deadest, smelliest flowers you can find and put it in this vase and send it to my wife. Well, there may have been some people that's done that. I don't know. But under normal circumstances, that's not something that you would do. What happens is the flower began to lose its significance over time. You know why? Because it began to fade away. things begin to fall apart off of it. The petals begin to fall. You ever pick some flowers and put them in your house and put them in a jar, and even though it had water in it, the petals begin to fall off? Aren't you glad the word of God don't fall apart? The word of God stands forever. The word of God don't fall apart, it don't lose its aroma. Listen, not in and of itself, and not when it's working in your life. The word of God don't lose its shine. Listen, it's just as great now today, even though I've been saved since I was 10 years old, which was a few years ago, but it's still just as beautiful, it's still just as awesome as it was the day I got saved. And whenever I pass off the scene, it'll still be just as beautiful. and still be just as awesome. Listen, it was that way long before I was born. It is that way now. It'll be the same way long after I'm gone. The word of God, it stands forever. It does not fall apart. It does not lose its beauty. It does not fade away. The petals are not falling off of it. It isn't leaning over because it has been judged by the trials of this world and by the judgment of men for too long. No, it still stands forever, just as strong as it did. the day it was written. The Bible shows us here, not only do we see the fragileness, but we can also see the fading. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 30 verse 5 that every word of God is pure. The flowers and the grass, they're fragile and they fade, but the last thing. The Bible says, but the word of our God shall stand forever. So in this verse, we see, number one, we see what's fragile, we see what's fading, but then we see what's faithful. Though we're fragile and fading away. Our goodness, our good works, all that stuff, passing off the scene, our own glory, our accomplishments, those things passing off to the scene. Listen, a lot of the things that the people accomplished in their life, when you go out to the cemeteries, most of those people, they've been gone for a long time, and most of those people, we don't know anything about their lives. Most of them, we don't know a whole lot about their accomplishments and the things that they've done. It's passed off the scene. But here we can see that there's one thing that stands forever, and that is the Word of God. So we can see there in the latter part of verse eight, the Bible says, the grass witherth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. And I like the idea that there in verse eight, he puts our God. Because you see, there are lots of religions in this world that say that they have a word from their God, or they have this or that, or whether it's Islam or whatever else it could be. There are so many things that are out here in this world that people are putting together that claim to be the word of God. But the Bible shows us right here, he says, but the word of our God, he pinpoints exactly to the word that he's talking about, not just the word of this God or the word of that God, but the word of our God, the living God, the true God, the almighty God, our God. And so he says, but the word of our God shall stand forever. And what are some things that we can see about this faithful word? Of course, we understand that it's not fragile, we understand that it's not fading, but we do see that it is faithful because it stands forever. And the Bible says that this faithful word, what are some things that we can learn about that? Well, that we can see that his words are faithful. There in Romans chapter 10, verse 17, the Bible says, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The Word of God does what? It helps to impart faith to us. It helps us to see. It helps us to realize where we're at. It helps us to believe on Christ. It helps us to instill faith within us. Faith comes by hearing. And how do I receive that faith that I need? And faith comes by hearing by the word of God. And so the word of God is producing faith in my life. Listen, the more the word of God that you read, the more faith that you're gonna have because the more about him you learn. And the more you know. Listen, the more about anything that you spend time with, the more you learn how much you can put your faith in it. Now listen, you can, how many of, I remember years ago, we was, Bryce was just, Where is it? When they was just kids back there. When they was just kids, I remember we went to the lake one time and was with my cousin. And we was in a boat and we saw these people were grabbing a hold of this rope on this hill and they were letting go and dropping in the water. Anybody ever done that? You grabbed a hold of the rope and swung across and went and you dropped in the water. Well, I was watching these kids doing this. Well, as we were getting, we got a little closer, and we was just watching, you know, Bryce and Brianna wanted to do it. And we got a little bit closer, and they're like, come on, Dad, why don't you do it? And I'm just like, oh. So I'm just sitting there watching the little kids up there do it, you know. And so finally, they talked me into it. So I get up there. I'm up on the heel and, you know, grabbing them. See, when you're young, you don't think about that kind of stuff. But now you're wondering, how much is this going to cost me? You're looking at your body and think, OK, what's fixing to break and what's fixing to happen? Here in just a moment, I may not look the same or feel the same. Have I met my deductible yet this year? There's lots of questions that go through your mind before you. So I'm pulling on that thing, and I'm looking up there. Is it too frayed up there? How long has this thing been up here? And I'm looking around, and I'm looking at the branch, too, because I'm not quite as light as I used to be. Now, is this branch going to hold this? And I'm just like, OK. But the kids are there. Dad, please do it. Dad, please do it. Go, Dad. Go, Dad. Go. And I'm just, what are you supposed to do? You know, dad's gotta be the hero, you know, so you grab a hold of it and, Lord, please forgive me for the decisions. You pray these prayers in advance. God, please help me to have the money I need to get me through this. I grabbed a hold of it. I said, hmm, that worked. Everything worked out really well. Got back up there, did it again. Got back here again. Had a great time. But what I needed was the idea that I could walk out to this rope and grab a hold of it. And the more that I swung off of it, the more it helped me to realize that I can trust it. The Word of God is kind of like that. The more of the Word of God that you get into your heart and your life, the more of the Word of God that you get within yourself, the more you see how much faith that you can put into it. You know, when we don't know the Word of God very well, sometimes we can be kind of reluctant about putting as much faith in it. Or maybe if we're just new believers in Christ, we begin to wonder, well, you know, we don't know all the things that the Bible says about certain things, and so we're like, you know, can I really, can I trust God with this? You know, can I give this to God? Can I even pray about this? Does God even care about what I'm lifting up to Him? But the more you spend time with God and the more His Word you read, the more you see Yes, I can put my faith in it. Yes, I can swing from the tree branch. Yes, He is strong enough to hold me. Yes, it's gonna be okay. So the Word of God is kind of like that. We see that the Word of God is not temporary. It's not fragile. We see the Word of God is not dependent. It's not delicate. We see the Word of God is not fading. It doesn't lose its shine, it doesn't lose its smell, and it doesn't lose its significance. And we see that the Word of God is faithful. The Bible shows us, Jeremiah chapter 23 and verse 29, you don't necessarily have to turn there, but if you want to jot it down, you can turn if you want to. But the Bible in essence says in Jeremiah 23 verse 29, the Bible says, is not my word like a fire? saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh rock in pieces. So what do we see about the word of God? Not only is it faithful, but we see that the word of God, it is forging in our life. The word of God is faithful, but it is also forging in our life. The Bible says, is not my word like a fire? And what does a fire do? A fire, when it is heated up, it tests that which is in the fire. And when that which is tested in the fire, which is of course the word of God, it has been purified, the Bible says seven times. I mean, the word of God, it is pure silver, the Bible says, it is pure. And even us, when we are charred by fire, the word of God shows itself to be forging in our life. It helps to mold us and make us into the men and women of God that we need to be. But he says, it's not my world like a fire, Is not my word also like a hammer? Now think about this. Now a fire can be destructive, but it can also provide you with some warmth. So a fire does bring judgment, yes, but a fire also, in the right circumstances, is able to provide you with the warmth that you need. But the Bible also says, is not my word like a hammer? I mean, a hammer can do a lot of destruction. Or like Brother David can, and like Brother Willie, can build some amazing things. Some amazing things. So the Word of God, he says, is not like a hammer that can break a rock in pieces. The heart is hearts. the hardest people that maybe we can come across with. The hardest things. We see the word of God is like a fire. We see the word of God is like a hammer. And what the word of God does, it not only does it examine us and it purifies us, like we're gonna talk about tonight in Hebrews chapter four. Not only does it examine us and purify us, but it is also able like a hammer to break the hardest things in pieces. And then ultimately, what is the ultimate goal? To purify us and make us what God needs us to be. God's Word is forging. It is forging in our life. We'll stop with this one. Not only is it forging, but it is also fruitful. The Bible says in God's Word in Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 11, we're already in 40, let's just go ahead and flip there and we'll stop with that. Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 11. And notice what he says here in the text. He says, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it. And so we see that the word of God is fruitful. The Word of God is fruitful. The Word of God, it bears fruit. Listen, you know how I can attest to that fact? Because, listen, it was through the Word of God and me putting my faith in Jesus Christ through the Word of God that I got saved. That I got saved. And so the Word of God is fruitful because, listen, I got saved out of that. And you here this morning, if you're saved, it is because you put your faith and trust in the Word of God. And you got saved. And the Word bore fruit. And you're an example of that here. You sit here as an example to the fruit-bearingness of the Word of God. The Bible shows us here in the text, notice he says there in verse 11, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. God sends forth his word, and it goes out to where he pleases it to go, and the Bible says it will not return void. but it also didn't say what the return would necessarily be and it didn't say how long the investment would last. You see, what we have is we're throwing out the word of God and we say, man, I wanna see some fruit off of it right now. I wanna plant an apple seed and it be an apple tree tomorrow. Can I get a witness, anybody else like that? I wanna plant something right now. And I wanna plant an apple tree right now and I wanna be plucking fruit off of it tomorrow. That's how we are, right? Yes, we honestly admit that's what we want, that's how we are. I wanna plant this seed now and I wanna bear the fruit tomorrow. Now there are some instances, there are some circumstances where God does some pretty amazing things and we can see some fruit from some things very quickly. But sometimes it don't always happen in the time that we want it. Sometimes you plant the seed and it sits there for a little while. Sometimes it has to go through a germination process, and for some seeds, it takes a little bit longer in the germination process than others, those of you that are into horticulture. You see that it takes a little while. The Bible says, in verse 11, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, that shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. Sometimes, like we went passing out gospel tracts on Saturday, and we was up there, passed out probably around 700 gospel tracts. There were some people, most people were very receptive, and most people generally are. There was just a couple here and there that you gave them one, and they just ripped it right in front of your face. And some just say, no, no, thank you. Well, that's just fine. Hey, listen, when the Apostle Paul went out, the Bible says there were some that believed and there were some that did not. So what we do is we go out and we just hand out the word of God. We give out the seed. And listen, we don't know out of all those people that got that gospel tract yesterday, they may have read it yesterday and got saved. But then they may set that thing in their car, and they may just set that thing and drive down the road and look over at it every now and then. They've read it, but it's just sitting there, and the word of God's just getting to them. They may take it home and set it on their dresser. And they set it there, and as they walk in and walk out of the room or the table or wherever it is that they're at, the Word of God's sitting right there, and every time they look over and see it, it's just kind of working on them. Listen, sometimes it may take a little bit, but it will accomplish that, which God has called it to do. And what is it God wants, what is it God's trying to do? He's trying to get people to see the light of the truth of who He is. So we can see the Word of God, that we can depend on it. I'm always losing this thing. We can see the Word of God, that we can depend on it. We see that we can trust in it. We see that it is reliable. We see that it is unchanging. We see that it is powerful. And we know without a shadow of a doubt that it's faithful and it's fruitful in our life, and that it can forge and make us and mold us into what God needs us to be. Let's pray this morning. Father, we pray today for grace. God, we need your help this morning more than all that we do. Lord, you said in your word that without me you can do nothing. And so, Lord, here today, we're praying that you'd help us to hear your voice through your word. As the piano plays, whenever she gets ready, Ms. Amanda will sing here in just a moment. But as we think about the word of God today, what is the word of God trying to do in your heart and your life this morning? Do you know Christ as your Lord and personal Savior? That's the number one thing, is when I walk out these doors today, I wanna know without a shadow of a doubt that I'm saved and on my way to heaven. We don't wanna walk out of here with, well, I might be, or I think I am, or somebody told me I was, but we ourselves wanna know without a shadow of a doubt that we are saved, that we are on our way to heaven, so that we know. If you're here today and you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, there is no greater time and no greater opportunity than today. Maybe God's trying to, this morning, forge some things in your heart and your life. Maybe there's some things that the Word of God is a hammer, is trying to break apart. Things that are hard, things that have gotten hard. Sometimes it can be very difficult situations. Sometimes it can be frustration. Sometimes it can be all different kinds of things that can get us to a place that the Word of God has to sit there like a hammer and just kind of beat on and bang on. But the Bible says it's not my word like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. Sometimes it may be someone we've been trying to lead to the Lord for a long time and For whatever reason, they just will not get saved. Like their heart is just hard. The Word of God is like a hammer. It can break that rock into pieces. The Word of God is faithful this morning. If you'll put your faith and trust in Him, God will forgive you and save you. No matter what you've done in your life, no matter where you've been, no matter how far you've been, how long, or how far you've been in the far country. My Bible tells me that where sin abounds, grace much more abounds. There is no sin, listen this morning, no sin that can stain the soul so bad, the blood of Jesus can't wash away. Maybe it is the Lord this morning is knocking on the door of your heart and he's wanting you, desiring you to get saved. Maybe you've just gotten away from God and he's trying to urge and tug on your heart to come back. I pray that you'd utilize this moment and this time you have today to let the Word of God dwell in your heart richly this morning, that you would heed the voice of God, and that you would give yourself to Christ. Maybe it's just a rededication of your life, but whatever it is, I encourage you to bring it to Him. If you're here today and you're lost, you've never accepted Jesus as your Savior, nobody's looking but me and God, Just slip your hand up so I can see it. Anybody like that anywhere a preacher, you just pray for me. I'm not saved. I want to get saved. As we stand to our feet, we open up the altar here this morning. Whatever it is that you want to come up here and pray about, I encourage you to do so. There is so much to pray for. There is so much to pray about. And whatever it is, it is on your heart. Whatever it is, it is in your life. I encourage you to utilize the altar. So, There is a blood That cost a life That paid my way Death its price When it flowed down from My sins were gone My sins forgot There is a grave That tried to hide His precious blood That gave me life But in three days And rose to stand in my defense So I come to tell you He's alive To tell you that He dries every tear that falls So I come to tell you that He saves To shout and to proclaim That He's coming back for you There is a blood That cites the blind That heals the sick ♪ Cast the power to free the bound ♪ ♪ As chains they fall upon the ground ♪ ♪ So pour it out to cleanse my soul ♪ ♪ And let his liquid glory flow ♪ To make me whole I owe my life I owe my all So I come To tell you he's alive To tell you that he tries Every tear that falls So I come to tell you that He saves To shout and to proclaim That He's coming back for you What can wash away my sin? What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood What can wash away my sin? What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood Nothing but the blood There is a grave Try to hide This precious blood Amen, all right. Looking forward to being back here tonight. And so don't forget, we'll be here at 445, Choir Practice 545 for our prayer time. Six o'clock for the evening service. We're gonna continue to preach on the Bible tonight. And then also don't forget, Monday through Wednesday, seven o'clock, as we have our King James Bible Conference, I know it'll be a blessing to you. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you so much for this day. God, we are just a grateful, thankful, blessed people. And Lord, we just pray God today, you just help us throughout the remainder of the day, just to be the men and women of God you need us to be. Bring us back here till next appointed time. Keep us safe today. We love you and thank you for it all. And this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.