The Baptist Pillar © Brandon Bible Baptist Church 1992-Present www.baptistpillar.com
"...The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
I Timothy 3:15
The Effectual Word
William Byers
Bearing Precious Seed Missionary
2010 Williams St. Sturgis, SD 57785
For the Bible believing Christian it is clear that the Bible is the Word of God. Among real believers this does not need to be reestablished. We know the effect that it had in our lives when we first heard it. We felt the conviction of sin and know the peace that swept over us as we believed the Word, repented of our sin, and trusted Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour.
If we are more mature in the Lord today we know that the Word brought us to this
point, but often we do not understand how. We know that we struggle with sin and
that there is joy in attending church and being in the Word of God. We know that
we get along better and grow more consistently if we are in fellowship with other
believers. We often look into our past with thanksgiving for the changes that came
to our lives. But how did it happen.
Our Handbook
Let me begin by saying that the Bible is the handbook that comes with the crown of
God's creation, man.
Man was not created to function without his Creator's influence and direction in
his life. That is part of what is wrong with society today, man is trying to be happy
and successful without the Lord and His Word in their lives. They haven't, nor will
they ever, invent a toy or product that will satisfy man and fill that empty spot
down inside him. Only the Lord can do that and He does it through the Word of God.
Life without the Word of God is like a man owning a Cadillac but not knowing it has an engine. He pushes it everywhere he goes, he plays with all the buttons until something half-way works, and he thinks he has found the secret. No, my friend, all the outward appearance, the physical capabilities, and the attention that it draws are not the answer. Those things are just a hint of what it's capable of.
So it is with mankind when, without the Lord and His Word in our lives, we find a
little happiness in what we can make work but are still far from our potential without
the Lord.
From our Omniscient God
Explaining the working of the Word must begin by saying that the God who gave the Word is "Omniscient." That means that He knows everything. Did it ever occur to you that nothing ever occurs to God? That's right, nothing ever catches God by surprise. He knows all of the actual, as well as all of the possible. He knows where every decision that we are capable of making will take us.
Some who do not take time to study their Bibles think the difference between the
Old Testament and the New is that God came up with another idea. As if He had not
thought it through and changed His mind on the plan of salvation. That's foolish.
The Old Testament laid the foundation for the New. The need of salvation was clearly
laid out in the Old Testament through the law. The New Testament see it fulfilled
in Christ, who bore the curse of the law for us. Our Omniscient Lord always knows
just what He is doing and is always right. His ways are above our ways. The most
learned men are intellectual babes compared to Him.
God know you and I better that we know ourselves. He understands every thing about
us. The things that confuse us about ourselves, He understands. For that reason He
has given us an "owner's manual," in the Bible, so that He can reveal to us things
that we could not otherwise know.
Years ago, my father-in-law purchased a Cadillac. It was a beauty. They took it for a ride, and when they stopped they put on the emergency brake. When they were ready to go home they could not find the brake release. They looked everywhere and finally decided to see if the paperwork in the glove box said anything about it. Surprise, surprise, the "owner's manual" said that when you start the engine and put the car in gear, the emergency brake is automatically released. That's why we need an "owner's manual," we won't go anywhere with the brake on.
God wants to give all the knowledge that we need to live happy productive lives for
Him. It is of utmost importance that we read the Word of God daily.
His Revelation
of the Word
God, out of His Omniscient, gave us a revelation. A revelation speaks of telling
us something that we could not possibly know otherwise. This is what the Word of
God does.
It tells of His Omniscient: His work, His nature, our sinful state (including cause
and effect), our accountability to Him and how to be ready, our duties to both God
and man, our souls immortality, judgment, eternity, about heaven and hell, eternal
life, eternal death, and about His mercy and redemption through Jesus Christ His
Son. The world know nothing of these things that to the believer should be common
place. Believers have a treasure in the Word of God that the would knows nothing
about.
The last book in the Bible, named the book of Revelation, tells us many things yet
to come; things that we accept by faith. These thing deal with what we call the rapture,
the outpouring of the wrath of God on the nations of the earth and all unbelievers,
the literal physical second coming of Jesus Christ to reign for one thousand years,
and finally a little bit of a picture of heaven.
Many things from the Word of God, when they were written had to be accepted by faith by that generation. Many of these things from the Word have already come to pass but many more have yet to happen. Unbelievers have always scoffed at these promises but we, as believers, accept theses coming events by faith.
They will happen, and it will be on schedule just as fulfilled prophecies of the past have.