Let's open this morning's service
with hymn number 186 from the Hardback Temple, 186, The Church's
One Foundation. Let's all stand together. foundation is Jesus Christ her
Lord, Jesus. By water and the Word, from heaven
he came and sought her To be His holy bride With His own blood
He bought her And for her life He died Elect from every nation Yet one
for all the earth Her charter of salvation One Lord, one faith,
one birth One holy name she blesses Partakes one holy food And to
one hope she presses With every grace With toil and tribulation and
tumult of her war, She waits the consummation of peace forevermore. ? With a vision glorious ? Her
longing eyes are blessed ? And the great church victorious ?
Shall be the church at rest ? Yet she on earth hath union ? With
God the three in one and mystic sweet communion with those whose
rest is won. O happy ones and holy, Lord give
us grace that we might them the meek and lowly on high may dwell Please be seated. Good morning. That's a good end. If you'll
open your Bibles with me to First Thessalonians chapter two, First
Thessalonians chapter two. Let's ask the Lord's blessings. Our gracious, glorious Heavenly
Father, thank you for the hope that you've
given us in Christ. Thank you for the joy that we
are able to sing of that hope and of your grace
and of your glory. Thank you for your word. Thank
you for your Holy Spirit. Father, we pray that you would
send your spirit and power and that you would make your word,
both written and living, effectual in our hearts. Lord, that we
would be brought to the throne of grace humbly and with a spirit
of thanksgiving. looking to Christ for all our
salvation and all our desire. We thank you for this place.
We thank you for worship. Lord, if we are to worship, if
we're to have faith, if we're to believe, if we're to rejoice,
if we're to rest, Lord, these are our gifts that come from
thee. We pray that we might experience that no shadow of turning that
you have given these good gifts from our Father above, the Father
of lights. Lord, we are a needy people.
We are sinful people. We we need Christ to save us. Lord, for your glory, we pray
that you would do it again today. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. 1 Thessalonians chapter two, we're
going to be looking at verses 12 through the end of the chapter. And I've titled this message,
the effectual word. the effectual word. And if you'll
notice with me in verse 13, for this cause also thank we God
without ceasing, because when you received the word of God,
which you heard of us, you 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 it. What effects? Does the Word of
God have in our lives when we hear it as it is in truth, the
Word of God? That's a work of grace. We're talking about a miracle
of grace where the Spirit of God causes us to hear the word
of God as his word. And in these verses,
Paul is identifying with the believers in Thessalonica of
the effects that this word has had in their lives. And when God's word is made effectual,
These are the evidences of that in your life and in my life. We need to hear from God. We
need to be taught of him. We don't need to be hearing words
from a man. Though God uses the audible voice
of a man to declare his word, Our hope and our need and our
prayer is that he will make it effectual to our hearts. And it's important that we be
reminded that we're not just talking about the written word
of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
living word and God's word is alive. Scripture makes that clear. It is the sword of the spirit,
double-edged, dividing asunder the thoughts and the intents
of the heart. And it's by God's word that he gives us life in
Christ. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. With the word of truth. Faith,
we know, comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the word of
God. So these are the effectual results
of hearing from God and being taught of God. Notice in verse 13, when you
received the word of God, which you heard of us, you received
it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of
God. One of the effects that the Word
of God has in the heart and life of the believer is that they
quit looking for truth anywhere else. They've heard it as the Word
of God. This is God's Word and so they
They test everything else that they hear by the scriptures. I'm not interested in trying
to convince anybody that the Bible is the word of God. If
I could, there are men that do that. They use logic, they use
science, they use history to try to prove to men that the
Bible is the word of God. If I could do that, someone else
would be using logic, science, and history to prove to you that
it wasn't. There's no profit in that whatsoever
to our souls. I'm here to declare the word
as it is in truth, the word of God. And if we belong to God, He will make it effectual to
our hearts. He will convince us that this
is his word. It's not by private interpretation,
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,
that every word of it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, instruction, and righteousness. We'll have no
doubt that this is the word of God. Sometimes people ask me, well,
you know, which Bible do we use? Well, I believe in the English
language at least. The King James Version of the
Bible is the best we have. And why would we be interested
in a paraphrase when we have the scriptures translated? The
Lord is certainly able to preserve for us a copy of his word. And I believe that's what he's
done in our Bibles. Sometimes there are verses of
scripture in the King James that are hard to be understood. And
I find it helpful occasionally to refer to a paraphrase called the Amplified Bible. But
just remember when you read that paraphrase that that's what it
is, it's a paraphrase. But I do find it helpful and
I have a copy of the Amplified Bible and I refer to it on occasion
to try to get some clarity on what's being said in the King
James. So that would be my encouragement
to you. And, you know, I get questions
about, you know, what about the books that aren't in the Bible?
They're not part of God's word. That's the simple answer to that
question. So we have the word of God. preserved by God. And when the Spirit of God makes
the Word of God effectual to our hearts, we don't go anywhere
else looking for truth. We know that everything that
we need for this life and for the life to come has been given
to us in God's Word. And that's what Paul's rejoicing.
He's saying, when you listened to the gospel that we declared
unto you, you heard it as it was in truth, the word of God. Look with me at verse 12. What
effects does the word of God have in our hearts and in our
lives? Number one, we're content. with the scriptures
as God has given them to us and we're not looking anywhere else
for a revelation from God. All that we need is contained
here in His Word. We heard it as it was in truth,
the Word of God. And anything else apart from
this would be nothing more than the words of men. Second, the
word of God reveals the kingdom and the glory of Christ. Notice in verse 12, that you
would walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his kingdom
and his glory. When the The word of God is heard in truth
as it is the word of God. It always reveals the glory of
Christ. You know, Paul told Timothy,
he said, study to show thyselves approved, a workman that needeth
not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. To rightly
divide the word of truth is to see Christ, his kingdom and his
glory. In all of scripture, in all of
scripture, in the volume of the book, it is written of me. These
are they which testify of me. And so when we, when God makes
his word effectual to our hearts, we are looking at the printed
written word, looking for the living word, looking for the
Lord Jesus Christ so that every precept and every promise, every
proverb and every parable, every prophecy and every Psalm is to
be understood in light of the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Who is he? Who is he? He's the son of God. He is the
successful savior of sinners that accomplished everything
that God required for the salvation of his people. That's who he
is and that's what he did. And so every time we go to God's
word, we're not looking to just information about religious things
or spiritual things or historical things, we're looking for Christ. all the admonitions, all the
commandments, all the narratives, all the stories of the Bible,
our gospel stories, we see that and how glorious it is and how
encouraging it is to the hearts of the believer when God the
Holy Spirit takes his word and reveals Christ to us. Those who love Christ, look for
Christ. Remember in the Song of Solomon,
the bride of Christ is looking for her beloved and she goes
into the city and she declares to the daughters of Jerusalem,
she says, have you seen my beloved? And they respond to her by saying,
well, what's your beloved above our beloved? How's your God any
different from our God? And she describes him in all
of his glory. And after she finishes describing
him, they say unto her, let's look,
go with me to Song of Solomon. It's chapter six. Yes, Song of Solomon is chapter
six. Now they, notice in verse nine in chapter
five, what is thy beloved more than another beloved though thou
fairest among women? What makes your God so special?
And so from verses 10 through 16, she describes Christ. And
then in verse one of chapter six, where there is thy beloved
gone, O thou fairest among women, where there is thy beloved turned
aside that we may seek him with thee. Oh, if that's the description
of your beloved, we want to know him too. And she tells them he's
gone down into his garden where the wind of his spirit blows
upon the spices of his grace and makes them sweet to the hearts
of his people. And that's where we are right
now, and that's our hope, is that the wind of the spirit would
blow upon the graces of God and make them a sweet-smelling savor
to our hearts, and that we would say, oh, my beloved, that's who
I'm looking for. That's who I need. And our beloved's graces and
glory are on full display at Calvary's cross. His holiness and his justice,
his grace and his mercy, his righteousness, his beauty, His
power, all are on display at Calvary when he laid down his
life for his sheep and he suffered the full wrath of God's justice
in order to save his people. So we look at the beauty of Christ
and that's where, that's the effectual work His Word. If we are studying the Bible
just in order to discern some knowledge or information, knowledge
puffeth up. It does. But love, and that's
what we're talking about now, love edifies. Love edifies. The love of God spread abroad
in our hearts in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. The love
of Christ that constraineth us. His love that shone to us at
Calvary's cross and the love that we are lost in. The Bride of Christ in the Song
of Solomon speaks of that love and speaks of how sweet and how
powerful it is. So here's the effectual work.
The effectual work is that we hear the scriptures as it is
in truth, the word of God, and we're content. We're content
with what God has said. We don't need to go anywhere
else for wisdom, for knowledge, for truth, for salvation. And we're content because of
the revelation that God has made to our hearts of the kingdom
and of the glory of Christ. The kingdom and glory of Christ.
The rule and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ and the glory that
he has gotten to himself. He said, I'll not share my glory
with another. Here's an evidence of the effectual
working. We rejoice in the Lord Jesus
getting all the glory, all the glory. Notice also in verse 12 that
when the word of God is heard from God and taught to the heart
by God as the effectual word, one of the effects of that is
that it directs our walk. It does. Now, I'm not suggesting
in any way that anything we do in our walk in and of itself
would earn us favor with God or would obligate God to merit
us with salvation or with righteousness. That all comes from Christ. And
every step that we take in this world, we are taking that step
as a sinner. Yet, look at verse 12. The reason why Paul exhorted
them and comforted them and charged them as a father doth his children
in verse 11 is that you would walk worthy of God. The Word of God is a lamp unto
our feet. It is a light unto our path. We judge right from wrong and
we judge truth from error and the profane from the holy by
God's word, by God's word. And the believer is affected
by God's word in every part of their life. Turn with me to Psalm
19, Psalm 19. This is We're talking about the effectual
working of God's word in the lives of his people, that you
should walk worthy of God. Psalm 19, we'll begin reading
in verse seven. And I remind you that all of the words that are used here
law and testimony and statutes and commandments are references
to the effectual word. So the law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are
right, rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the Lord
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments
of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired
are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also
than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is thy servant
warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Now what is
the great reward? When the Spirit of God makes
the Word of God effectual to our hearts and causes us to walk
worthy of his glory, what is the reward? Well, he is the reward. We don't, we're not. What greater reward is there?
The Lord told Abraham, I am thy shield. and thine exceeding great
reward. Now, child of God, what happens
to you? What happens to you spiritually
when you walk in disobedience to God's word? What happens? You lose sight of Christ, don't
you? You lose your peace. You lose
your joy. You lose your comfort, don't
you? Why? Because you've lost sight of
Him. And when that happens, what does
the Spirit of God do? Oh, He gently and effectually
corrects us and brings us back to Christ. This is the effectual working
of God's Word in the heart and life of God's people, that they
would walk worthy of his glory. Notice in verse 14, for you brethren
became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea, are in
Christ Jesus. For you have also suffered like
things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews,
who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have
persecuted us. And they please not God and are
contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles,
that they might be saved to fill up their sins always. For the
wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. but we brethren being
taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoring
the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore,
we would have come to you, even I, Paul, once and again, but
Satan hindered us. And what is our hope or joy or
crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming, for you are our glory
and our joy. One of the effectual workings
of the Spirit of God is to give us a thankful spirit, a thankful
heart. When the Word of God is made
effectual to the heart, murmuring, complaining, discontent, critical
spirit, judgment made against others. Those things fade away
when the word of God is made effectual to the heart. We're able to say with Eli, it's
the Lord. It's the Lord. Let him do. whatsoever seemeth good." We can rest with thanksgiving. Be thankful in all things, for
all things are the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
When God makes his word effectual, we know that he's sovereign.
We know that he does what's right. We know that his will and purpose
is good. We rest in him. We trust him. This is the effectual working
of his word. Both the written word and the
living word, this is the effectual working of his word in our hearts. And we lose sight. We start listening
to other voices and start listening to our own thoughts and our own
reasoning and all that All that Thanksgiving fades away,
doesn't it? When the word of God is made
effectual to the heart, it binds us together with other
believers in faith. It does. It causes us to realize
what a rare thing it is What a rare thing it is for another
person to have had the word of God made effectual in their hearts. And we're in fellowship with
believers. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
four, Ephesians chapter four. This is the effectual working
of his, that's what Paul was just saying. He said, he's writing
to these Jews that have been dispersed and he's saying to
them, you're suffering the same thing by your kinsmen that the
Jews in Jerusalem have suffered by their kinsmen who hate Christ
and are doing everything that they can in the power of Satan
to try to stamp out the testimony. But the effectual working of
the Spirit of God and the Word of God in your heart is in fellowship
with the believers here in Jerusalem that you've never met before. Ephesians chapter one, verse
one, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that
you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called with
all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one
another in love." I like that word forbearing, putting up with
each other in love. Ah, love covers a multitude of
sins, doesn't it? And it is the love of God forgave us, and it's the love
of God that enables us to forgive one another. Here we are in fellowship. Look, endeavoring, endeavoring
to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace, for there
is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope
of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father, of all who is above all and through all
and in you all. But unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. What a
blessing. What a blessing it is to have
fellowship with the saints of God who believe the same thing
we believe. They believe on Christ. The word
of God has been made effectual in their hearts. When the word of God is made
effectual in the heart, it puts us at odds with the world. It puts us at odds with the world. The Lord Jesus said, they hated
me, they're gonna hate you too. The religions of the world, the values
of the world, the philosophy of this world is all contrary
to the effectual working of God's Word in the heart. We take sides with God when the
Word of God is made effectual to the heart. We bow and say
amen. What God says is true. Let every
man be a liar. Whatever the world says that's
contrary to what God says, I side with God. We've never lived in
a generation of people, I say that never, probably have, nothing
new under the sun, but it seems like to me that political correctness and, you know, everybody, the one
thing that's not tolerated is intolerance, isn't it? And yet, when God makes his word
effectual to our hearts, we become intolerant to everything contrary
to what God has said. We can't give Any place for it? There's two groups of people
in the world. Those who believe God and those who don't. It's
just that simple. Those who love Christ and those
who hate him. Those who are of the kingdom
of light and those who are of the kingdom of darkness. When
God's word is made effectual to the hearts, it has the same
effect on us today that it had on these believers 2,000 years
ago. It puts them at odds with the
world in which they live, and it makes them a target of the
evil one. Satan, do everything you can,
try to. That's what he said, Satan has hindered us. I'm so
thankful that the devil's God's devil, but he is the secondary. Our God is the first cause of
all things. We know that. He's sovereign. He reigns sovereign
over the armies of heaven, over all the inhabitants of the earth.
The devils belong to him. We live in a world that is in
a secondary sense controlled by the power of darkness. He's
called the prince of the power of the air. And all men are subject
to him until the Lord destroys the work of the devil and delivers
us from the kingdom of darkness into his marvelous light in Christ. And then we have this spiritual
battle going on. My last point on what is the
effectual working of God's Word in the heart is that we wait
in hope for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We wait in
hope. Look at verse 19 in our text. For what is our hope or joy or
crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Oh, the word of God has put into
the hearts of God's people a desire to see him and be made like him. He's put an affection Setting
our affections on things above where Christ is seated at the
right hand of God. He's put a faith and a desire
and a hope for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We look for a city, Abraham. Scripture says in Hebrews chapter
11, look for a city which hath foundation. This world doesn't
have any foundations. We look for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Oh, that heavenly
Jerusalem. That's our hope. Where did we
get that from? The effectual working of the
word of God. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for your word. Pray that your Holy Spirit would
make it effectual to our hearts. We ask it in Christ's name and
for his sake and his glory.