Focus: What a Word is This!

Text: Jh.6:63,68.

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE... Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE."

Part of the problem of the church today is the lifeless and powerless preaching of her preachers.

Jesus never preached to impress. He never preached to appear as one who is intellectually up there. He never preached by self and for self. He was not the source or originator of the words (Jh.14:10). He never preached from pride. He never taught to tickle our fancy. He never preached from the spirit of competition. He didn't preach to show he was from the best of schools or as one having acquired all the academic qualifications in theology or Biblical Studies. He spoke as one having authority - authority rooted in personal history and intimacy with his Father. No airs. No fancy. No brandishing or exhibition of intellectual superiority. No razzmatazz. No paraphernalia. He preached with the freshness of one who practiced the presence of God constantly and consistently. His words were full of spirit and life, not mere intellectual exercise. At a point, Peter said in essence, 'Lord, you are the only one we know to have the words eternal life. It's your exclusive brand. Life happens whenever and wherever you open your mouth to speak.'

Those who heard him said, "For his word was with power," and they exclaimed, "What a word is this!" - Lk.4:32,36.

Somewhere else, some Jews testified, "These are not the words of him that hath a devil..." - Jh.10:21.

To his Father, he says, "For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me... I have given them thy word..." - Jh.17:8,14.

Dead word can't produce lively people. Stephen says,

"And with our fathers: who received the LIVELY ORACLES to GIVE unto us" - Act.7:38. That is our holy business, to receive living words from our holy God, and give them to God's holy people.

Listen to Paul, "For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance..." - 1Thes.1:5.

The pulpits of the church need lively men with lively oracles from God. Men full of the Holy Spirit. No one could resist the wisdom of Stephen because he was full of the Spirit and of faith.

O Lord, help us!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter