I. 1 Thess. 2:13: "For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us the word of the message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe."
1. For what did the apostle thank God?
2. With what does he contrast the word of God?
3. How much difference is there between the word of God and the word of man?
4. What does the word of God do?
5. Upon what condition does it work?
6. Does it make any difference how we receive the word?
II. Isa. 55:8-11: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 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, and giveth 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 that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."
1. What are words intended to convey?
2. How much difference is there between God's thoughts and man's thoughts?
3. How much difference, then, will there be between God's word and man's word?
4. What definite results are produced by rain and snow?
5. What comparison is made between these agencies and God's word?
6. How must the word be received in order that it may accomplish such results?
III. Heb. 4:12: "For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart."
1. What characteristics of God's word are here mentioned?
2. Are these true of man's words? Show the difference.
IV. John 1:1-4: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that hath been made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men."
1. Who is meant by the Word?
2. Why is He called the Word?
3. What is found in Him?
NOTES.
1. The apostle thanked God that the brethren had received the word of the message that he bore as the word of God, because received as the word of God it would help them by working effectually in them. We may not understand by this that the word of men accepted as the word of God will work effectually, for it will not. Neither will the word of God received as the word of men benefit any more than the word of men. But the word of God accepted as the word of God works mightily and effectually; it must, in order to work, be "mixed with faith." Heb. 4:2. The difference then amounts to the difference between the Infinite and finite, between God and man. Man's word is no greater than the power behind it; God's is as great as the power behind it, which is omnipotence. See Ps. 146:3-6; Isa. 26:4; 1 Cor. 1:25. The "message" which Paul preached was the gospel, which is "the power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16), and this power is the all-power in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18), and this gospel is but another name for the word of God (1 Peter 1:25).
2. Words are designed to convey thoughts. Man puts his thoughts into words, and his fellowman can read, study, and understand them, can even go beyond his meaning. But not so with God's thoughts as expressed in his word. God's words contain a depth of meaning which only his Spirit can reveal to us (1 Cor. 2:11, 12), and for this purpose God gave the Spirit (John 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:10). And as the rain and snow are sent to water and fructify the earth and cause it to bring forth, so God's word is sent to bring salvation to his people and to bring forth fruit in them (see Acts 13:26; Isa. 44:3, 4; Deut. 32:2); and thus it will do for all who receive it (James 1:21; Acts 20:32). No wonder as David contemplated God's word and works, he said, "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!" Ps. 139:17; 119:97.
3. Four characteristics are given in Heb. 4:12 of the word of God. It is (a) living, (b) powerful, (c) sharp, piercing, or penetrating, (d) and discerning, able to judge or discriminate. The words of God have life as an essential element; they are spirit and life (John 6:63). God is the Source of all life. As he has life in himself, so has he given to Christ to have life in himself. John 5:26. And as men saw Christ every day and yet knew him no more than a man, so they read and hear his word, and know it only for the words of men. But as to them that believed in Jesus he was the power of God and the wisdom of God, so to them that believe God's word it is spirit and life.
4. Christ is the word of God. John 1:1-3; Rev. 19:11-13. He is called this because through him all of God's word was given to men (1 Cor. 8:6; Rev. 1:1), and, in him was the living exemplified in the character of that word. "As a man thinketh so is he." His words come from his thoughts, and his words reveal his character. Thus is God's character revealed in his word and exemplified in Christ. John 14:9, 10. As illustrative of Christ being the Word take the following: "In Abyssinia there is an officer named Kal Hatze, the word or voice of the king, who stands always upon the steps of the throne, at the side of a lattice window, where there is a hole covered on the inside with a curtain of green taffeta. Behind this curtain the king sits, and speaks through the aperture to the Kal Hatze, who communicates his commands to the officers, judges, and attendants." —Bruce's Travels. Thus through Christ comes the word of the Father to us, and not only his word, but his character and life. And all this is to us personally. John 3:16; Rev. 22:17; Rom. 14:12.