Aug 21
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Afternoon Sermon: How Is The Word Made Effectual To Salvation?; Baptist Catechism 94; Psalm 119:1-18
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Baptist Catechism 94
Q. 94 How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
A. The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation. (Ps. 119:11,18; 1 Thess. 1:6; 1 Peter 2:1,2; Rom. 1:16; Ps. 19:7)
Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:1-18
“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me! How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:1–18, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
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Let us remember what we learned in the last catechism question before considering this one. In question 93 we learned that God often works through means. In other words, God often uses things to accomplish his purposes.
When it comes to distributing to us the benefits of the redemption that Christ has earned, he ordinarily works through four things: the Word of God, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer. These have been called “the ordinary means of grace.”
This does not mean that God cannot work in our lives in other ways. He certainly can! But God has determined to work through these things. He brings his elect to faith, strengthens them, and preserves them through these ordinary means of grace.
In the questions that follow our catechism will teach us a lot more about these means of grace. We learn a lot about how God works through the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer. Today or focus is on the Word of God.
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Baptist Catechism 94
Again, the question: How is the Word made effectual to salvation? The answer begins like this: “The Spirit of God maketh… the Word an effectual means…”
This will be a constant theme as we consider these means of grace. How do they become effective? How do they get the job done in bringing sinners to repentance and faith, in sanctifying God’s children, and causing them to persevere? The Spirit of God makes these ordinary things effective.
You know this, don’t you, that many will hear the word of God proclaimed, but only some will believe it? What makes the difference? Is it the skill of the preacher? Is it the inherent goodness or lack thereof of the hearer? No, it is God who makes the difference. In particular, it is the Spirit of God who opens blind eyes and unstops deaf ears. The Spirit makes the Word an effective means of salvation. This is why Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44, ESV). And how does the Father draw sinners except by his Holy Spirit?
So it is the Spirit working within the minds and hearts of men and women who makes these ordinary means of grace effective. And notice that our catechism teaches that the “Spirit makes reading, but especially the preaching of the Word an effectual means…”
I think it is right that our catechism mentions both the reading and the preaching of the word as a means of grace, while at the same time giving priority to the preached word.
You should read your Bibles, brothers and sisters. You are blessed to have copies of the Holy Scriptures translated in your native tongue and accessible in your homes. That is a great blessing. Read the scriptures, friends. But do not forget that the vast majority of God’s people did not have this privilege.
How then were God’s people in times past (or in other places in the world today) fed with God’s word? Answer: They assembled together with God’s people to hear the scriptures read and preached.
Pastors are given to the church by Christ, and one of their primary responsibilities is to read the scriptures to the congregation. Paul wrote to Timothy, saying, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture…” (1 Timothy 4:13, ESV). I wonder, brothers and sisters, do you listen intently to the scriptures when they are read? It is God’s word! We should listen intently!
But Pastors are also to preach the word. They are to proclaim it, teach it, and apply it to the congregation. Listen again to Paul’s words to Timothy: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” (1 Timothy 4:13, ESV). In another place, Paul says, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:1–4, ESV).
So the word of God is to be read aloud, and it is to be preached. “The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word an effectual means” unto salvation. Are you eager to hear the word preached, brothers and sisters?
Notice what the Spirit of God does within God’s elect through the word when it is read and preached.
“He convinces sinners…”
“He converts sinners…”
“He builds them up in holiness…”
He builds them up in comfort…”
All of this is “through faith…”
And all of this is “unto salvation.”
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Conclusion
Let me conclude with three points of application.
One, if we wish to see sinners come to faith and repentance, we must preach the word of God.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16, ESV)
Two, if we wish to grow in Christ, being built up in holiness and comfort, then we must listen to the word read and preached.
Three, if the word is to benefit us at all, then we must come to it in faith, which is itself the gift of God. Prepare your hearts to hear God’s word, friends. Pray that the Lord would increase your faith as you come to hear the word read and preached each Lord’s day.
Q. 94 How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
A. The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation. (Ps. 119:11,18; 1 Thess. 1:6; 1 Peter 2:1,2; Rom. 1:16; Ps. 19:7)
