“It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63
On a day when some of the many disciples went back from following the Lord Jesus, He asked those disciples who remained this question: “Will ye also go away?” (Jn. 6:67) Peter’s response to such a question reveals the distinctiveness of the words of Christ: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” To take the entirety of all the words of all men in the world, from the beginning of time, and place them in opposition to those of Christ, the difference between the two would be revealed by their effects. All the words of natural, sinful man, cannot give one iota of divine life to anyone. The fallen creature is locked into the sphere of his own helplessness, and lostness, without God. It is when the Lord Jesus comes to dwell among us, and we see something of His glory, that the worth and power of His words reveal a most remarkable, different effect. Several authors, writing in the New Testament, describe the words of Christ as being those that “quickens,” or that make alive. We might even say further that by their pronunciation, not only is flesh added to dead and dry bones, but the Spirit of God breathes the life of Christ into the believer. The distinctive quality of Christ’s words is revealed by the life of Christ coming to dwell in the heart of the believer. Jesus sums up the matter in saying, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10) In Charles Wesley’s great hymn, “Jesus, The Name High Over All,” he writes: “Jesus the prisoner’s fetters breaks, And bruises Satan’s head; Power into strengthless souls HE SPEAKS, And life into the dead.” This is what occurs when the Lord Jesus speaks: He speaks life into the dead. Why then, from a practical standpoint, is it so very important to not neglect the word of God, but to study it, and meditate on it? It is because in the wisdom of God, the Creator and Redeemer, has designed this great salvation to be practically effective in the individual, believer’s life, by speaking His words to fallen, and sinful man, in order that, in answer to his faith, the power of the life of Christ may be manifested in him.
The true preacher of God, called, equipped, and anointed, is not necessarily characterized by great gifts, although God gives gifts in order to fulfill His purpose. In the book of Ezekiel, we see a clear illustration of this in what God said to His servant, Ezekiel: “But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God.'” (3:27) Here we have a prophet of God to whom is given a clear understanding of God speaking, and how He desires to speak through the believer. The Lord does not tell the prophet to make up a message, or “lean unto his own understanding,” with regard to what his words should be in different circumstances. The Lord’s word is in fact, the word of the Lord. For Him to speak it without the agency of man is very common. But it is also very abundantly revealed in Scripture that God’s way of reaching lost men is in giving His living word to His servants, who, when speaking in dependence upon the Spirit of God, speak the truth in love. Those words by the Lord’s servants then are spoken, or preached, as the Apostle Paul put it, “…in the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power.” (1 Cor. 2:4) The same power and authority that characterized the words of Christ, as seen during His ministry, are also spoken and preached in like manner by His disciples, even His servants today. The one central truth that is the foundation of this manifestation of Christ’s words in and through believers today, is the submission to Christ’s authority.
Dear Father, Give us grace to receive Thy words, accompanied by Thy power to save. We thank Thee in Jesus’ name, Amen.