Grace Church, Modesto: Why Use the Means of Grace?

#3. Fellowship is not Possible Between a Believer and an Unbeliever

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 27 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

2 Corinthians 6:14–15 — Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

We are continuing the process of defining what true fellowship is. We have seen that it is an experience that we have that flows from our union as believers with the Lord, Jesus Christ. Last time, we confirmed that true fellowship can only happen between believers. This being the case, if believers get together and simply do things that those in the world can do when they meet, this cannot be fellowship. What Scripture presents to us as fellowship is exalted far above anything that the world can know or even imagine, and it is nothing less than tragic that we in the church have allowed the idea to be dragged down to the realm of the routine or the commonplace.

This week, Paul further helps to prove what we have been contending, by asserting that there is no fellowship between believers and unbelievers.

It is possible that we have had, or even have now, friends in the world with whom we are close. Perhaps there is a chemistry in the relationship, shared interests in terms of hobbies and pastimes, similar tastes in food, fashion and so on. But however enjoyable this may be, it is not fellowship! Paul cautions us here about having unbelievers as partners (and although this is usually taken to mean marriage partners, it can just as easily apply to business partners or any relationship that involves a binding together). The same caution is implicit regarding any very close relationship, and it applies for a very good reason - in regard to the critical issue of love for God and for the Lord Jesus, a believer and an unbeliever have absolutely nothing in common. They are like oil and water, which cannot mix together. They are as different as chalk and cheese.

What's more, the result of mixing something righteous with something lawless is never an increase in righteousness. The result of mixing light with darkness is never an increase in light. In other words, the believer will inevitably be drawn away from Christ, the One Who should be his first and greatest love, by maintaining relationships with unbelievers that are too close.

The same is not true when believers come together with each other, because they share an interest in the most important things - they are all partakers in the Lord Jesus. They are able to build each other up, comfort each other, love each other with a love that is impossible for the unbeliever to know or express.

See, then, once again, how special fellowship is. Born out of our union with Jesus, it is impossible for us to experience it with those who are not joined to Him, and it is not an automatic outcome of putting believers together in the same room if all they do is what unbelievers are capable of doing.

Christian, dismiss from your thinking all the sentimental, foolish and inadequate ideas about "fellowship" that are so often the perceived wisdom in the 21st century church. There is a richness and a depth to the real thing that you will rarely appreciate if you content yourself with such scraps from the table!

#2. Fellowship is a Privilege Known Only to True Believers

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 20 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

1 John 1:6–7 — If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Last time we began to see what fellowship really is. The church is called Christ's bride, His body, and He has bound Himself to His bride so intimately that He is one flesh with her. Those who trust Him alone for salvation are said to be "in Christ" and He lives in them by His Spirit. They have this in common - together they have been made sharers in His life, death, resurrection, ascension and reign.

When they meet and they experience this shared union in Christ, when they see their Savior living in and through their brothers and sisters, that is fellowship. This is glorious, and we wanted to dwell on it again this week because we are being led to believe in some churches that "fellowship" just happens when people who call themselves Christians get together and do stuff that people in the world can also do. When we sit down for a meal, grab a coffee or watch a movie with other Christians, we are being told that this is "fellowship". But as we have seen, much of what passes for fellowship today is artificial and/or superficial.

Look at our text this week. The Apostle John makes the matter of fellowship a test of whether we are really Christians or not! He has already said earlier in the chapter that true believers have fellowship with God (the Light) and with the Lord Jesus Christ. To "be saved", and to "have fellowship with Jesus and with His Father" mean exactly the same thing as far as John (writing under the inspiration of the Spirit) is concerned.

Therefore if anyone claims they have fellowship with God, yet lives a life that is dominated by the habitual practice of sin, they are liars and not Christians at all. You might want to search your own heart and life in the light of this test that John supplies.

Note especially, though, what John says in verse 7. If we live a life that is freed from the habitual practice of sin (if we are no longer slaves to it) then "we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin". There is a lot that could be said about these words but for our purposes, note this one thing: if you are not a Christian, you cannot know fellowship with anyone else, whether they are Christians or not. You must be walking in the Light, you must be cleansed from your sin by the blood of Jesus, or fellowship must and will remain a complete unknown for you.

Now come back to what we are often told is "fellowship" in the church. If we meet other believers, BUT we do nothing more than unbelievers can do when they meet, this is not and cannot be fellowship, can it? It doesn't matter how enjoyable it is. It doesn't matter how much fun we have. Fellowship is something unbelievers cannot know, so when believers meet for fellowship, there has to be something about that experience that sets it apart, that makes it unlike anything in the world.

This series will help to show various aspects of what this fellowship is and why it is a privilege that believers alone are blessed with. Our whole aim is to help those who are Christians desire to know this fellowship, and to know its blessings and benefits more and more.

For now, though, surely the very thought that we have this blessing from God as a way to grow more like Christ and to experience more of the influence of His Spirit in our lives should make us eager never to miss out on an opportunity to enjoy fellowship with our brothers and sisters!

#1. Fellowship is the Practical Outworking of our Union With Jesus Christ

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Ephesians 5:28–32 — So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

As with many of the greatest truths and concepts of the Bible, the church in our times has managed to come to a very watered-down and inadequate view of "fellowship". Whenever Christians get together, it seems, it is a "time of fellowship". This is not usually when they come together to worship or to study the Bible, though, but when they relax and enjoy a meal together or perhaps watch a movie or a sporting event with others in the church. Is this what the Bible means when the word is used? Clearly, if fellowship is a means of grace (meaning that believers are built up in their faith, receiving a greater measure of the influence of the Holy Spirit in their lives through it) then we need to understand exactly what it is.

The Greek word that is often translated "fellowship" in our Bibles is "koinonia". It generally means to share with someone in something. But what is it that believers share in? What do all true believers down through the ages have in common? They have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation and have been irrevocably joined to Him. Whereas they were once outsiders, they are now said to be "in Christ". They "know" Him - having the closest and most intimate of relationships with Him. They are joined to Him as closely as the branches are to the Vine, as the parts of the body are joined to the Head, as the bride is joined to her Groom.

Are we overstating things here? Look at our text. Paul is instructing husbands on the kind of love they should have for their wives. In doing so, he takes the love of Christ for His church and uses the illustration of the church as His body and the church as His bride. First he talks of the love we have for our own bodies - we feed them, look after them. Since husband and wife are no longer two but have become "one flesh", the duty of care for the body that the husband formerly only had for his own flesh he is now to extend to his wife, who is one flesh with him through the union of marriage.

But the staggering thing here, which Paul calls a great mystery, is that Christ exercises this same care, this nourishing and cherishing, for His own body, the church, of which believers are members. Paul is saying that having partaken in our human flesh, Christ is so intimately joined to His bride, the church, that He has become one flesh with her.

We are so closely joined to Christ that His life (keeping the Law perfectly) is reckoned as ours. Our sins are reckoned as His and paid for on the cross. His death to sin is our death to sin, His resurrection is our rising to new life in Him. His ascension to glory is ours, so we are now seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. His reign is our reign - we sit with Him on His throne! All this is understood as flowing from our union with Christ, or our participation, our sharing - our fellowship with Him.

We need to understand our fellowship with one another in the light of this teaching, because it flows inevitably from our fellowship with Jesus. We are joined to one another in this body, this family, this vine, and the fact that we are joined so intimately must and will find practical expression in our lives. Jesus is in us, and He is also in our brother and our sister. Our relationship with them must and will reflect this fact. This is what the Bible means by the fellowship of the saints. It is nothing less than the outworking in our lives of the fact that we are intimately and eternally joined to our common Savior, our Head, our Husband, and that He dwells in all of His brothers and sisters by the Holy Spirit.

There are aspects to the relationship between believers that unbelievers in their closest friendships and family relationships never experience. This is fellowship. It is mysterious, it is mystical, but it is very, very real, and as we express in our lives this bond of union with one another in Jesus, we will grow in grace and know the presence of the Holy Spirit more and more fully.

Hopefully after reading this, we can understand why watching the Superbowl with other Christians cannot be fellowship. Anyonecan do this with their friends - and many in the world do so. True fellowship is very special, very spiritual in its emphasis, focusing on and drawing from Jesus Christ in Whom we live and to Whom we are joined by faith. Let's make sure that when we are with other Christians, we don't settle for anything less than this and call it "fellowship"!

#52. How Vast the Benefits Divine Which We in Christ Possess!

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 06 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Romans 16:25–27 — Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

We come to the final reason to read God's Word and hear it preached. Not that there are no more to be found in the pages of Scripture, for that could not be the case. However, we have seen 51 reasons over the last 12 months and though some have overlapped slightly, most have been distinct and powerful. We thought it would be useful to list them again for you here, so that if any one or two of these reasons has left us unmoved to make better use of the Word of God, perhaps the weight of all 51 taken together may arouse us.

We have seen What the Word of God is, what it does, and the importance of its declaration through preaching, under the following titles, each supported by a Scripture reference.

Take a look at what Paul has to say in our passage this week. He is exulting in this Gospel, in this Word, in this preaching, in the mystery that God has chosen to reveal to us through His Word and in the results that this always has in the obedience of faith! He has given us the perfect conclusion to our series.

Believers - realize what you have in this Word! Don't neglect it, don't minimize it, don't undervalue it! See how out of line with God and with His Word such attitudes are. Our meditation this week takes its title from the first line of a hymn by Augustus Toplady: How Vast the Benefits Divine Which We in Christ Possess. Not the least of these truly vast benefits is that we possess, here and now, the completed revelation of our God and we can read it and hear it preached freely. Shake off the sloth that often overtakes us, then, and press on to take full advantage of this means of grace and to receive all the blessing that God intends for you through its truths!

#51. God Magnifies His Word According to All His Name

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Psalm 138:2 — I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.

David here draws our attention specifically to something that we have noted in passing before: the Word of God is of great value and is very pleasing in His sight. God, says David, has magnified His word (or promise) according to (or together with) all His name. The variants we have noted do not change the underlying truth of this phrase. His word is synonymous in many ways with His promise - we could not have the latter without the former. And whether His word is magnified according to His name or together with it, it is still magnified very greatly and it is God Who causes that to be the case. But why?

We know that the Word of God is His special revelation to mankind. It contains His plan of salvation and reveals aspects of the character of God that we could know in no other way (for example, His grace and His mercy). We also know that in the Bible, "the Name" of God is used as shorthand for all His being, all His characteristics and attributes - all that makes Him such a glorious God. The names of many people in Scripture were supposed to tell us something about them but this is a principle that is greatly elevated in the case of God. So if the Bible reveals the character of God to us and if the character of God is summarized by "the Name", it follows that God's Name and the Bible are very closely linked. Finally, we know that God is rightly jealous for His Name - that it should be revered and esteemed, honored and used only in sincerity and truth. Clearly, then, since His Name is in His Word, He must be concerned to see His Word magnified according to (or together with) His Name. Here is another Scripture that underlines this truth for us:

Isaiah 42:21 — The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake To make the law great and glorious.

Hopefully you can see here that God's Law is found in His Word, and that God was pleased to make the law great and glorious because it reflects on an aspect of His character - His righteousness. Think about how we might regard God Himself if His Law was weak and full of loopholes. His Law reflects His character and the same must be true of His Word, which contains that Law among other things.

How shall we apply this to ourselves in the context of this series of meditations? That should be fairly clear to us by now. If God magnifies His Word, His Promise, His Law, because they are a revelation of His perfect being, of His "Name", and if we are His children, shouldn't we be concerned for the honor of the family Name? If God magnifies His Word, should we do less?

Note, also, that we cannot magnify the Word by putting it in an elaborate presentation case and admiring the physical object (scroll, book, Kindle) that contains the Word. We magnify it as it is declared to us and we admire the Name of our God in its pages - joyfully receiving the promises and submitting in holy fear to the Laws. To magnify His word for us has to mean that we are hungry to read it ourselves and to take every single opportunity He supplies for us to be present when it is preached! So this week, let's get our own thinking about the Word of God more closely in line with that of God Himself!

#50. Prophets Longed, and Angels Still Long to Better Understand the Things Preached to Us!

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 01:52:00 +0000

1 Peter 1:10–12 — As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

What do we know about the prophets? They were holy men of God, shaped for a life of ministry and called by God to declare His words to His chosen people. They were given these messages from God in various ways (by spoken word, by dreams and by other forms of revelation) through the ministry of the Holy Spirit within them (Scripture says the Spirit "carried them along"). They did not always understand the full significance of the messages that God gave them to proclaim. According to our text (and as we know by reading the pages of our Bibles), they predicted the sufferings of Jesus and the glory that would follow but they didn't have a complete understanding of Who this person would be, or when He would come. They gave themselves to careful searches and inquiries so that they might understand these things more clearly, but they were told that they were serving God's children of the future, and not those in their own time.

What do we know about angels? They are perhaps the highest and most powerful of the beings God created. They are spiritual creatures, having (and needing) no material bodies. They were created perfect by God but some fell away along with Satan. Those who remain faithful to God are sinless, immortal beings, and although they are higher in rank than man, they serve the elect of God as ministering spirits. Ultimately, when God's children are finally and fully saved, they will be exalted above the angels and will even take part in their judgment. Since the angels, who never fell, have never sinned, they marvel at God's plan of salvation that was declared through the prophets and they long to investigate this Gospel and to admire God's handiwork and His grace as they are displayed in its planning and above all in its execution.

Peter talks of prophets and angels in our text, and that is why we began this entry by reflecting on them. But consider this point in the light of what we have just been reviewing. The holy prophets loved the Gospel, dedicated their lives to proclaiming it and spent their time researching it and trying to understand it more adequately. The holy angels of God are filled with admiration, and long to explore this work of God, which reveals His love, His grace, His mercy, His patience, kindness and goodness like no other.

If prophets and angels hold the message of God's Word in such reverence, awe and wonder, and if the prophets spent their time in careful study of it and the angels spend theirs in longing to look into it further, shouldn't we examine our own hearts in the light of their example? Shouldn't we let them motivate us to sit under the preaching of this message and to pay very close attention to it?

#49. When God's Word is Preached, We are to Give Honor to the Preacher

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

1 Timothy 5:17 — The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

Paul is giving Timothy instructions to help him pastor and establish the local fellowship at Ephesus. In chapter 3 of this letter, he already outlined the qualifications that must be met by those who would serve as elders in the church - those whose work is much taken up with the ministry of the Word. In our text, he gives instructions about how the church is to regard the elders God has given her.

In view of all we have seen in this series concerning the Word of God, what it is and what it does, and concerning the preaching of that Word and the critical role it plays in the life of a local church, we shouldn't be surprised at what Paul says. The church is to consider such men worthy of double honor, and particularly if they are those elders the Lord has called to labor primarily in the preaching and teaching of the Word. The phrase "double honor" is interesting. "Honor" means compensation given in relation to special service as a way to show respect and honor to the one serving. "Double honor" therefore implies twice the pay that would denote such honor and respect.

We can take away several lessons from this text. First, God underlines how important His Word is, in that He wants his children to treat the preachers of His Word with double honor - they should be well paid and rewarded for their labors in view of what they are. Second, those fellowships that short-change their teaching elders or pastors ("nickel and dime" them, we might say) can hardly expect blessing from the Lord, since they are in flagrant breach of the directive the Lord gave to the church through Paul. Third, if we do not hold such men in high honor, we are out of step with the Lord on a very important point - these are the men through whom Christ speaks to His church today.

Fourth, it is not obvious how we are honoring the labors of these men if we never give to the church our portion of the double honor of which the Lord says they are worthy. And finally, if we are not there to hear the results of their labors, for which the Lord says they are worthy of double honor, how are we ourselves honoring their service and showing that we agree with what our Lord says of these men?

We live in days when churches routinely mistreat their pastors and elders in many ways, and seem to believe that paying them honor is an optional extra which it is in their power to perform or not, as they please. This week, let's meditate on this text and if we find we are out of step with the Lord, let's repent of it and restore our elders to the place they should occupy in our esteem and in our thinking - the place that the Lord accords to them! And let's show that we have done this not just by being present when they preach, but by listening attentively to what our Lord has to say to us through them and being thankful to Him for every faithful man He raises up to bring His Word to us!

#48. Churches Are to Give Attention to the Reading and Teaching of Scripture

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

1 Timothy 4:13 — Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.

Paul is teaching the young pastor in Ephesus, Timothy, about the things he wanted to see happening in the church while he was away. Top of his list is the reading and teaching of Scripture. Why would the Apostle focus on these things when there were many other things he might have mentioned? Why is his language so emphatic (it literally means he is to be devoted in thought and effort to these things)? Surely it is because Paul knew it was essential to the church to be immersed in the Scriptures, to hear them read, to hear them taught and explained. In the light of what God does through His Word in the lives of His children, this should not surprise us.

The challenge for us this week is whether (in the life and ministry of the church) we would place the same priority on the Word as God's Apostle to the Gentiles. How many churches in the 21st century are devoted in thought and effort to the Word of God and to its reading and teaching? How many congregations are hungry for teaching from the Bible? How many cannot get enough of it? How many believers will make the effort to attend church whenever Scripture is being read and taught, and how many (perhaps secretly) regard this as an unwarranted intrusion on their leisure time?

These are searching questions, but intentionally so. It is not clear from God's Word that we who name the Name of Christ are entitled to take a more relaxed attitude to these things than our forefathers did in the early days of the church. Having seen in this series all that the Word of God is and all that it does in the church and in the believer, we certainly have not arrived at a place where we no longer stand in need of these things in the same way the saints did in the New Testament!

So let's examine our hearts in the light of this text and (by God's grace) let's all resolve in the coming days to devote ourselves to be present for the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.

#47. When God's Word is Preached, He Holds Us Accountable to Listen

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Deuteronomy 18:18–19 — ‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 ‘It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.

God speaks to Moses at the giving of the 10 Commandments, promising that He would send a prophet to His people, who would be like Moses. From this time on, the Jews were looking for the coming of "The Prophet" - the one like Moses. In his sermon in Acts 3:17-26, Peter clearly tells his hearers that Jesus Christ is none other than "The Prophet" promised all those years ago by God to Moses and the people at Mount Horeb.

Just as it is the function of a priest to represent people before God, to speak to Him and make offerings to Him on their behalf, so it is the role of a prophet to speak to His people on behalf of God. In our salvation, Jesus fulfills the types of the Old Covenant priests and prophets by becoming The Priest and The Prophet - the one mediator between God and man.

It is interesting that God says "The Prophet" will be like Moses. In others words, as we look at the character and the life of Moses, we will see in them similarities to the character and the life of Christ Himself. Here are a few striking aspects in which we may say that Jesus was like Moses. Note that in every case, Moses was a shadow or type of Christ, Who possesses the fullness of the characteristic first seen in Moses:

Moses, we are told, had a closer relationship with God than any man - God dealt with him as a friend, face to face (Exodus 33:11) or "mouth to mouth" (Numbers 12:8). Jesus is the God-man, the eternally begotten of the Father, the One God often refers to in Scripture as "The Beloved".
Moses was the most humble man on earth in his day (Numbers 12:3). Jesus, too, is "gentle, and humble in heart" (Matthew 11:29)
After meeting with God, Moses' face would shine with the glory of God, but it was a borrowed glory which faded away. On the mount of transfiguration, something of the glory that was rightfully Christ's shone through and was seen by Peter, James and John, so that John would later write this: "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant, but Christ was mediator of a better Covenant, inaugurated in His own blood and founded on better promises, as the writer to the Hebrews informs us.

Why does this matter? Because God held the people accountable if they disregarded His words delivered to the people through Moses, and in our text He declares that He will require it of those who do not listen to the words of The Prophet Who was yet to come. We saw earlier in this series that it is Christ Himself Who still speaks when the Word of God is faithfully preached. He is still discharging the role He was given as The Prophet, declaring the Truth of God to the people. He speaks of life and death, of heaven and hell. He speaks of the Father's love, of His mercy, of His grace - of His willingness to save to the uttermost all who come to Him through Jesus.

If people were held accountable for disregarding God's word through Moses, should we expect there to be no consequences for turning a deaf ear to The Prophet of Whom Moses was a type, a shadow?

In this day and age we are daily trained to be inattentive when someone is speaking. When a person speaks to us on television, it is not considered rude to talk over the top of that person or to get up and make a cup of coffee. The problem is that we bring that same behavior with us into church. We get up and wander about in the sermon, perhaps grab a coffee, or whisper to our neighbor about something. This is very dangerous behavior in the light of our text. We have the unspeakable privilege that God speaks to us through His Word. If we are present for that activity, may our text today be an encouragement to us to pay very close attention to what our King says to us, and to be quick to put it into practice!

#46. When God's Word is Preached, It Gives a Testimony to all the Nations

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Matthew 24:14 — “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."

We want to consider this week another important role that God has given to the preaching of His Word - to be a testimony to all the nations. We know from Romans 1:18-20 that all men are already without any excuse for unbelief, and under the wrath of God, because even though God has given a sufficient testimony of His being and His character in creation, we willfully persist in our unbelief.

Now look at our text. Here is an additional testimony from God and it takes the form of the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom. Why has God provided an additional testimony of Himself? Why is He determined that it should be proclaimed to all mankind? There are at least three reasons - first that all may hear of His mercy in Christ, and His willingness to receive all who will turn from their sins and trust the work of Jesus alone for their salvation. His character is magnified and glorified in this free offer of redemption and salvation through the work of Jesus. The second and third reasons lie in the response of fallen man to the testimony, though. He is determined to save a vast multitude of fallen mankind and the means he has chosen, as we have seen, is the preaching of the Gospel. God is glorified in those who hear this message and respond to it with repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ. They believe the testimony of God in creation and in Word. The grace of God in saving such undeserving wretches is displayed to all, and He receives praise and glory. For those who do not believe the message preached in the Gospel, however, their situation is far worse. They have rejected the twofold witness that God has given of Himself. They have turned away not just from the knowledge of God in creation, but from the revelation that He is willing to be gracious and merciful to those who repent and believe in Jesus, and become His obedient servants. In their case, God is glorified in having sincerely offered them mercy, and He is glorified in the just punishment they then receive for their multiplied sins - not least their obstinate and willful unbelief in the face of such testimony.

We need to understand, then, that when God's Word is preached, He is providing testimony to the nations, and matters of eternal consequence are taking place. Everyone should want to be present at a place where such things are happening! Believers, to praise Him for His mercy and grace to you, and unbelievers, because this is the place to seek that same mercy and grace for yourselves, recognizing that if you persist in unbelief, your punishment will be greater for having rejected this gospel testimony from God. Behold the kindness and severity of God in these matters of belief and unbelief! (Romans 11:20-22).

#45. When God's Word is Preached, it is an Anchor for the Soul

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Hebrews 2:1–4 — For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

The writer to the Hebrews issues a solemn warning to his readers. They were not to neglect the Word of God which had first been spoken by Jesus Himself and was passed on to them by those who heard Him directly - his Apostles. God confirmed that the words they spoke were His words by enabling them to perform authenticating signs and wonders. This, he says, is consequently a superior word than that received by God's people in former times, which had been communicated to them not by the Second Person of the Godhead, but by angels. Nevertheless, there were strict penalties for failing to pay attention even to that word. So, he reasons, what will happen to the readers if they do not pay close attention to the superior word, and as a result they drift away from it?

Let's apply this to ourselves. We have the completed revelation from God - the Bible. God has ordained that this should be spoken to us by those He has appointed as preachers of the Word. Aren't we under the same obligation to pay close attention? Note especially, though, that there is a link in the passage between failing to pay close attention to the Word and drifting away from it. The Word is a mirror for our souls, in which we may look to see our sins and shortcomings so we can confess them and repent of them. But if we do not continue to gaze at our reflection in the mirror, we will forget what we look like and we will cease to be doers of the Word.

It is a perilous thing, then, to absent ourselves from the place where the Word of God is being preached. It is taking a first and very significant step towards fruitlessness, loss of assurance, backsliding and even apostasy! It will not seem like it at the time - because as we begin to drift away from the straight and narrow path there will only be a short distance between us and it to begin with. Over time, though, and almost imperceptibly, that gap will widen and we will lose our power and our consciousness of God's smile. This is most likely a major reason for the weakness and lack of holiness in large parts of the church today.

Dear believers in Jesus, we need to pay much closer attention to the Word preached, so that we do not drift away from it!

#44. When God's Word is Preached, it is a Means to Assurance of Faith

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Colossians 1:21–23 — And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

How amazing is the grace of God! See what He does in the Gospel, according to Paul in his letter to the Colossians. He takes those who are evildoers, strangers and hostile to Him, and reconciles them to Himself through the death of His son on the cross. As a result, they can come into His presence "holy and blameless and beyond reproach". If we even begin to comprehend this, can we find the words to describe such mercy?

It is such staggering grace that Paul seems to anticipate a reaction in his readers: "How can I be sure this has happened to me?" His answer is quite simple - "you have to keep on believing what was preached to you in the Gospel". Here are the grounds for salvation, and here is the hope of eternal glory through the blood of Christ. Leave these things, and you will show that you never truly believed on Christ in the first place. Add some other basis for your salvation to the finished work of Christ, or plot some other route to heaven which includes a contribution from yourself, and you will show that you are still alienated from God, still hostile to him in your mind.

Understand then, that the surest way to lose your assurance of salvation, or even to demonstrate that you were never saved at all, is to become careless about being present when the Gospel is preached. If you are there, the Word will search your heart and you will have a constant reminder of the truths of the faith, a continual benchmark against which you can check your own heart. The Spirit of God will testify to you that you are a child of God and will comfort you in times of doubt. You will be more able and willing to repent if you find yourself drifting from the faith and hope of the Gospel. And if it should be that you have never truly rested in Christ for salvation, that will become abundantly clear and you will be able to seek Him for the grace of repentance.

But if you are infrequent hearers of the Word, it is obvious, isn't it, that you will lack this means to test yourself? You will not have this ability to be comforted in doubt, to be awakened in spiritual slumber, to be rebuked in carelessness. What could be the result but a certain decline and a growing lack of assurance?

The preaching of the Word is a wonderful blessing to us from God! How sad that it is so undervalued, denigrated and even mocked among those who call themselves Christians today. Let's not fall into that trap ourselves, but rather make sure we take full advantage of all the benefits God is willing to supply through this means of grace.

#43. When God's Word is Preached, It Provides the Means to Spiritual Resurrection

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 06:00:00 +0000

John 5:24 — “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

So far, we have seen when God's Word is preached, it is Christ Who speaks through the preacher. Christ Himself is the content of the message, more precisely the free offer of complete forgiveness from sin because of what He has done. We saw that the power of God accompanies true preaching of His Word, and that His Wisdom is to save men and women, young and old through this message that all those in the world regard as foolishness.

Because there is much in the Bible concerning the relationship between the preaching of God's Word and salvation, we are going to look at one or two more verses on this topic, beginning with our text this week.

Our Savior is speaking and once again, He begins with His solemn and emphatic declaration that what He is about to say is absolute truth, "Amen, Amen, I say to you...." The Son of God, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, could not highlight the trustworthiness and reliability of what He is about to say in stronger words than these. He wants us to pay close attention to what He is about to tell us, and it is no surprise, because His subject is our resurrection from spiritual death to eternal life!

Some people, He says, have eternal life. They do not come into judgement at the Last Day, since they have passed out of death to life.

God warned Adam that he would surely die if he ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When he did eat, the sentence was passed and Adam died in spirit, being cut off from God through his sin and suffering decay and death in his body also. Paul begins the second chapter of his letter to the church at Ephesus (Eph 2:1) with a reminder to them that before God made them alive in Jesus, they had been dead in their trespasses and sins (just like Adam their forefather). To remain in that condition of spiritual death through sin makes us liable to judgment and condemnation to eternal punishment in hell.

But Jesus is saying that there is a way for spiritually dead people to rise from the spiritual death of sin and instead to possess eternal life! There is a way, He says, to avoid judgment. How can this happen? Obviously, this is the most important question we can ask - how can I be raised from spiritual death to life? How can I avoid God's just judgment for my sins? Paul told the Ephesians (Eph 2:4-7) that this is something God does. He "makes us alive in Christ, even when [we] are dead in trespasses and sins". It has to be a work of God, since no corpse has the least ability to act or to do anything to make itself live again.

So it is God's work through and through, but the question remains, how does God do this work? Look again at the words of Jesus in His solemn declaration above, because He tells us. If we would have eternal life, not come into judgment and pass from death to life, we must hear the word of Jesus and believe God Who sent Him. Essentially, we must rest our whole hope for salvation on the perfect life Jesus lived (which can be regarded by God as our life) and the death He died for sins on the cross (which can be regarded by God as full payment for the sins we committed). That is all that is necessary for these wonderful blessings to become ours.

Note, though, that we must hear the word of Jesus and then believe it (believe God Who sent Him). Where shall we most plainly hear Jesus speaking, if not in the preaching of His Word? So if we would put ourselves into the place where Jesus speaks and God's power to raise the spiritually dead is at work, we must be sit under true preaching of the Word. Considering what is at stake, and the blessings that are on offer, could there be a greater incentive for us?

#42. When God's Word is Preached, the Wisdom of God is Displayed

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

1 Corinthians 1:21 — For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Before anyone becomes a Christian (unless that happens at a very early age) they will have certain reactions to God's Word and to the Gospel that are inevitable. At one level or another, for example, they will think that what is taught in the Bible is a load of nonsense, or "foolishness" as Paul describes it in our text. There are different intensities with which this view will be held. Some will admire some of the moral teaching of Scripture or the example that Jesus gave, but they will not believe in Him as a Savior or submit to His teaching about their own condition as sinners. Others may study the Bible as literature, as history or as an archaeological textbook - willing to trust its contents to instruct them in these disciplines but being far too educated to accept that miracles actually took place or that Jesus really was God in human flesh. Others have no time for religion at all. They say they are glad that the teaching of the Bible gives comfort and enjoyment to others but they need no such "crutches" to see them through life. Finally, there are some who mock and jeer, ridiculing Jesus and all who trust Him and seek to serve Him in this world. All these people are wiser in their own eyes than God. They all dismiss what God says in His Word about the reality of sin (and how it may be forgiven) and man's great need of salvation (and how it may be obtained). Other than themselves, they regard as "wise" men those who delve deeper into these considerations from a scientific, rational, philosophical or other perspective in order to bolster the human race in its rejection of God and His Truth.

The outcome of all this so-called wisdom on the part of man is that man does not come to know God. All his "wisdom" actually strengthens him in his pride and his unbelief.

How does God react to this? By saving those who are to be saved by the declaration (or preaching) of a message that the world regards as foolishness. It is clear that it could be no other way. Men and women are not going to be saved through a message that sounds wise to them when their hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, because they can't and don't recognize or desire true wisdom even when it stares them in the face. God's wisdom is foolishness to lost sinners, but God's wisdom alone can save them from their sins.

Every time the Gospel is preached, this amazing wisdom of God is made known. It's message is simple and may be summed up like this:

Man rejected God as his Lord and rebelled against Him, breaking His laws and committing crimes worthy of eternal punishment.
Man does not have the ability or the desire to get right with God.
God sent Jesus as a substitute to keep the laws man had broken, and to receive on the cross the punishment their law-breaking had deserved.
When someone turns from sin and believes in Jesus, their sins are taken away and dealt with by Jesus on the cross, and all the law-keeping of Jesus is counted as theirs.
Since God now regards them as having done no sin but rather having kept the law perfectly, He receives them as children and gives them eternal life. He also sends the Holy Spirit to live in them and to begin a work in which they become more and more like Jesus in character.

Here is wisdom from God - here is the "foolishness" that delivers all who believe in it from hell! And this is the message at the heart of all true preaching. God's wisdom (which is Christ Himself) shines forth, and man's "wisdom" is exposed for the wicked, proud foolishness that it really is. What a compelling reason to hear the Word preached!

#41. When God's Word is Preached, The Gospel is Offered Without Charge

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

1 Corinthians 9:18 — What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

Paul has been talking of his ministry as a preacher of the Gospel, the compulsion that he was under to exercise this ministry and the stewardship that God had entrusted to him. Since he supported himself in the work rather than being paid by others to do it, he indicates in our text that he was able to offer the Gospel freely, without charge.

We have come a long way from this principle since Paul's day. Turn on the television and listen to those claiming to be the Gospel preachers in this day and age, and you won't have to wait long until you are asked to take out your checkbook. This contemporary Gospel is never offered without a charge, even if it is not called that - even if you are asked to "make a gift" in return for receiving some trinket or article that is worth a fraction of the amount you gave. It all sounds more like the traders in the temple, whom Jesus drove out with a whip (John 2:13-17), than the self-denying Apostle who would never have any man able to say that he had bought the Gospel at a price.

But there is another principle underlying the actions of Paul that we need to pay attention to. When the Gospel is preached to fallen man, there is nothing he can contribute towards his salvation. The price has been fully paid by Jesus in His life and in His death upon the cross. The debt that we owed through our sin was so colossal that we could never have paid it, and to think that we could somehow make a meaningful contribution towards our salvation by topping up the merits of the Son of God and the virtue of His perfect life and atoning death is laughable.

Today, we rejoice in a Gospel that is a gift from God - salvation freely offered to all who will toss away their own worthless efforts to merit salvation and will lean wholly on what Jesus has done. No money, no deeds, no pilgrimages, no indulgences, no self-righteousness. Listen to the appeal of God through Isaiah:

Isaiah 55:1 — “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.

And listen to the response that Toplady penned in his famous hymn:

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to thee for dress,
Helpless, look to thee for grace;
Foul, I to the Fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

The Gospel is free from first to last, and is freely offered in all true preaching. That should encourage us to come to every service that we can, to hear again of the free grace of God in our Lord, Jesus Christ!

#40. When God's Word is Preached, It is a Message of Forgiveness

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Acts 13:38–39 — “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.

It's worth reading our text over a few times, and slowly and thoughtfully. The truths it contains are staggering, and they are addressed to you, if you have yet to turn from your sins and rest your whole hope of salvation on Jesus Christ alone. They are addressed to you by way of encouragement if you have done these things. Here are some of the key phrases:

"Let it be known to you, brethren". Paul is in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch and has just preached the Gospel. He has talked about the life and ministry of Jesus and how He was the One Who came in fulfillment of the promises of God. John the Baptist pointed to Him as the Messiah. He talked also of His unjust death but then of His triumphant resurrection, again according to the promise of God. Now, in our verses, Paul comes to the stunning conclusion for his brethren - for the Jews meeting in that place. This is something they must know, and something we need to know to. It is this:

"Forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you". If we knew God better, and understood the magnitude of the offence we have committed against Him more fully, these words would cause us to weep tears of joy and amazement. Forgiveness of sins? Of the sins that quite rightly merited my eternal punishment? Those can be forgiven, cast into the "forgetfulness" of an all-knowing God? They can be blotted out? Though they are scarlet, they can be made as white as snow? Yes, yes and yes again! It is all "yes!" in Christ!

"through Him [Jesus] everyone who believes is freed from all things". What do I have to do to be forgiven? What great work must I do to merit such a gift? There is nothing you can do. All you could manage is to add more sin to the offence you have already caused God. If you are to be saved, God must do it, and He must do it all. What we have to do is to believe in Jesus - to trust that His life and death are fully sufficient grounds upon which God can forgive those who appropriate them to themselves by faith. Salvation is free, and it brings freedom. Freedom from the guilt of sin and its condemnation, freedom from the power of sin and its pollution. You will know the Truth, said Jesus, and the Truth will make you free.

"You could not be freed from these things through the Law of Moses". The Law demands perfection and our sinful hearts cannot deliver it. So without Christ, the Law points with laser accuracy to our sins and cries out for the just punishment to be applied. We need someone to keep the Law for us, and someone Who can receive its just punishment in our place. Jesus is that person, and this is what He did in His life and death.

Can there possibly be a more glorious message that this? How shall we understand those who call themselves believers and yet stay away from a service where the Gospel is preached because it is "not for them"? Have they grown tired of hearing about what Jesus did to set them free? Have they "graduated" in their faith to a point where the work of Jesus no longer seems important to them? Have they minimized their view of their own sin, and therefore also of the work of Jesus for the sinner? Let us be careful of going in that direction and of thinking such things ourselves! Let us not become so familiar with the stupendous facts of the Gospel that they no longer thrill our souls. Let us also make every effort to be present at every opportunity when forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to us in the faithful preaching of God's Word!

#39. When God's Word is Preached, the Unfathomable Riches of Christ are Proclaimed

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Ephesians 3:8 — To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,

So then, it is Christ Who speaks when the Word of God is preached, but what about the message? What are the contents of Gospel preaching that would make us want to pay attention to it, to be present for it? Paul gives us the answer in our text - Christ is the content, as He is also the speaker! And Paul denies us any opportunity to think about dry and dusty lectures concerning someone who lived and died almost 2000 years ago. Look at the terms in which he speaks of the message he had declared to the Gentiles - it was a Person, it was "the unfathomable riches of Christ". Let's ponder the riches of Christ for a moment - material, spiritual and personal.

How shall we quantify the material riches of Christ? Christ, Who even now is seated on a throne in heaven at the right hand of Almighty God! Christ, Who rules over all things and Whom God has made heir of all things! In short, Christ Who, in terms of created things, is the Creator and Possessor of them all! The wealth of the richest people who have ever lived on earth is like a drop in the bucket compared to the riches of Jesus in earthly things.

Then again, consider the spiritual riches of Jesus - He is the King of Glory, the God-man. His domain is not confined to this world alone but reaches into heaven itself. All the angels of God bow before Him and call Him "Lord". In addition, Christ is the only Savior from sin, the only One who kept the law of God and earned a righteousness that He can bestow on those who turn from sin and put their trust in Him! Can we begin to comprehend such riches?

Lastly, think of the riches of His character - perhaps the most glorious and engaging of the facets of His wealth. Here is one Who is altogether lovely, sinless, spotless. Here is one whose character is so infinitely beautiful that one name could never convey it, and so He has many in Scripture. Here are just a few:

Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins
Christ, because God made Him to be Prophet, Priest and King and anointed Him above His companions with the oil of joy
The Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father from all eternity
The Son of Man, born of a virgin, bearing the likeness of sinful flesh but without sin
Emmanuel, because as God He would pitch His tent, or tabernacle, among His people here on earth
The Lamb of God, because He would be sacrificed to provide eternal cleansing from sin by His blood
The Rose of Sharon, perfect in beauty and fragrant to the senses
The Fairest among ten thousand - incomparable in every way!
The Morning Star - He brings day with him into the soul, the light of grace and of glory; and he will give his people that perfection of light and wisdom which is requisite to the state of dignity and dominion that they shall have in the morning of the resurrection (Matthew Henry on Revelation 2:28)

No wonder Paul called the riches of Christ unfathomable! They are bottomless. There is no measure in heaven or on earth by which they can be counted, valued or comprehended! It will be the most pleasurable occupation of the saints in heaven to plumb the depths of the riches of Christ.

We must understand two things from Paul in our text this week. First, and astonishingly, when God's Word is preached, and particularly the Gospel, the subject matter is these unsearchable, unfathomable riches of Christ! If that doesn't make us want to hear the Gospel preached, one may well wonder what will! But second, and even more remarkable to Paul (and therefore it should also be so to us) God has actually entrusted the preaching of such a subject to saved sinners! Paul regards himself as the least likely candidate to receive such an honor. "I am the very least of all God's Children", he says, "and yet this is the message God gave me to preach!" We must make this point in case we are tempted to criticize our own preacher, or think it unlikely that God could use them to declare such an exalted message. "He can!", says Paul, emphatically. How can we be so sure? Because it is not a matter of the man and his abilities - not at all! This is a matter of God's grace. Paul did not deserve to be a Gospel preacher ("this grace was given me") and no-one else deserves it either. But God, Who is rich in grace, gives this calling to men so that His children might hear the unfathomable riches of His most precious Son!

It is our prayer that these meditations may alter our understanding of preaching, and make us hunger and thirst for it, rejecting all the gimmicks and gizmos and entertainments of the current age and demanding of our preachers rather to fulfill their lofty calling by declaring to us the unfathomable riches of Christ!

#38. When God's Word is Preached, His Power is at Work

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0000

1 Corinthians 2:3–5 — I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Romans 1:16 — For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

There is all the difference in the world between preaching and lecturing. In both cases, someone stands in front of other people and addresses them. In both cases, he has a topic. In both cases, he is trying to communicate something and he structures his address to that end. In both cases, he may be trying to persuade the listeners of certain opinions. But that is where the similarities stop. A lecturer will usually lay out his information, consider various points of view and weigh their merits and demerits. He will then turn the matter over to the judgment of his audience. He indicates he is doing so by using phrases like "I submit to you that....". He places them in the seat of judgment over the arguments that are being presented.

On the other hand, a preacher stands to declare the eternal truths of Almighty God. He does so as an ambassador. He speaks in the Name of God, as though God were speaking through him (which He is) 2 Cor 5:20. The preacher does not "submit" the Word of God to the judgment of men. He may appeal to men on God's behalf but there is always an inherent authority in the act of preaching that does not apologize to anyone for the message. Rather, the preacher declares it to be God's Truth, and calls upon his hearers to submit to it.

But there is another distinction between preaching and lecturing that we need to consider, and which Paul mentions in our text. When a faithful man, commissioned by God, preaches the Word, Christ speaks through him as he preaches and spiritual power attends the message. This power works in several different ways, depending on the particular hearer:

If he or she is not a Christian, there are two possible outcomes from hearing God's Word preached:

They may, through the power of preaching, believe the Gospel and be raised from the dead (spiritually speaking), or take a further step towards their eventual salvation.
They may also be hardened in their sins and take a further step towards their ultimate destruction.

If, on the other hand, the hearer is a believer, God's Word preached can convict of sin, comfort in affliction, train in righteousness - do all the things we saw earlier in this series.

God makes it clear in the Bible that there is one thing that His Word cannot do once He has sent it out - and that is to return to Him without accomplishing the purpose for which He sent it (Isa 55:11). It follows that Divine power must always be present to accompany the preaching of the Word.

Churches today are too ready to settle for lecturers in their pulpits rather than having preachers. In too many places we have speakers who pander to their listeners and say things their itching ears want to hear. Small wonder there is so little life-changing power in evidence. The message is tailored to suit the tastes of the hearers, rather than them being brought into subjection to the Divine Word! What we desperately need is a return to the primacy of preaching, for churches that have forgotten what preaching is to rediscover it, and for men to declare the Truth with authority and with the power that attended the preaching of Paul in our text!

We should need no encouragement to seek out true preaching of the Word of God, to humble ourselves under it, and to be transformed through the power of God that is at work as it is preached.

#37. When God's Word is Preached, it is Christ Who Speaks

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Romans 10:14 — How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

So far, we have seen something of what God's Word is and what it does. We are turning our attention now to look more specifically at some aspects concerning the preaching of God's Word.

It is important for us to do this in a day when the nature of true preaching is not well understood and it has become significantly devalued in the eyes of those who would call themselves God's people. Our adversary well understands the power of God's Word to do all the things we have been considering, so it is completely understandable that he bends his mind and his powers to cause us to pay little attention to the authoritative proclamation of the Truth of God (which is what preaching is).

We can begin this part of our study in no better place than with our text. Paul is talking about preaching as the means God uses to engender saving faith in the hearers. Faith is critical, he says, but it must have an Object. If people have not heard about Jesus, how shall they believe on Him? If no-one preaches to them, how shall they hear?

Different translations of the Bible render this verse differently and some of them rob it of its full significance. Some translators have inserted the word, "of" into the second sentence, so that it reads along these lines: "how will they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?" See what a difference this makes! In the version above, the people place their faith in Jesus having heard Jesus Himself speak to them through a preacher of the Gospel. In the second case, they hear about Jesus from a preacher and then place their faith in Him. So in the one case, it is Jesus who speaks when the Word is preached, in the other case it does not have to be. Clearly, it is important to know which concept is the more correct. The version that is quoted above does, in other passages, translate the same Greek word that appears here as "whom" in the form "of whom", so we need to dig a little deeper to judge whether they were most likely to be correct in the way they translated that word in Romans 10:14 If we look at some other New Testament texts, we will be able to see what was understood to be happening when God's Word was preached:

Ephesians 2:14–18 — For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

Paul writes to the Ephesians to tell them how the barriers between Jews and Gentiles have been taken down in the Gospel. He quotes from the Old Testament in verse 17, telling them that the preacher Who did this and then announced it to them was Jesus. And yet, Jesus never visited Ephesus and His ministry (with rare exceptions) was directed toward the Jews. How did the preaching of Jesus reconcile Jews and Gentiles? How did He preach to those were far off, including those in Ephesus? It had to be that He was preaching through those who took the Gospel to the Gentiles! See what Paul says later in this same letter:

Ephesians 4:20–21 — But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

How did the Ephesians "hear" Christ? They heard Him speaking to them through the preachers of the Gospel who came to Ephesus.

Now, in the light of this, think about what happens in your church (assuming it is a faithful church with a faithful pastor) each time the preacher stands to declare God's Word to you. Christ is speaking to you! Doesn't that make preaching special? Your Lord and Savior is addressing Himself to you, and using the instrument that He has selected for that purpose. Do you want to hear Jesus speaking to you every week? Listen for Him in the faithful preaching of the Word! He will be speaking.

Do you ever wonder whether you will go to the second service on the Lord's Day? Isn't one service enough? Let's turn that on its head for a moment. Do you love Jesus? Do you love to hear His voice speaking to you in His Word? Those who have fallen in love with a man or woman in this world know that they cannot hear the voice and see the face of that person often enough. There is no effort that is too much for them if they can just spend time with their loved one. Do you only love Jesus enough to want to hear from Him through a preacher once a week? Do you find it easy to miss even that one opportunity when something more appealing comes along? We may say we love Jesus with our lips, but what story are we telling with our lives?

This week, now that we know what is happening when God's Word is preached, let's make the most of every opportunity we have to hear our precious Savior speaking to us!

#36. God's Word Helps Us to Recognize Who Jesus Is

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0000

John 5:39 — “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;

So far in this series we have looked at what the Word of God is, and our recent studies have focused on what it does. A consideration of these things should certainly motivate us to read the Bible, or else we should examine the condition of our hearts before the Lord! We are going to conclude the series by considering preaching more particularly, as an encouragement to us all to make sure we not only read God's Word but also hear it preached whenever we have opportunity.

This week, though, we will look at one final thing that the Word of God does that is most important: it helps us recognize Who Jesus is. In our text, Jesus rebukes the Jews because they possessed the Scriptures and yet they did not recognize the Messiah when He came. "These are the Scriptures that testify about me", He says.

The fact is that even without having the New Testament (like the Jews of Jesus' day), you could know exactly where Messiah would be born, what He would be like, what He would do, how He would die, rise and ascend to heaven, and that through His life and His sacrifice he would earn righteousness for His people, save them from Hell, purchase the gift of the Holy Spirit for them and welcome them into His eternal kingdom at the end of the age.

The whole Bible is written so that we may know without doubt that Jesus is the Christ. It was written over 1600 years by perhaps 40 authors and yet it has one theme and one purpose - to point to Christ. In the Old Testament Jesus and His work are anticipated:

through prophecy (place of birth, virgin birth, ancestry (Son of God and son of man), nature of ministry, manner and purpose of death, resurrection, ascension and so on - it is a long list!),
reflected in the lives of individuals like Melchizedek, Moses, Joseph, David and many others - another long list!
Displayed through events (water flowing from a rock, the manna coming from heaven, the bronze serpent that Moses made and lifted up, Jacob's ladder that reached to heaven, the tabernacle furniture and ceremonies and so on - again, a long list)
Appearing as "The Angel of the Lord" in several accounts throughout the Old Testament, to Joshua, to the parents of Sampson, to Gideon (to name but three).

In the New Testament we see Jesus born and fulfill not just some of these prophecies, types and shadows, but every last one of them! No wonder He rebuked the Jews - He had been staring them in the face every time they read the Scriptures and yet they didn't know Him when He came!

Suppose for a moment that we did not have the Bible. How would you know Jesus was Who He claimed to be? He did many remarkable things and said many profound things, but without the Bible, what would these prove?

So the Bible makes us very certain that Jesus is the Christ, the only Savior, and that if we put our trust in Him, we can never be disappointed. If we don't read the Bible, how will we know Who Christ really is, or How will we know we have trusted the right Jesus and not just one of our own imagination (who could never save us)? Or how will we ever get to know this blessed One who fulfilled all prophecy that we might have eternal life? Read your Bibles! Hear the Word preached! Get to know God's only Savior from sin!

1 John 5:10–13 — The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. 11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

#35. God's Word shows the Way to Escape Death

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0000

John 8:51 — “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.”

In the recent posts of this series, we have seen that God's Word is a primary means God uses to sanctify His people. It feeds our souls, revives us, gives us strength and comfort, wisdom and understanding. It produces reverence for God and is the sword of the Spirit, a weapon we can wield both to defend ourselves and to attack the enemy's strongholds. Finally, in the light of all this, it provides a firm foundation for life. We have also been at pains throughout this series to stress that it is not merely the possession of God's Word that will produce these effects in us - we must actually apply it, use it, keep its precepts.

Jesus confirms all of these things in our text this week. If we read and hear God's Word and obey it, all these results will be produced in us because we will have crossed over from death to eternal life. So He is not telling us something we must do to earn salvation, but something we will do if we have received it. One noteworthy point in the words of Jesus quoted above is how He begins His statement. "Truly, truly," He says, or "Amen, amen." Used once, this word is a strong affirmation of what is being said. Used twice in a row, the statement takes on a force and a solemnity that we should not overlook. Jesus wants us to be absolutely sure of what He is saying. This is the One Who declared Himself to be the Truth. He is the Living Word of God and we should expect everything that comes from His lips to be incontrovertible truth. Yet He goes to great lengths to underline for us that this statement is solid, firm, certain and utterly trustworthy. If anyone obeys the Word of God, he will never see death!

Perhaps we should explain that Jesus is not talking of the physical death that we will all see, unless we are among those who are alive when Jesus returns in judgment. Rather, He is referring to what Scripture calls the "second death", in which those who have not obeyed God's Words are eternally and justly punished for their offences against a holy God. Jesus tells us most surely that the way to eternal life, rather than eternal death, lies in listening to His voice in the Scriptures and doing what He commands. This is sure and certain.

So let's not only read God's Word this week, but let's also be careful to do all that God commands in it!

#34. God's Word is a Sure Foundation for Life

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Luke 6:47–49 — “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Jesus gives us His evaluation of two different sorts of people. On the one hand, there are those who hear His words and live their lives accordingly - putting into practice the things they hear from Him. On the other hand, there are those who hear His words and turn a deaf ear to them, so that they do not follow His commands and His instructions. Which are you?

The first set of people, He says, have a solid foundation so that when trials and difficulties come upon them like a tsunami, they will not be swept away and destroyed by the force of them. Their foundation is firm and cannot be undermined, weakened and eroded by troubles and hardships, or indeed by the Judgment on the Last Day.

How different is the fate of the second group of people, who have no firm footings for their life, All they have are vague hopes that somehow everything will turn out alright. But vague hopes are no help when the flood of troubles and difficulties come upon us - and those who build their hopes upon them find their lives in ruins, and are swept away to destruction like many of the structures we witnessed in that horrendous Japanese tsunami.

Like a tidal wave, afflictions can come upon us with little warning. There is often no time to strengthen the underpinnings of our lives before they are put to the test. That's why it is important to make sure today that we have a sure foundation for our lives before it's too late. The final trial that each of us will face is the Judgment of God and there is only one foundation we can trust in that is strong enough to enable us to endure that - the saving work of Jesus Christ!

Where does Jesus point us in the passage above so we can make sure we have this foundation in our lives? He says we have to know His words and act upon them. Where will we find His words? In the Bible, and we can hear them preached from the pulpits of faithful churches. As we begin another new week, then, here are a few questions for us to reflect on:

Is my life built on this firm foundation - am I seeking in my life to discover and obey all the commands of Jesus? (If not, you need to turn from your sins and trust in Jesus alone to save you and to give you new life and a solid foundation for the trials that are ahead.)
Am I searching the Bible every day to know more about how He wants me to live? If not, how will you cope when the trials come upon you?
Am I being careful not just to read the Bible and hear it preached, but to live my life accordingly? It is not enough to be hearers of the Word, we must also be doers of it.

Let's get busy with our life-foundations in this coming week!

#33. God's Word is the Sword of the Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Ephesians 6:17 — And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

We are continuing to look at the ways in which the Word of God itself tells us that it is an important tool that God uses in our sanctification - the process in which we are made more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ and less and less prone to fall into sin. This week we want to focus on a particular role that the Word plays as we engage in the Spiritual warfare that God calls us to fight as His children.

In this well-known passage from Ephesians, Paul tells us that we need to be strong to fight this fight, but not by working out at the gym, and not by our own effort. We are to be strong "in the Lord and in the strength of His might" if we want to prevail in this battle. We need to understand that Satan and his forces are way too powerful for us to face without God's strength. There were some characters in the New Testament who discovered this when they tried to drive out demons in the name of Jesus, but without knowing Jesus for themselves. They were quickly overpowered and badly beaten by the demons, using the body of their host for the purpose.

Paul stresses that this is a spiritual war - not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. So that we may be strong in the Lord and in His strength, Paul urges us to put on the armor that God has given us. It is "full armor", which means that it contains everything we need to stand up against the furious assaults of the Enemy.

In our series on why we should pray, we saw that prayer was one component of this armor but as we read the list that Paul gives us, we find the Word of God is present - it is our sword. It has defensive and offensive applications.

How can the Word of God be used as a defensive weapon in the spiritual warfare? Remember what we have already seen about what it is. It is Truth, it is pure and upright. Satan, on the other hand, is a liar and the father of lies. Most of his attacks on us depend to one degree or another on deception and lying. He lied to Adam and Eve in the garden about the consequences of eating the fruit, and about the motives of God in forbidding them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Some of his lies are enormous, some are very subtle. How shall we expose them? How shall we disarm Satan as he whispers his lies to us and makes sin seem so attractive? We need the truth! We need a divinely powerful weapon that can show the lies for what they are and cut their power out of them, one that is sharp to expose sinful motives and separate even soul and spirit, joint and marrow. This is the Word of God!

How can the Word of God be used as an offensive weapon? God tells us in another part of the Bible that he has given his children divinely powerful weapons that are able to demolish the strongholds of Satan (2 Corinthians 10:4). Again, as Jesus said, it is the truth that sets us free. This sword, through the message of the Gospel it contains, will cut through the chains that bind Satan's captives and release them into the liberty of the children of God. God has invested power in the Word to raise the spiritually dead to new life in Christ!

This week, let's make sure that our sword is polished and slides easily out of the scabbard when we need to use it. Let's train ourselves in its use, let's rejoice that God has given us such a weapon, and let's wield it for His glory!

#32. God's Word Produces Reverence to God

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Psalm 119:38 — Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.

We have been looking over the last several weeks at the ways in which the Word of God is the means God uses for the sanctification (making holy) of His children. We have seen that it feeds their souls, revives them, strengthens them, comforts them and gives them wisdom and understanding. If you take the sum total of all these effects, you can begin to appreciate what a thorough work God's Spirit is able to to in His children through the Word! We will stay with the theme for one or two more weeks - and this week we want to dwell on the fact that God's Word produces reverence for Him.

Our text takes different forms in modern Bible translations. Sometimes "Establish" is rendered as "Confirm" or "Fulfill". Sometimes, "word" appears as "promise" and sometimes "producing reverence" is translated in the sense of causing fear. The fundamental meaning is the same in any of these cases, even if a different translation might highlight one emphasis as opposed to another. To establish something is to make it stand - which is one meaning of to confirm and fulfill. The promises of God are spoken by Him in His Word, and "reverence" certainly carries an element of fear with it.

How shall we understand this verse, then? In context, the psalmist is rejoicing in God's Word and delighting in it. However, he recognizes another principle at work in his flesh that threatens to make him behave in a way that is contrary to the precepts and ordinances of God, which he really does not want to do in his new heart. He is asking that He would hear God speaking to Him in His Word in such a way that He would grow more and more in his fear of offending such a wonderful God.

Israel heard God thundering from the mountain and was terrified. Even Moses trembled at the voice of God. The psalmist wants to be aware that what is written in the Bible is every bit as much God's Word as what was declared with such awesome power from the mountain. He wants to tremble as he reads its pages or hears it preached. He wants to grow in reverent fear for God and in love for His Law so that at the same time he will grow more afraid of sinning.

This is a wonderful way the Bible can help to give us victory over sin. It is not to be had by gritting our teeth and exercising all our own energy and might. It is not to be had (generally) in an instant. It comes as God reveals Himself to us in His Word and we grow in awe of Him in view of His perfect, holy character. The more we tremble in His presence and marvel that we are recipients of His love, the more we will fear to offend Him and the more we will find strength in our battle with sin.

This week, let's get serious about fighting the good fight of the faith - let's read the Word and hear it preached!

#31. God's Word Give Us Wisdom and Understanding

noreply@blogger.com (Greg Hodson) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Psalm 119:130 — The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

The Psalmist has fallen in love with God and with every word that comes from His mouth! He pants for it (verse 131), he weeps because there are those who do not follow its commands (verse 136), he finds every precept of God to be wonderful (verse 129).

He is one who knows the darkness of sin from which the Lord has rescued him - a darkness that still threatens to overshadow him as the spiritual warfare rages in his soul. He also knows the ignorance that sin had caused in his heart - there was a time when he neither knew God not cared for His commandments. Yet now he knows the Lord and he finds that His words bring light to dispel the darkness of sin, His words bring spiritual understanding to those who are in ignorance or who are simple.

Note, though, that the psalmist gives us a very important clue about the way in which the Word operates in giving us this light, this understanding. It is the unfolding of God's words that produce this effect. The word most often is used to talk about an entrance or a doorway but can also mean unfolding or opening. This is very instructive for us. The word is a doorway or an opening through which light and understanding are obtained.

For a moment, let's Imagine ourselves standing outside a palace, with an open door in front of us. Everything about the palace is beautiful and through the open doorway we can see that the inside is full of light and pure knowledge. There is an invitation posted outside the door to all who desire light and understanding, saying that they should enter in and take as much as they will, without cost. What should we do? Shall we stand outside and admire the fine construction of the palace and particularly this doorway - the gateway to light and knowledge? Shall we stand outside and reflect on how good it would be to have light and understanding? Shall we stand outside and decide that such an offer must have a catch - it sounds too good to be true, after all! If we choose to stand outside this opening for any reason at all, we shall never experience the light and the understanding that are offered.

The psalmist had not done this. He had run in through the entrance and found the light and the understanding he received to be wonderful. So much so that he panted after them and wept that there were any alive who chose to live in the darkness and ignorance of sin when such glorious light and understanding were freely offered to God's children.

Don't stand outside the door of God's Word this week, never entering in to receive its light and understanding. Read it and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into it. Hear it preached and ask God to take you inside to the place of light and wisdom!