The Word of God
#wordofGodseries
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Esmeralda Lukman, from the CBC English Core Team Prayer Ministry, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
The sermon for the month of July focuses on “The Word of God.” The words that Pastor Paul shared in his sermon today is a result of his life’s journey of 43 years following Jesus since the year 1980.
Many people seek to understand first, then they will believe. Some people choose to see the proof first, then they will believe it. The Word of God is inspired by the Holy Spirit. We need to believe first then we will understand and when you experience what you believe, then you will really understand.
The very basic introduction when we want to understand the Word of God:
Receive
Believe
Understand
Experience Him more, then we will understand Him and really understand
The verses Pastor Paul shared are not new, but they are basic words.
John 3 – The Story of Nicodemus
John 3:3-4 “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. ‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’”
John 3:5 “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”
John 3:10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?”
Pastor Paul explained that if he was Nicodemus, he might not understand it either. The Word of God needs to be:
Inspired
Revealed (the book of Revelation)
Unveiling the secret, the deep things God wants us to understand
It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to understand. What we need to do is to respond to the Holy Spirit because the word of God is inspired by the Holy Spirit. We will not understand the Bible unless we are inspired by the Holy Spirit.
John 4 – Story of a Samaritan Woman
John 4:10-11 “Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water’”
Jesus used natural examples in parables so that we can understand because many times, our traditions, habits, past experiences, and mental blocks makes us so that we cannot understand them.
When the woman opened up, she began to receive, believe, and experienced Jesus.
John 5 – The Story of the Jews Planning to Kill Jesus
John 5:18 “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him because He not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”
Jesus broke the Sabbath, and called God His Father—this was the reason Jesus was crucified.
The Sadducees and Pharisees knew the Scriptures, but they did not know God!
John 5:19 “Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
John 6 – Jesus Fed Five Thousand Men, Not Including Women and Children
Jesus not only taught with parables, but He demonstrated and then explained the spiritual aspects. He modeled it first, demonstrated, does miracles and then He said, “I am the Bread of Life.” The Jews complained when Jesus said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.”
There is a word that was revealed to Pastor Paul: Many who were disciples turned away. They followed Jesus but they did not get revelation from the Holy Spirit, and then they left Jesus.
In your journey of Christianity, you face things in your life that you do not understand. You prayed and nothing happened, you prayed for a breakthrough and there was no breakthrough. We may be shaken and we may start to entertain the thoughts to leave Jesus, please do not do that!
John 1:1-5, NKJV “In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
John 1:10-12, NKJV “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”
Jesus came because many people did not believe the prophets. Jesus came to earth and became flesh to be like us.
2 Corinthians 3:6, NKJV “And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
Pastor Paul learned about the Word of God. He had a Bible before He received Jesus but when he read it, he did not understand it. Many people worshiped doctrine instead of worshiping the Lord. Doctrine is a belief or a system of belief. When people worship doctrine, they have no compassion.
The Pharisees knew the Word, but when the Word became flesh and came to them, they did not receive Jesus, instead, they crucified Jesus!
Is it possible that when the Holy Spirit wanted to reveal the Word of God to become a living Word, the revelation did not fit your understanding or was to your liking, and then you killed it?
One good example was the life of the Apostle Paul:
Before the apostle Paul’s conversion, he knew the Scriptures so well that he killed believers and used the Scriptures to defend his actions. He was the “Pharisee of Pharisees”.
He was blinded by doctrine. That is what it does; doctrine blinds you.
But the minute he met the Lord Jesus, it changed everything.
Before his conversion, he was a perfect example of a man who knew the Word but not the Lord. He even used the Old Testament Law against the Lord and His people.
Pastor Paul’s first Bible was an Indonesian Bible and he continued to obtain various English and study Bibles, Concordances, and a Lexicon Bible to study the Word. When he opened his heart, there was a sudden hunger. If you have a hunger, then you will read the Word and it will speak to you. Many times, when you read the Bible, even though you have read it before, suddenly, the Word becomes alive and it is quickened. The logos word becomes a rhema. Rhema means a living word. It is a life word that is quickened and speaks to you. Nobody told Pastor to read the Bible but he was hungry and through reading it, he learned to tithe, to cast out demons, and many other things. If you only understand it academically (education, information), it is not enough. This book is more than just education. It is a living Word that will guide you into every aspect of your life.
Pastor Paul shared that when he received Jesus, he wholeheartedly knew that he received Jesus. In life, the enemy will throw questions about your belief in God; “Are you sure you are saved, are you sure that you sin is forgiven, are you sure that you can overcome your bad habits?” Satan did not need to coerce Eve in the garden, he just asked questions and put doubts in her mind. No force needed—it is the same pattern. Pastor knows in his "knower" (the Holy Spirit) that he is saved. Pastor Paul knew the Holy Spirit is in him and as he became hungry to know Him, he became hungry to read the Bible, and because of that hunger, as he approached God, his love for God grew.
Hungry for God
Read the Word
Faith will arise
Love: serve, give, do
The minute intimacy starts, it quickens the Word. The Word will become alive and it is ignited in you—the Bible comes alive. Your relationship with God’s Word starts as a result. Hunger for the Lord produces hunger for the Word—not the other way around. When people do not experience hunger for the Lord before they hunger for His word, they become religious. They become worshipers of doctrines, not worshipers of God. They are hungry for knowledge, but not for the Lord.
In his observations, there are many Christians who may know the Word, but they do not know the Lord. They may know what He said, but they do not know the One who said it. There is a lot of knowledge but there is no anointing. The presence of God is not evident in their lives. Let us meditate, pause, and chew again what was just said.
In the book of John 8, when a woman was caught in an adulterous act, the people wanted to stone her to death according to the word/law, but Jesus said, “He who is without sin, find a rock and throw it” and they all left.
You must develop your relationship with the Lord before you develop your relationship with the Word!
Fellowship with God is the foundation of life and ministry. You need to develop your relationship with the Word to grow and develop your relationship with God. You cannot separate your Christian life without the Word. When hunger for Jesus leads you to know His Word, this is the right thing to do! When you read the Word, you are not reading the laws, rules, and regulations, but you are developing your relationship with the Lord so that you can grow. The hungrier you are with the Word, the more quickened you are by the Holy Spirit.
Psalms 34:8 states, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” When you are hungry, God gives you a taste of His presence and you become hungrier for Him! As your hunger leads to fellowship, then you will understand—to not only know Him but how He thinks, how He sees life, and how He sees you. You cannot know the thoughts of a person until you know the person, but once you know the person, then you will know his or her ways.
Prayer Points:
Pray for the Holy Spirit to quicken His Word and reveal Jesus to us
Pray for more hunger to know and experience Him
If you are really hungry, you will read the Word of God
Pray for the Word of God to become alive in us, change us, and grow us
Pray for more revelation and understanding of the Bible as we develop our relationship with God and the Holy Spirit
Pray that the Word of God becomes Rhema, a quickened and a living word in our lives
Pray for us to follow Jesus daily
God’s altar call: “Follow Me!”