His Word Like Fire

BIBLE STUDY #771-CHURCH IN THE HOUSES FROM: MAY 28 - JUNE 3, 2013

Topic: “His Word Like Fire” Jeremiah 23:29 The so-called prophets in the times of Jeremiah were guided by their dreams and at the view of those dreams they would tell stories as if they were messages from God. The big problem was that they were fake prophets, they were rubbish and not wheat (Jeremiah 23:25-28). God wanted them to speak the Word of Jehovah correctly, which is like the wheat that is nutritious. That is how the good and healthy word that comes from God is; it nourishes those who listen to it and receive it. The Word of God is compared by God Himself with the nutritive wheat and He also speaks of it comparing it with a fire and a hammer that with its strength can strike and destroy even the hardest. Thank God for His Word that nourishes and forms us. We can see in the Bible that the Psalmist loved the Word. (Psalms 119:140 “Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.” God’s psalmist was a man pure of heart, because only the pure of heart love God’s Word in that way. It is absolutely only the purity of the Word that allows us to recreate ourselves in the truth that takes us to reconsider, to weep, to repent and face our realities. The Word discovers everything, even what is hidden deep in our inner being. Because we can deceive everyone but not the Lord, well his Word confronts us and allows us to see what is within us. How much I love it! Do you love it? David’s heart was united to the Word of God because of the glorious sanctity and truth it contains. King David admired it, rejoiced in it, managed to practice it, and desired to place himself under its purifying power. That’s what the Word has, the purifying power for our lives. We love the Word, well, it has the power of transferring the truth to our lives. A son of God, in his best moments, does not desire for the Word to descend to the level of his own imperfect character, but rather he desires that his character could be gradually elevated in harmony with this holy Word. For being totally pure and having a tendency to transmit purity to those who make of it their constant study the Son of God, loves it and delights in meditating in the Word day and night. In God’s Word there is not a mixture of error or sin. There isn’t the vanity that exists in other manuscripts. It is unique! The great biblical commentator, Matthew Henry, advised to read the word because: “it will put us in a tone of love to the rest of the Scriptures”: “all grace grows when the love for the Word of God grows.” Jeremiah 15:16 “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bare your name O Lord God Almighty.” We see that Jeremiah was a man detested by his people. He felt dismayed because of the hatred of those he loved. It was known that God had revealed that the Babylonians would take all the treasure, all the glory of Judah. God spoke to Jeremiah of these things, but they would not listen: what great pain and affliction! But, it is that his love was great. The prophet was confused before this persecution and suffering, especially since he had been faithful to the Lord. BUT EVEN SO, HE FINDS COURAGE AND FORTRESS IN GOD’S WORD WHICH IS THE JOY AND HAPPINESS OF HIS HEART. This is how we receive our encouragement; by the Word. The word, Jeremiah ate it and when he did it would be joy and happiness to his heart. Although he was being sought to be killed, in spite of all that hatred on behalf of the people and of being detested by the princes, there was joy and happiness in him because the Word was greater to him than everything else surrounding him. And you, my brother? Is the Word your support and encouragement in spite of the difficult struggles and persecutions? We need to read the Scriptures. Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” This word is alive; the rest of the manuscripts are dead, they belong to mankind. The word is alive, constant, and actively alive. It is effective, giver of power, produces the effect that is expected, efficient, strong. It is sharp, more cutting than a double-edged sword. It penetrates until the division of the soul and of the spirit, the two invisible and immaterial parts of man. That darkness in you where nothing can enter and acknowledge you, the Word is not unknown. The Word divides the joints and the marrows, where the hidden life is, the vital part of the bones. It is perspicacious, discriminatory and judgmental with respect to the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is the Word that judges us. Let us not be mistaken, we are not the ones to judge the Word.

Before all this, when seeing how marvelous the Word of God is and how it is valued by men like Jeremiah, the psalmist and so many others, let us also be lovers of it and just as passionate as they were. In this way things will go well and we will obtain much from it. Among so many things, we will obtain courage, fortitude, joy, power and grace. Also, by the Word we will know what is within us and we will be taught and transformed in our character until we become to be like our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.