Effective Work of the Word

"For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe."

1 Thessalonians 2:13

The believers at Thessalonica welcomed the scriptures as the true word of God, and for this Paul was thankful to God.  God's word ingrafted into their souls not only provided good fruit unto eternal life, but like the hands of a potter working clay it shaped their lives on earth.  Man's words should be taken "with a grain of salt," as believing listeners weigh words carefully, separating the chaff from the wheat using righteous judgment.  God's word, however, is pure, perfect, unchanging, and enduring.  As good seed germinates and sends tender shoots through the soil, so God's word "effectively works in you who believe."

Because of the strong stance of Christians of a literal interpretation of the Bible, some have wrongly accused such of making the Bible the third person of the Trinity and thus devaluing the position and role of the Holy Spirit.  A study of scripture reveals there is an important relationship between the word of God and the Holy Spirit.  The word of God is compared to seed sown in the hearts of men, and the Holy Spirit is the Living Water which regenerates and indwells Christians, empowering them to live lives according to scripture.  Rain without good seed cannot bear good fruit, and good seed without any water cannot grow either.  The word of God works and the Holy Spirit does too.  Jesus Christ is spoken of in John 1:14:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."  The Bible is not the third part of the Trinity, but it is an indispensable revelation of God used by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

People say there is a devaluing of God's word today, but this is certainly nothing new.  The fact Paul rejoiced and praised God at the reception of God's word and the effective working of it in the believers as Thessalonica suggests this was not the case everywhere.  The point then becomes, in what way do you receive the Bible?  Do you read it thinking it has been corrupted by men and it is therefore subject to your arbitrary judgment?  Are you reliant upon commentaries, books, or sermons to form your interpretations and personal application?  Do you allow the naked scripture to challenge previously held positions and change your mind?  Like the Thessalonians do you welcome the scripture into your heart and mind as the word of God in truth?  If it is true, then we have an responsibility and duty to heed it ourselves.  The process of becoming more like Jesus isn't immediate, but requires obedience and faith in the word of God only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.  If the word works effectively in you, God will work through you too.  Thanks and all glory to God for this truth!

The Proud Soul

No matter of change in the world, people remain the same.  There is pride in every human heart nothing but the power of God can free us from.  Pride is seen by some as liberating, but the scripture reveals it to be a cruel master, a sin which only brings bondage and death.  One example of pride which binds and blinds is seen in the book of Jeremiah, when people who gathered in Jerusalem asked him to seek God's counsel.  They did so promising to do whatever God said so they could be saved.  Jeremiah 42:5-6 reads, "So they said to Jeremiah, "Let the LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the LORD your God sends us by you. ⁶ Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God."

After 10 days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah and he held nothing back of all God had said.  Despite their previous promise to obey God, their words and actions later proved they had no intention to follow through.  They thought Egypt would provide safety from warfare and captivity, but God expressly said not to return to Egypt.  Since the word of the LORD did not line up with their plans, many openly opposed it as it is written in Jeremiah 43:1-3, "Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, all these words, ² that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, "You speak falsely! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, 'Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.' ³ But Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon."  It was the proud men who claimed God's word was a lie.  It was the proud men who thought they knew better than God.  It was easier to claim the words of Jeremiah was a conspiracy then to humble themselves before God in simple obedience.

Over 500 years later, Jesus was approached by a rich young ruler who thought enough of Jesus Christ to ask Him, "What good thing shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life?"  The young man knew he still lacked something.  Jesus said in Matthew 19:21-22, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." ²² But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."  This man desired life, and He came to the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  The man with the infinite need came to the God-Man who freely offered eternal life, but somehow went away sorrowful.  He had great possessions but walked away empty and sad.  He, like the men of Israel in Jeremiah's day, imagined they could find a way better than the divinely revealed way.  Such is pride, a sin which fills a man which leaves him empty and without hope!  The proud soul full of self is most impoverished.

It is well with all who obey the voice of the LORD.  What does it profit a proud man to gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul?  Jesus asked in Mark 8:37, "Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  Almost 2,000 years after Christ's conversation with the rich ruler, a man's soul is still his most valuable treasure, the only eternal possession retained from this fleeting life.  A man who humbles himself before God in faith and obedience will save his soul, but the proud man who seeks to save his own soul will lose it.  We have nothing to bargain with before God, no possible way for us to make atonement for our sin.  Yet God in His grace has made a way for all who repent to be reconciled unto God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  It is a narrow way, and Jesus says there are few who find it.  If God asked you to do a hard thing to save your own soul, wouldn't you do it?  Will you give up your pride to save your soul?  Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse you from sin.  How about repenting of the sin of pride and instead obeying the Word of the LORD, committing your soul to Him in faith?

Bought At God's Expense

Today at Calvary Chapel Sydney the passage mentioned King Cyrus who reigned over the Persian empire.  He was a man God spoke of by name about two hundred years before his birth, a man whom God anointed to do His will.  Cyrus was faithful to perform the word of the LORD and released the Jews from their captivity in Babylon.  He commanded the temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt so sacrifices could be offered to God.  Ezra 6:3-4 Cyrus did this early in his reign:  "In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: "Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, ⁴ with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the expenses be paid from the king's treasury."  The King commanded the temple be built at his own expense.

This reminded me how Christians have been purchased by the blood of Jesus, an expense infinitely beyond any price.  How amazing it is that the King of Kings, God-made-flesh, would lay down His life for the sake of sinners!  Paul reminded Christians that as blood-bought children of God, we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.  Jesus issued a new covenant in His blood which superseded the old covenant of Law.  Under the Law when the tabernacle and temple stood, the biblical account reveals the condition of the holy place and those who served there was not always good.  "Time for Temple Inspection!" is a prior blog post which works through this in greater detail.  Because God has purchased us at His own expense, we ought to see the temple kept in condition worthy of a holy God.

The significance of the temple went far beyond sacrifices and ordinances, for it was the place where the presence of God dwelt.  When God's presence filled the tabernacle and later the temple, even those called and sanctified by God to serve there could not remain.  Exodus 40:34-35 reads, "Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle."  After King Solomon dedicated the temple to God 1 Kings 8:10-11 reads, "And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, ¹¹ so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD."  God is more glorious than we can stand in our fallen frame.  Nothing sinful can abide in His presence.  Isn't it ironic that the presence of the holy God comes upon Christians and fills us to overflowing and only then can we minister unto Him?

Since we are God's precious purchased possession, we ought to live soberly, righteously, and godly.  We are enabled to do this when we allow Jesus Christ to freely live His life through ours.  Though the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, we are called to lay aside all weights and sin which easily besets us.  There are intentional steps we are called to take in regards to practical sanctification.  Like Cyrus was called as God's anointed for a good work, so followers of Jesus Christ are called to keep Christ's commandments and abide in His love.  It is our reasonable service to offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto Him.  We have been bought at God's expense, so how God must value us!  What a wonder, that we are temples of the Holy Spirit who lives within us!

God Will Send the Rain

As part of the discipleship course I am leading at Calvary Chapel Sydney, we recently listened to a message by pastor David Guzik titled, "Break Up Your Fallow Ground."  Among the many excellent points held forth by this gifted teacher of the Word of God, the part which stood out to me this time was how we can be resistant to breaking up our own fallow ground.  Ground which has laid "fallow" means it was once cleared and plowed but nothing fruitful or profitable has been sown into the field.  After awhile it hardens and yields only weeds and what grows of itself.  At one point in the message Guzik said our tendency is respond, "God, you break up the fallow ground, and I will prepare the synthetic irrigation system."  The point being made was only God can send the rain of the Holy Spirit, and our call is to examine and deal with our hard hearts according to scripture.

The overarching takeaway from the message is we all have areas of our lives and hearts we must prepare through repentance so God's Word will be increasingly fruitful.  Unless the hard parts of our hearts are humbled before God in brokenness, we will remain unfruitful.  An area of prior usefulness can become dry and devoid of fruit.  Fallow ground only produces weeds because the good seed of God's Word isn't able to penetrate.  Pride, unbelief, sinful choices, and the cares of this world can make the Bible without profit to us.  So often we want God to do for us what only we can do with His help, and we want to sit on the throne of our lives in place of God.  God told His people in Hosea 10:12, "Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you."

Having received the righteousness of Christ through faith, we ought to live righteously.  It is hard work to break up the fallow ground in the earth, but and even more painful and difficult to break up the fallow ground in our hearts.  We once had hearts softened by God's grace, but over time we can stiffen with pride.  We can pray "God, make me humble!" all we want; we can say "Break up my fallow ground" with sincerity, but the scriptures say to us "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God" (1 Peter 5:6) and "Break up your fallow ground."  God will send the rain early and also the latter rain, and He will cause the seed to grow and be fruitful.  Synthetic irrigation will never do.  It is time to seek the LORD, for God has sought us.  He will send the rain in due time.  We all need a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit to perform His Word.  God is calling me and you to repentance and brokenness so His Word might be fruitful in and through our lives.