Living Stones – Friday, October 13, 2017
Make the word profitable
Hebrews 4:2
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Many today attend church to get a “word.” People flock popular ministries or show up to hear visiting famous preachers expecting a word. If people hear that a certain preacher has a prophetic gift they show up in numbers because they always wanted to know what is the will of God for their lives and maybe this time they would get that “word.”
This verse in Hebrews chapter 2 make it very clear that, a word – no matter how great, or how powerful, or how dramatic, is completely useless unless the hearer, listens, and integrates that word into their lives. The children of Israel are being used as an example of this because those desert wanderers were left out there for a long time because they didn’t act properly on God’s word to them.
In the Parable of the Sower – Matthew 13 – we see that there are three kinds of hearers described by Jesus. Each one of us who has been around church for a while has heard some good preaching in our time. Some have responded to the word heard at the moment in time. But there has been no integration of this word in your life over time. Jesus makes the point that there is one type of seed but three types of soil. What grows is not a function of the seed, it’s a function of the soil.
No matter how much good word we have heard/received we could still miss the promise of God because the promise is not premised on merely hearing, the promise is premised on us taking action on that word and integrating what we have heard into our lives.
We need to hear eagerly (think of the soil again), then to believe the promises of God, says William Barclay, the promises of God are not merely beautiful pieces of literature (and I add or good oratory); they are promises on which a [person] is meant to stake their lives and to dominate their action.
If we are just hearers of the word but not doers also (James 1:22) the word is of no value to us, whether that is a word of scripture, or a word directed at us.
What is it then that makes the word we hear of value to us? What makes the word we hear profitable to us? The thing that makes the word profitable is faith. The writer here says that the children of Israel failed to combine the word they received with faith.
To exercise faith, you first need to have the word. Faith cannot be mixed with the Word unless you hear the Word. That word may not necessarily come in church on Sunday morning during the preaching. It may often come in the midst of your circumstances and unless you are prepared to hear it and respond to it nothing changes.
Faith is both developed and proven in real life as we grapple with the challenges, conflicts and our calling; as we face difficulties, and sometimes defeat and death. That is where faith is developed. Faith is not developed sitting down comfortably in church singing new songs, faith is not developed in the easy circumstances of the honeymoon (though these are all aspects of our faith) faith is developed as they say “when the rubber hits the road”
It is then that faith, mixed with the word, that brings change and transformation. Faith to the word is like fuel to a fire.
Some may argue that if God said it, He would do it, I don’t need to do anything. For those, here is a little counsel from Paul’s advice to young Timothy. It is clear that Timothy had received a word of prophecy for his life and ministry. Paul urged him that, on the basis of the prophecy, he should fight, “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,” (1 Timothy 1:18).
Whatever word you have heard combine it with faith and fight until it comes to pass.
Think on these things:
- Do you expect to actually experience the promises of scripture in your life?
- How have your day to day experiences affected your faith?
- Do you mix the word with faith?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would be doers of the word and not just hearers.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
