 |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
-20-
God Hath Spoken
It is not our affair whether people will receive the Word of God, or whether they will refuse it. It was not the business of the prophet, and it is not our business. The result of our preaching is in the hands of God. Our responsibility is to preach "Thus saith the Lord." We are called only to be a faithful people.
Consider the minor prophet Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 2. "And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it." Here God commands his servant to write down the vision. Now, the phrase, "Thus saith the Lord" occurs not less than 3800 times in the Old Testament. It is in truth the Word of God.
There is a multitude of passages we might examine, but we can only look at a few.
In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 1, in the New Testament, the angel tells Joseph what the child of Mary is to be called. Note verses 21-23: "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
These words, "Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet," reveal to us that the words the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah (chapter 7, verse 14) He now fulfilled.
In I Corinthians chapter 11, note verse 23. The apostle Paul writes, "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread..." and he continues with his dissertation. The apostle did not fabricate his message, but says, "I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you."
Note I Corinthians chapter 15, beginning at verse 1. The apostle writes, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye believed in vain [i.e. "for nothing"].
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (vs. 1-4). The apostle did not write according to his whims. He did not write to be cute, or inventive: he wrote what he had received.
In Galatians chapter 1, note verses 11-12. "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." The apostle Paul tells us that Christ has given His Church pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11), but he received the knowledge of the gospel by revelation.
Let us consider one more passage, I Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 13. "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." It is the testimony of Paul that these people did not receive what was preached as if it was the word of men, and according to their opinion, but they received it as the word of God which in truth it is.