Transcript
We’re in a different passage
today, taking a bit of a hiatus from James, if you would take
your Bibles and turn to 1 Thessalonians. We are noting a bit of a milestone
this morning, my 1,000th sermon here at Providence Bible Church. It’s not unlike what we did on
our 20th anniversary a year ago. It is good and right to pause
and reflect and express gratitude to God for his grace and his
faithfulness. There’s an obscure reference
you may be familiar with in the old hymn, Come Thou Fount of
Every Blessing. The line goes like this. Here
I raise my Ebenezer, here by thy great help I’ve come, and
I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home. And I’ve heard
people for years sing that with great passion and enthusiasm, all the while not having a clue
what those lines mean. I’ve learned over the years that
most people have no idea what they’re singing and what those
lines mean. Here I raise my Ebenezer. Only the more seasoned Bible
student would even recall that an Ebenezer is not a fictional
character from an old Christmas movie. It’s a reference from
1 Samuel 7, verse 12 specifically. It’s essentially an episode to
which Samuel paused to reflect and to call God’s people to remember
his faithfulness. To commemorate the day, Samuel
erected a stone, whether on its own or by way of a pile of rocks
But an Ebenezer was not just a stone. It was not just a pile
of rocks. Literally, it refers to a stone
of help. It was a recollection. It was
a visible reminder of what God had done. A memorial to God’s
faithfulness. And so, in time, Ebenezer came
to life as a hymn lyric as well as a metaphor of memorial celebrations. And well, in that sense, we set
in Ebenezer this morning 1,000 sermons here at Providence. And the fact is, there are actually
many more that preceded that one. My first sermon, I believed,
in my preaching class and seminary was based on Proverbs 1019. That’s
right. With many words, transgression
is unavoidable. Ironic, right? That would be
followed by years essentially preaching, usually twice a week
to my college group. followed by almost four years
of preaching collectively in the two previous churches that
I shepherded. All told, it’s really a lot more
than 1,000 sermons, and so you can understand that I’m really
tired. 1,000 sermons here at Providence Bible
Church, my first ever here. was based on Acts chapter 20,
a passage which we’ve considered again and again over the years,
most recently at our 20th anniversary. Expository preaching has always
been the foundation of this church. In our now 20 years, I’ve had
the privilege, as we’ve noted before, of preaching 1 Peter
twice, Titus, Philippians, Ephesians, James, I promise, soon to be
twice, significant portions of Isaiah, 1 Timothy, the Gospel
of Luke, the Book of Romans, the Gospel of John, and much
more. But instead of talking about
preaching this morning, I would like to talk to you this morning
about hearing, the hearing of the Word of God.
And for that, I want to direct you to a really to what is, for
my own heart, a special, special passage. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse
13, and I promise we’ll get there, but I want to start in chapter
1, verse 2. 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 2. We give thanks to God always
for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly
bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and
Father, knowing, brethren, beloved by God, His choice of you. For our gospel did not come to
you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction, just as you know what kind of men
we prove to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators
of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation
with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example
to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of
the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and
Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone
forth so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves
report about us what kind of reception we had with you, and
how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. For
you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not
in vain, But after we had already suffered and been mistreated
in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to
speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. For our exhortation does not
come from error or impurity or by way of deceit. But just as
we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel,
so we speak. Not as pleasing men, but God
who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering
speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men,
either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ,
we might have asserted our authority. But we proved to be gentle among
you. As a nursing mother tenderly
cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for
you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel
of God, but also our own lives, because you had become very dear
to us. For you recall, brethren, our
labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be
a burden to any of you, we proclaim to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is
God. How devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behave toward
you believers, just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging
and imploring each of one of you. As a father would his own
children. So that you would walk in a manner
worthy of the God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. For this reason, we also constantly thank God
that when you receive the word of God, which you heard from
us, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but for what it
really is, the word of God, which performs its work in you who
believe. During Paul’s second missionary
journey, He would travel from his home base, his sending church
in Antioch, across Asia and the Adriatic Sea, down through Macedonia,
modern day Greece, back again, ultimately to Jerusalem. And
during that great tour, Paul had made many stops, many stays,
one in particular, though, that by all accounts should not have
borne any fruit at all. It was a visit to a city that
would last less than a month because the gospel was met with
such hatred and hostility. And yet, against all odds, the
gospel not only took root, it flourished. The city was Thessalonica. This is Paul’s first and most
prominent letter to this fledgling little church plant. Last December,
I preached from this very chapter, chapter one, and I said that
this was the chapter that reminded me most of this church. But if
I were to distill it down to a single verse that encapsulates
my entire 21 years here, I would distill it down to chapter two,
verse 13, because it answers the question, what makes a pastor
happy? What gives a shepherd joy? If God’s people would zero in
on chapter two, verse 13, what we see there in chapter
2.13 is essentially revelation’s grand design, God’s
revelation functioning as God designed it to function, accomplishing
all that God designed to do with it. We have here in this very
dynamic and yet short verse the glories of God’s eternal word,
of which I’ve noted three. First of all, it is a welcomed
word. It is a welcomed word. It is
to be appropriated into the hearts and lives of those who hear it. Look at verse 13. For this reason,
Paul says, we also constantly thank God that You accepted the
word of God. That’s essentially what he says.
We thank God that you accepted his word. Now please, this is not the outline. I know whenever I do three plus
three plus three more, I know that I can confuse and bewilder
the masses. This is not the outline, but
I do want you to note really quickly that Paul says three
things about his thankfulness. First of all, it’s logical. The
fact that he was thankful was logical. It was well-reasoned.
The second thing is it was reciprocal. He was thankful because the Thessalonians
were thankful. And the third thing that he says,
it was sustained gratitude. Very briefly. The logic behind
their gratitude when Paul says, for this reason, Paul is looking
back especially to the immediately preceding 12 verses. There, in chapter 2, verses 1
through 12, Paul is recounting his heart’s desire that he and
his fellow workers in the gospel that they had for the Thessalonian
people. They deeply longed for the Thessalonians
to come to know Christ, to devote their hearts, to be converted
to Christ. And so therefore they prayed
and labored according to that one desire. This showed the eagerness,
the passion, the tireless labor that’s accounted for in those
verses, the faithfulness of Paul and his team. It’s understandable
that the missionaries would be so grateful that their efforts
had borne fruit. But in addition to the fact that
their gratitude was logical, it was also reciprocal. You see, the Thessalonians were
very grateful. They were very grateful as well.
Paul’s co-worker in the ministry, his son in the faith, Timothy,
had just come from Thessalonica, bringing a good report about
the faith of the Thessalonian church. Paul mentions this later
in chapter three. He says, Timothy has come to
us from you and has brought us good news of your faith and love
and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just
as we long to see you. There was a love relationship
developing between these people, sinners who had come to know
Christ and their beloved shepherd who had come and so faithfully
preached. So the Thessalonians were grateful
for their salvation. Paul and his team were thankful
as well. Gratitude was reciprocal and
it was also constant. Look at the passage. Paul will
go on in this letter later to urge these same believers to
pray without ceasing. And he tells them here that he
cannot stop, he cannot cease thanking God for them and for
their salvation. This expression of gratitude
to God here in chapter two, verse 13, is really just a continued
expression of thanks that began all the way back in chapter one.
Look at chapter one, verses two and three. taking spiritual inventory
of their response to the gospel, Paul called their work of faith,
their labor of love, their steadfastness of hope. But here in chapter
two, verse 13, he finds new reasons for praising God. And he goes
back to the very beginning of their relationship with Christ,
how they received and accepted the gospel. Look again, if you
would, at chapter two, verse 13. For this reason, we also
constantly thank God that when you receive the word of God,
which you heard from us, you accepted it. Paul and his preaching
companions had enjoyed a favorable ministry among the Thessalonians.
They had a warm welcome among some, but it wasn’t just a social
visit. It wasn’t only the evangelists
that were embraced, it was their message. The Thessalonians welcomed
the good message that these faithful men were proclaiming. The phrase
here literally is the word of hearing. The word heard. That same little phrase is used
in Hebrews 4.12, or 4.2, pardon me. And there it’s translated,
we had the good news preached to us. It was particularly a
spoken word, a verbal message that they welcomed. The preached
word. The phrase captures the element
of the act of hearing. Paul basically says that these
people heard and responded to what they heard. They reacted
favorably to what was preached. In other words, it was the preaching
of the word that ultimately led to the dramatic change that these
people experienced in their lives. Preaching. The spoken, proclaimed
word, Paul looks back and captures the very moment that these Thessalonian
believers were transformed. As one put it, it was the very
moment when your ears received God’s message. Paul knew well
what he was preaching. Paul knew that he was preaching
the gospel, which he characterizes here as a word ultimately traceable
back to God himself. It was a word from God that they
preached. It was a word from God to which
the Thessalonians responded, glance at the verse again. This
is very important. When you receive the word of
God, you accepted it. The thing that I want to highlight
here is that Paul uses two words that communicate a very similar
thought, received and accepted. Unfortunately, some translations
don’t pick up the difference and they translate both words
the same way. It’s unfortunate. There’s a beautiful
difference between these words and they have a distinct theological
significance. I don’t want to press the subtle
difference too far, After all, the first word is positive. It indicates a positive reception. The first word received speaks
of the act of receiving. A basic reception of information
of the content. It’s a fairly common word for
Paul. Here he acknowledges first and foremost that at least the
Thessalonians did not close their hearts to the message preached.
They heard him out. They received it. They listened. But it’s the second word. It’s
the second word that really begins to pop off the page. It’s the
word translated accepted. You accepted our message. This word, as I said again, is
a different word than the one translated received. This word
refers not to a basic reception of a message, the mere hearing
with the ear, but it refers to the reception
of it in the mind and the heart, a deep inner acceptance of the
message, an embracing of the truth for what it is. It’s the
acceptance of faith. One godly commentator put it
this way, the distinction between the external reception and the
welcome given to the word, a welcome involving a favorable estimate
of its worth. This word, heard, received, and
welcomed, operates in the inner lives of believers. Paul knew
this. Paul watched this happen. When
he went to Berea, he spoke well of the Bereans having just recently
been essentially booted from Thessalonica by the ungodly people
who ran the town. He got to Berea and spoke of
them in these terms. He said, they received the word
with great eagerness. What Paul himself may not have
known at that very moment is so were some of the Thessalonians. They were in the process of not
only having heard the message, they were in the process of appropriating
it in their hearts and lives. It was not just an auditory word
that they heard. The message preached, not merely
an intellectual agreement with it, rather it was literally the
moment of regeneration. When the Holy Spirit illuminated
the message so that a sinner sees it for what it is, the very
word of God, the gospel. I want you to notice something
that will perhaps change your perspective about this passage
forever. Because we have a tendency to
think that this human response, a response of believing that
receives and accepts and appropriates God’s word is our doing. And while that’s true in measure,
Paul thanks God for it. Paul thanks God for it because
if this whole equation is completed by an act of the human will,
Paul should be thanking the believers for this. Instead, he thanks
God. He thanks God because what is
in view here in this passage is effectively the stupendous
doctrine of regeneration. Regeneration is the enlivening
by God of dead sinners, bringing them to faith. God breathes spiritual
life into these and he grants them faith. It is the application
of God’s sovereign election from eternity past. It is the bringing
of a sinner to faith, and it’s all due. It’s all due to the
work of God’s spirit in the life of sinners. These Thessalonian
believers responded to the gospel of salvation. They received the
word of God and they accepted it. But all thanks and glory
go to God alone. It makes a pastor happy. It thrilled Paul. It thrilled
Paul to walk into a city full of sinners to preach the message
that God had laid on his heart. And to see God begin to change
lives. In this passage, we see not only
in the glories of God’s eternal word, we see not only the fact
that God’s word is a welcomed word, Sooner or later by some
it will be received and accepted It will be welcomed. It will
be appropriated in the hearts. That’s the design of God’s Word
It’s a welcomed word, but it’s secondly. It’s a divine word
It’s a divine word. It is from God look at the passage.
I For this reason, we also constantly thank God that when you receive
the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not
as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God. So Paul gives thanks for the
gracious reception that they had among the Thessalonians,
and he was truly grateful. But he immediately explains why. This was no ordinary message. It was no man-made oratory. It
was not human wisdom. The world in Paul’s day was glutted
with so many such speakers, orators, so-called teachers, charlatans,
false prophets. The next so-called speaker always
declaring more fantastic claims than the previous. Such was the
spirit of the day. Anyone and everyone, it seemed,
that had something to proclaim would find an audience. In fact,
listen to this little tidbit. Shortly after Paul left Thessalonica,
as I mentioned a moment ago, he came into Athens after Berea. And in Athens, listen to what
happened. He was reasoning in the synagogue,
verse 17, with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in
the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present,
and also came some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Competition. Those who didn’t much care for
Paul’s message. Some were saying, what would
this idle babbler wish to say? Others, he seems to be a proclaimer
of strange deities because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. An idle babbler? Can you imagine
that being said of Paul? But that’s what these religious
critics thought of Paul precisely because of the prevalence of
so much philosophical nonsense of his day. They thought that
Paul was just one more such voice. The people were generally so
gullible, so willing to unquestioningly accept whatever was being spoken,
that such talkers multiplied prolifically. You could always
find an audience. And so when the Thessalonians
heard and so immediately accepted Paul’s preaching, he now insists
to look back and explain why. The reason was that his was no
human message. It was divine. It was of God. His message was not a matter
of the latest and greatest philosophy. It wasn’t his slick ability to
convince others. It wasn’t a matter of persuasive
speaking. It wasn’t his delivery. It wasn’t
a matter of excellent oratorical skills. His hearers in Thessalonica
knew that this was no ordinary message. They knew that God was
the source. Paul and his friends were the
ones proclaiming it, but God was ultimately the source. Paul knew. Look at the passage once again. Where Paul notes, you accepted
it. You appropriated it into your
hearts. You took it in and took it down deep in faith. Not as
the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God.
Paul knew that the message was not his own. It was God’s message. It came from His lips or on occasions
from His pen, but ultimately it was God’s Word. It was God’s
message. When we hear the phrase, the
Word of God, we have this tendency, don’t we, to think of God’s written
Word only, Scripture, the Bible. But the reference here in this
verse is much more general. It would ultimately include God’s
written word, but the immediate reference is to the gospel that
Paul and the apostles preached. The good news. The verbally articulate
message from God. The word of God in that sense.
And no doubt, but that every servant of God who truly proclaims
God’s word, pleading for the blessing of God’s Holy Spirit,
ends up functioning in reality as nothing more than a channel
for God’s word. Explaining this process, one
faithful shepherd, my beloved brother John Eady, said it this
way. As a message spoken to them and
heard by them, it was a word from men. But when they accepted
it, they accepted it in its divine character, the word of God. Men
were but the instruments. God was the primary author and
origin. To accept a human word is ordinary
credence. To accept a divine word is saving
faith. You see, it wasn’t a matter of
human wisdom, as Paul told the Corinthians. Its success didn’t depend on
his artful delivery or his creative oratory. Paul knew that commensurate
with his calling, he would be preaching God’s message, not
his own. And so he could tell the Thessalonians
with full conviction as he does from the very beginning of this
chapter, chapter one. Our gospel did not come to you
in word only. But also in power and in the
Holy Spirit and with full conviction, and again in in verse eight,
he says that the word of the Lord sounded forth from you. Did you hear the transition that
takes place? Not only did the gospel come
to them, but now the word of God was eminently emanating from
them. And then again, in verse two
of this chapter, chapter two, we had the boldness in our God
to speak to you the gospel of God. Paul’s message was really
God’s message. Paul knew it. And ultimately,
those who received it came to understand that this message
was from God. Paul knew exactly what he was
about. And he had the testimony of God at work in human lives
to prove it. In similar language, when he
acknowledged the same divine working in the Ephesian church,
chapter three, verse eight, he said it this way, to me, the
very least of all saints, this grace was given to preach to
the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ. What a glorious
calling. The unfathomable riches of Christ
and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery,
which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things
so that the manifold wisdom of God. Might now be made known. That was Paul’s calling. Paul
knew that it was not about himself. Paul knew that it wasn’t about
his creativity. It wasn’t about him at all. Paul
always knew that the message he bore had a message was really
a message from God himself. Because of that, he didn’t need
to cultivate creative approaches or worry about rejection. He
didn’t concern himself with staying up to date on the latest wisdom.
He wouldn’t have even considered bending and warping his message
to fit the culture of his day. He didn’t concentrate on his
public speaking skills, his oratorical excellence or audience pleasing
eloquence. He knew that he was no more than
a conduit. A channel through which God’s
message to the word was to flow unimpeded. He just preached what
God told him to preach. And he left the results entirely
to God. He knew that he was God’s man,
doing God’s work, bearing God’s message. What a joy for a shepherd to
be in God’s service, to watch Revelation’s grand design unfold
in front of you, as the mere conduit to watch the glories
of God’s eternal word on full display before you. It’s a welcomed word. Sooner
or later, it’s going to be welcomed and appropriated by believers.
It’s a divine word. It’s God’s word. To sinful humanity. But I want you to notice thirdly,
it’s an effectual word. It will bear fruit. Be careful,
it will change your life. Look at the passage. For this
reason, we also constantly thank God that when you receive the
word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not
as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God,
which also performs its work in you who believe. And so we come lastly to the
third truth declared about God’s word here in this profound passage. Not only is God’s word welcomed
and divine, it is effective, it works. As the New American
Standard translates it here, it performs. The Greek word is
energeis, where we get our English words, energy, energetic. It’s more than just a passing
acknowledgement that while Paul didn’t invent this word, it quickly
became a favorite tool of his in his arsenal for declaring
this amazing wonder about God’s word. Of the 20 or so times that
this word is used in the New Testament, fully 18 of them are
used by Paul. He loved this word because he
used it to speak of the spiritual change brought about in the lives
of believers to whom he ministered. God’s word, whether spoken or
written, was the great means of triggering the power of Almighty
God. Men came preaching. And they
used human language. And real words fell on real human
ears. But the message, the message having a divine orientation
in nature, As God’s Spirit united it to the hearts of the hearers
through faith, it became powerfully effective in producing change
in their lives. It was both living and active. And as such, it resulted in real
change in the lives of those to whom it came. It brought about repentance.
It brought about righteousness. Practical righteousness, it brought
about restoration with a holy God. As Paul would eventually
tell Timothy, the word received in faith availed itself to the
Holy Spirit. As his instrument of teaching.
Reproof, correction, training and righteousness. As Paul maintained throughout
this epistle, when he came preaching God’s word, it was not in vain. It was not in vain, it’s never
in vain. When God’s message is delivered in the power of the
Holy Spirit and welcomed in faith by sinners, it becomes the power
of God for salvation. As one commentator described
it, it induced them to abandon their sins, devote themselves
to God, lead pure and holy lives, and enabled them to abide the
trials and temptations of all the bitter terrors and persecution. The point that Paul makes here
is the same thing that he utters. In Romans 10 verse 17, faith
comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. Paul says
that God’s word is operative in the believer. It works. It works effectually. It is operative, fully functional. It does what God designed it
to do. It accomplishes what God designed
it to accomplish. It bears fruit to the glory of
God. It’s always and ever the true
test of its reception, isn’t it? It isn’t a matter of a profession
from our lips. It’s a matter of a transformation
of our lives. What effect does it have on the
lives who hear it? What does it do to the hearer?
That isn’t a truth that’s limited to Paul or to the New Testament.
God’s word in its fullness declares this truth. Isaiah 55, 11, my
word which goes forth from my mouth will not return to me empty
without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the
matter for which I send it. Either transformation or judgment. In other words, it performs.
It is effective. It is productive. Paul had observed
this powerful phenomena at work in his own ministry. He watched
it happen. Luke records that in Acts chapter
19, that the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. Not surprisingly then, when he
spoke to the shepherds of the Ephesian churches there in Acts
chapter 20, he bid them the most commendable, most beneficial
blessing. Even though they would no longer
see Paul or work with him anymore, they were better off. because
he commended them to God and to the work of his grace, which
is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all
those who are sanctified. You’re better off with God and
his word. Paul took no credit for his own
success. To the Colossians, he confessed
that he was striving according to God’s power, which mightily
worked within him. He was a conduit and nothing
more. Paul knew and lived his theology. He was always quick to give God
the credit, to give God the glory, all the glory. To the Christians
in Rome, he declared that the gospel was the power of God to
salvation. To the Philippians, he taught
them that it is God who is at work within you, both to will
and to work for His good pleasure. Or as Paul declared to the Galatians
with regard to their own salvation, it wasn’t a result of holding
to some religious right that of circumcision. But in Christ
Jesus, salvation is a matter of faith working through love. From prison. He wrote to his
beloved Colossian Church. And he said this, we give thanks
to God. The father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, praying always for you since we heard of your faith
in Jesus Christ and the love which he have which you have
for all the saints. Because of the hope laid up for
you in heaven. Of which you previously heard.
In the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you just as
in all the word world. Also, it is constantly bearing
fruit and increasing. That’s the design of God’s word.
To save souls. To not only save them, but to
sanctify them. For the believer, life changes.
Everything changes. The word. Active in his or her
life begins to bear fruit and increase, doesn’t it? Peter echoed
and affirmed this same truth. that the new birth effected through
faith in God’s word. Peter told the scattered believers
to whom he wrote, you have been born again, not of a seed which
is perishable, but through the living and enduring word of God.
James, in his epistle, outlines the truth very clearly. In chapter
one, he declares that this, it is by this word that a sinner
is saved. Putting aside all filthiness
and all the remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word
implanted, which is able to save your souls. But a consideration of 1 Thessalonians
2.13 would not be complete. It would not honor God or his
word here if we did not acknowledge that is as powerful and as effective
as God’s word is, it is only so in the lives of those who
believe faith is the trigger. The operating principle that
makes God’s word effective. And we know that even this faith
is a gift of God, isn’t it? It’s only when God’s word is
received and welcomed in faith that it becomes effectual. The
writer of Hebrews addresses this very truth from both a positive
and a negative perspective. Listen carefully, those who receive
it in faith and sadly those who do not. Hebrews 4.2, indeed we have the
good news preached to us. He’s talking about those who
had heard and received and appropriated God’s word in their lives. We
have had the good news preached to us. and were saved because
of it. We’ve had the good news preached
to us just as they also, and he speaks of another group. But
the word they heard did not profit them because it was not united
by faith in those who heard. What a sad reality. He says,
we by God’s grace believe they sadly did not. Just a few verses
later in the unrevealed writer of Hebrews explains how and why
the word is so effective. Verse 12, you know it well. The
word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged
sword. and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit,
both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions
of the heart. And so you see somebody walking
around who looks to be completely untouched by the Word. Has the Word gone dull? No, it wasn’t appropriated in
faith. It wasn’t received and believed on. John Eady, that
faithful, humble Scottish pastor, described it well when he said,
was the present characteristic of those to whom the apostle
wrote. Only in them did this working manifest itself. And
not in those who heard merely, but gave an outer credence to
the word and its human medium and aspect. And I would suggest
to you that that is the way most people hear the word. They give credence to it. That
was a good message. And it goes no further. Edy continues and finishes when
he says, the word shows its power through the believing and acceptance
of it as an enlightening, elevating, guiding, sanctifying, comforting,
and formative principle. And so here Paul nestles in to
this thoroughly biblical idea that God himself is at work in
the lives of believers, working and changing, or as Paul says
in this verse, performing. It performs its work in you who
believe. Ministry was and always remains
a supernatural activity. God’s Word is never a matter
of human influence. It’s the very Word of God. It
unleashes the almighty power of God in those lives to whom
it comes. We have always prayed a dangerous prayer. I’ve
prayed it. Our family has prayed it. Our
leadership has prayed it. Many of you saints have prayed
it. It goes like this. Lord, bring in everyone that
you would have to be here this Lord’s Day. It’s a dangerous
prayer. And over the years, we have constantly
watched that prayer answered in good ways and in heartbreaking
ways. It isn’t just those who happen
to miss particular sermons, although those episodes are amazing
to note. Sometimes the very passage, the
very message that you’re just sure as a pastor would help so-and-so falls on empty ears because they,
of all people, are absent in God’s providence. Those words may have been able
to help some troubled saint, the very one who needed the word
the most, but that too is an answer to
the dangerous prayer. It’s submission to the great
principle that if God’s word does not quicken, it must deaden. Sometimes God takes his word
away. The truth is, God can and does
pull back his counsel when it is not humbly received and faithfully
applied. The reception and the application
of the word, as we’ve seen, is both an indication of God’s grace,
as well as an assurance of more grace. That’s why I always tell young
people, conviction of sin is a good thing. That’s a sign of
life. That’s a sign of life. And just
like in the amazing work of regeneration, where the Spirit takes the Word
and applies it to the sinner’s life, so also in sanctification. The Spirit continues the Word
by the same means. We have watched with great sadness
people who refuse to consider passages and doctrines and clear
teachings of Scripture. We’ve absolutely submitted ourselves
to what some call difficult doctrines. The doctrine of hell and judgment,
the doctrine of sin, the doctrine of God’s sovereign grace, the
biblical pattern of church government, a plurality of godly shepherds,
the doctrine of church discipline. And for 20 plus years, we have
watched people despise and spurn those very doctrines as if they
were manmade. But not all people. We’ve also watched as God has
intentionally brought people into this church against all
odds. We watched them sit and learn
and yield themselves to God and his word. And so it is here that I raise
my Ebenezer. To God be the glory. Let’s pray. Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves in your glorious presence. We thank you so much for opening
our hearts to the gospel of Christ. that we were complete and thorough
sinners, hopeless and helpless without Christ. But you showed
to us a Savior, a Savior who had died for us while we were
still sinners. Lord God, in your abundant mercy,
you opened our eyes to this fact and brought us to faith and to
repentance. And ours has now become a lifelong precious journey with Christ
and through his word, constantly examining ourselves in light
of what you say, what your word says. Lord God, if there’s even
one sinner among us who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ,
who does not know that they are saved, that their sins have been
paid for by the Lord Jesus himself. Lord, today, bring them to repentance. Father, for the rest of us, grant
us the grace to circle back, to come back to your word, to
submit ourselves to it all over again, to examine ourselves constantly
in light of your glorious word, that our lives would be utterly
transformed and changed. that we would glorify our beloved
Savior. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray,
amen.