Verse 13 of 1 Thessalonians 2,
for this cause, also we thank God without ceasing, because
when you receive 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. Believe I want to speak to you
on the subject the effectual word And this is something to
rejoice in we've come here to worship the Lord this morning
and This is cause for worship. His word is effectual and It
is effectual in those that believe him And notice here the words when
you received the word of God. And remember that that's what
this whole chapter has been about. When the gospel came to them,
the way that it came, the manner of the gospel, that's what this
chapter has been all about. Verse one, again, says it was
not in vain. Verse two says it came in spite
of suffering and affliction and shameful treatment. In spite
of men's hatred of it, it comes. Verse three, it came in honesty
and good intentions. And we won't go over all that
again, but now here in verse 13, Paul is still writing about
the gospel that came to these people and how it came. And as
we've said, in that we see the gospel itself. It's quick and
powerful. It's transforming. It's a person. It's him, and so it accomplishes
his purpose. Christ is himself all of the
subject of all of the word. And we see that, and this is
a wonderful aspect of God making the gospel effectual
to somebody. It's received as it is in truth. Gospel's not always received
that way. and especially the false gospel,
it's given and received to comfort people in their sin, to comfort
them in their unbelief, in their hatred of the true Christ. Scriptures
are pulled out of context and used to give those who despise
the Lord Jesus comfort in their own will, comfort in their own
heart, in their own ways, But the gospel itself is most often
received the way Naaman did. It enraged him, it infuriated him. Being shut up to Christ is not
a place that sinners want to be by nature. But what a wonderful
aspect of the effectual nature of the gospel, the way it's received,
As it is, in truth, the word of God. Not very many people,
when they hear the gospel, actually sit there and think, God is speaking
to me. That's the truth of it. And you
see how this is part of the point of this whole chapter, how the
gospel comes. It comes effectually. not in
vain, as verse one says. And it's effectual, and we'll
talk about that word. If you hear a gospel preacher,
you hear it as though it's just a man talking, then you haven't
heard it as it is in truth. That's what he's saying here.
If it's just somebody's opinion, And often it may be, but the
gospel's not. It's not anybody's opinion. If
they speak not according to the word of this prophecy, it's because
there's no light in them. But if they do, it's because
the light of God is in them, and it's not that man's opinion.
It's not some soapbox that he's on. It's the truth of God, and
you can verify that by the word of God. if they speak according
to this book. That's verifiable if the Lord
gives you understanding. And that's the right way to hear. The truth about gospel preaching
is that this is how God speaks to sinners. That's what Paul
says here. We're not saying that we're some
kind of oracle of God. That's the foolish, that's just
foolishness, that preachers are some kind of an oracle of God
that they open their mouths and, you know, the voice of God comes
out of their mouth. Some false religions consider
some men to be that. And that's blasphemy. That's
just simply, Blasphemy, but the text here is saying Plainly that
we preach the Word of God and that Word should be understood
and acted upon as it is in truth the Word of God If I'm saying
what God said then God is speaking to you not me If I got up here and just spoke
to you as me I and just told you my opinions about things
and told stories, which is what most so-called preachers do,
then that has nothing to do with God. That's worse than a waste
of time. But if I tell you what God said,
and I show you what God said, and we take it as the word of
God, then that's the truth. That's God speaking to sinners. Another way to say it is this,
I don't preach suggestions. I don't preach hints and opinions. I'm not preaching opinions because
I don't preach my stances on doctrinal issues. That's not
the gospel. Where do you stand on this, preacher? Usually, when they ask that,
it's something made up. They've concocted some theory
out of the scriptures, and they wanna know where you stand on
that. I'm not interested in that. My stand is that I'm not taking
a stand on that. I just wanna know what God says.
And I know this, so far, after I don't know how many years,
that what God says concerns his son. It doesn't concern, it doesn't
have anything to do with, you know, it's nothing to argue about. It's nothing to debate. It's
who Christ is. It's a revelation of who Christ
is and what he did for sinners. And how sinners are saved by
his righteousness and his precious blood. There's nothing to argue
about. There's nothing really to take
a stance on. You either believe him or you
don't. You either know him or you don't.
You either bow or you don't. So I'm not interested in that
and that's why what I say is not my opinion about things.
I preach the word of God because I preach Christ by his grace. Because his word concerns his
son. When God spoke from heaven, think
about this, God doesn't just go around speaking
from heaven to where people can hear his actual voice on earth,
but he did one time. And do you remember what he said? He said, this is my beloved son. Hear him. Hear him. And that word from glory stands
to this day. Hear him. When somebody stands
up and preaches the gospel, these words of God from heaven apply. This is my beloved son. Hear him. Hear him speak. Hear his word. Hear his gospel. Receive it as his gospel. Receive
it as his word and act accordingly. We should hear this proclamation
from heaven by God in our hearts as we settle into the church
pew to hear the gospel. This is my beloved son. Hear
him. Hear him. Don't play church.
Hear him. It's not me to preach. Ignore the man preaching
it. Don't receive it as the man speaking. If the man is speaking the gospel
of Christ, then this is God's beloved son. He hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his son. That's how sinners receive
the gospel when God sends it effectually. Effectually what most so-called
preachers preach can only be received as the word of men because
it is the word Scripture is very clear on that mark 7 6 He answered
and said unto them well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites
as it is written This people honoreth me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me How be it in vain do they worship
me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men? I? In contrast to that, here's the
testimony of the true preacher of the gospel. Verse nine of
that same text is this, for you remember,
brethren, our labor and travail, for laboring night and day because
we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto
you the gospel of God. That's in our text, actually.
in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9. He said, you remember our work? Well, you remember what we did,
what we were all about, laboring night and day, so that there'd be no excuse
for not hearing us. We preached unto you the gospel
of God, not the commandments of men. And Paul says we thank
God for this. Look at our text again. Verse
13, for this cause also thank we God, 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. It's
how you received it, but it's God that did it. So we thank
Him for it. Is that clear in the verse? He did that for us. So we thank
him for that. Verse four of our text. But as we were allowed, look
at it, it's on both ends. Paul says in verse four there
of chapter two, as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with
the gospel, even so we speak. The reason I'm preaching to you
is because God allowed me to be put in trust of the gospel.
So that's, we have to thank God for that. We have to thank God
for the ability to preach it, to know it, to preach it. but
also on your end, our text. He did that for you. He caused you to receive it as
his own very word. And so as it's preached and as
it's heard, it's God working effectually when the result is
faith. What a wonderful arrangement
this is. You ever think about what God's doing here? This is
not something we're doing, this is something God's doing. He
brought us here, he gave us the gospel, he revealed the truth
to us. He's arranged all of this, down to every detail. The reason we're in this building,
most of you know the story, but if I tell you the story, you'd
be amazed. All along the way, we've just sat here and said,
look what God did. And we sit here this morning
saying, look what God did. What an amazing arrangement. He's blessed me to preach. He's
blessed us to believe what is preached. Or else this is nothing. And it's transforming. Look at
verse 12. That you would walk worthy of
God who hath called you unto His kingdom. And glory, we walk,
and think of the simple power of this. By God's grace, we walk
suitable, that's what that word means, worthy and suitable to
God. That doesn't mean that we walk
measuring up to God's holiness. That means we walk before God
like he's God. It's suitable to the fact that
he's God. And so we walk before God and
you see how that goes right along with verse 13. And so we hear
God's gospel preached as though God himself were speaking to
us. If you hear this gospel, as it is in truth, the word of
God, as though God himself is speaking to you, and as Paul
said here, that's the truth of the matter, then you will walk
before God in a way that is suitable to his sovereignty, his infinite
love for you, his glory, his worthiness, and his grace. If
God, and we thank him for it, so he did it, if he causes you
to hear, hearing from Him and not men,
then you're gonna walk before Him as He is. You didn't hear
it if it doesn't change you. You didn't hear it and that's
first. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God
and without that faith, it's impossible to please God. Because
faith looks to Christ as our righteousness and not our own
words. You're not gonna please God in
your good works, in your living the Christian life, religion
likes to call it. You're gonna please God by looking
to his son as your righteousness. And that faith that looks to
him comes by hearing the word of God, not men. So you see how this all goes
together. The word effectual is one that
we use now and then when speaking of God and what he does, and
that's because he's God. It's just a word that goes along
with who he is. The word means to effect, with
an E, E-F-F-E-C-T, effect, to effect. When you affect something,
A-F-F-E-C-T, you've had an influence upon it. That's what religion
preaches. That God affects you. That he has an influence, you
know, he's trying to get you to do this, he's persuading you
and trying to get you, he wants you to. That's affect with an
A. You've had a hand in it. But
when you effect something, it means you did it. That's what
it means. It's that simple. It's the same
word translated worketh in Ephesians 1.11, listen to it there. In
whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. He did them. He did them the
way he wanted to do them. That's what that's saying. That's
effect. And that's the word in our text. Whatever you did was effective.
You accomplished it. And so you see why we use that
word when we're talking about God and what he does. That's
the word in our text. This is the confidence with which
we preach the gospel. I thank God, like Paul did here,
that that gospel has effectually worked in you. You can't hide
it. We're not to examine each other
to look for goodness or a measuring up for evidence of the fact that you're
better than other people, maybe, or things like that, comparing
you with other people. We're not to look to each other
for that. But I'll tell you this, The Lord said, by their fruits
you shall know them. You shall know them. And what he's saying here is,
not that, if you see how the word effectual is used here,
it's God did something, not you did something. The gospel works
effectually in you. It may be you doing it. But God
is the one that's effectual in it, if that makes sense. And with this confidence, we
preach the gospel. Turn with me to Isaiah 55. This
is familiar to you. But the more you see scripture
that's familiar to you from the vantage point of other scripture,
the more we're gonna learn, the more the light is gonna be shed
upon scripture by scripture, Isaiah 5510. Remember what we're
talking about now. The title of the message this
morning is the effectual word. Effectual means accomplished,
worked, done, finished. And here's how we preach the
gospel now. This is how God sends it, and it has an effect on how
we preach it. Isaiah 5510, for as the rain
cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,
but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, it maketh,
notice these things, it cometh, it maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, It shall
not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish, it shall
be effectual. It maketh, it maketh it bring
forth in bud, it gives seed to the sower, and it shall accomplish that
which I please. That's our text. How in the world
would I expound our text more clearly than that? This beautiful,
simple illustration that the Lord gives. My word going forth,
the gospel being preached is like the rain that falls from
heaven. You can't make it rain. God's
gonna have to give us this. He's gonna, what did Paul say?
He made me a preacher of the gospel. And He made you able to hear
it the right way as it is in truth. That's how the rain comes. It comes from God. And it has
an effect every time. It always does. It doesn't try. It maketh things happen. That's
His Word. It gives light. What does it
give? What does it cause? Life. Life
to spring forth. And it feeds people. It gives
bread to the ones that sow it. Bread to the eater. So shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return
unto me void. He's saying there about the rain.
He doesn't say it doesn't go back up. He says it don't go
back up before it waters the earth. And he said, my word does not
return unto me until it does what I sent it to do. That's
our text. It's effectual. There's a lot
of reasons to rejoice in that. Is there anybody that you love
that doesn't know God? You know, I've prayed real hard
for some people in my life, and I've known every time if it's
up to them, there's no hope. There just ain't no way. No way,
they hate it too much. But if it's up to God, then I'm
gonna ask him. I'm gonna ask him. Because his
word is effectual when he sends it that way. When he speaks,
when he says, let there be light, there's light. So I'm gonna pray
for it. I'm gonna ask him. I'm gonna
beg him. The thing which I please and
it shall prosper in the thing where to? I sent it. This is the effectual nature
of the gospel that Paul speaks of in our text. Does God send
his word to you in order to save you? Then you will be saved. Second Corinthians 4.6, for God
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The effectual nature of God's
voice is seen in the first creation. He spoke and it was done. He
worked it by the sound of his voice. He said, light be and light was.
That's how it is, Paul said, when he shines in a sinner's
heart. He gives the light of the knowledge of his glory in
the face of his son. Let there be light was an effectual
word from God. So is this word when God speaks
to a sinner's heart look unto me and be ye saved all the ends
of the earth For I'm God and there's none else He speaks that
word of power to your heart. You all look to him remember
Thomas The one who said let there be
light what did he say to Thomas be not faithless but believing There was light. There was light. Thomas bowed his face to the
ground and said, my Lord and my God. That's the effectual
word of the gospel. Does that give us a different
perspective on what's going on here now? If you love somebody
that needs to know Christ, you see the attitude with which we
come. One of worship, one of beseeching, One of prayer, my
house will be called a house of prayer. What's our prayer?
Lord, save us and save those that we love. He's able to effectually
do that. And we use this word effectual
quite a bit concerning God and what he did. As his gospel come
to you this morning in order to comfort your heart, that you
will be comforted. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and
you shall find rest unto your souls. Salvation is resting from
all of your vain works and bondage of the law, looking to Christ
for righteousness and peace with God. And that's still how peace
comes. As a believer, you need peace
in your heart from the troubles and trials and afflictions of
this world. It still comes the same way as
it did when you first met him by looking to him. Understanding that he holds you
in his almighty hand Understanding that he worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. Understanding that he doeth all
things well. Look to him that way. Knowing him. Resting in who he
is. Understanding that my rest My rest to this day when I lay
down at night by his grace is looking to him. The word itself is effectual. And the word tells of the effectual
God, the one who worketh all things after the counsel His own will think about this
with me pretty much in closing Kinda But what a thought The difference between The gospel
and all false gospels is this word effectual There's the God that tries and
there's the God that does There's the God that wants to
and there's the God that will In 2nd Timothy 3 Paul speaks
of false religious people and Describes them this way Traitors
heady high-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God Having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof Denying his
effectual nature and working That's what they're denying And
he says from such turn away don't have a thing to do with them
Don't have a thing to do with them God's eternal purposes are
effectual. Everything he wills is effectual. It effects. God does not purpose the salvation
of some and them not be saved. Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate. Whom he wanted to be saved, he
made it so that they're gonna be saved. He purposed every aspect, every
moment, every detail, every contingency, every situation in their life
to the end that they would be one day like his son. The purpose for Christ's coming
to this earth and being born of a woman made under the law
was that he might redeem them that are under the law. And this
was not in vain. He said in John 6 37, all that
the father giveth me shall come to me. That's effectual. In him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day." Christ's sacrifice on Calvary
is effectual. It gets the job done. It effects,
it works, it accomplishes. He said in John 10, 14, I am
the good shepherd and know my sheep and have none of mine.
As the father knoweth me, even so know I the father and I lay
down my life for the sheep. A few verses down in verse 25,
Jesus answered the Jews, and he said, I told you and you believe
not the works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness
of me, but you believe not because you are not of my sheep, as I
said unto you, my sheep hear my voice. That's effectual. That's what Paul said, the word,
the gospel worked effectually in you. You heard with ears that
only he can give. The hearing ear and the seeing
eye both come from the Lord, both physical and spiritual. I know them and they follow me
and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. That's an effect of God's love. and sending his gospel to you.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." And as our text
shows, the gospel call is effectual. Consider what we just read. My
sheep hear my voice and they follow me. There's no uncertainty
about that. There's no hoping and wishing
and waiting. It takes the effectual working
of God in you to bring about faith and salvation because there's
nothing effectual about you. You're not gonna effect anything.
You're without strength, without power, without hope, without
God in this world. It takes his effectual working. John 6, 43, Jesus therefore answered
and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves, no man can
come to me. You're not gonna get it done.
You're not gonna work it. You're not gonna effect it. Except the Father which hath
sent me, draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
If the Father draws you to his Son, you're saved eternally. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall all be taught of God, every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. That's not everybody that hears
the gospel. That's everybody that hears from God. Did you
hear that? Did you see that there? That
if you have learned of the Father, if you receive the gospel effectually,
as it is the very word of God now, You're coming to Christ. Everybody that hears like that,
he said, comes to me. By God's effectual working, not
yours. In that passage right there that
I just read, how does God draw sinners? How does he draw them? Well, it says they hear. He's got to draw them. How does
he do it? They hear and they learn. They're taught of God. What does
God teach sinners? The result of them hearing, learning,
and being taught of God is what? They come to Christ. That's all God teaches. That's
everything that God has to say to you. Come to Christ. We come to him and I pray God
make it happen. It doesn't happen any other way. No man can, but God does. And then by his grace we do,
by his powerful, effectual grace, through the effectual word, God makes it happen. And it doesn't
happen any other way. And so we cry to him, don't we?
Or make it happen. Make it happen. Let's pray.