THE WORD OF GOD

J. D. Gray

Luke 12: 54–59; 8: 5–15; 2 Kings 5: 1–6, 8–11, 13, 14; 1 Peter 1: 22–25; 2: 1–3; Hebrews 4: 11–13

I want to say something with the Lord’s help about the word of God, how it becomes an instrument for us which leads to our blessing. This scripture has registered itself with me, particularly this sentence, “how is it then that ye do not discern this time?” The Lord is adapting the word to meet His audience. He says, in speaking to the Jewish nation, “Woe unto you, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, but your fathers killed them”. Luke 11: 47. He is desiring to arrest them from the pathway in which they were; He uses this very homely illustration of forecasting the weather. It says, “When ye see a cloud rising out of the west, straightway ye say, A shower is coming ... And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat ... Hypocrites”. How incisive the divine word is for all of us. The Lord discerns the state of their soul, and in these persons to whom He is speaking there is a hypocritical state. I understand that to mean that they were deceived, and willing to be deceived. What a state they were in! So they were unable to discern the time that was available to them; for the Jew it was the presentation of the Messiah; they were not able to discern that.

Also the Lord shows that it was not fixed yet. At the present time things are not fixed, there is still time for reconciliation. It says here, “For as thou goest with thine adverse party before a magistrate, strive in the way to be reconciled with him”. The adverse party in this scripture is God; there is an opportunity to be reconciled with God for those who are listening to the Lord’s word. There is no need for them to be cast into prison. The Lord Jesus is seeking to arrest them, in the day of grace there is opportunity. The Lord would encourage us not to leave things till the judgment-seat of the Christ; I am speaking of matters in the testimony, matters that affect me personally or you personally; there is time to settle them with the Lord, or with the saints, the time is now. It says, “as thou goest with thine adverse party”. Every man is on the way with God to the ultimate, that is to the judgment; every man is on the way to the Judge; every believer is on the way to the judgment-seat. The judgment-seat does not involve condemnation, but it may involve adjustment. The present time is a time of change, you can change your state, you can change these matters that affect you; I can change matters that affect me. It is a time of reconciliation, both Godward and manward. Why do I

not discern this time? How testing that is; testing for all of us in this room—“how is it then that ye do not discern this time?” I leave this word with you. The Lord would use it to exercise you, and to exercise me.

How is it? There is a state in my soul which could come about through allowing my heart to be deceived, so that I do not discern where the Lord is, but that state need not continue. The Spirit of God is available to us through self-judgment. The Lord is saying that there is no need to wait till the judgment-seat, you are on the way, the way of grace. How good it is to make use of grace; grace in my heart, grace in your heart, so that it brings us round to the confession of our sins. The grace of God carries with it salvation for all men; it brings us round to the confession of our sins. A good line to resolve matters is the confession of our sins. Leave the other party to their matters, confess your own sins; that is what the Lord would say to me and say to you; be reconciled both Godward and manward.

In Luke 8, what I had in mind was that the Lord sows the word, the seed. It can only produce of its kind. The seed falls into our hearts, and it finds certain conditions in them. I am not speaking about this in an absolute way as to eternal loss and eternal gain, but morally, it finds certain conditions. It finds turmoil by the wayside, carelessness, casualness. It finds shallowness in the rocky places where there is an element of joy in my heart receiving the word, but I am not prepared to work it out through my conscience; my conscience is unaffected. It finds a state of soul choked by other means, affairs of this life whatever they may be, that produces nothing. It finds the good ground. I would appeal to all of us that is our responsibility, it is not the Lord’s responsibility. The Lord in that sense is not responsible for the condition of your soul and my soul. I and you are responsible for the conditions of our soul, that is the soil. The Lord sows the seed, the word of God is the seed. How precious to be within an area

where the word of God can fall into my heart. I say to us all, young and old. What condition is in your soul this afternoon? What condition would the word of God find as seeking to find a lodging place where it can fructify and develop of its kind, develop Christ in your heart?

What condition is in your soul? What condition is in my soul? The Lord knows the conditions in my soul, and He knows the conditions in your soul. What a test for each of us to take account of the conditions in our souls, as to whether the good ground is there, or whether there is a state that relates to turmoil and cares, shallowness and failure to work out the word with the Lord, conscience unaffected, joy in the word of the Lord but not prepared for the exercises that come up. It says “in time of trial fall away”. How do we do in the time of trial?

Do we fall away, that is go back to the Adam line of things, fallen man? There is no need for that where there is exercise with the Lord. The Spirit of God would prepare the ground in your soul, where there is a desire to be emptied of everything in relation to self, then the word of God can fructify.

It is very searching in exercises that come up amongst us, as to how much am I affected by my own thinking. How much am I available to the word of God to allow it to fructify in my soul, and bring about the divine intent in my soul? That is what I wanted to leave with you in regard to the parable of the sower. What is the state of soul the word of God finds? The Lord knows the state of soul in every one. Thank God for all who are here; thank God for an exercise that brings us under the sound of the divine word; the divine word is the Scriptures. I may comment and say a few things, but the divine word is the Scriptures. At the beginning of a preaching, the beginning of a reading, the beginning of an address we read the Scriptures; that is the word. I may comment and say a few things but the word is the Scriptures; it is a searching word because it is God’s word. The seed is the word of God. He has in mind that seed should fructify and I say again that it can only

produce of its kind; it is a divine principle right from the outset. The apple tree only produces apples, and the pear tree only produces pears; God said that in Genesis 1. The word of God only produces morally what is after its kind. It will not produce anything that is related to fallen man; it will produce what is of the Spirit of God, but it needs conditions to bring about its fructification. I say again. What are the conditions in my soul now, presently? I say this to myself and to all. Is my mind affected by my thinking or am I prepared for the word of God to fructify? Is the soil good because the Spirit of God in my soul has brought about a state of self-judgment to allow God’s word to fructify and produce whatever it would produce? How blessed what it produces—Christ in the soul.

In 2 Kings 5 Naaman was a great man and he was used of God, but he was a leper. It might seem a contradiction in terms because it says, “Naaman ... was a great man before his master, and honourable, for by him Jehovah had given deliverance to Syria; and he was a mighty man of valour, but a leper”. Some way or other he had allowed sin in the flesh to work in his soul.

It seems to me there must have been a departure with Naaman from what he was for God had given deliverance by him, but now he is a leper; he had allowed sin in the flesh to work in his soul and that is disastrous. If you or I allow sin in the flesh to work it is disastrous.

Nevertheless, he is concerned about the state of his soul. Do you have concern about the state of your soul? If I had a concern about the state of my soul would I allow what is carnal?

Would I drop back to allow sin in the flesh to work, a carnal state? Carnal state only relates to a believer. It is a term that is used to show that the believer, instead of being spiritual, has dropped back to rely on the flesh and to human thinking; that is what Naaman had done. He became concerned about it, he knew he was a leper, he knew that sin was operating in his flesh, he came to that conclusion. What a conclusion to come to if it is true!

So the little maid brings in the word of God, and this is what I want to come to; she said, “Oh, would that my lord were before the prophet that is in Samaria! then he would cure him of his leprosy”. Am I prepared for the word of God? Naaman was not really prepared for the word of God; he discussed matters with his lord, the king of Syria, and he goes to the king of Israel; he goes with gold and silver and changes of raiment. He thought he could add to matters, but anything that he could add was of no value in God’s sight. We have to come to it, that what we could add is of no value in God’s sight. He did not obey the word of God to go to the prophet; he went to the king. Then when he comes to the prophet, he thought the prophet would have come out and made a great display, which would only have exacerbated the condition. The prophet sent a messenger saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean”. Naaman was not prepared for the word of God. Not prepared! It is a solemn state; we should be exercised by that. Are we prepared for the word of God? In matters of personal exercise, in matters of assembly exercise, the word of God comes. Naaman was wroth, it did not suit him. What a state develops in his soul, he was wroth on account of the word of God, but counsel comes in.

Many of us have been thankful for counsel. Will he listen to counsel? His servants said, “My father, if the prophet had bidden thee do some great thing ...?” He listens to counsel that brings him round to the word of God. The word of God has his salvation in mind. I appeal to each of us to listen to the word of God and to listen to counsel. There are those that scripture speaks of as spiritual, able to restore (Galatians 6: 1). They have been through the exercises.

There are such persons available to each of us; they have been available to some of us in our histories. They have been through exercises that we were called to face and they were able to restore; where wrath existed they helped to bring

about complacency and restfulness in the divine word, the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord carries authority, and it carries blessing for us. It carried blessing for Naaman the Syrian when he listened to it; counsel prevailed. The word says, “ye who are spiritual restore such a one ... considering thyself lest thou also be tempted”. These were the persons who counselled Naaman, his servants, subordinate to him, but able to counsel him. They regarded him with the dignity that belonged to him—“My father, if the prophet had bidden thee do some great thing”. The Lord is not asking us to do great things. He is asking us to take a low place, Wash in the Jordan and be clean. It refers to the death of Christ.

The death of Christ removed everything related to Naaman after the flesh, and he comes out in a new condition. How blessed that condition is. Naaman is born of incorruptible seed, as it says, “being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God”, 1 Peter 1: 23. What a birth! Naaman was a changed man. He is a man who is prepared to have his altar of earth. He takes back two mules’ burden of this earth. That may be mysterious to the young people, but it refers to Exodus 20 where every man has to have his altar of earth. That is, you approach God knowing what you are after the flesh, how He has cleansed you to approach Him. Let lowliness mark us relating to our histories. A man with the altar of earth remembers what he was and what he is; yet through divine operations his heart has been cleansed, so that he can take account that he has been born again, not of corruptible seed; but of incorruptible seed by the living and abiding word of God. That seed will only produce Christ. Something is wrought in your heart that is abiding and incorruptible. The work of God in the soul cannot be corrupted. Let us lay hold of that; what an encouragement to us as believers in the Lord Jesus. That which has been wrought in your soul is incorruptible because it relates to God; what God does is not

corruptible, and it is done by His word. Allow the word of God to search your heart and soul.

Naaman is an example of this, he was born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God. He desired, in going back to Syria, to be preserved from idolatry. He represents a believer who is conscious that he needs strength to face the exercises that come upon him as coming round to obedience to the word of God.

So the apostle Peter says here, “desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word, that by it ye may grow up to salvation, if indeed ye have tasted that the Lord is good”. Before that he says, “Laying aside therefore all malice and all guile and hypocrites and envyings and all evil speakings”. Let us lay them aside. The time for those things is done. Let us lay them aside.

Let us finish with them. There is no profit on those lines, but “as newborn babes desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word”. Every exercise the Lord puts us through has in mind gain for our souls. He may take ways that are or seem to be strange; it says in Romans 11, “O depth of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable his judgments, and untraceable his ways!” (Romans 11: 33). What ways He takes! His way is in the sea, the scripture says (Psalm 77: 19). He has taken you the way He has to bring out something in your soul through exercise, to bring you to Himself. He would bring you to Himself if you are willing to be brought. He would bring you to desire the pure mental milk of the word. Come to a judgment of what is related to the flesh and finish with it! It applies to every one of us. Feed on the pure mental milk of the word, it will build us up, and grow up by it to salvation, if indeed we have tasted that the Lord is good. Have we not tasted that the Lord is good? I think everybody in this room could say that they have tasted that the Lord is good. Let us be those kind of persons.

So it says in Hebrews 4, “Let us therefore use

diligence to enter into that rest”. We want to enter into rest; what a state! Enter into rest, rest for our souls! Scripture refers to people who did not enter into rest, the rest of God. It then says, “that no one may fall after the same example of not hearkening to the word”. Let every one of us accept the word of God for ourselves. Then, “not hearkening to the word”—let it come home to each one of us, whether we are in that state of not hearkening to the word, or whether we are available and hearkening to the word. It is the word of God, it carries blessing for us, this scripture brings that out. The word of God is a discerner; only God’s word could be a discerner, there is no other word in this world that could be a discerner; it discerns between soul and spirit, it gets into your inwards, your moral being, helping you and me. It is like a light shining within me for my blessing. It is not exactly for God’s use although apparently God uses it; “And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do”. What is working in your motives, that is the soul, working in your soul; searching your affections, the direction of your affections, your spirit also, searching out your mind, your intelligent faculty; the word of God searches them, searches the thoughts and intents of the heart. Before they have been expressed the word of God does that, it does it now, searches, how we sit under ministry searches out the thoughts and intents of the heart. What are my thoughts? What is my intent?

What am I developing in the thoughts of my mind and intents of my heart? Is it in line with the word of God? The word of God does that, but it does it according to God; it does not do it according to man. The word of God is operative, it is operated by God; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, and divides between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

It does one other thing, it brings you into His presence; “there is not a creature unapparent before

him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do”—it brings you into His presence, and there you have to do with God. If I allow the word of God to operate in my soul it is a blessing, it will preserve me in the enjoyment of life among the family of God. It will preserve me in relation to that life, the life which is in Christ Jesus.

What a life it is, the life which is in Christ Jesus! I appeal to all of us to be exercised. If we allow the word of God to search us, it will search us, and it will keep us right. It is a discerner, you are not a discerner; the word of God is a discerner. I am the subject of the discerning. If I allow the word of God to search me I will be kept because I have a guide that is surer than myself; that is the word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord help us through these few remarks, for His name’s sake.

Address at Brechin
26 September 1998