CONSIDER THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD
May 21, 2006 - EASTER 6 - Acts 14:8-18
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Dearest Friends in Christ and Beloved by the Lord:
Today, we are going to consider the absolute power of God’s word. God’s word has already had a powerful effect on us whether we realized it or not. By hearing God’s Word, our faith grows and increases. Today, we heard a miracle, actually more than one. The people saw the miracle. There is more to the power of God’s word than just the outward appearance of any miracle, any healing. There is a power of God’s word that cannot be seen with the naked eye. There is the power of God’s word that takes place in the heart and lives of every believer, the power of God’s word, which we heard, in our first lesson. First, they took the message to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. The people believed. They were called Christians first at Antioch. This is the power of God’s word. God’s word is a power that began everything, for without God’s word we wouldn’t be here. Without God’s word we would be nothing. Without God’s word there wouldn’t be an earth or anything in it. That is God’s powerful word we want to consider this morning. In the book of Hebrews the writer says: "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible" (Hebrews 11:3). By his word and by his command God spoke and it was: "Let there be...." Today we are here.
CONSIDER THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD
I. God’s word works two miracles,
II. God’s word reveals and explains all truth.
I. GOD’S WORD WORKS TWO MIRACLES
Paul and Barnabas continue on their journey. (The Antioch that was mentioned in our First Lesson [Acts 11] is a different Antioch. That is the Antioch that is in Syria. The Antioch that we have been looking at last week and the week before is Antioch in Pisidia that is northwest of Cyprus.) We want to remember what happened. Paul and Barnabas preached in Antioch and were well received for a time. Then they were kicked out to go to the next town. Then they went to Iconium and were kicked out. Now we are at another town, Lystra. A couple of different things happen here. "In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth, and had never walked." We don’t find Paul and Barnabas going to the synagogue here. It is not mentioned. It could be that maybe there weren’t even enough Jews in Lystra to have a synagogue. It took ten Jewish men to form a synagogue. This was a Gentile region--Antioch, Iconium and Lystra.
They find a man who could not get up. He is not called a Jew, and more than likely he was a Gentile. So Paul and Barnabas are already taking the bold step to go to the Gentiles with God’s gospel. They are going to the people who are not even in the church. They are outside of the synagogue. Our text continues: "He listened to Paul as he was speaking." He must have listened intently because we are told: "Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed." Paul could tell that he was listening and Paul could tell that God’s word had an effect on his life. The original says he had faith to be healed, a faith to be saved. In other words Paul realized the Holy Spirit worked saving faith in his heart. We don’t know how, since we cannot look into men’s hearts. Somehow Paul saw this cripple had a faith to be healed, a faith to be saved. "Paul called out, ’Stand up on your feet!’ At that the man jumped up and began to walk." There is the physical miracle that everyone sees. It is a physical miracle that everyone notices, because they knew this man, that he could not walk at all. He probably was in the same place day after day, week after week, year after year depending on the charity and the generosity of mankind.
When Paul comes and preaches God’s word and heals him, the crowd is amazed at this physical miracle. But we also want to remember before that took place another miracle occurred. There was the miracle of faith in this man’s heart. And before that took place, what happened? There is a miracle of faith that came to the apostle Paul, and his life was changed by the power of God’s word. Because the people could see this miracle and that the man was healed immediately and jumped up, what happens? "When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ’The gods have come down to us in human form.’" They looked at Paul and Barnabas and thought they were gods. "Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker." Hermes was the messenger god. Zeus was the patron god of this city. The crowd thought that since Paul and Barnabas had such power that they could heal someone, they certainly had to be gods.
It was the power of God’s word that worked the two miracles not the power of Paul and Barnabas. We are going to see how Paul and Barnabas set the crowd straight. You have to remember there was some difficulty here, because they were speaking in the Lycaonian language. So Paul and Barnabas probably at first did not realize what the crowd was doing. The power of God’s word that works these two miracles is amazing.
It is also amazing when we consider the power of God’s word in our life. As believers, who have been believers for most of our life if not all of our life, we may tend to underestimate the power of God’s word. As believers who live in this world that likes to work up peoples’ fears of what might happen or what might not happen, it can become too easy to undervalue the power of God’s word. Even when Jesus walked on the earth he was always challenged. His opposition wanted to know by what authority he would teach or by what authority would he come and cleanse the temple or by what authority he would heal people, and by what authority would his disciples follow him and do their miracles. You may recall another miracle of the lame man who could not walk. The crowds were so great and the house was so full, the people could not even bring him in. He was lying on a mat so they went to the roof, put a hole in the roof and lowered him down. It was the Sabbath. Jesus still was going to heal this man. The power of his word was not only just a miracle of healing but the power was far more. Jesus asks: "Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ’Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ’Get up, take your mat and walk’?" (Mark 2:9). Which would show the greatest power--a physical healing or a spiritual healing? Which would show the greatest power--something that would be seen or something that cannot be seen but would still change a person’s life? That is the power of God’s word that works miracles in our life everyday.
We don’t deserve forgiveness. We don’t deserve God’s love. We can’t earn it, but freely God gives grace to us. If you have the opportunity, read over all today’s Lessons where it says, "We love, because God first loved us." "God is love". You and I would not understand those words - God’s love, without knowing God’s forgiveness. Without the power of God’s word we would not have the miracle of salvation that is ours by faith through grace. Listen to Ezekiel when he says: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). This too, is the greatest miracle that has happened in each of our lives. God has taken out of us a heart of stone, hardened, cold, unbelieving. Through the power of his word God has given us a heart of flesh that knows his love, which experiences his forgiveness and rejoices in this miracle--God’s free grace.
God does all of this, because he loves us with an everlasting love. God has chosen us and we didn’t choose him. The Lord God almighty takes away our sins that we would have eternal life. In Isaiah: "I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you" (Isaiah 44:22). Our heavenly Father has brought us back from the power of Satan and the grip of sin and from the sting of death. Like the clouds, they are here this morning and then they are gone and the same with the morning mist is gone. God says our sins are gone.
This is the power of God’s word. We consider the power of God’s word as we see the miracles that it is able to do, physical and most important, spiritual miracles. We also consider see the power of God’s word as it is able to explain all truth.
II. GOD’S WORD EXPLAINS ALL TRUTH
We already heard the reaction of the crowd. They shouted out and called Paul and Barnabas gods, not little gods, but important gods. Hermes and Zeus were the gods these people had made up and the gods that they worshiped. They were ready to give them all honor, praise and glory. Paul and Barnabas didn’t know it at first, but then what happens? "The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them." Then Paul and Barnabas saw that they brought bulls and wreaths and were going to offer sacrifices to them. They knew that was not right. It could have been easy for them to take on the praise that was due to God, but they did not. "But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: ’Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you.’’ Human, Paul says. They were not gods.
But what was the power of the apostles? Their power was the word of God. Their power was not they or their faith, but the power was what was in their faith and hearts and gave them faith--God’s Word. Paul says to them, "We are bringing you good news (the Gospel), telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them." He says, "Here is our God. He has made the heavens, the earth, the sea and everything in it." This was everything that they could see. This was the good news that they would turn from these worthless things, Zeus and Hermes. They did not mention them by name. Zeus and Hermes could not provide them with what they needed. They hadn’t created anything, but Paul’s and Barnabas’ God did. Our God does. God has given them a testimony: "He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." Paul says to look around and look at their life and what do they have? They have rain, crops, food; and they have joy in their hearts. This is God’s gift. This is God’s power.
Our text ends by saying: "Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them." They could hardly stop them from offering the bulls, the sacrifice on the altar. Our text stops there, but what happens later? Paul and Barnabas go to another city. God’s word is preached and people believe. Then the Jews come and kick them out. Paul was stoned and left for dead. This similar story is repeated again and again on Paul’s missionary journeys. But those who opposed it could not stop the power of God’s word. Those who misunderstood it and thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods could not stop it. Today, we celebrate the fact that because of the faithfulness of Paul and Barnabas, because of God’s call to them, they went forth not proclaiming themselves and not promoting their ideas, but preaching Christ crucified. Over and over again as you read God’s word in Paul’s letters (following after the Gospels,) you will see just about in every chapter; it says, "We preach Christ crucified. Jesus is risen from the dead." This is the foundation message of Christianity. This is the foundation of our Christian faith. It is the truth.
Today, many have taken upon themselves the praise, the glory and the honor that belongs to God. They take upon themselves a calling that God has not given them. People say, "Look, this is the power of God." Look at the churches that are big and growing. The power of God is not necessarily seen in large numbers. The power of God is seen in the truth. The truth is we live in a very sinful world. The truth is we have all kinds of distractions in this life. The truth is people want to hear what they want to hear. Sometimes, they don’t want to hear God’s truth. Sometimes, people raise themselves up to lead great groups of people just a little bit away from the truth. But this can also lead many farther away from the truth. People misplace their trust in them rather than in God’s word.
God’s word says he wants to work miracles in our lives. The miracle he works in our life gives us faith, forgiveness and eternal life. Today, some churches are so bold as to teach: "God wants to make us prosperous in this life. If we believe hard enough and pray hard enough, God would give us what ever we want." God is concerned about this life, but he is more concerned for you and I living in eternity. Our focus needs to be beyond this life, right into eternity itself. Paul warns in Philippians: "Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:19,20a). It is good to remind ourselves, "Our citizenship is in heaven." Sometimes it seems as if our destiny is in the things of this world. We can’t help it, because we see, feel and touch the things of this world. We may not always see or remember the power of God’s word. That is why we need to consider the power of God’s word this morning.
God works faith, miracles, and forgiveness in our life. It is the power of God’s word that changed the life of Saul a persecutor (as he is mentioned in Acts 11) to Paul, the proclaimer of faith. It is the power of God’s word that has changed us from enemies of God into children of God. We were born into this world as his enemies and full of sin and not full of God’s love at all. But by the power of his word, through Baptism, through the preaching of his word, we are saved. Paul writes: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (Romans 1:16). Paul’s eyes were opened and our eyes are open to see that, too, that the Gospel changes men’s hearts, whether Jew or Gentile, male or female. There is no difference.
Going back to the list that Paul mentioned. He said, "If you don’t think God is around, look at your life. You have rain, seasons, food to eat, and joy in your heart." I don’t know why it is listed that way, but I am sure there is a purpose. Sometimes we may also look at that list in the same order. We say, "Boy, we really need rain and the seasons to bring more seasonable weather according to each season." And we do like our food. We get to the last part, which is joy. It should be joy at the beginning. When we find joy in our life, that too is the power of God’s word. God’s word gives us joy, gives us times of rejoicing when maybe we don’t have all the rain we think we need all the times. Or we have unseasonable weather. We hardly ever run out of food, so we have that. Believers can put that joy in the first part of our lives. This joy that he talks about is not just an earthly joy; because that does not last, but an eternal joy. That is the power of God’s word. The Psalm writer declares: "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" (Psalm 16:11). Too many try to find their joy in this life. Then they are disappointed. We know that, because we have done the same from time to time. This time of year is time of graduations. The graduates’ expectations are high. Believers are especially blessed to live in a Christian atmosphere. This Christian society, the church has joy because of the power of God’s word. Nothing more; nothing less.
We could praise Paul for all the things he did. But it was the Gospel that came into his life. Or we could worship Martin Luther, but it was God who called him. Or maybe we are especially fond of some favorite pastor we had in the past. Our joy is always found in the power of God’s word.
We had only a short time to consider the power of God’s word today. The power of God’s word is something to think about everyday. We will want to reflect upon the fact that God’s powerful word works miracles in our life, sometimes physical; and we are joyful for that. But always the spiritual, the things that we cannot see: faith and forgiveness, are worked by God’s powerful word. God’s powerful word helps us to know what the truth is, what is right and wrong. Even though the world might try to deny it, even though books or movies try to attack God’s word. God’s powerful word stands. God’s word overcomes opposition and denial, because it explains all truth, not just a little part of truth, not just some truth or a lot of truth, but all truth. God’s word is truth. That is the power of God’s word.
In Colossians, Paul writes these words under inspiration and from experience. We have gone through just a few cities on his first journey. Paul’s first two journeys follow the same pattern. Yet, Paul considered persecution joy, joy because he knew Christ was the Savior. Therefore Paul writes: "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13,14). The Lord has rescued me. That is the power of God’s Word in our lives today and everyday. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
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Easter 6 readings: ACTS 11:19-26; 1 JOHN 4:1-11; JOHN 15:9-17
