Word of truth and power
Please read James 1: 16-27, Deuteronomy 4: 1-9, Mark 7: 1-23 and then pray: Living God, whose Word is liberating truth, enable me to see the greatness and the glory of your gospel which grants perfect freedom and eternal joy. Amen.
You may be aware that there is one Sunday every year designated as Bible Sunday, a Sunday which encourages our national Church to celebrate the vital and central role which the Bible plays in our Christian faith and practice. This year it took place on January 28th but I am going to treat today as a Bible Sunday because our lectionary readings strongly emphasise the significance of the Word of God for the life and journey of the people of God
How important is the bible to you? How often do you pick it up and read it? How often do you study it with others? Your bible should be the only book that is never on your bookshelf! It should always be at hand, and it should be a book that is regularly opened and read with devotion. (Psalm 1) Our attitude to the Word of God should be the same as the Psalmist who in the longest Psalm in the bible (119) writes;
See how I love your precepts: preserve my life, O Lord according to your love. All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. (159-160)
To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless. (96)
The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. (72)
Here is a man for whom the Word of God was everything – his greatest joy and treasure. The Word of God was of supreme value to him – indeed priceless! And in terms of guidance for life and living – irreplaceable. The great Puritan writer Thomas Watson said this of the bible;
The Bible is the rock of diamonds, a chain of pearls, the sword of the Spirit; a chart by which the Christian sails to eternity: the map by which he daily walks, the sundial by which he sets his life: the balance in which he weighs his actions.
On the day King Charles III was crowned, he was presented with a bible. This tradition had been a significant part of the coronation service since the days of George III who was crowned in 1761. As our King was given a copy of the Scriptures, he was addressed in the following way;
We present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is Wisdom; This is the Royal Law. These are the lively Oracles of God!
For James, the blood brother of Jesus, who describes himself as “a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1), the word of God was something, that if put into practice by the people of God, could help transform the world into a place of peace and justice. In a letter which is largely concerned with practical lived-out Christianity, James has much to say about “the word of truth” in his opening chapter. For him, effective, powerful, fruitful, head-turning, world-transforming Christianity was simply the product of putting into practice the word of the living God. If the word of God was put into practice by the people of God – heaven could be seen and tasted upon the earth. His own brother, the Lord Jesus, had obeyed the word perfectly and brought the reign of God into a broken world in the here and now.
His message starts with a challenge for his Christian brothers and sisters not to be deceived. (19) When it comes to the word of God and genuine Christianity – it is not unusual for people for fall into the trap of self-deception. James highlights the problem of self-deception no fewer than three times in this relatively short passage of Scripture. (19, 22, 26) Thinking or assuming that we are Christians when we are not is something we need to be aware of and to rectify, if necessary, argues James.
There are 4 truths concerning the word of God raised by James which he wants the Christian community to understand and to embrace with all their hearts. They are;
- Celebrate the word which is a perfect gift from God.
- We are Christians only because of the word. Christian life and faith begin through the word.
- The word is to be always accepted and adopted with humility.
- The word must be put into practice to experience and enjoy Christian freedom and growth into maturity.
Firstly then, there is this delightful truth upon which the theme of one of my favourite hymns is based – Great is Thy faithfulness. The hymn speaks about God’s great faithfulness and the fact that “there is no shadow of turning with Him.” James writes;
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
And one of the most astonishing gifts that comes from above, from God, is His Word. The Word of God, which we now normally refer to as the Bible, is a most glorious, precious, and perfect gift and it comes graciously and faithfully from God. The apostle Paul wrote that all Scripture “is God-breathed.” The Word is given by God to the world to “make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3: 15-16). We often think of the gifts of God as the gifts related to His creation and our sustenance, and so at harvest time we sing – “All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above.” But God’s Word is a gift that gives us the precious wisdom and information about salvation which is for the benefit of our souls as well as our bodies and minds. In the OT when the Israelites received the law and commands of God, they were conscious that they were receiving something unique and special, something that needed to be heeded and highly revered. Keeping the law from God would lead to their prosperity, protection, and well-being in the promised land.
So, the first question we are faced with today is this: Are we truly grateful for the Word of God? Are we forever thankful for all the revelation we have received about God and salvation through His perfect Word? Do we take time to regularly say thank you to God for His Word and all that it brings to us and the many ways it feeds us? The Word is indeed a beautiful, precious, and perfect gift which has come down from the Father of heavenly lights. Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4). If you know this to be true, and the word of God is a precious treasure to you, then tell God how you genuinely feel about His Word – the Word of truth – the Word of life. The great Abraham Lincoln got it right when he wrote the following; could you write something similar?
In regard to this great book, I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to men. All that the good Saviour gave to the world was communicated through this book.
The second point raised by James is very much related to this. Without the bible there would be no salvation, no hope, no Christianity, no gospel (good news). It is the content of the bible, and particularly the good news about Jesus Christ that enables us to be born again, come into God’s Kingdom, receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit along with the gift of eternal life. Listen to what James makes crystal clear;
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
What James is teaching here is this. We became Christians, we were given new birth into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3), we were born again through personally hearing, believing, and receiving into our hearts the message about Jesus’s death and resurrection to new life. Whilst the person of Jesus and His coming into the world for us and for our salvation is vital, all that we know about this comes to us in the form of the message, the good news contained in the inspired Word of God, which James here refers to as the word of truth. The apostles and others, including James, took this message, which we now have in the bible, out into the world, so that people like you and I could hear and respond. We are saved, given new birth, by this word which comes to us with the power and blessing of the Spirit. The truth of the Word and the power of the Spirit bring us new life. The Word of truth is the means God uses to save us. So, the Word is precious indeed.
We should be aware of just how important the Word of God is for our salvation. There would be no Christians or Church without it. We would not be here were it not for the Word of truth and the fact that we have personally welcomed and received this Word into our hearts. This is put even more clearly by Peter;
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1: 23-24)
Jesus also spoke about the word as “the seed” in the famous parable of the Sower. The seed is “the word of the Kingdom” (Mark 4: 13-20) which is scattered and which falls to the ground. Some of the seed, some of the preaching of the word, falls upon good soil – which are hearts that hear, welcome, receive and retain the word – and are then able to produce a considerable harvest. But without the seed then can be no hope of any harvest. Thank God for the seed! Thank God for those who scatter the seed. I am a Christian today because of this imperishable seed which is the word of God, because someone shared it with me, and because of the saving effect that it has had on my heart and life.
In Acts of the apostles, when the Church began to grow through the preaching of the Word, Luke frequently describes the growth by referring to the “spreading and increasing of the Word.” (Acts 6:7, 12:24, 13:49, 19:7)
So, the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7)
This is why James teaches that God chooses to “give us birth through the word of truth.” Our faith starts with the Word – with the seed – with the truth being shared with us faithfully by someone who has already been transformed by it. We can deduce from this that when it comes to the growth of the Christian faith and the Church – it is only possible with;
- The word of God.
- The messengers of God who faithfully share and spread the Word. (Romans 10:14)
- The working of the working of the Holy Spirit in human hearts confirming the word.
- The receiving of the Word into compliant hearts.
But then James goes on to a critical third point. The Word is not just relevant at the start of the Christian life – it is to be humbly accepted and embraced throughout the whole of life.
The Word which starts things off through its eternal power in the new Christian life, continues to feed the Christian for the rest of their earthly lives. As the bible scholar Douglas James Moo puts it;
“The Word becomes a permanent, inseparable part of the Christian, a commanding and guiding presence within him.”
But the key thing according to James is that the word “place or planted within us” is received with humility. In other words, for the Christian, the bible now must become their authority for their faith and the practice of their faith. The Christian readily sits under the authority and guiding light of the Bible.
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. (James 1:21)
James (a slave of Jesus) has a lot to say about the importance of humility in his letter (3; 17, 4: 7, 10) – and it is all related to Christians being willing to submit to the will and word of God. The Christian writer Martin Anstey communicates something very significant when he presents this truth;
The primary qualification demanded in the reader of the bible is not scholarship but submission, not expert knowledge, but willingness to be led by the Spirit. (my emphasis)
Jesus is not just Teacher, but Teacher and LORD. (John 13:13) As Christians, we submit to His Word and the Word He Himself submitted to (the OT). We do not approach the bible to judge it, but to sit under its perfect judgment. We do not come to the bible to criticise it, but to allow it to be critical of us and to challenge us to a new way of living. We do not come to the bible thinking we know best, but we come to be guided by its vastly superior wisdom. We bow humbly before the Word, like Mary who knelt humbly before Jesus, willing to listen and learn and be changed. (Luke 10:39) As the Psalmist says; Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (119:105) A Christian is not called to argue with the Word but to obey it, and to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2: 12-13) The Israelites were not required to pick and choose the commandments, or to change them, they were expressly called by God to carefully observe them and follow them. (Deuteronomy 4:5-6) James admonishes his readers to humbly accept the word planted in them. Be humble before and under the Word of God. This is the attitude and approach of the Christian.
And finally, and for James, most importantly of all – the word we have heard must be the word we put into practice. James has a problem with hypocrisy and inaction. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. You must be doers of the word and not merely hearers. Later James will famously write that “faith without deeds is dead.” (2:26) The word must be lived out and then it becomes extraordinarily powerful. This is when the Kingdom comes! This is when the poor are fed! This is when the tongue is tamed and controlled! This is when orphans and widows are cared for with pastoral tenderness! This is when the poor receive justice and hope. This is when anger is managed and war is avoided. (4:1) Put the word into practice.
This is where we must not deceive ourselves. Are we truthfully practicing and acting upon the clear teaching of the bible? Some people think they are, but, in truth, they are walking away from the sermon or the bible study or the home group or their time alone with God and immediately forgetting or ignoring all the challenges they have just been confronted with. We are given God’s Word of truth so that we might live out life with freedom, joy, peace, along with spiritual strength and stamina, but we must practice it to know and enjoy the fruits and the benefits. (1:25)
James is telling us how to become mature, and how to live an effective and fulfilling Christian life. Christianity maturity is attained through “hearing and obeying the word.” Please remember what Jesus said about the difference between building your life on rock or on sand. The person who wisely builds their house on rock is the one who both hears and obeys the word. (Read Matthew 7: 24-27). This is the definition of Christian maturity and fruitfulness. Hearing and obeying God’s word. Hearing and doing! This is why a person who has only been a Christian for 1 year can be more mature in faith than one who has been one for 30 years. It is because the Christian of 12 months has been hearing and doing the Word for 12 months, whereas the other one has been hearing but not doing for 30 years. John Stott the great bible teacher and writer puts it like this;
Growth into maturity in Christ depends upon a close acquaintance with and a believing response to the bible.
The Israelites had to “do the word” once they had entered the promised land. Then they would see prosperity and enjoy fullness of blessing. And then the nations around them would admit that they were witnessing something special and unique in the life of this nation whose God was close to them. They would see the wisdom, success and righteousness of a nation built upon obedience to God’s holy laws. (Deuteronomy 4: 6-8)
The Church today is not called to conform to any political ideology, or to the patterns of a morally polluted world. (James 1:27) Rather the people of God are called to live differently and distinctly under the authority of the Word of truth. What our country needs right now is not a compromised, weak, and disobedient Church, but a Church that is firmly and proudly built upon the Rock of hearing and obeying the word of Jesus Christ. Bishop J.C. Ryle once wrote about the fact that “a bible reading and practising laity is a nations surest defence against evil.” If anything were truly needed at this moment in our nation’s history, it is a razor sharp, bible believing and practising Church – not a lukewarm bible neglecting, double-minded and fearful Church.
We need God to “send forth His Word” accompanied by the power of His Spirit that there might be light in the darkness which shrouds our nation. Churches and Church institutions which have failed to honour, hear, and obey the Word, but have instead, like the Pharisees, clung to man-made traditions and man-made theologies, are destined to fall, and disappear as the winds of a secular, godless and persecuting world blow hard against them. Without the Scriptures, there is no eternal and pure word of truth or life upon which to save and anchor the soul.
I believe there are a growing number of ordinary people in the UK who now deeply regret that our nation has abandoned its Christian heritage and biblical foundations. They can see society collapsing. They can see far more is going wrong than going right. I believe many will seek to return to the Church – but the question is this: What sort of Church will they find? Will there be a Church that stands under the authority of the living and enduring word of God? I hope so. If there is to be a true Christian revival in this country – it will be accompanied by a solid and resolute return to biblical authority. The bible’s prominence and authority always rise triumphant during any genuine and significant revival. You cannot fall in love with God without also falling in love with His Word. May it be so again, because heaven and earth will pass away but the word of the Lord will endure forever.
In the words of our dear hymn-writing brother Timothy Dudley-Smith who passed away recently;
Tell out my soul, the glories of His word!
Firm is His promise, and His mercy sure.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
To children’s children and for evermore.
Amen
(Revd Peter J Clarkson 1.9.24)