Introduction: Around 50 years ago, scientists were studying the effects of emotions on body tissue and discovered an amazing fact! Emotions change the body tissue and composition of our blood! For example humans are able to become embarrassed and when they do so, they blush. What is really happening is that the feeling that they feel causes the blood and veins in their cheeks and neck to dilate and expand causing a visible redness. The heart begins to beat faster and the composition of the chemicals in the body tissue changes causing a person to also feel heat in those areas. On the other end of the spectrum, when a person becomes extremely frightened the opposite occurs, the blood vessels contract causing a whitening of the skin and a clammy feeling. These scientists also discovered something else. When a person told the truth the body tissue hormone levels remained normal and so did the person's blood. However, when a person was lying, knew they were lying and were doing so under close scrutiny, their heart rate increased, their sweat glands became more active and also the chemistry in their blood changed to a slightly different composition. In other words, not only were their outward changes but also internal changes in the very chemistry of the blood. From these discoveries came what we now know as "the lie detector test." Scientist were able to place sensors on a person's pulse, sweat glands and other areas of the body and when a person lied under oath there was usually a change in one or more of these areas. Modern lie detector tests are not fool proof because they do not measure the chemistry inside the body and some people are so accomplished liars that they can control the outward changes.

These scientists thought they were pretty smart, but God gave a lie detector test thousands of years ago to Moses under the Law. It is found in Numbers chapter 5 which we read part of it as our text. As this is the Word of God, I believe that is divinely inspired and absolutely true! Recently I have been studying some of the more obscure portions of the law, the parts people tend to skip over, and this lesson is a result of my study. I have been studying the harder parts of the law because of something that Jesus said:

Jesus didn't just fulfill part of the law but ALL of the law. In every commandment or law there is truth for our lives today in the spirit! In order to learn the spiritual lesson of God's lie detector test, we need to understand the test itself so here goes:

If a man thought that his wife had cheated on him but had no proof, in other words, she was not pregnant or had not been caught in the act or confessed. Then that man would take his wife to the priest and the priest would administer God's lie detector test. Here is how it worked and you can check up on me by later reading the entire chapter but I want to break it down in normal language.

1. The woman was taken to the priest and the priest announced to her that this test was about to take place.

2. The woman's veil from around her head was removed thus symbolizing that she had nothing to hide behind.

3. A jealousy offering of barley meal was brought in a dish and placed in the woman's hands which showed her the seriousness of the situation. At this moment she was given an opportunity to confess and if she did so, then she was freed.

4. If she did not confess then she was put under oath to God.

5. The priest then told her in great detail what would happen to her if she was guilty and took this test.

6. He was going to give her a drink of bitter water. It was water that had the dust from the floor of the temple mixed in and also some other BITTER HERB. Today, we do not know what herb or plant was mixed in to make the water work.

7. The priest then told her that if she was guilty and had lied about the situation the water would act as a violent poison and would literally eat up her reproductive organs and stomach resulting in a horrible death.

8. If she was telling the truth then the poison would not affect her negatively. (you can imagine the nervous state of the woman at this point.)

9. The priest then AGAIN stated what would happen to the woman and this time the woman had to respond AMEN, AMEN. (Let it be, Let it be) This is the first recorded use of the word amen in scripture!

10. The priest then took a piece of paper and wrote the curse of the Lord down on the paper using ink. He wrote something like "If this woman is innocent then this water shall not harm her, but if this woman is guilty then this shall cause her belly and her thigh to rot and her to die in her sin!".

11. The priest then took the water and poured it over the paper and allowed the water to run back into the cup. This completely washed the ink away and placed the written curse literally in the water. (Jewish rabbis tell us that they used an ink without any "calx of iron" or "vitriol" or permanence to it)

12. The priest then took the jealousy offering from her hand and waved it before the Lord and then offered it upon the altar.

13. The priest then caused her to drink the water of the curse. If she was guilty, the Jewish rabbis tell us that after a few seconds, the woman would begin to have a violent reaction to the bitter water and her eyes would dilate and she would begin to grow pale and she was immediately carried out of the temple so that she would not die in the temple and thus defile the house of God.

14. If she was innocent, the water had no ill effect on her and actually a spiritual healing took place. If she was barren then she was able to have children. If she had only had daughters, then she was able to have sons. If she had any stomach or female problems the Jewish rabbis say she was almost always healed! Once again there was a blessing in the curse!

________________________________________________________________________

I believe that if we knew the type of herb that was added to the water, that we would be able to do the same test today and it would work! God does not obviously want us to do this test today so He has hidden the identity of the herb from us! Aren't you ladies glad that you are not under the Law any more! I could go on an on about scientifically how that certain elements that are harmless, when mixed differently are extremely poisonous. For example water is made of 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen and is good to drink and a necessity for life. If those elements are mixed 2 parts hydrogen to 2 parts oxygen, then Hydrogen Peroxide is produced which is an antiseptic and which, if drunk, is a poison! When the woman under the law was placed under oath and made to hold a jealously offering before the priest and watched as he pronounced twice verbally and another time by writing what awful things were going to happen to her if she drank of this water and she was guilty, then I believe that IF she was guilty, then her blood composition changed and certain elements were produced in greater quantities. If the bitter water came in contact with these harmless poisons in the blood, then they joined together to form a deadly poison. If the woman was nervous but innocent, then her blood did not produce the toxins necessary to create such a horrible poison and the water passed through her as normal! Thousands of years ago, God had a lie detector test!

________________________________________________________________________

That is very interesting but why is it in scripture and why did Jesus say that ALL of the law would be fulfilled! In other words, that's a neat story to study and think about but what application does it have today?! Our other text sheds some light upon our subject:

Our text tells us that the word of God is a very potent tool and is able to divide in the spirit and even the spiritual joints and marrow! Notice the similarities to the lie test in Numbers 5.

The woman went to the priest (the man of God) and had the Word of the Lord read to her and then the written Word of the Lord was washed into the water which she then drank! In other words, the woman literally ate the word of the Lord! When she did so the water and the word of the Lord literally divided the chemicals in her blood and either brought death or life to that woman!

It is the same in the Spirit today. When we hear the Word of the Lord and digest it, that Word of the Lord begins to work in our spiritual body! When we hear the Word of the Lord and receive it, then God's lie detector test begins to work in our spiritual life.

Paul told the church in Thessalonica that when they received the word of the Lord as truth, if effectually worked within them that believed!

The Psalmist said it like this:

What's the point? The word of God is God's lie detector test. God knows if we are for real or not, but we must know! How many times have we thought we were okay and then read a scripture or heard a scripture that "hit home." As we digested the Word of God and consumed it, then if we were living against the Word of God or "living a lie" if you will, then it turns bitter and causes us to die a spiritual death on an altar!

When the Word of God touches us where we live, it reveals a lie that we were living to us and begins to work in us to try to bring death to that sin! But there is truly a blessing in the curse! Because God wants us to die to our sins so that we can live a new life with Him! When you repent you open up a door for the New Birth! When you repent of something that has been exposed by God's lie detector test, His Word, you die to that sin only to be resurrected into a new life in that area! God can take what you though was your weaknesses and turn them into your strengths! That's why Jesus did not stay in the tomb, because you've got a promise if you allow God to kill something in your life and bury it, then He WILL bring a resurrection in that area! {adlib if needed}

If the woman was innocent then the water with God's Word in it brought life and healing! Her ability to reproduce was strengthened! It is the same way in the Spirit. I have found that teaching the basics over and over again causes me to be strengthened in my spirit! Brother Sibley do you get tired of answering the same basic questions over and over again? Do you get tired of teaching about Jesus' name baptism or the infilling of the Holy Ghost? No, because it reminds me and keeps me excited about when God did it for me! When you first heard a sermon on Jesus' name baptism, and you consumed that Word of God, it divided asunder and began to work within you to bring death to your old ways and you decided that you wanted to bury that old man and be baptized the right way! But when you hear a sermon on it now, it should not bring death because you are innocent, you have already obeyed the law! It should now bring life, and a healing to you!

We must emphasize the Word of God! We talk about the name of Jesus and the power in the name of Jesus and I believe in that and I believe that everything we do should be done in the name of Jesus like Jesus commanded! But notice the following scripture:

God places even a greater importance on His Word than His name! I'm not trying to belittle the Name of God, because Jesus emphasize that we should pray and do everything in the name of Jesus and we know that all power is given unto that name and that one day every knee shall bow and tongue confess that name (Philippians 2:9-11)! But if God places so much importance on knowing and using His name, and THEN says that He has magnified His Word more than His name, then we see the importance of the name and the even greater significance of God's Word! John 1:1 tells us that you cannot separate God from His Word. To reject God's Word is to reject God! Even Jesus stated that if we really love Him, the sign of our true love is to keep His commandments! We cannot truly love God and disobey or disregard His Word! Many people see the revelation of the name of Jesus and are even baptized in His name but do not submit themselves to the Word of God! But the Word of God is more than just a salvational handbook, it is the guide to EVERY aspect of our lives! We must realize the importance of the Word of God in our lives! When we hear the Word of God and accept it, God begins a process to bring death to the lies in our life and bring new life to the areas where we have been forgiven! To reject the Word of God in our lives is to reject the work that God wants to do in our lives!

That's why Jesus said that many would say to Him in judgment, "Lord, Lord have we not done mighty works in your name?" And Jesus would tell them "Depart from me, I never knew you!" Why did He not know them? He goes on to explain that He is talking about people who have heard His words and not done them! (Matthew 7:21-24) It is not enough to know the name of Jesus if we do not obey His Words!

It is not enough to have the name of Jesus and yet not study and obey God's Word! Notice the following parallel:

John was witnessing the Revelation of Jesus Christ and the angel brought him a book in which was all the Words of God that He had declared unto the prophets! That little book represented the unfulfilled Word of God and every prophetic word that God has ever given! Then the angel commanded John to eat the book and this makes this statement: it shall be in thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth sweet as honey! Then the angel commanded John, you must tell somebody else about your experience.

When God reveals to us the secrets of His Word through a man of God or preaching, it is so sweet to our mouth as we digest it! God does that to give us an appetite for more of His Word, and I confess I'm hooked! There's no other taste in my spiritual mouth that I love more than the sweet revelation of God's Word!

But it also turns bitter in our stomachs because after we receive it, it brings death to the areas of our life that we need to change! It's sweet to listen to God's word, but sometimes bitter to implement it in our lives, because our old flesh doesn't want to change! But God wants to bring new life to our old sinful ways and that is why when we hear God's word, it begins searching our hearts for ways that are not like Him! Remember that we, the church are the bride of Christ and His Word is much more effective than the bitter water of Moses, and so much more revealing because it reveals when and where we have strayed from our espoused husband Jesus Christ!

Let us also never forget why God allows His Word to act in such a manner in our lives! To John it was because he was to testify before men, and be a witness for Jesus! The reason that we must esteem the Word of God so highly is that when it begins to work within us and changes us and brings spiritual death and life, it is changing us so that we can reach a lost and dying world! "God, I will not complain when I digest a scripture that hits close to home and begins to change me, for I know you are making into a vessel of honor that can proclaim your glorious message to this world!"

It is an interesting fact that if you search the Word of God and list every recorded time that Jesus reached out and blessed someone directly and the story of their direct blessing from Jesus is recorded IN GOD'S WORD you will have quite a large list! If you take out duplicates of the same story, for instance only count Jesus healing Jarius' daughter as one blessing, then you will find that are exactly 153 times that is recorded that Jesus directly blessed somebody. We know that not all of Jesus' actions were recorded and that He did many more miracles and blessing than this but there are exactly 153 PEOPLE involved in unique recorded blessings in scripture! You may not see the significance in that number but allow me to show you! 153 then represents the exact number of times Jesus directly blessed someone in scripture.

In John chapter 21, Peter was a disillusioned disciple. He had heard Jesus' words that he would deny Christ and had digested it and it had indeed turned very bitter. Now Peter did not understand why Jesus was not with them all the time in His glorified body. In disgust and doubt, Peter went back to His old lifestyle and went back to being a fisherman. Peter learned the lesson that many a backslider has learned since, that things are never the same since you've been with Jesus, and what Peter used to have a talent for, fishing, proved unfruitful and he and the disciples had fished all night long without catching a single fish! Jesus showed up in the morning and commanded then to cast out their nets on the right side of the boat, and they caught a great multitude of fish. The verses that I want to bring to you attention is verses 9-11 which state that when they came to shore, Jesus had fish ALREADY PREPARED for them to eat! He then SPOKE and commanded Peter to also bring up the large amount of fish that he had just caught. In verse 11, it states that there were exactly 153 fish in the nets! Remember that the 153 fish represented the Word of God and the recorded blessings that Jesus had done with Peter beside Him. Jesus was reminding Peter of the miracles and blessings that He had performed and then commanded Him to come and eat of the additional fish that He had prepared for them! Jesus was telling Peter that I'm not through with you, and yes, I've done 153 great things that will be recorded in scripture but I've got more blessings for you to consume! Peter, put your old fishing coat aside and realize that the next time I bless people it will be through you! Peter had to eat the fish and the words of Jesus so that he could reach His lost world. In the next few verses Jesus commands Peter that if he truly loves Him "to feed my sheep."

When we read the Gospels and Acts we digest the 153 recorded blessings of Jesus Christ. But we must not forget the reason that God has sent His Word into us, and that is to change us so that we might shine before men! When God sends the Word, His lie detector test into His bride, He is wanting the Word of God to change us so that we can shine for Him and reach out to our world! Just as the woman under the law, we must realize the importance of God's Word in our life! When we accept it by saying AMEN, AMEN, then God will use it bring death to the sinful areas and life to the spiritual areas and we will reproduce great spiritual fruit!