The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
January 25, 2009
In
This Issue:
The
Power of God's Word
by
Steve Klein
"Ezra
Served Jehovah"
by
Patrick Farish
The Power of God's Word
The very first sentence of the Bible makes the following claim: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." How did He do it? What unfathomable power does God possess that would enable Him to create this world and all that is in it? The Bible answer is that the power is in His word. God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God merely spoke everything into existence (cf. John 1:1-3). "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible" (Hebrews 11:3). Not only did God create everything by His word, but it is also His word that sustains the creation. Hebrews 1:3 states that He is "upholding all things by the word of His power."
God's word is so powerful that it will accomplish whatever He pleases. In Isaiah 55:11 God says, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Just think about that. The word of God can and will accomplish whatever He wants it to accomplish!
Among the many amazing facts about God's powerful word, consider the following:
-
It is eternal. Every material thing in existence will one day be destroyed, but God's word will endure eternally. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever" (1 Peter 1:24-25). Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away" (Mark 13:31).
-
It can give you a new and everlasting life. Christians have "been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever" (1 Peter 1:23).
-
It cannot be destroyed, and yet it will destroy the heavens and the earth. In 2 Peter 3:5-7, Peter is writing about those who mock the promises of God's word concerning the second coming and the destruction of the world. He says, "For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." The word that caused the earth to be destroyed by water in the days of Noah is the same powerful word that will destroy the earth in fire at the end of time!
-
It can tell what is inside you. Like a spiritual x-ray, MRI or CAT scan, God's word can see deep inside of us. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
-
It can save your soul. It does not matter how filled your life is with filth and wickedness, God's word has the power to save you. "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21).
There are many things that we as mere men do not have the power to do. We are limited not only by time and space, by our humanity and mortality, but also by the restraints that others sometimes place on us. But friend listen to the apostle Paul; we may be limited and restricted "even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained" (2 Timothy 2:9). God's word is powerful and it is not chained! It can change your life! It can save your soul! It can enable you to live forever! Receive it with meekness.
-- Steve Klein
In the long ago, Ezra served Jehovah. One of the books of the Old Testament bears his name; and in it he is called "a ready scribe in the law of Moses" (7:6).
There are many valuable lessons we could learn from Ezra; but our attention is caught by this statement, "For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances" (Ezra 7:10).
The Bible reveals the importance of the heart, saying "out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23), and "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34). The things man does and says come from his heart. It is essential that the one who would please God "keep (his) heart with all diligence"; and Jesus indicates that we are able to do that, by saying lay up treasure in heaven, not on earth, "for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also" (Matthew 6:21).
Ezra is a splendid example of one properly "keep(ing his) heart". He did not drift along aimlessly, hoping everything would turn out right but making no particular effort to cause it to happen. He, rather, "set his heart", and we see people doing that even today.
Some want to excel in athletics, so they deny themselves, and demand of themselves, unmercifully: they have set their heart. Some want to be doctors, or lawyers, and they spend great portions of their youthful life in grinding study, and even go deeply in debt to finance such: they have set their heart. The pianist spends long and tedious hours at the keyboard, hours others are spending in leisure: why? The "heart" has been "set".
The passion of Ezra was, "the law of Jehovah". So, he wanted to know it and live it and share it with others: not lackadaisically but intensely, for "Ezra had set his heart".
"Ezra had set his heart to seek the law', and such a determination will bring one to "meditate day and night" on that law, as it did the blessed man of the first Psalm; and to say, "Oh how love I thy law'! It is my meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97).
"Ezra had set his heart ... to do' the law of Jehovah, and this is an enormously significant commitment. Jesus made knowing the truth dependent on determining to do the truth, when He said "If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from myself" (John 7:17, consult Matthew 5:6). Ezra's determination to DO the law of Jehovah gave wings to his seeking that law.
"Ezra had set his heart . . . to teach" the law of Jehovah also; and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah testify to the faithful accomplishment of his determination. The fact that Ezra had set his heart, not merely to teach but to teach the law of Jehovah, would give him stability when the storms of public opinion beat against him. His should be the determination of EYERYONE who would speak to another of Jesus; it was echoed by Paul. Galatians 1:10: "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ".
People try to evade responsibility by saying "it is in the stars", or "the devil made me do it"; but Ezra knew better. To accomplish the thing that was worthwhile, Ezra "set his heart"; and so must we.
-- Patrick Farish