Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to our second reading, 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2, and reading for our text part of verse 13. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, part
of verse 13. The word of God, which effectually
worketh also in you that believe. The last part of this verse,
the whole verse reads, For this cause also thank we God without
ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard
of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is
in truth the word of God. which effectually worketh also
in you that believe. Effectual, that is what we have
sung of in both of the hymns we have sung already, that the
word be effectual. Effectual means successful in
producing a desired or intended result. In other words, it is
effective. If what God has done to save his people is
to save them, then it must be effectual. If
it is not effectual in a sinner, then it will not save them. And
we will speak reverently, but all what our dear Lord has done
upon Calvary's tree, if that does not translate in the end to that which is done in a sinner's
heart, saving them from their sins, from the wrath to come,
and saving them to heaven, then there is nothing done. Then there is no glory to God,
then there is no deliverance. It is vital that the work of
our Lord being effectual on Calvary's tree is also followed, and it
will certainly be, by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit through
the Word of God in sinners' hearts. Now it may be that there are
those here tonight or that are listening to the Word tonight
and your concern has been that the Word does not seem to be
effectual. You maybe have had the expectation
at the beginning of the pandemic that this great trial and this
that has come, God might use it and use it for your soul. It may be that you had great
concern at the beginning and much seeking of the Lord, much
prayer, but you look back and you think, well, how, how effectual
has it been? How effective, what change has
it wrought in me? And it may be a great concern
to you, how much you hear, how much you read of the Word of
God, and how ineffective it seems
to be. And you know it should be a concern
to us. that the Word does have an effect. It does move our heart. It does
work in us. This is what Paul was able to
say concerning the Thessalonians, that the Word of God did effectually
work in them as it did also in him. And it would be a great
blessing If we could say the same with us, not just at the
beginning, but right through our lives, right through our
profession, that the word of God is effectual. That the weeks,
the months, the years that we've spent in God's house, the sermons
we've heard, the word that is read, those gospel truths that
we have sung, that something has been effectual, lasting and
saving in us. And if it hasn't, that the Lord
would bring us into a concern over that. I want to look with the Lord's
help this evening Firstly, of what the Lord uses to bring an
effect, and that is the Word of God. Our text begins, The
Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. And then secondly, how it being
effectual is evidenced? How do we know that it has had
an effect, that it is effectual? And then lastly, what makes the
word effectual? It's evident from our text that
it is possible, and we know by our own experience, that we can
hear the Word and it is not effectual. So what is it that makes the
difference? Firstly, the Word of God. Twice in the verse of our text,
we read of the Word of God. For this cause also we thank
God without ceasing, because when ye received the Word of
God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the Word of
men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God. The Word of God is the whole
Bible that we have. And as the apostle says, though
there are human authors, some 40 of them, yet it is God-breathed,
it is the holy, inerrant, infallible Word of God. It is the Word that
God meant to be given to mankind. In the Gospel day it is the word
that he meant to give to all nations and so also has appointed
that the word that was originally given in Hebrew and in Greek
be translated into the languages of the nations. Indeed there
are many times when we read with the Apostle Paul who could speak
several languages speaking in those different languages to
the different people that he was sent to. Really the wonderful gift and
blessing at the day of Pentecost where they miraculously spake
without having to learn in languages that were understood by those
of other nations that were there at that present time. There was
a reversing, we might say, of what happened at the Tower of
Babel. The Tower of Babel men were spread
through the earth because they wouldn't willingly do as God
had commanded them to replenish the earth. They wanted to stay
in one place so that he scattered them by confounding their language. When it comes to a gospel day,
he's given gifts unto men that that barrier be broken down. And through every nation, kindred
and tongue, that one gospel, the message of salvation sent
forth from Jerusalem, should go to every nation. And he's
given those gifts to men, not in every case like in their beginning,
miraculously. But it's very evident that many
are very gifted in languages, some that we know of that have
had gifts in some eight languages. But what is even more important
is that those that have those gifts and are able to translate
the Word, that they also have grace in their hearts, they also
have a love to the Word that they are translating, and an
awe and reverence of the God that they are translating the
Word of. And so we believe in the preservation
of this Word, the gift of this Word and that which we have and
hold in our hearts. Thy Word have I hid in my heart. That Word is a Word that we can
naturally read and understand. But how vital it is that we are
not shaken and not in any doubt in this way that the Word that
we have is the Word of God. that we receive it like the Thessalonians
did, as the foundation of all that we believe and the only
revelation of God to man. When we preach, our commission
is to preach the word. A preacher is never inspired. There's no fresh and new revelation. We preach the inspired word of
God, study to show thyself approved unto God, rightly dividing the
word of truth, was Paul's direction to those under his charge and
to every minister. And so it is that we do seek
that help from the Lord, but not inspiration, but help to
open up, or as the apostle says, handling the word of God, not
deceitfully, but bringing that message that is in it. And may
we be refreshed tonight in the belief and in the assurance that
the Lord gave the word and that was great was the company of
them that published it. And as our Lord says, heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. There is no higher authority
on earth than the word of God. If a man had all the doctorates
in the world, all the study that he could, And he was to rise
up and he would say, with all my skill and understanding, I'll
decide what the Word of God is and I will make my judgments
upon it. Not arrogance to think that a
poor sinner, a creature of the day, one that
needs salvation, shall stand in judgment upon the Word of
God. It shall be That word that judges
us at the last day. There is no higher authority. Sixty-six books, a history book,
and history is judged what? By scientific evidence today? No, science tells us what is
happening now, not what happened a hundred years ago. but a witness
can. And the Word of God is written
by witnesses and those that have written what God has given them
to write. The whole Gospels are written
by witnesses of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. And
when the apostle writes to the Corinthians about the resurrection
of the Lord, he tells us that there are some 500 or more brethren
still alive at that time that witnessed the resurrection. And
the word that he wrote stood, and though many denied, and why
he wrote it was because of those that are denying the resurrection,
but those that were the witnesses of it, they backed up the apostle. Never challenged. And so we receive
that Word as the Word of God, as the Thessalonians did here. And it is vital that we do. If
you and I are to be blessed, it's not in pulling the Word
to pieces, it's not pulling it down, but it is receiving it
and being blessed through it. What would we think of someone
who was told, here is a rope by means you can save your life. And they took that rope and they
took a penknife and they started to cut it about and to pull it
about and to weaken it. You'd say, what a fool you are.
That was given as a means of saving your life and yet you're
pulling it apart. And yet many do that with the
word of God. or may we receive it, and this
evening, as the Word of God. Ye received the Word of God which
ye heard of us. Ye received it not as the Word
of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God, which effectually
worketh also in you that believe. And if it was not the word of
God, then God would not own it. We could not rely on it. It would
be but man's word. It would not be that which God
would own and bless. But it is, and he has said that
this word is what shall be blessed. The Lord says in John 17, I have
given them thy word. The world hath hated them, but
it is the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. I want to notice then, in this
second place, how it being effectual is evidenced. If we hear the
Word read and we hear it preached, How will we know if it is a factual? Really, we can look at it in
a broad way and then in a more closer way. One answer is given us in our
text. and that is that it brings a
sinner to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. We have in our text that it is
the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe. If we look at the first chapter,
Then we have a description of how the gospel, the word of God,
came to these Thessalonians. From verse 5 in chapter 1, For
our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power. That's one way that we know that
the word is a factual that it came in power, and in the Holy
Ghost, and in much assurance. As ye know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake, and ye became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost. And we have several illustrations
of the effectiveness of the Word, but especially it is in this,
to bring sinners to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. There
are many things we could mention, and we will perhaps just hint
at, that lead up to this, but this is absolutely vital, and
this is why the Apostle John, when he writes his gospel, then
he makes it a major thing right the way through concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. He says at the end of chapter
20, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of
his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these
are written, and of course this is the part of the Holy Word
of God, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his
name. If this word is effectual to
you and to me, then we will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, believe
to the saving of our souls. This was the test when the eunuch
said to Philip, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptised? And he said, if thou believest
with all thine heart thou mayest. And he said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the son of God. That was the demonstration how
effectual Philip's sermon had been to the eunuch. The eunuch
had first begun reading Isaiah 53, as we know it, and he couldn't
work out who was being spoken of there, the prophet of himself
or some other man. And Philip, he begins at the
same scripture and preaches unto him Jesus. And the effect was that dear
man then did know who was being spoken of and he believed. We might say with him as well
there was another effect because it made that real desire to be
obedient to that gospel. You might say, how did he know
that he needed to be baptised? Because God had given the commission
to his preachers, the apostles, going into all the world, preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised
shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned.' Philip
preached all parts of that gospel and the eunuch, he joined the
two together and willingly, lovingly desired to walk in the ordinance. The Word was effectual. And again,
I would say wherever you look in the Word of God, whether you
go to the Philippian jailer and hear him say, what must I do
to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. The effect is always the same. We are not to look for things
that are not prescribed by God. He that believeth shall be saved. And that is what the Lord came
to do, to save his people from their sins. And to believe is to believe
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners The Apostle
says, of whom I am chief. And he felt that. He believed
that. He trusted in that which the
Lord Jesus Christ had done. We read with those at the Day
of Pentecost, how was their believing what
was added to that? were baptised. The word is received gladly where
it is effectual. It is embraced by a sinner as
that way of escape from the wrath to come. So our text gives us, along with
the rest of scripture, one infallible evidence of an effectual word. The hymn writer says, "'Tis Christ
makes a believer and gives him his crown.' When the disciples
said, "'What shall we do that we might work the works of God?'
The Lord said, "'This is the work of God, that ye believe The work of God, the effectual
work of God, it will have that effect. The other effect that is mentioned
here is assurance. Our gospel in verse 5 of chapter
1, You know, I asked one of the
Lord's servants many years ago over in New Zealand about assurance. And he turned to me, he said,
assurance, have you got assurance? He said, don't look for it 10
minutes later. I knew what he meant. If we're
made a believer, We don't just believe one moment and then not
the next, or believe one day and then cast that away the next. But there will be differences
in our assurance of it. I remember times that I felt
the assurance that I was a child of God so clear, so strong, And
that if the Lord had taken me in that moment, I felt that I
would be immediately in heaven. The realization of it, the belief
so clear, so real, so precious, and not a doubt. But I don't
live feeling like that. Many times it is a labor of faith It is not feeling as that way,
but believing that it is that, because God has said it is, and
God does not change. And it is faith that lays hold
upon, not our feelings, but upon God's word and God's promise,
which is much more reliable than our feelings. We do indeed, need
to have those things that are known and felt in the soul. But our hope for heaven rests
on a much deeper unmovable foundation than that. The Lord himself upon
this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. We also have another evidence
of the effectualness of the Word in that there is a becoming a
follower. He mentions this more than once. In the first chapter we have
in verse 6, And ye became followers of us and of the Lord, having
received the Word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. And
then immediately after our text, We have in verse 14, For ye,
brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in
Judea are in Christ Jesus. A Christian is a disciple, and
a disciple is a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the word
is effectual, if it is effective with us, We will follow the word
of God. The word of God will be a lamp
unto our feet. We'll be submissive unto God
through the church of God. He that receiveth you, the Lord
said to his apostles and disciples, receiveth me. And he that receiveth
me, receiveth him that sent me. Don't ever think you can treat
the Church of God on earth with contempt and despise it and not
be despising and contemptuous against the Lord. The Lord, when
he appeared to Paul on the Damascus road, he says, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? The Lord was in heaven. that Saul
was persecuting the Church of God, and in that he was persecuting
the Lord. The devil will always try to
divide the Church of God, and if he can convince that one particular
member or convince a particular person that the Lord has spoken
to them and that they are above the Church, then that will cause
division in the Church of God. We sought it to be submissive
one to another, be subject one to another in the fear of the
Lord. By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples indeed, in that ye love one another. We know that we have passed from
death unto life, in that we love the brethren as another, evidence
of the word being effectual. Of course, there are many many
other ways in which we may know. The bringing to believing. The word may be used to bring
us into concern in the first place. Concern for our souls. You might have thought tonight,
it leaves me out. I don't feel I believe to the
saving of my soul, but I have been brought into real concern. Was the word used for that? the word used to convict of sin,
to show us our sinnership, to show us our need of the saviour,
to warn us of our danger. We've taken that warning, we've
heard it, it has brought a real change in our heart and in our
lives and we've been a seeker and we seek after God and we
wait for his salvation and we look for him to come and seal
his word to our hearts. making us a true believer with
that full assurance that is here. We are not to despise the day
of small things and when the Lord begins to work, he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. And there's many other ways as
well. Word is used to comfort the people
of God. He's used to heal them. We have
in Psalm 107, the many times they fell down and there was
none to help. They cried unto the Lord in their
trouble. He sent his word and healed them. To give them joy, thy words were
found and I did eat them. They were to the joy and rejoicing
of my soul. The word is effectual and it
has that effect. Man shall not live by bread only,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The
word is effectual. When it gives us that to meditate
upon, think upon, chew the card, go over, is not lost. And that is the
case. You know, sometimes we might
not be easily able to discern how effectual a word is, but
how many of you could go back to the last meal that you had
and tell me how that has been effectual in your body. If you went without food for
a week or two, if you were like the Egyptian that David found
in the field all faint and they gave him some figs and raisins
some water, and he revived, he would say, that sustenance and
that water, that was effectual. It revived him. But when we're
used to a continual supply, then that real change and difference
is not noted. But it doesn't mean that the
food we have each mealtime is actually effectual. So if you
eat something that is not very good, gives you a stomach upset,
that meal is not effectual. It's a trouble to me. And it's like this with the Word.
We read in Ephesians, this sanctifying effect of the Word of God, the
washing of water by the Word. If something is having water
running over it all the time, it's slowly washing it, it's
cleansing it, it's cleaning it. And so there are many ways that
the word is effectual, is not wasted. My word shall not return
unto me void, saith the Lord. It shall accomplish the thing
whereto I sent it. So really, in this second point,
I've only just hinted and made it on the important things in
which we show how effectual it is or hasn't been. But may you
go from the Lord's house to nine. And this be a cause of meditation. And in searching over the words
that you've heard, how effectual has it been? There have been
many times I've heard a sermon. If someone said to me afterwards,
how did you get on? I said, well, I don't know yet.
I just need to wait a few days. Because there have been many
times I've thought I actually haven't heard that well, or I
haven't got on that well. But over the next days or so,
every now and again, something comes back of that sermon. I
remember that. And it gives me something to
meditate upon and feed upon. And I think, well, when I heard
that, I didn't think that that had been very effectual. And
there's perhaps things I even found fault with the preacher.
But now over time, that was a good word. And that's been a help
to me, and it's remained. And maybe the Lord has used it
to break some snare, to answer some question, to resolve some
doubt, and to bring us closer to himself. We ought to be quick
in judging how effectual that word has been. But may it be
our real concern that it does have an effect and that the Lord,
when he sends it, it accomplishes what he intends. Well, what does
make it then effectual? If sometimes it is not, if when
we read the word of God and it doesn't profit people, why doesn't
it profit them? What is it? I want to look at
this in the third place. Well the first thing that makes
it effectual is God's grace. It's God's grace. By grace ye
are saved. The word isn't just sprinkled
on and just by chance some happen to profit from it and others
not. Wherever there is the effectual word, it is God's grace that
has brought that. His kindness is undeserved favour
to a sinner, to not only give the word, but to make that word
effectual. We read in Peter's epistles,
if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, If we have but tasted a little
of the Word effectually working in our hearts and in our lives,
whether to comfort, to warn, to admonish, or whatever it is,
and especially to bring us to believe, we trace immediately
to the grace of God. By grace ye are saved. And that
will stand at the absolute root of it. May each of us that have
received the Word effectually trace it back to the Lord. Give
Him the honour and glory and have the assurance and comfort
that that Word has been effectual because of God's grace. We have
been partakers of His grace. We didn't deserve it. None deserves
it. Why the Lord should use His Word
in one case and not another? Why? His grace only, undeserved
favour that he should do so. The second is the power. We read
this in the first chapter here with the Thessalonians. Our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power. The apostles
had to wait at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from
on high. We need the power of the Holy
Spirit. Again, we put it the other way
round. If you and I have had that word
that's been effectual, that has been to the honour and glory
of God and the way it has worked in our hearts, it is the power
of God that has wrought that. It's not man. It's God's power. Sometimes if we've been in doubt
of that, The Lord has then let us go for several months and
the word has been as dry and as cold and as hard and as lifeless
as we've never felt it before. And the Lord will teach us then,
what you had before in receiving the word was not just from your
own efforts, but by my power. And if I withdraw my power, then
the word loses its power. But when the power is put forth
with the word, then it is effectual, like it was with the Thessalonians. We read in Paul's epistle to
the Ephesians of something of the power that is wrought in
a believer. He says in chapter one, that
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened you might know
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe
according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places, the same power that makes
a believer is the power that put forth to raise Christ from
the dead. It's not a small thing that makes
a believer. It's the power of God. And so, also we have it in the The third chapter of that same
epistle, and he's speaking of himself as a minister. He says,
wherever I was made a minister according to the gift of the
grace of God, given unto me by the effectual working of his
power. The effectual working of his
power. What else is received? What else
is needed to make the Word effectual? Well, our first point was receiving
the Word of God as the Word of God. If all the time we've got
that unbelief or niggling or undermining of the Word of God,
then that Word will not be effectual with us if it lacks the authority. You know, if a child brought
a note home from school to the parent, with some directions
from the school, and that parent doubted that that came from the
headmaster, doubted that there was the authority of the school
in it. They wouldn't do what was in that. If they thought
the child had just made it up and just wrote those things in
it, they need to, if they're going to obey what is in it,
know that it actually came with the authority of the school. If the parent knew anything,
if the child says, we don't need to do what's in this letter because
I know the secretary wrote this. It wasn't the headmaster. But
the parent would know that the secretary wouldn't just write
on her own ban. That she was writing what the
headmaster dictated. And it had the same authority.
And we have this here, the word of God, which is inspired, written,
by men inspired by God. But another thing that makes
the Word effectual is faith. By grace ye are saved through
faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. But you might
say it's a circular thing because we read that the Word did not
profit them, being not mixed with faith in them that heard
it. Faith is given by God and by
that faith the word is made effectual and through that word faith then
is further strengthened and increased. It is vital that we receive in
faith He that cometh to God must believe that he is, that he is
a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And our Lord Jesus
Christ is the author and finisher of faith. If you and I have the
word made effectual to us, we know that the Lord has given
us faith that that word should be effectual. You might not see
your faith, that you might be able to see that the Word has
been effectual in your heart and in your life. You might wonder
why we read the first portion that we did in Matthew, the interpretation
of the parable of the sower. The sower, this parable, The
Lord said is the secret of all parables. When the disciples
couldn't understand it and didn't know what it was, the Lord said
to them that if you know not this parable, how will then you
know any parables? Because it dealt with the hearing
of the word, effectually. bringing forth fruitfulness. The Word was sent forth and we
have those four illustrations of that Word sent forth. But
only in one case was there any fruitfulness. In only one place
it was effectual. And where was that place? It
was prepared ground. The Lord prepares the hearts
of his people that he puts the word in. The preparations of
the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. And whether it be through sickness,
affliction, trial, trouble, exercise of mind, The Lord knows how to
prepare. Remember, before the Lord began
his ministry, he sent John the Baptist to prepare his way, and
it was in repentance. They were all in suspense. Is he the Messiah, or is there
one to come? And John, he pointed out, Christ. Maybe tonight the Lord is preparing
the ground of your heart. But wherever the Lord prepares,
then there'll be a putting in the seed, and that seed will
germinate and it'll bring forth fruitfulness. But we know in
a natural sense, it doesn't all happen in a night, does it? And
yet the farmer doesn't just spend all his farming days ploughing
and ploughing and ploughing. He goes from one stage to another,
gets the seed bed right, puts in the seed, and then it begins
to grow. And this is the parable where
the Lord speaks. But you think of the things that
made the word ineffectual. He says that when one receives
the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked
one comes and he snatches that away, catches that away that
was sown in his heart. That's the one by the wayside. Then there's the one in the stony
places, receives it with joy at first, but because he's got
no root in himself, then when there's tribulation, persecution
arises because of the word, then he is offended. There's no fruitfulness. That seed was not effectual at
all. And then we have the one that
is sown among thorns. And in that case, it was the
Care of this world, deceitfulness of riches choked the Word. Again
it become unfruitful. And so that which makes the Word
effectual, God's grace, the power of God, receiving the Word as
the Word of God, faith and good ground, it is the Lord that blesses
that Word. May the Lord bless it tonight. The Word of God, which effectually
worketh also in you, that believe. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen.