33 Isaiah 55 11 NIV
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ORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon" 24 Thisconvincing focus on the power of God's Word is helpful to offset the preacher's doubtsover the effectiveness of his labors He must realize the "results”, though appearingmeager, are not always visible, and the reason is by no means the insufficiency of theWord 25 Combining pastoral and professorial insight Chapell wrote, "Ultimately preachingaccomplishes its spiritual purposes not because of the skills of the preacher, but because ofthe power of the Scripture proclaimed He continued, "Scripture s portrayal of its ownpotency challenges us always to remember that the Word preached rather than thepreaching of the Word accomplishes heaven's purposes" 26 God's Word is powerful, like ahammer The power, of course, resides not in the pages but in the Holy Spirit It is theSpirit of God who empowered the "prototype" of Christian preaching on the day ofPentecost 27 The preserved nature of God's Word in the Bible has already been introduced under the topic of revelation. All Scripture being God-breathed or inspired by the Spirit of God is sure to be useful 21 The Word of God is both living and enduring 2V Because it emanates from God, the Scripture bears his eternal nature *° The nature of God not only insures Scripture's usefulness, but also its truthfulness Mohler applied this to preachers , "The authority of the preacher is intrinsically rooted in the authority of the Bible as the church's Book and the unblemished Word of God Its total truthfulness is a witness to
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