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Rom 10:17
‘Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the word of Christ’
Living
faith has its roots in what God has said or, rather, what He’s saying. When we primarily think of what constitutes the
‘Word of God’ our minds tend to think about the current usage of that phrase within the churches we attend where
the phrase is a label employed to describe the Bible. However, it’s such a rare occurrence within the Biblical record
of ‘word’ referring to what’s written, that we need to grasp afresh the Biblical concept behind that phrase.
When the Bible refers to the ‘Word of God’, it’s normally not the written but the spoken, anointed
and living word of God that it’s referring to. It’s that word that has the breath of God upon it (the breath being
the life that gives power to the thought behind the speech).
Unfortunately, we’ve so conformed the usage of
the phrase to refer to what is recorded in Scripture, that we often fail to grasp the force of the words we read, interpreting
sentences and passages according to our pre-conceived belief, imposing meaning upon them that’s a far cry from what
the original authors intended.
If we do pull verses randomly from the Bible (thinking that the ‘Word’
is Scripture) and make ourselves believe them for our own situation, this is not faith. The verse that we began this section
with rightly says that faith begins by the word of Christ (or ‘Word of God’ in some versions) but if we begin
with a wrong understanding of what that word is, then we shall arrive at a ‘faith’ that’s also the wrong
item.
There are a number of Bible versions around that, in the introduction, say such things as
‘When
you’re feeling lonely read (such and such a verse)’
but that may not be God’s word to you. Though
the passage cited may have much to say to the lonely and broken-hearted, it may not be the specific word that God wants to
speak to you so, accepting the one, we exclude the other. Scripture that we read can also be as dead as the dodo, with no
anointing of the Spirit upon the words, but we often struggle to extract some grain of hope from it to apply to our situations
and so gain comfort.
Yet, on the other hand, when God anoints a written word and brings it alive by His Spirit, we
have the ability to receive that word. Instead of the words being dead records of God’s previous dealings with men and
women, they become living and active words that make you sit up and take notice.
I know that what I’m about
to write will be widely misunderstood, but I shall write it just the same. The Bible in itself is of no use to us unless it
is interpreted by the Spirit. That is, unless the Holy Spirit of God is active along with the word. Many have promoted a Bible
that has its own inbuilt anointing, rather than see the testimony of Scripture proclaim that it’s authoritative and
leave it there without going one step further and too far.
God never intended that we should magically rely upon reading
the Bible for God’s word to us in the anointing of the Holy Spirit - but that we should rely upon Him to speak to us
through whichever channel that He desires to use (even the odd donkey - Numbers 22:28-30 - and it was a pretty odd donkey).
The Bible is inherently authoritative but not inherently anointed. When we’re looking at a ‘Word’
from God that we can react in faith to then we’re looking for no dead written word but a living one that comes directly
from the mouth of God and which is the specific word for the situation that we find ourselves in.
In Mathew 4:1-11,
we see Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Instead of using any random Scripture from the Bible, He replied
using the right Scripture for the right occasion. Even though He was God in human form, He didn’t use His divinity to
rebuke satan but rebuked him in His humanity. When He perceived the word that God the Father was speaking in to the situation,
He used that anointed, living Word from God that pierces soul and spirit (Heb 4:12).
We know that the city of Jerusalem
was defeated by invading armies because of the nation’s sin against God. But part of the reason why they never listened
to the prophets that came to them speaking the word of God was that the false prophets of Jerusalem prophesied what the people
wanted to hear - it stimulated Israel’s ego to hear from their mouths how much God loved them, was caring for them and
was desiring to bless them by pushing back the armies that were coming against them. But what they effectively did was to
hide Israel’s sin behind words that were deceptive (Lam 2:14).
The true prophets, on the other hand, told the
people what they needed to hear under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but it cost their hearers too much - it cut them
like a sword and they were more eager to listen to those who even managed to speak in Scriptural language (Ezek 33:23-24,
Jer 8:11).
Indeed, if any of the Lord’s people should ever wrongly perceive that they’re being beset by
the evil one, they could quite easily justify themselves in believing from Scripture that God’s anointed prophet is
opposing God’s work by claiming that the opposition being experienced is none other than the hand of God Himself and
that it’s their own actions which are the work of the evil one - even though it could also be seen correctly that what’s
being said is God trying to make His people see that their sin is undermining what He’s wanting to do.
Such
was the case in Jerusalem - the false prophets cried ‘Peace’ on account of the covenant while the true ones shouted
‘war’ on account of that very same covenant! So, shouting what’s Scriptural is not sufficient - we need
to know which verse applies to us, and we can only know that by listening to the Word that’s being spoken at that time
by God.
In two verses in Proverbs that sit side by side, we get a good understanding of this need to hear directly
from God. In Prov 26:4, we’re told that we shouldn’t answer a fool according to his folly (foolishness) but in
Prov 26:5 we’re told that we should! The Bible’s certainly not contradicting itself here as in different situations
we’ll follow the advice of the one above the other, but we must know which applies - and that cannot be ascertained
by grabbing one at random, but by hearing directly from the mouth of God.
When I first read the Book of Job, very
many years ago, I was struck by the condemnation that Job’s comforters received at the hand of God. When I read what
they had to say to their ‘friend’ all I could see was good advice and spiritual truth that was confirmed in other
parts of the Bible and the question came to me as to why God so critically rebuked them for that they’d said.
But,
although his comforters spoke a lot of truth, they wrongly applied it to Job’s situation - in fact, they were making
it seem as if Job’s situation had come about because of some hidden sin that he was unwilling to confess and be rid
of.
While some plights of mankind may be a result of sin (like ‘cause and effect’), Job’s case was
different. In a very real sense, Job was standing against satan to achieve victory over him (even though he was quite oblivious
to it) and show to all who are to follow in later generations that a man may love God for who He is rather than for what he
can get out of Him.
Therefore, Job’s comforters receive condemnation from God - not because they’re speaking
lies but because they’re misrepresenting the will of God in the situation that Job finds himself in (we shall be looking
at a passage from Job in a later section and dealing with the truth therein). Even though the speaker is condemned for the
advice given, the condemnation is based upon wrong application and not because it’s inherently inaccurate.
One
further point which comes as a consequence of our discussion here - it’s not enough to preach a Scriptural sermon if
it’s not what God wants to say at that particular time. Every preacher who stands up to share ‘God’s Word’
must be concerned not just to speak what’s in accordance with Scripture, but that which is also what He’s saying
to his hearers at that specific point in time.
Summarising, then, the ‘Word of God’ should be defined
as what God wants to convey to someone at a specific moment in time. Receiving that living and active word of God is the first
step before we can react in faith.-LEE SMITH
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