PREACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD
David Beveridge
Hebrews 4: 12, 13; 1 Timothy 2: 1-7; Revelation 21: 1-8
There are just three references in these scriptures read that I would like to call to our attention. In the first in Hebrews it speaks of the things that are laid bare to his eyes, “with whom we have to do”. I would like everyone here to know now, if you did not before, that you will have to do with God. The second scripture tells us something about that God: He is described as “our Saviour God”, and it tells us what His desire is. He “desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth”, and in the final scripture there is reference to the same God, the veil of time drawn aside and showing the eternal scene: it says, “God himself shall be with them, their God”. I think that is most attractive. But I would like everyone here to know that you will have to do with God. I suppose the greater part of this company is made up of persons who already have a link with the blessed God. How wonderful and great that is. We can look through scripture – if we look at Adam we find that the blessed God, after Adam had eaten of the fruit which he had been forbidden, God came down and Adam hid himself. God says, “Where art thou?” (Gen. 3: 10). God would say that to you my friend, if you are without Christ tonight. He would say, Where are you? In the glad tidings He is dealing with the vital matters that relate to Christianity and to the sinner.
If we looked at Moses, we would find that he had to do with God. He saw a bush burning and he wondered why it was not being consumed, and he went up to the bush and he got the word, “loose thy sandals from off they feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground” (Exod 3: 5). God spoke to him there. Look at Noah, God spoke to Noah oracularly and warned him of what was coming upon this earth before the flood came. God spoke to him and God is speaking in the glad tidings tonight, as He alone can. He may use human vessels, but the voice is His: the glad tidings come from heaven and He is speaking now.
The scripture in Hebrews speaks about the “word of God”. The greatest speaking that there is in the world must be the word of God. You and I owe our very existence to God; the very breath that you are sitting breathing is given by the blessed God Himself. How good He is, He gives us breath to breathe. In the preaching by Paul in Athens Paul speaks about God and says “for in him we live and move and exist” (Acts 17: 28). We owe our very being to the blessed God and tonight His word would come to us; and it speaks as “living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword”. We have been reminded of the sharpness of God’s word. Think of the woman in John 4, the Lord Jesus there, the One who was the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1: 1). That would relate to the Person of the Lord Jesus, God Himself coming into human form. Oh the wonder of it! He moved out of these realms of glory that are beyond human thought and came into human form in the Person of the Lord Jesus, and there was the woman and the Lord Jesus sitting at the well speaking together. As He spoke to her the living word of God came into that woman, manifesting her history. Would you like God to know all about your past? I will tell you tonight, He knows about it, all of it, you can hide nothing from God. Have you ever tried to hide something from God or from your parents or family, your wife, your children? You might be able to do so, but you can hide nothing from God. It says, “there is not a creature unapparent before him”. It says that the hairs of our head are numbered (see Luke 12: 7), not a sparrow falls to the ground but He sees it. How great God is! Nothing transpires in this world but the blessed God takes account of it and sees it.
Therefore, in this first scripture I would like to leave that impression on my own heart and on yours that you have to do with God. Do not shy away from it, even unbelievers will have to do with God, but in the glad tidings, in God’s word, He desires that you should know His word penetrating your being. How great God is! He can speak so that you know that He is speaking to you. Remember the preacher Jonah? He wanted to get away from preaching the message God had given to him. He sought to get away from God. Friend, you cannot get away from God. Do you realise that? God is saying to you tonight that you will have to do with Me and He wants to do with you in infinite grace. What a God He is! He loves His creature, He does not love the sin that is in you and me, the sinful nature or the sinful acts that we have all committed, but He loves the sinner. Friend, I want to leave that impression, that the need is to be aware of the fact that we have to do with God. The children would know what it is to have to do with one another and with their parents, and perhaps the brethren, but far greater than all these things is that you should have to do with the blessed God. Today in the glad tidings the word of God is coming and it is living. It is a remarkable thing, it is “living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword”; it can penetrate.
I can look into the faces of all here, but I cannot see what is in your heart, but the blessed God that I know knows exactly what is in your heart, He knows exactly the thoughts that are passing through your mind. What a God He is! He is the all-seeing God; it says, “The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, beholding the evil and the good”, Prov 15: 3. Nothing escapes His notice and tonight He wants everyone to be aware of that, that they are under divine scrutiny. What a thing that God should look upon you and me just as we are! His word is “living and operative, sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit”. No medical doctor could speak to you about that, but the word of God can divide between the soul and spirit. Remember the man in Luke 12 (v 6): he wanted to expand his business and he speaks about his soul; he decided that he would pull down his barns and build greater ones so that he could make more money and get on better in this world (See Luke 12: 18). We have been reminded of these things as we have been together, materialism and affluence, how these things can come into our lives, how ambition can come in, all these things can come into the human heart to take it away from Christ. That man wanted to pull down his barns and build greater, and the word was, “Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee” (v 20). I suggest that he was thinking only of his soul, the feeling part of man. Man is a tripartite being body, soul and spirit, and if you only think of your soul, you will perhaps finish up on a wrong path, but God has given man a spirit. It says, “Jehovah Elohim … breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul” (Gen 2: 7). The spirit of a man is received from God Himself, that intelligent, vital link with the blessed God. Oh, my friend, may you be alerted to the fact that you in that sense have a link with the blessed God in your spirit. What a great matter that there is a division in a man between his soul and his spirit, and the word of God can separate these two matters. Then the scripture goes on to speak of the joints and marrow, the joints suggesting what is there to enable movement and the marrow being life. Then it goes on to say, “the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things” – nothing excluded – “are naked and laid bare”. Have you ever thought about that? I speak to the young people; I remember what it was to be young, and the kind of things that I did and did not want my parents or anyone else to know about, hidden things: perhaps you know that. It says, “men have loved darkness rather than light; for their works were evil” (John 3: 19), so that in the darkness things can be hidden. God takes account of everything, your thoughts and intents, He knows them, He knows our motives. The Psalmist speaks of that, ‘before they are on our tongue’, “Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising” (139: 2). How many times in a day do you sit down and get up, the blessed God takes account of that. What detail He takes account of in our lives. Sometimes we think that things go unnoticed, but nothing is unobserved by the eye the blessed God. “Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways” (v 3), and then the Psalmist finishes up with, “Search me, O God and know my heart; prove me, and know my thought; And see if there be any grievous way in me; and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv 23,24).
In Hebrews it goes on to say, “but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do”. I want to leave that impression on the hearts of everyone here, including my own, that we have to do with the blessed God.
I come on to Timothy, our brother referred to this in his word about the Saviour God who desires that all men should be saved. What a heart God has. We have been speaking about generations and if you think how many generations there have been since Christ was here, how many persons would have been born into this world. I suppose at the present time there are about six thousand million persons in the world. God knows every one! How great He is! It says here of the blessed God, “the Saviour God”. Is that not a lovely title? It says of the Lord Jesus, “thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt 1: 21), but here it says, “before our Saviour God, who desires”, this is God’s desire. I suppose you and I know what human desires are. I spoke about ambition and I get concerned about ambition when I see it, ambition in this world, prospects and ambition. God may grant your ambition – I am speaking about life, I speak simply, those who are of a certain age, ambition is to get on in this world. Our brother spoke about a developed man; the world would seek to develop the abilities within believers. How solemn that is! Do you know what it does? One thing that I see that it does, when persons follow up ambition, is it absorbs their time. Time is one of the most valuable commodities available to a man. Some persons who are terminally ill are told that they have a certain length of time to live: time becomes very valuable then when they know that and they maybe change their thinking, but time is the most valuable commodity you have. We are now almost at the end of a dispensation, as we are so constantly reminded, and God would speak to us about ambition that we may not seek to go up in this world. The higher you go up in this world the nearer you get to the god and prince of it. God would speak directly to us about that. It may be that you have some aspirations or ambitions to proceed further; all it will do is take up your time and you will be absorbed in what is not of abiding value. It says in Corinthians, “the things that are seen are for a time, but those that are not seen eternal” (2 Cor. 4: 18). My friend, have to do with God about the unseen things and let not ambition in this world lay hold of you where all your time will be consumed: the god and prince of this world would do that in the present time so that your time might be used up and you will not be able to have time for the Lord Jesus, for His interests, for His people or for the gatherings of His people.
This scripture speaks about the God who, “desires that all men should be saved” – if you are without Christ and you die, I have to tell you you will be lost. The scripture tells us, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3: 23), and if you die in your sins you will be raised in them. Oh the awfulness of that! But the God I am speaking about, the Saviour God, desires that all men should be saved and that includes you. What a God He is! He loves you whether you are a little boy or little girl, if you are a teenager or if you are older. He loves you and He is presenting Christ as a glorious Saviour. The apostle says in Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the glad tidings; for it is God’s power to salvation”, Rom 1: 16. He is presenting a way of escape. It says here, “who desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth”. You need to be saved and the only way is by coming under the shelter of the blood of the Lord Jesus. This scripture goes on to say, “and come to the knowledge of the truth. For God is one, and the mediator of God and men one” – a great matter. How thankful we are for the Mediator! Moses was there as a mediator, the people said, we cannot cope with the fire and so on and they asked Moses to speak to God on their behalf which he did. But when you come to the Mediator in this scripture, “the mediator of God and men”, what a matter that is! The Mediator, Christ, it says of Him, “the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus”. The gospel is about that Man, “the man Christ Jesus”. Those who love Him love to hear His Name spoken of:
How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear! (Hymn 54)
I think when you are a teenager and in your twenties and so on, life is busy and full, but I see in the beloved older brethren a simplicity and dependency and attractiveness as they rely on the Lord Jesus. It says, “the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus”, and then it tells us about Him. That is what the gospel is, it is about “the man Christ Jesus”, and the work that He has done, the foundation that He has laid in divine righteousness for the blessing of men. That is another thing about the blessed God, He is not only a God of love, He is a righteous God. Are you not glad that things are on a righteous footing? How would you feel if things were on a shaky basis? The God that I know is a righteous and holy God and He is a God of love. What power is with the blessed God. Tonight let this word remain with you, He wants to have to do with you. It says of the Man Christ Jesus, “who gave himself a ransom for all”. What love He had, what a Man He was. The woman in John 4 came to that. What a Man He is for the sinner, He “gave himself a ransom for all”.
Then we have got to come down to pertinent questions. The glad tidings can be preached, and they are wonderful and the word of God can be sounded out, and you can simply listen to it. As it is being spoken, you can hear it as an interesting, good, wonderful story, but if it does not penetrate and get within that being of yours through your conscience to reach your heart, it is not going to reach its end. God’s word has to come right to the inner most part of your being and He desires now, in the wonderful time in which we are living, the day of faith, that you may receive His word. The dispensation which is in faith is also marked by grace. It says of the One who came in, the Lord Jesus, that He was, “full of grace and truth” John 1: 14. What a Person the Lord Jesus was! It is speaking here of Him as a mediator. Remember Job, he would have liked someone who could deal with God and with himself. He wanted an umpire, someone that could go between. You might say, I am afraid of God – if you think of God in His greatness I suppose it does bring a certain fear into the heart of a man, woman or child, but then there is the Mediator, the one Man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all. What I wanted to stress in relation to that is, that because of the Person and the work of the Lord Jesus, I can tell you tonight, and any preacher can, that a basis has been laid in divine righteousness for the salvation of men so there is certainty in that. How much we need certainty. How many things in this life are uncertain. There is even uncertainty linked with human life itself, but with the blessed God there is certainty. His word is like the nail fastened in a sure place (see Isa. 22: 23). I can tell you because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, because of His life, His death, His blood shedding, His burial and His rising again there are glad tidings which can be preached to all men. That is what this scripture is speaking about, “all men”; it is not signalling out Glaswegians or Scottish people, it is to “all men”. What a God He is! His view is of the world and He desires that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. In the glad tidings we can speak of a righteous basis that has been laid by the blessed God in the work and Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, “that Christ died for our sins, according to the scripture; and that he was buried; and that he was raised the third day, according to the scriptures” (1 Cor 15: 3,4), these are facts. Men are always asking for facts; these are the facts of the gospel that the blessed Lord Jesus, Christ Jesus, came into the world to save sinners and by virtue of the work of His Person, the spotless Lamb of God, that is possible. If the sin and sins were to be dealt with righteously God needed a spotless victim. He had that in the Person of the Lord Jesus. It says of Him that He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners”, Heb 7: 26. What a wonderful Person the Lord Jesus is. Friend, is He your Saviour? You need to have to do with Him tonight. Today He is speaking in tones of infinite grace.
I would like to speak to you about Satan, a remarkable being with remarkable power. I do not think normally we speak much about Satan but I think he is becoming increasingly active in the time in which we are living. The powers of darkness are increasing, and we need to be saved now. The Lord Jesus is the light of the world. The flood waters in the world are rising, not literally, but they are rising again, the darkness can be felt (see Exod 10: 21); it is engulfing our fellow men, but in the midst of that the light of the gospel shines out. Friend, have you come to Christ? You need Him, you need to be saved. Put your trust in Him, come under the shelter of His precious blood. If you had been in the house in Exodus when the blood was put on the doorpost and the lintel, it did not matter what you felt like as long as the blood was there you were safe, you were under the shelter of the blood. My friend, are you trusting in the blood of Jesus? If you are, I can tell you that on account of God’s word you are safe. Oh the comfort of that, to know that you are saved.
So we come on to this scripture in Revelation. I think it is wonderful that in the scripture the veil of time is drawn aside and we are given a brief look into what is eternal. The blessed God that I know has given believers an insight beyond the realm of time. So many things are bounded by time, our very lives are bounded by time, but there is an eternal order of things. It speaks about the God who inhabits eternity. The psalmist says, “For a thousand years, in thy sight, are as yesterday when it is past”, Ps. 90: 4. How great He is, the blessed God that you have to do with.
In this illustration He speaks about the, “tabernacle of God” – “I heard a loud voice out of the heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall tabernacle with them, and they shall be his people”. I thought it could just have said, and God shall be with them, but it says, “God himself shall be with them, their God”. Is He your God? Remember too the words of the Lord Jesus, “my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”, John 20: 17. How wonderful the thoughts that the blessed God has for us. We can scarcely cope with them sometimes they flood into your heart, the greatness of the divine purpose for men to be at home in His presence. That will be eternally.
Then He goes on to speak of some of the things that we know something about, “he shall wipe away every tear”, I suppose everyone in this room has, at some time, shed a tear. Even the young people have known what it is to shed a tear on account of something that has happened. “Death shall not exist any more” – is that not wonderful? The king of terrors, men fear death, the reality of death, life is real, but death is real. I remember the first time looked at someone who had died. Death is real. Someone that you had known and loved and been with, and then you look at them in death – how real death is. But then He says, “death shall not exist any more” in the eternal order of things, “nor grief, nor cry, nor distress shall exist any more”. These things are presently known, I look at places like Iraq, Sudan, South America and other regions of the world. What distress, what cries, what awfulness, our blessed God taking account of that, but in the eternal order these things will no longer exist and there will be an eternity of joy for His people. Their God, He will be with them, and these things will have passed away and we will be with Him. How wonderful that is. That is before the heart of the believer.
How feebly I have spoken about Christ, He is the theme of the gospel, what a Person He is, the Lord Jesus. Do you know Him? Do you speak to Him? Do you speak to the Holy Spirit of God, another divine Person? The Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples, as He was going out of the world to His Father, of another Comforter that would come when He was gone (see John 14). How much comfort is needed presently and there is another Comforter here, the Holy Spirit of God. You can have Him. Think of that, God prepared to give His creature of His own Spirit to enable you to be here in some measure for His pleasure. What a gift is the gift of the Holy Spirit of God. Have you received Him? If you are not sure that you have the Holy Spirit, ask the blessed God and He will give it to you. How good He is! Another power and resource within you to be here for His pleasure.
I trust that all here will remember what I have said – you have to do with God. That is true, that is a divine certainty, you will have to do with God. Remember, He is a Saviour God and He can be yours by putting your faith and trust in Him. You do not need to make a show of it, but all you have to do is commit yourself to the blessed God, come by way of repentance and faith and trust. I like the word trust. I like to see a child with its parent walking along and putting its hand up into its parent’s hand trustingly. How attractive that is. You can do the same when you put your faith in Christ and you can be sure that there is certainty about it. One man asked, “”what must I do that I may be saved? And they (Paul and Silas) said, Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved”, Acts 16: 31. The certainty of it. Friend are you saved? Have you had to do with God about yours sins? There is a glorious Saviour Jesus who shed His blood, He suffered and died and lay in the grave and rose again that the matter of your sinful nature, and the sins that you have committed might be righteously met and forgiven. What a God He is! How good He is!
I would like to quote what someone said about Spurgeon when he got to the end of his preaching he said, ‘you may be a bit uncertain or you may not be sure about what to do so come back next week and you can hear the preaching again’. A man went out from that preaching and was killed by a tram. Friend, “now is the well-accepted time; behold, now the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6: 2), we cannot give anymore time. Be sure that you have your faith and trust in Christ.
May it be so, for His Name’s sake.
Glasgow