The Word of God

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 23rd of March, 2025, the third Sunday in Lent.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, today is our third Sunday in this year’s season of Lent, commemorating the 40 days and 40 nights Jesus spent in the wilderness praying, fasting, and being tempted by the devil.  It is a time for us to also be more prayerful, and to turn our focus inward to see if we are living as God wants us to live.

Jesus gave His all for us.  He even laid down His earthly, mortal life for us, that we could be redeemed and seen as sinless when we stand before God.  What have we given up for Him?  What will we give up?  What can we give up?

If nothing more, I would suggest we give more of our time - in worship, in prayer, and in service.  For many, time is their most precious resource.  For others, time is all they have left to give.  Let’s spend more time this Lenten season in renewing and growing our relationship with our Lord Jesus, spending more time with Him and our Father God.

Time is an interesting commodity.  We’ve developed many “time saving” devices and schemes to give us more time to do other things.  But for some reason there just never seems to be enough time to do all we want or need to do.

If we apply this trend of thinking to Jesus, it may seem that while He had less things to do in a day, He still had less time to do them.  He didn’t have an eight-hour job, nor countless meetings, nor doctor’s or dentist’s appointments, or any of the issues that fill our days.  But then again, anywhere He went He had to walk, which takes more time to get where you’re going.  I bet He spent a lot of time praying to His Father and teaching His followers during those walks.  Oh, and He knew His time to accomplish His Father’s will was short, very short.

And so Jesus walked.  He walked from city to city, village to village, preaching the word of God, accompanied by the twelve and usually some women, including Mary Magdalene.  And everywhere He went, people would gather around Him, some wanting to be healed, some wishing just to hear His word - the word of God.

Please listen and follow as the Apostle Luke reports on one such visit to a city, and the message Jesus gave there about God’s word.  This comes from the 8th chapter of Luke’s Gospel account, verses 4 through 15, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

4 When a large crowd had gathered together and people were coming to Him from every city, He told this parable: 5 "A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on a rock. And as soon as it sprang up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 Yet some fell among thorns. And the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 And other seed fell on good ground and sprang up and yielded a hundred times the amount sown."

When He had said these things, He cried out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

9 His disciples asked Him, "What might this parable mean?" 10 He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but to others they are in parables, so that

'seeing they may not see,

and hearing they may not understand.'

11 "Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are those who hear. Then comes the devil, who takes away the word from their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root, for they believe for a while, then in the time of temptation fall away. 14 That which fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the seed on the good ground are those who, having heard the word, keep it in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience."

--Luke 8:4-15 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your word.  Thank You for sharing with us the insights of the men and women You inspired over the ages.  And thank You so much for all the instructions, warnings, and examples You provided through them and that are contained within our Bible.  That all of this has been maintained and alive for thousands of years just so we can have it today is only possible through You and Your hand at work.  Sometimes, Father, we do find it too easy to just try to get by with what the world tells us rather than immerse ourselves in Your word to learn more about You and heaven, and to build a closer relationship with our Lord Jesus.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  Inspire us through Your Spirit to spend more time in Your word.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, our worship, and our service.  And please keep us healthy and safe through these trying time.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   

And now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer.  Amen.

The source and the date of the article is unknown, but I saw it reported that of the 800,000 words in the English language, 300,000 of them are technical terms.  It went on to say that the average person knows 10,000 words and uses 5,000 in everyday speech and communications, while an average journalist knows 15,000 words and uses 10,000.

Of those 5,000 words we use in our normal conversations, how many help spread the word of God?  How many speak of the wonders of Jesus, of the joy in knowing Him as our friend and Savior?  How many times do we even talk with our friends and other known believers about our Lord and what He has done for us?  How often do we ask Him for help, or praise Him for the help He has given?  How often do we glorify His name, even when we’re all alone?  Let’s use our words more wisely, and spend more of them sharing our Lord with others.

Our scripture reading relates one of the more familiar stories Jesus shared with the people, and one that is sometimes more difficult to understand until He explains it to us.  This is the Parable of the Sower, which we could easily also call the parable of God’s word.

Jesus tells of a farmer sowing his seed.  Some fall by the wayside as he walks and throws them out, some in the rocks, and some among the thorns.  None of these result in a healthy crop.  Only the seed that made it to good, fertile soil sprouted and grew, producing a hundredfold yield.

We’re not told how the people reacted, but we do know His disciples were clearly confused by this parable.  “What do You mean?”, they asked.  “It’s all about the word of God”, He explained.

The seed that fell on the path represents God’s word that everyone can hear, but the devil keeps many from holding it in their hearts so they won’t be saved.  The seed that fell in the rocks are those folks who, when they hear the word, are filled with joy, but the word doesn’t take root, they believe for only a while but then quickly fall prey to temptation and forget what they heard.  And what fell in the thorns are the folks who, after hearing the word, go back into the world and live as the world lives, paying no heed to the word.  In these cases, the word produces no positive results.  But God’s word never returns empty, for the seed that falls on good ground - on those souls who keep the word and hold it in their hearts and cherish the message His word brings - they share it with others, and so the word grows and multiplies and more people hear it.

Let’s hear what God Himself says about His word, as spoken through His prophet Isaiah, in the 55th chapter, verses 10 through 13 of the book of Isaiah…

10 For as the rain comes down,

and the snow from heaven,

and do not return there

but water the earth

and make it bring forth and bud

that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11 so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

it shall not return to Me void,

but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

12 For you shall go out with joy,

and be led out with peace;

the mountains and the hills

shall break forth into singing before you,

and all the trees of the field

shall clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree,

and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;

and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,

for an everlasting sign

that shall not be cut off.

--Isaiah 55:10-13 (MEV)

The rain and the snows fall from heaven and don’t return there, but provide nourishment to the earth and its inhabitants.  So it is with God’s word.  It does not return to Him, but instead provides spiritual nourishment for those who will hear and heed it.  God’s word will accomplish what He intends for it and sent it to do.  His word can bring us joy and comfort and peace, if we just hold it in our hearts.  And it can multiply a hundredfold if we share it with others, spreading it around as we go, sowing the seed.

I’d like to leave you with one more note about God’s word, and this comes from the opening of the Apostle John’s Gospel.  From the first 5 verses and verse 14 of the first chapter of John’s account of Jesus’ life and ministry…

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

--John 1:1-5; 14 (MEV)

Jesus is God’s Word.  God spoke and the universe came into being.  Jesus, with God, created order out of chaos.  He gave life to the world; He gave light to the world.  Jesus shines His light into our darkness, showing us the truth and the way.  And the darkness will never overcome it.

Let’s be good earth, Family.  Let’s allow God’s word to take root in our hearts, spout in the light of Jesus, and grow within us.  But let’s not keep it inside, instead sharing it everywhere we go, glorifying God, letting His word multiply and spread.

Jesus is God’s Word!  Share Him with the world.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who will come again to judge us all.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for Your word, and Your Word.  Thank You for preserving Your word for us to read and learn and live by today.  But Father, we struggle to make the time to spend in Your word.  Too often life gets in our way, or at least that’s an excuse we use.  Sometimes we have trouble understanding what we read and don’t want to ask for help.  Please, loving Father, forgive us for not cherishing Your word.  Please help us take full advantage of this wonderful gift.

Strengthen us, Father, to reach out to others and show them Your love by giving of ourselves in their service, in Your service, just as Jesus did.  And please help us share Your Word, our Lord Jesus, with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  Help us pave the way for Your Spirit to do His work on them.

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what comes our way.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You are our Father God’s Word.  You came from heaven and You did not return until You had accomplished His will.  You gave Your all for us, asking only that we believe in You as God’s Son and accept You as our Lord.  But Jesus, we know that we don’t always behave in a way that pleases You.  We don’t always follow Your example or learn from Your teachings.  We can easily let the demands of life get in the way of strengthening our relationship with You.  Please forgive us our failures, Lord.  Keep reminding us to spend more time with You.

Holy Spirit, please help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing God’s love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us the deeds to bring more followers to Jesus.

And Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.