2001 issue 1 - god's conquest of the world by the preached word - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 2001 Issue 1 - God's Conquest of the World by the Preached Word - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/8

God s Conquest

of

the World

by the Preached Word

The

Eschatology ofPreaching

Rev.

Joe

Morecraft,

III

In

my

late twenties I

finally laid to rest

the

pessimistic,

rapturistic view of the

future

in which I had

been

raised, and

adopted a victory-oriented view of the

kingdom

of

Christ

in history before the

Second Coming. t happened after

a

struggle

and with

much

serious study and

prayer. What finally pushed me into the

postmillennia '

camp was the

Biblical

doc

trine of

the

preaching of

the

Word of God.

What the Bible taught about the nature and

triumph of

the

preached Word made any

defeatistic,

pessimistic

view

of the

future

of Christ's

kingdom

in history

impossible,

t was what the Sixteenth Century Puri

tans and

the contemporary French Calvin

ist,

Pierre Marcel's

book,

THE

REL

EVANCE OF

PREACHING, said

that

God

used to help

me

see what the Bible taught

about the nature and

power of preaching.

Preaching with the power of the Holy Spirit, I

Thessalonians

1 4-5,

the Lord working

with

his

preachers and himself confirming the word which

they proclaim, Mark 16:20, the

power of

this

preached word is the very power of God, I Corin

thians

1: 18,

for it accomplishes the works which

the Godhead alone is able to perform in the hearts

of

lost men; its effectiveness is divine.

t

produces

the very fruits of God, Colossians 1 6.- Marcel, p

14.

Let the pastors boldly dare all things

by

the

wor

of

God

of which they are constituted

administrators. Let them constrain all the power,

glory, and excellence ofthe world to give place to

and to obey the divine majesty

of

this word. Let

them enjoin everyone by it, from the highest to the

lowest. Let them edify the body

of

Christ. Let

them devastate Satan s reign. Let them pasture

the sheep, kill the wolves, instruct and exhort the

rebellious. Let them bind and loose, thunder and

lightning,

if

necessary,

but let them do all accord-

ing

t

the word

of

God. John Calvin, Sermon LXI

on Deuteronomy, quoted by Marcel, p. 59.

What

was particularly

enlightening

about

the power of preaching was what I learned

from

the

Bible about the

relation of the

exalted Christ and the faithful preaching of

.His

ministers. Since His ascension to

God's right hand, Jesus Christ has actively,

really, personally, directly and powerfully

carried out

His

ministry as the prophet

preacher-teacher of His Church

through

the

faithful preaching of His Word by those

whom

He

has

sent to preach that Word.

Christ's own

voice,

by the power

of His

Spirit,

is heard in the voice of

men

who

faithfully preach Christ's Word. This is

what makes preaching so powerful

in

the

saving

and

sanctifying

of

people

and

na

tions. Man's preaching is totally powerless

in

saving sinners, transforming

lives

and

reforming societies, without Christ's

preaching in

our

preaching.

Paul

makes

this unmistakably clear

in

Romans 10:13-

IS-Whoever shalI calI upon the name of

the

Lord shalI be saved. How then shalI

they calI npon Him

in

whom they have

not believed? And howshalI

they be

lieve

in

Him whom

they

have not heard?

And how shalI

they hear without

a

preacher?

Notice the

progression. Every

one

who worships

Christ as the Lord shall

be saved; but

no

one will worship Him as

Lord

unless he

believes

in

Him. And no

one will

believe

in Him until he has heard

His voice,

which is

heard

in the preaching

of the gospel by one

sent to

preach.

In a

very

real Sense, Jesus Christ is the

only preacher of the gospel whose

preach

ing is

effective

in saving people from their

sins and

in

the

transforming

of

lives

and

cultures.

He

preaches through us with

incomparable

authority,

unfathomable wis

dom, inescapable persuasion, irresistible

power

and

thorough

penetration.

In

fact,

He

has said concerning His own preaching

that

it

is the Spirit who gives life; and

the

flesh

profits

nothing; the

words

that

I have spoken to you are spirit and life,

John 6:63.

4 -

THE

COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon - December

2000/

Jannary

2001


2/8

To the

Ephesians Paul wrote: He

[the

risen Christ] came

and

preached

peace to

you who were far away, and

peace

to

those who

were

near, Ephesians 2:17.

In

explaining the reconciliation all believers

have with each

other

in Christ,

Panl re

minds the Ephesian church

that their

own

reconciliation with

God,

they

owe

to

the

fact

that

Christ came and preached

peace

to

you.

The risen

Christ came

to the

Ephesian

church

and

preached to that

congregation,

not

in a

dream or

theophany,

but through

the

preaching

of

the apostles,

prophets, evangelists, pastors, teacbers and

preacbers mentioned

in Epbesians 4: and

3:7-8.

The power in our preaching is Christ

preaching in

our

preacbing from His

exalted

position at God's right hand by

the

power

of

His

Holy

Spirit. He participates in

our

preaching by speaking with His own month

that

wbich we hear from the mouths of

men, I Corinthians 3:9.

The

preacbed

Word, tberefore, is a recreative, restorative

force in

tbe cburcb

and

world

because in it

Jesns Cbrist gives wbat He preacbes. He

brings

what He

declares.

He causes to

bappen

wbat He

preaches

to our hearts.

When tbe preacher preaches

Christ's

Word,

Christ causes

that Word to happen.

When

Christ preaches

peace to a person

or con

gregation, He gives

peace

to that person

or

congregation,

Ephesians 2:17, John 16:33.

When He

preaches

repentance, Mark : 15,

He

gives repentance,

Acts

5:31,

11:18;

and

wheu He preaches the kingdom

of

God,

Mark 1:15, He

brings

the presence

and

saving

power

of

tbat kingdom into

the

hearts

and societies

of

buman

beings, until

those

hearts and societies are fully perme

ated with the

leavening,

transforming

infln

ence

of

the gospel.

In fact,

Mark

4:21-25 is explicit in

say

ing

that the

kingdom

of Christ

makes

its

way trinmphantly in this world, shining

its

bright

light and

scattering

darkness, leaven

ing the whole

loaf,

and growing to be the

largest

tree

in the

garden, by

the preaching

of

tbe message of the

King

and His

king

dom.

And He was saying to them, A

lamp

is not

brought to be

put

nnder a peck-measure, is it,

or under

abed?

Is it not brought to be put on

the lampstand? For nothing is hidden, except

to be revealed; nor has

anything been

secret,

but

that it should come to light.

f

any man

has ears to hear, let him hear. And He was

saying to them,

Take

care what

you listen to;

by

your

standard of

measure it shall be mea

sured to you;

and

more shall be given you

besides. For whoever has, to

him

shall more

be given; and whoever does

not

bave, even

wbat be bas shall be taken away from him.

Therefore, we

learn

from

these texts

that

the

power of

the

preached

Word

by

which it accomplishes things

only

God can

accomplish is not in

the

eloquence

or

skill

of the

preacher.

t is to be found in the

connection

of

the preaching

of

Christ the

Living Word with the

preaching

of

man

as

that

man

faithfully

expounds

the written

Word. By His Spirit and Word, the .exalted

Christ

continues to preach the

gospel

through the faithful

preaching

of the minis

ters

of the

gospel and the

faithful witness

of His Church. In fact, it is with this very

point that the

apostle

Paul concludes the

Epistle to the

Romans

in his moving ascrip

tion of

praise to

the living

God in Christ.

Now to Him who is able to establish you

according to my gospel and

the

preaching of

Jesus Christ, according to the revelation

of

the

mystery which has been kept secret for

long ages past, but now is manifested, and by

the

Scriptures of

the prophets, according

to

the commaudment

of the eternal

God, has

been made known to all

the

nations leading

to

obedience

of

faith; to the only wise God,

through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory

forever. Amen.- Romans

16:25-27.

Isaiah has much to say about the

power

of the preached Word to convert people

and

to realize divine promises. In

chapter

two

he

prophesied of a

day

when the peoples

and nations of the world will stream

into

the church

entreating her to teach them the

ways

of God-In the last days, the moun

tain of the honse of

the

LORD will be

established as the chief of the moun

tains,

and will be

raised

above

the

hills;

December 2000/January 2001- THE COUNSEL

ofChalcedon

- 5


3/8

and all the

nations

will stream to it.

And many peoples will come and

say,

Come, let us go up to the mountain of

the LOR,D, to the hOilse

of

the

God of

Jacob; ' that He

may

teach us concerning

His ways, and that

we

may walk in

His

paths, 2:2-3. t is the goip.g forth of the

law from Zion and

the

word

of

the

LORD

from

Jerusalem that

will produce these

effects-For the

law

will go forth

from

Zion, and the word of the LORD

from

Jerusalem,2:3b.

And by this

proclaimed

law-word

Christ Himself will

act i.n

moving

the

world's nations to hammer

their

swords

into plowshares and

their

spears into

prun

ing hooks-And

He will

judge

between

the

nations,

and

will render decisions

for many peoples;

and they

will hammer

their

swords into

plowshares, and

their

spears into pruning

hooks, 2:4.

In

chapter

eleven Isaiah graphically

prophesies

the effects of the

incarnation of

the

stem of Jesse,

i.e.,

the Messiah,

11:1-

2. After describing

Christ's

righteous

character, II

:3,

he

prophesies

that Christ

will

strike

the

earth with the

rod

of His

mouth,

and with the breath of His lips

He

will

slay the wicked. What comes

forth

from

His

mouth is His Word, and

that

Word is a

judging, smiting

Word.

How

powerful and efficacjous is

the

.breath

of

God's

mO,uth. -

Edward

L

Young, ISAIAH,

NICOT, Vol. I, p. 385. T,his

will

not only

slay

the wicked, it will accomplish the

transformation

of the character of the

peoples and nations of

.the

world resulting

in

international

peace, because the earth

will be full of

the

knowledge of the

LOR,D as tlie waters

cover

the

sea,

11 :6 -

9.

Isaiah

27:13,

written

in

imagery Israel of

Isaiah's

day could understand, is inter

preted by Jesus Himself as speaking

of

that

preaching of the gospel throughout the

earth

that will lead to the

conversion

of

many peoples globally. t

says: t

will

come about

in

that

day that a

great

trumpet will be blown; and those

who

are perishing in the land of Assyria

and

who were

scattered in the land

of

Egypt

will come and worship

the

LORD in

the

holy mountain

at Jerusalem. ,

In

Matthew

24:31, Jesus speaks of

Himself

as tlie

reigning Christ

who

will

.send

forth His

messengers with

a

great

t ~ u m p t

and

they will gather together His elect

f rom

the four

winds, from one

end o f

the

sky

to

the other. Notice what these two

passages

have

in common.

The instrume,nt

He

shall

use to gather His elect is

the

great

trumpet in

the

mouths .of

His

m s s n g r s ~

the great

trumpet

of the preached

Word.

Throughout

the

book

of

Isaiah, God is

spoken of as a preacher whose preaching

brings

about

what

He preaches.

In 42:9,

He says, I am the LORD, that is

My

name;

I

will not

give

My glory

to

an

other, nor

My praise

to,

graven images.

Behold,

the furmer things bave

come to

pass.

Now

I

decline

new things;

before

they spring

forth I proclaim' them to

you.

In Isaiah 44:24-28,

the

Lord

identifies,

Himself

as the'

'Redeetner and Creator of

.

Israel,

who is the

Maker of everything in'

the universe, and who causes

the

0Illens

of

boasters to fail, maki,ng fools out of tbe

diviners,

turning the

alleged

knowledge'

of '

the humanists into foolishness. This is the

God

who

,will sovereignlyancl.graciously

.

rebuild

Jerusaleni;

using even

H i s e : i ) e m i ~ s

to accomplish His purposes. But for

oll,r

purposes, w e h d l \ l d n o t i c e I i o \ v t h e LORD

will accomplish all this in Verse 26, by

confirming the Word of His serva.ni:and.

performing the

purpose, of

i s m s s ~ n -

gers'. This reininds

us

of what

Paul

said

about the

effects

of preacbing in

I Corin

thians 1 :18-21. The preaching of the

cross is ... to

us

who are being ,

saved ... the

power'

of

God,

vs. 18, by

which

God will

destroy

the

wisdom

oftbe

wise

... For since in the Wisdom of God

the

world

through its .wisdomdid

not,

come to know God;

God

was

w e l l ~

pleased through the

foolishness of

preaching

to save

those who

believe,

vss. 19,21.

In Isaiah 45:22-25, God issues aC,om

c

mand

and

makes a promise. After identify

ing

Himself

as a

righteous God and

a '

6 - THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon - December 2 1

January

2001 ,


4/8

Savior,

He graciously

calls

upon the

world's

nations and

peoples from

all the

ends of the earth

to

turn

to

Him

and be

saved from sin and its judgment. And then

He promises that

His word

will

be

success

ful in drawing the world's peoples to Him

self-The Word has

gone forth from My

month

in righteonsness

and will

not tnrn

back, that to

Me

every knee and every

tongue

will

swear allegiance.

They will

say

to

Me,

"Only

in the LORD

are

righteonsness and strength." Men will

come to

Him, and

all who

were angry at

Him shall be put to

shame.

Notice that it

is

by means of the

Word

that

goes forth

from God's mouth that God will cause every

knee

to bow and

every

tongue to confess

that He is their

Lord

and Savior in

Christ.

Isaiah 5

:4-8 contains

a

graphic proph

ecy of the conversion of the peoples of the

world by

the

preaching

of the

Word

of

God.

God .calls upon

all

people to pay close

attention to

what

He has to say. And then

He tells them: a law will go forth from

ME; and

I

will set My justice for

a light

to

the peoples. My righteonsness is

near.

My

salvation

has

gone forth; and

My arm will jndge

the peoples,

the

coastlands will wait

for Me,

and for

My

arm they will wait

expectantly.

The law,

(torah),

is

the

authoritative expression

of

the will of God for all mankind,

and

His

justice

or

judgment

is that which serves as

the

rnle

of right in

God's kingdom.

t

is a

synonym for true

religion and s alvation.

This law

and

justice shall go

forth

as a light

to

the

peoples

of the

earth bringing them

out

of their

darkness.

This

is

obviously

a

prophecy

of

what

will

happen during the

reign

of

Christ. As God's Word goes

forth

and

the gospel is preached, God will bring

His righteousness

near

and send forth

the

blessings

of

salvation in Christ. By

His

preached Word,

He will both judge the

wicked and bring salvation to those around

that

world

that wait expectantly for Him by

faith.

In Isaiah

52:1-6, Isaiah, God's preaching

messenger, calls

Israel

to awaken to repen

tance and to spiritual

renewal-to

clothe

herself

with the beautiful clothes of the

holy city of God. This command is accom

panied

with a

prophecy

that: 1). [vs. 1]

N

ever

again

will the

nncircumcised

and

the

nnclean

come to Zion. God

will cleanse

His

people of

their

corrupted

life and cor

rnpted

worship and

will bring

them to true

holiness of

life

and the pure worship of God

in Christ. God's

strength will enable

them

to do

what in

their own

strength they

are

unable to do. God

promises

His

people

that

He

will

restore them to a

position of

honor,

dignity

and holiness, free from all

tyranny

and oppression.

(2). [vs.

6]

Therefore My

people

shall

know

My

name; therefore

in that day

I

am

the

One who

is speak

ing,

"Here I am." Because

God's

name is

so

continually blasphemed

and

disrespected

among the heathen as long as

Israel

is

apostate

and

in

exile, He

will deliver

His

people and restore them

to a

secure and

free

position

so

that they will know

and

love the revelation of the character

and

will

of God

in His name.

Beginning

with

verse

7, He shows how

what

He has

promised in verses 1-6 will

be

fulfi l led-by

means

of speeding messengers

Zion receives

the

announcement of her

deliverance. To say that the

feet

of

those

who

bring

the

gospel

are

lovely

is to

say

that

the appearance

of

the

messengers of

the

gospel

is

beautiful

to

those who receive

their

message. They

proclaim

a

message of

salvation and deliverance, which

Paul

interprets

as

the preaching of the gospel of

Jesus Christ in Romans IO:13-15-Who

ever shall call npon the

name

of

the

Lord will be saved. How then shall they

call upon Him in

whom

they have

not

believed?

And how

shall

they

believe

in Him whom they

have

not

heard? And

how

shall they

hear

without

a

preacher?

And how

shall they

preach

unless they

are sent?

Jnst as it

is written, "How

beautiful are

the feet

of

those

who bring

glad tidings of good things " John

Murray

said of

this text:

"The word

from

Isaiah

is thus

applied

to

that of

which

the

restoration

from

Babylon

was

typical.

And

as the prop)Iecy

found

its climactic

fulfill

ment

in the

Messiah Himself so

it continues

to be exemplified in the messengers whom

December 2000/Jal)uary

2001- THE

COUNSEL ofChalcedon-7


5/8

He

has appointed to

be

His ambassadors."

ROMANS, NICNT, Vol. II, p.

59.

Now

back to Isaiah 52. Notice the three

participial phrases

in verse 7

that

explain

the

proclamation

of

good

news:

Who announces peace... This is the effect

of

preaching.

. And brings good news of GOODNESS This

is the content of preaching.

Who

announces salvation... The proclama

tion of the gospel is the means by which God saves

sinners.

Notice

also the

main

theme of preaching

in

verse

7-Your God reigns

The God of

Israel will in Christ reveal the fact that He

sits

upon a great throne

governing

all men

and cultures, to whom

all

men

and

cultures

are accountable.

This

is

the theme

of

Jesus' preaching according to Mark 1:14-

15 And after John had

been

taken

into

custody,

Jesus

came

into Galilee,

preaching the gospel of

God,

and say

ing, "The time is fulfilled, and the king

dom of God is at hand; repent

and

be

lieve in

the

gospel." In other

words, the

"The gospel that God will

use

to

save

men

and

nations

from

their

sins

is God-centered

not

man-centered."

gospelthat God will use to

save

men and

nations

from

their

sins

is God-centered not

man-centered.

t begins and ends with the

total sovereignty of God, the sovereignty of

God's grace in the bestowal of salvation,

and

the

total accountability of

man

to God.

In verses 8-10,

the voice of

the preach

ers is

heard crying

out

their

message to the

people, impressing us with ,the fact that the

content

and goal

of our preaching is the

redemption

and

sanctification

of sinners.

These preachers

are

to

lift

up their

voices and shout joyfully

together

to the

people

that they

will

see:

The Lord restore Zion

The Lord comfort His people

The Lord redeem Jerusalem

The Lord laying bare His holy ann in the sight of

all the nations

That all the ends

of

the

earth

may see the

salvation of our God.

He will bring

and

apply the blessings of

these accomplishments

of

the Lord in

Christ to the personal

experiences

of His

people

as His

preachers

lift

up

their

voice

and shout joyfully together the glad

tidings

of

good news that Jesus saves.

Isaiah

53

teaches us

about

the accom

plishment of the redemption of God's

people

by

the substitutionary sacrifice of

the Suffering Servant of God, i.e., the

Messiah. Isaiah 54

sets forth the

blessings

that

messianic Servant of God has secured

for

His redeemed people.

And in

Isaiah

55:1-5, God's gracious and free invitation is

extended

to all

nations

to come

and partake

of the salvation

the

Lord

has accomplished

in

Christ

and now offers to them through

the preached VVord

Ho Everyone who thirsts, come to the wa

ters;

And you who have no money come, buy and eat.

Come, buy wine

and

milk

Without money and withont cost.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for

what

does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and

eat

what

is good,

And delight yourself in abundance.

Incline your

ear and

come to Me.

Listen, that you may live;

And I will make

an

everlasting covenant with

you,

According to the faithful mercies

shown

to

David.

Behold,

I have

made him

a

witness

to

the

peoples,

A

leader

and commander for the peoples.

Behold, you will call a nation you do not know,

And a nation which knows you not will run to

you,

Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy

One

of

Israel;

For

He has glorified you.- Isaiah 55:1-5.

The

prophet

is

an evangelist and

he

invites the thirsty who cannot satisfy

their

thirst

to

come,

buy,

and

eat

without

money

or

price. This water, wine and milk cannot

8 -

TlIE

COUNSEL ofChalcedon" December

2000/

January

2001


6/8

be bought or earned. They are undeserved

and

free

gifts of God's grace.

Water signi

fies

the

refreshment of salvation,

wine the

exhilaration and joy of

salvation,

and

milk

the spiritual nourishment of salvation. All

these

blessings

are offered to all who come

to Christ and find in

Him

those blessings

they

SO

desperately need which only God

can provide.

After offering salvation so

freely

to

sinners, now in verses 6

and

7, God com

mands

all

people to seek Him in faith and

repentance. Behind all

these

offers and

commands

is God's sovereign

grace, for

He

cannot be found at auy time,

but

only when

He desires to be found.

Seek

the

LORD while He may be found;

Call upon Him while

He

is near.

Let the

wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him

return

to

the

LORD,

And He will have compassion on him;

And to our

God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

- Isaiah 55:6-7.

To

receive

the blessings of salvation a

person

must

turn

away

from evil

and turn

to

God with a wholehearted embracing

of the

promise of salvation in Jesus

Christ.

And

when we

turn

to

God

for forgiveness, we

find that the very act of

turning

is a mani

festation of

God's

mercy to us,

enabling

us

to do what we

could

not and would not do

in ourselves.

In verses 8 and 9,

we see the

reason

behind

God's

call to

repent

and seek God's

mercy.

For My thoughts are

not

your thoughts,

neither are your ways My ways, declares the

LORD.

For

as the heavens are higher

than

the

earth,

so

are

My ways

higher

than

your

ways,

and My

thoughts than

your

thoughts. -

Isaiah 55:8-9.

In

these

words of God are two reasons

for

the

necessity

of

faith

and

repentance in

sinners if they are to experience the com

passion

and abundant

pardon

of God.

1 God's thoughts and ways are not the ways

aud thoughts of man. God's ways and thonghts,

nnlike those of the wicked, are righteous; and for

that reason the wicked must abandon his own

ways and thoughts. - E.J. Young, ISAIAH,

NICOT, Vol II, p. 382.

2 God ways and God's thoughts are infinitely

higher than the ways and thoughts

of

man. In

other words, God's ways and God's thonghts are

incomprehensible to man. They cannot be under

stood by reason unaided by revelation; and even

with the assistance of revelation, they cannot be

grasped fully and exhaustively. Therefore, man

must seek God's ways and thoughts, not in his own

reason and experience, but in God's self-revelation

in the Bible and in Christ.

In

verses

10 and 11, God

teaches

us that

His preached Word,

which

calls people to

faith and

repentance, and which

is

based

on

the

revelation

of

God's thoughts, always

accomplishes the purposes for

which God,

sends

it

forth.

For as the

rain

and the snow come down

from

heaven,

and

do not return

there without,

watering the earth, and making it bear and

sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower

and

bread to the

eater ..

- Isaiah

55:10.

The elements of rain and

snow

are

under

the complete control of Almighty God,

who

uses them to

accomplish

His purposes for

His creation. When

He

sends rain

and

snow to

nourish

the

soil

so that

i t

will

produce

food

for people, the rain


7/8

God-breathed

Scriptures,

II Timothy 3:16.

This Word originates in

the

mind of God

and goes

out

from His mouth in the Spirit

inspired

prophets

and apostles,

and

is

proclaimed by those whom He has sent out

to preach it. This Word always, always

accomplishes whatever purpose God has

for

it.

t

never

returns

to

Him empty, frns

trated,or failed. t always succeeds in

doing

in

the

lives of its hearers whatever

God

has

predestined

for

it to do. t

always

succeeds

because

it is

divine.

"The

Word

is

God's; it belongs to

Him, and for

this

reason fulfil1s its task."-

Young, Vol.

II,

p.

384. t

is

the

Word of Him who declared:

My purpose will be established,

and

I

will accomplish all My

good

pleasure

..

Truly

I

have

spoken; truly I will

bring

it

to

pass.

I

have

planned it, surely

I

will

do

it.-

46:

10-11. Surely, just as I have

intended so it

has

happened, and just

as

I have

planned so i t will

stand. -

14:24.

The point is that only a sovereign

and

almighty

God can have an almighty

Word

that is always efficacious in the salvation

of

believers and in the condemning of the

wicked. And this is

the

Word

we are

privileged to preach No one and

nothing

can stop the preached

word,

which is the

power of

God.

unto salvation, from accom

plishing

whatever God wants it

to

accom

plish in

the

lives of all those who hear it.

Now, what

is

the purpose

for

which God

"No one and nothing

can

stop the

preached word, which

is

the power o

God unto

salvation,

from

accomplishing

whatever

God wants

it

to

accomplish in

the lives o all

those

who hear i t ."

sent out His

Word? What

does

He

intend

for His preached Word to accomplish in

the

church

and world? Verses

12

and

13

an

swer

these questions.

For you will go

out

with joy,

and be

led

forth

with peace. The mountains

and the

hills

will

break forth

into shouts

of

joy before you,

and all the trees

of the

field will clap their

hands. Instead of the thorn

bush

the

cypress

will come

up;

aud instead of

the

nettle the

myrtle will come up; and it will be a memorial

to the

LORD,

for an everlasting sign

that

will

not be cut off.- Isaiah 55: 12-13.

God's Word creates joy and peace in

the

lives

offormerly

guilty and

condemned

sinners, whose sins have incurred God's

anger

and so

separated them

from Him.

Now because

of

the effects

of the

Word

of

God

in

their

hearts, everything

has

changed.

The Word has changed them.

Now they

have joy, which is

the absence

of

. fear and gratitude that their deliverance has

come in

Christ. They have peace. God's

order has been restored in them. They,

who

were

at

war with God, are

now

recon

ciled

to Him as His friends and children.

Their

hearts

are

ful1

of trust

in

Him

who

leads

them. You

will

go out may reflect

upon

the exodus

of

Israel from

Egypt, and

their redemption

from

slavery.)

Not only will individual believers and

their families experience the

joy

and

peace

of

salvation

by the Word

of God,

but this

promised redemption is the

redemption of

creation. AI of creation

wil1

feel

the

transforming

effects of

the

powerful

Word

of God.

The

trees

wil1

clap

their hands

for

joy.

The

useless and offensive

plants

will

be replaced

with noble

trees. And

al of

creation longs

for

this day:

.For

the anx

ious longing

of

the

creation

waits

ea

gerly for the

revealing

of

the

sons of

God. For the creation is subjected to

futility, not of its own

will,

but

because

of

Him who subjected it, in hope that

the

creation

itself will be set free from

its slavery to corruption into

the

free

dom

and

glory

of

the children of God.

For we

know

tbat

the whole creation

groans

and suffers the pains

of child

birth together

until

now.

And

not

only

this,

but

also we

ourselves groan

within

ourselves, waiting eagerly for onr adop

tion

as sons,

the redemption of our

body.- Romans 8: 19-23.

These

two

aspects

of the saving

effects

of the

almighty Word of God-therestora

tion

of His people

and

the transformation

of

life on

earth, are frequent

emphases

in

the

book

of

Isaiah. For example,

the

prophecy

10 -

THE

COUNSEL ofChalcedon

-

December

2000/

January

2001


8/8

of Isaiah 2

speaks

of

the effect of the reign

of Christ on

the church; and the

prophecy

of Isaiah

11 speaks

of the effect

of the

reign of

Christ

on the entire life of mankind

on earth.

The purpose, then, for which God

sent out His Word, and which purpose will

most

certainly be accomplished by the

Spirit-anointed preaching

of

that

Word is

personal and global salvation: the restora

tion of

the church

and the

regeneration of

the world. These great things happen by

means

of our faithfnl preaching of the

almighty Word of our Sovereign God.

Conclusion

1

So

then, how

can we hold

to

a defeat

ist, pessimistic view

of

the church and

kingdom in

history

with

snch

a

high view

of

the preaching of the Word of God? We

cannot

At

least, we

cannot consistently.

We

will

have to give up one

or the

other.

2. Find ont what

God

intends to accom

plish in

history through the preached

Word.

Then

preach those

things,

praying for

Jesus

to

preach through you, and watch Jesus

accomplish those very

things through

your

preaching.

3. If

you

doubt

that the preached

Word

does have the power the

Bible

claims

for

it,

consider

these

words from

James

H.

Thornwell:

If the church could be aroused to a deeper

sense

of

the glory that awaits her, she would enter

with a warmer spirit into the stmggles that are

before her. Hope would inspire ardor. She would

even now arise from the dust, and like the eagle

plmne her pinions for loftier flights than she has

yet taken. What she lacks, and what every

individnal Christian lacks, is faith-faith in her

sublime vocation, in her divine resources, in the

presence and efficacy

of

the Spirit that dwells

in

her-faith in the tmth, faith

in

Jesus, and faith in

God. With such a faith there would be no need to

speculate about the future. That would speedily

reveal itself. t is our unfaithfulness, our negli

gence and unbelief, our low and camal aims, that

retard the chariot

of

the Redeemer. The Bride

groom cannot come until the Bride has made

herself ready. Let the church be in eamest after

greater holiness in her own members, and in faith

and love undertake the conquest

of

the world, and

she will soon settle the question whether her

resources are competent to change the face of the

earth.- quoted

by J.M. Kik in

AN

ESCHATOLOGY OF VICTORY, p. 6

Postmillennialism is the eschatological view

that sometime between now and the second

coming of Christ the

world's

nations will become

Christ's disciples, and vast majority of Jews and

Gentiles will become genuinely Christian. This

latter day glory

of

the church will continue for a

long period of time at the end of which Christ will

retum and perfect His etemal kingdom.

2 Emphasis falls here upon prepositional

revelation. In contrast to the devious and esoteric

means

of

the soothsayers and diviners, who

represent human wisdom apart from God, God

Himself spealcs by means

of words. He has given

to man a verbal revelation and this revelation He

causes to stand. -

...

prophets are sent from

Jehovah to bear His counsel, His own wise plan

of

salvation. This plan is

the

manifestation

in

history

of

the divine connsel and planning. t is a plan that

must be revealed to man and declared to the nation

by the Lord's messengers ... This connsel He will

bring to fulfillment and completion. Thus, history

unfolds itsel f according to a plan predetermined by

the God ofIsrael , and it will continue to unfold

itself until the entire divine plan is complete. The

signs of babblers, therefore, are frustrated and

come to naught. They are meaningless and

accomplish nothing. On the other hand, the word

of Yahweh's servant will stand in that it will surely

come to pass, and the divine wisdom expressed in

the plan of deliverance will come to fruition.

Edward J. Young, ISAIAH, NICOT, Vol. III, p.

190.

December 2000 January

2001

THE COUNSEL

ofChalcedon 11

2001 issue 1 - god's conquest of the world by the preached word - counsel of chalcedon

Documents