Let's open to Bibles, please, the book of Hebrews, chapter 4. I want to read verse 12 and 13. It says, For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Let's go ahead and read the other verses there, three more. "'Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." I want you to notice especially verse 12 that we started with. For the word of God is quick and powerful. Now, let's stop there. We are going to try to bring you a message on the power of the word of God this morning, and we will cite several things. First of all, let me give you somewhat of an introduction. to the Word of God. The Bible says that every word of God is pure, and He is a shield to them that put their trust in Him. The Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, truly furnished in all good works. Someone might stumble over that word perfect. It doesn't mean sinless. It means perfected and mature. that you might grow in the word of God. And then the Bible tells us about the word that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So all of it's under divine inspiration. It is a living and incorruptible seed. The word of God is not just a history, though it is history. Someone has said that it's his story, and it's true in that realm too. But we find that there are many passages of Scripture that reveals to us what the Word of God has power to do. And when we neglect it, we lose power. When we receive it, we gain power. And the knowledge of it will strengthen and give you greater power. And we're not talking about power to do things of the worldly nature, but we're talking about power in our spiritual lives, help that we need, the strength that we need. the guidance that we need, and most of our problems would be answered if we would study the word of God and then apply that word to ourselves and to our own lives. The power of God's word is not in the preacher. But it's in the Word itself. In the Old Testament, many of the prophets would say, Thus saith the Lord. They wouldn't say, Isaiah says this, or Hosea says this. But they would refer themselves to Thus saith the Lord. That's what God gave them to say. Now, we know that we have the divine revelation, and it's complete today. And so we refer to the Word of God ourselves in the New Testament. And we had a good lesson about that this morning in Sunday school. But I want to give you some things, and I'll cite several things, that the Word of God has power to do. First of all, the Word of God has power to convict of sin, and man needs to be shown that he needs conviction for his sins. We read in the book of Acts 2, verse 37, it says, Now when they heard this, and Peter had been preaching to them, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." And on down it says in verse 41, Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And it goes on to tell many things about what they did. So we find that the conviction of sin, they said, men and brethren, what shall we do? What must we do? After they had heard Peter's preaching. Now, when you look at Peter's preaching, you'll find that his sermon was scripture throughout. And he uses David that ascended on high. He uses the fact that they had crucified Christ and that he was risen again. If you go back and start reading, let's get just a portion of it. Let's pick up with verse 31. It says, He seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ. David saw this before, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. We all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth forth this which ye now see and hear, for David," and he goes back to the scripture, "...for David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." And Peter is quoting from one of the Psalms. And then he says, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified. He tells them they had crucified Christ, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. There was conviction after Peter's sermon. That was scripture throughout. Peter had preached Christ crucified, Christ risen, ascended on high. they responsible for his death, whom you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God raised up from the dead." And so the whole message of the gospel, as well as referring to Old Testament scriptures from the Psalms from David, that this had taken place, had been presented to them, and he had preached Paul crucified, risen, ascended on high, and that they were responsible for his death. You might say, well, preacher, what does that have to do with me today? Well, we're all in a sense responsible for Christ's death because He died for our sins. We may not have been one that would have taken Him and nailed Him to the cross. We may not have resisted Him like they did in His day. But anyway, our sins, the Bible says that God hath made to meet on Him or laid on Him the iniquity of us all. So it was our sins, really, that brought about, in God's plan and purpose, the death of Jesus. So, He died for us, according to the Scriptures. The Bible says He died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. And He was raised again for our justification. So, in a sense, that we are responsible, we find that when we come to place in our heart that we really believe that we're sinners, and we know we have no way of salvation other than what Jesus has done, then we become pricked in our heart, convicted in our heart, and we see that we need Jesus as our Savior, because He took our place and died for us on the cross of Calvary. Peter says later on in his epistles that he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. So we find that the Word of God has power to convict of sin. And this kind of preaching to show that Jesus did die and shed His blood on the cross of Calvary, and that He was crucified, and He cried out on the cross, It is finished! And we know that redemption, His bloodshed, was for our salvation, because the Bible says, In whom we have redemption through His blood, Even the forgiveness of sins, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. That's Colossians 1.14, Ephesians 1.7. And we've quoted time and again for you how many scriptures there are that show us that His shed blood is why we have remission. The Bible tells us that without the shedding blood, there is no remission. So when this kind of preaching comes forth, and the sinner The boy, girl, or man or woman sees that they are a sinner in the sight of God, and the Holy Spirit brings conviction into their heart. that the Holy Spirit has power to convict of sin. And you and I have experienced that. We've come to the place that we know that we were in such condition and that we've trusted in Jesus to make a change in our lives and to do something about it. All right, the second thing. The Word of God not only has power to convict of sin, but in such condition, the Word of God has power to regenerate, to make us a new creature. Man needs to be regenerated. Man in this natural condition is not fit for God's presence and for heaven, because the Bible says that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible tells us that we have a sinful nature. The Bible teaches that Jesus Himself said, you must be born again. You have to be regenerated. You have to be made alive. And the Word of God has that power in 1 Peter 1, verse 23. It says, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, listen, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. So it's through the regeneration of the Word of God is the Word of God, the incorruptible seed. And Luke 8, verse 11 says that the seed is the Word of God. And then the soil is the human heart. We find that in Matthew's gospel where it tells us there are different kinds of soil. Some of the seed falls upon stony places and by the wayside and among thorns. But then he says some of the seed falls upon good ground. And that's the word that is received and believed and acted upon. of good ground. And we trust that you have a receptive heart to God's Word. Or you may have a hard heart, like the wayside here. Or you may have one that's filled with thorns that will choke out the Word. Or you may have the stony ground where it cannot find soil enough to really find growth. But if the seed falls upon good ground, and I'm quoting from Matthew's Gospel, the 13th chapter that tells us of these four kinds of hearers, receivers of the Word of God. But it falls on good ground. It tells us that if a man from his honest and true heart will receive this Word, it falls into his heart, and he will believe it, trust in the Lord, well, then it will bring forth much fruit. And so it has power to regenerate. James 1 verse 18 says, of his own will, listen, beget he us, beget he us with the word of truth. We might say by the word of truth. We're begotten through the word. We hear the word and believe it and receive it. The Bible says, in whom you also trusted. This is Ephesians 1 verse 13. I believe it is 12 or 13. It says, In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, verse 13, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, and it doesn't mean a long time after, but upon believing, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And then verse 14 says, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory. I may have gotten the verses wrong, but you can check it out. If I'm wrong, well, I'm wrong. But anyway, it is Ephesians chapter one. So, you know, when I do that, I have to check it out. You know me that if I give you a verse of scripture and I'm going to check it out, Ephesians chapter one and let you know if I'm right or wrong and if I'm wrong, I'll admit it. And it says Ephesians. Chapter 1, verse 13, "...in whom ye also trusted." So I've got it right. So thank the Lord for that. But anyway, trusted, after you heard the Word of Truth, the gospel of your salvation. So the Word of God brings about our salvation. And the Bible says in John 1, verses 12 and 13, "...but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." And it goes on to say, "...which were born." not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Born of God by what? Faith, by believing in Christ. Once you've heard the Word of Truth and believed it and received it. So the Word of God has power to regenerate not only convict of sin, but when a boy or girl or man or woman is convicted in their heart that they are sinner, they need to be saved. And the Holy Spirit deals with your heart, and it brings that kind of a thought and feeling to where that you know that you're not right in the situation you're in, and you need to trust in God. And we call that conviction, and then when you trust God by faith, turn to the Lord in faith, and receive Christ, we know we call that salvation. And it is salvation, because you believe in Christ for your salvation. And you're born again into the family and kingdom of God. Now then, the Word of God also has power to produce faith. Someone says, well, if it takes faith, where am I going to get it? The Bible says, In Romans 10, verse 17, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Someone says, I have to have faith in order to be saved. Well, where are you going to get it? It comes to you by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So you have to hear what God has to say. The faith unto salvation is found in the word of God. It's a foundation for our faith. All we were like sheep that have gone astray. We turned everyone to his own way. Isaiah 53 verse 6 says, And the Lord hath laid on him, or made to meet on him, the iniquity of us all. We were straying lost sheep, and Jesus took our sins, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. 1 Peter 2 verse 24. And in order for us to be saved, We have to believe on Christ, the Son of God. And for this purpose was the Gospel of John written. In John 20, verse 31, it says that these things were written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you might have life through His name. And then we need not only faith unto salvation that's produced by the Word of God, but faith to pray. How can we pray and claim God's promises unless it be upon the basis of God's Word? We claim and rest and claim these promises because the Word of God has given us these promises. Someone might say, well, to pray. How are we going to pray unless we know that we have a great high priest? We read the context there, Hebrews 4. It says, knowing we have a great high priest seated on the right hand of God, and there we have an intercessor. And then he says, therefore, let us come what? Boldly under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So faith in order to pray. The Bible tells us in 1 John chapter 5, 14 and 15, it says, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. That gives us assurance that our prayers will be answered. Sometimes we ask according to our own will. In fact, in the book of James, it says sometimes we ask amiss that we may consume it upon our lusts. We just ask selfishly. And the Bible tells us that that's why a lot of times our prayer is not answered. But if we ask anything according to His will, He what? Heareth us. Someone says, well, that means God doesn't answer every prayer. Well, He hears every prayer, and He answers them in the way that's fit for us and good for us. Just like when you're children, you have a little boy or girl, and they're always wanting just a big bunch of candy, and they will not eat their meat and potatoes, not eat their food and their meal. You don't give them a whole stash of candy before they try to eat their lunch, do you? That would ruin their appetite. They say, well, they asked me for it. I'm supposed to give them everything they want. Well, we ask God for things, but He doesn't give us everything we want. Everything we want is not good for us. And He will give us what we need. He knows exactly what we need, and He's not going to answer prayers that are to our detriment and that will hurt us and harm us. So let's realize that if it's according to His will, He hearth us. That's the way we ought to pray. So the Word of God has power to produce faith. Now, the fourth thing, the Word of God has power to cleanse. Let me read in the book of Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians, the fifth chapter. It says this, verse 25 and 26, it says, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might. Now, what did he say about the church? That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, the washing of water by the word. Well, you go and wash in the water. You get you try to get clean by the water. But it says the washing of water by the word. that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle." He does the ironing too, doesn't he? Not only the washing, but the ironing. "...or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish." So, the Bible teaches that there's cleansing power in the Word of God. We need daily cleansing because of daily contamination. We're cleaned every whit, but you turn to the 13th of John, John's Gospel, the 13th chapter, and you'll find where Jesus was washing the disciples' feet. And He comes to Peter in verse 8. He says, Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. He says, I want to be completely clean all over. And Jesus said unto him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean everywhere. And ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him, therefore said, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye not what I have done? Well, they didn't understand that he was talking about that they needed daily cleansing. We become contaminated. They are clean. through the Word. In the 15th chapter of John, in verse 3, he says, now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you. They were completely clean through the Word. But then he told Peter, he said, well, in the 13th, you need this foot washing, you need this daily cleansing. We know that many of the people in those days, they wore sandals or went barefoot or whatever, and there were various types of footwear. But on the other hand, walking in the dirt and the sand and the elements, you would need that cleansing. And we're walking in the midst of a world whereby we've become contaminated through the day's walk. And by the way, we need daily cleansing through the Word, and we need daily cleansing in prayer. When we come to God of evening, we ought to confess all of our misgivings, all of our sins and shortcomings. When we go to bed at night, go to bed with a clean slate and say we're prepared because we've confessed everything and we try to walk and live that way. The Bible says, in Psalm 119 verse 9, wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way. Now, how is a young man going to cleanse his way? Listen, by taking heed thereto according to thy word. So there's cleansing in the word of God by taking heed thereto. So if you're going to clean up your life, you need to take heed to the word of God and then apply it to yourself and live accordingly. And when you do, you'll find that that daily cleansing will come to you in that way. The Bible tells us that He has saved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood in the book of Revelation. So the Word of God has power to cleanse. The fifth thing is this. The Word of God has power to build you up. In Acts chapter 20, I want to read a scripture in Acts 20, in verse 32. It says, And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. The Word of God, which is able to build you up. God's Word is our strength. It's our strength for our spiritual life, just as food is for the strength of our physical life. And that's why we need to feed upon the Word of God. It is food for the soul. Job said in Job 23, verse 12, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Have you counted God's Word more than your necessary food? Remember, Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God shall man live. Is it food for your soul? It should be food for us. And if it's food, We must feed upon it, and the person that is fed upon it will have the strength that is given to build him up. I commend you to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up. The more we read the word, the more we study it, and the more we believe it, The more we apply it, the stronger as a Christian we will be. And God knows that we need the strength of a Christian. And do you feed upon God's Word today? Do you hear a sermon occasionally? Or do you make it a habit? Do you hear it taught consistently? Do you make it a habit in that way? Do you read it daily? Do you make that a habit of your life? And we should. And I find when I neglect the Word, day by day, I become weaker spiritually. And I can speak from my own experience, and I know that And probably so with you if you neglect the Word. You will become weaker spiritually. Did you know that it not only strengthens you and builds you up, but it tells us how strong we can be. In 1 John 2, verse 14. I want you to look at this. 1 John 2, verse 14. Well, let's read verse 13 and 14. It says, I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. So what John wrote, for the fathers. He says, I have written unto you young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. Young men that are overcomers. I have written unto you little children, look at this, because ye have known the Father. Now, verse 14. I have written unto you fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. Now, last part of verse 14. I have written unto you young men, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one." Notice the things. They read what John had written. They were strong, but because of the Word of God abiding in them, one said, Thy word hath a hit in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. So this, they're strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. Now, how could they overcome? Because of the Word of God that made them strong. It's able to build you up. It helped them to overcome. Faith to overcome the world is received by the Word. If you turn to 1 John 5, just turn over another page in your Bible, it says in verse 4, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, what? Even our faith. So if you're going to be an overcomer, And you know what is promised to overcomers in the book of Revelation? Let me give you some of the things. Revelation 2, verse 7 says, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. The first overcomer in the first church that is mentioned, given to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. The next one you see is in verse 11, "...he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death, exempt from judgment." The third one you find is in verse 17, "...to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna," the hidden manna, and it says, "...and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name." Boy, that's full of it, isn't it? Full of a lot of blessings. He's going to eat the hidden manna. God specially has some manna for him. The overcomer. The one that has the word of God. This is the victory that overcomes the world. Even our faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And what does it say here? I'm going to give him to eat of the hidden manna. That'll be the food God has prepared for us especially. Then a white stone. You know, in the old days when they had the judges to pass either innocence or sentence against someone. They would come out and they would give either a white stone that meant acquittal or a black stone that meant condemnation. I'll give them a white stone and we're acquitted. We're not judged. We're justified in the sight of God. We are as if we had never sinned. Justification. Just as if I had never sinned. And we're justified through the blood of Christ. So we get a white stone and a new name. Not the old name, but a new name. We could go on and on. There are many of those in the book of Revelation, and I could give you all of them, but we will not have time. But I just wanted you to see that the overcomer overcomes by faith. And faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And there are many blessings for the overcomer. And then we studied there in 1 John 2, verse 14, where it says that the young men were strong, and they had overcome the wicked one, overcome in this life. And so it's able to build you up. The sixth thing, the Word of God has power to make us wise. To make us wise. In Psalm 119, verse 130, it says, The entrance of thy words giveth light. It giveth understanding to the simple. Understanding. It giveth light. And it's not the wisdom of this world, but the wisdom of God. In Psalm 19, let me read this for you. In verse 7 it says, "...the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord," and all these refer to the Word, "...is sure, making wise the simple." Paul tells Timothy that the Word is able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. So there are many, many passages of Scripture that show us that the Word of God will make you wise. The next thing we find is the Word of God has power to give assurance of eternal life. And you could turn back to 1 John again, chapter 5. Let me give you this as quickly as possible. 1 John 5, verse 13, he says, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, listen carefully, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. So John says when he gets over to the fifth chapter, of his epistle, 1 John 5, verse 13. He says, I've written all of this previous that you may what? Know. I've written it to you believers. I've written it that you may what? Know that you have eternal life. Someone says, I wish I had the assurance of salvation. Read 1 John. If you're a Christian, John's gospel tells us how to be saved. But the epistles of John, the first John especially, tells us how we know, how we can know we are saved. John's gospel tells us how to be saved. He says, As many as received him and his gospel, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. That tells you how to be saved. And it says in John 20, verse 31, many, many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. John 20, verse 31. So believing we might have life. But then in 1 John, he tells us that he's written this that you may know. He wrote his gospel that you may have. He wrote his epistle that you may know that you have. and have the assurance of eternal life. And it gives you that assurance. What assurance do you have? Not just to pray for it, but take this simple passage and meditate upon it until it comes to the place in your life that you can truly say, I believe what God has said. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. In John 5, verse 24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. And then the Word of God, another thing. I have too many of them to give you. But the Word of God has power to bring peace into the heart. Peace in the heart. That's what all of us need, is peace. In Psalm 85, verse 8, it says, I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace unto his people and to his saints." Just the very fact that God will speak peace into our hearts, and then the Word of God has power to produce joy. I'm trying to give you several things, and there are many things that I could refer to, but in the book of Jeremiah, Chapter 15, verse 16, it says, Jeremiah says, Thy words were found. First of all, he found them. He searched for them and he found them. And I did eat them. They were food. I did eat them. And Thy word was unto me, when he ate the word, when he fed upon the word, when he found the word, Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart. For I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts. So he says, Thy word was found, I did eat them, and to me it was what? It was the joy and rejoicing of my heart. It has power to produce joy. Jesus said in John 15, 11, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. The spoken word. The written word. So he has power to produce joy. Two more things I want to give you. The Word of God has power to bring patience and comfort and hope. Someone says, I need patience. Someone says, I need comfort. The other may say, I need hope. The Bible says that whatsoever things, in Romans 15, verse 4, for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. They're all included in that. Romans 15, verse 4. That we through what? Patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. And if you need these things, the Word of God has been written for you to have that. And finally, the last point of our message is the Word of God has power to protect us from error and from sin. In the book of Acts chapter 20 again, let me read this for you. Acts chapter 20 and verse 29 through 32, it says, For I know this, Paul speaking to the Ephesian elders, he says, For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away a disciple after them. Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears." And now, brethren, the verse we read a little bit ago, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. He had spoken of those that would cause problems and troubles. and draw them away, and draw away disciples after themselves. And he says, you watch for these things that are negative, but the Word of God is able to help you through that and protect you from error and from sin. Paul told Timothy that evil men and seducers would wax worse and worse, but he said, continue in the Word. And then we find that Jesus overcame the temptations of Satan. with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Do you think we do not need the same weapons that Jesus used? The Bible tells us that we are to meditate in that word day and night. In Psalm 1 it says, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. that have to do with the negative side. It says, But the ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. And so we find that that psalm tells us that we should meditate day and night in God's Word. Do you meditate in the Word? Do you think upon it? We need to think upon the Word. We need to let it dwell in our heart. Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee. We need to study the Word of God. It says, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. So the Word should be a whole lot to us, more than we give it credit for. And let's, of course, know that it brings conviction. It tells us where we are, tells us what we are, tells us how we got here, tells us what we're doing here, tells us where we're going hereafter.