God, Who Test The Hearts

Introduction

As we talk to people around us, and perhaps as we ourselves struggle to understand God’s will for us and what he has revealed to us in Scripture, I wonder if you have ever thought or have encountered a question that sometimes is posed. Why did God reveal the Bible as he has? You know, God certainly understood that while the Bible makes it very clear, Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 4 teaches that the Bible is not some mystery that only the clergy can unravel, or only the super wise can be able to discern. Paul there says, when one reads, you may understand his knowledge of the mystery of God. It is something that can be understood. It is something we can read. Not only do we not have to have the church or teachers to interpret it for us, we can read it ourselves.

But you’ve seen just as I have, circumstances in which two people will look at the same passage of Scripture and draw dramatically different conclusions about that same scripture. Now, did God not realize that’s what would happen? No. I think we can say firmly and certainly that God knew everything that would happen. Over in Acts chapter 15 and verse 18, there the declaration about God is stated in this way Known to God from eternity are all his works. He knew from the very beginning how many would respond to him. A text that we find in Isaiah chapter 46, verses 9 through 10. Put it this way. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me.

Listen to this, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things that were not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Now, that being the case, sometimes as people struggle with the fact that we have religious division, or as people struggle with the fact that we have people, maybe that we know and love that will look at Scripture and not see it in the same way. We wrestle with, well, why didn’t God simply reveal Scripture in a way that it could not possibly be misinterpreted? You know, we wrestle with that. You know, we ask why would he risk revealing his will in a way that was even possible for people to misunderstand? And I think we have to admit, as we wrestle with that question, Scripture does not directly answer that question as to why God revealed his word exactly as he has.

1. Why Did Jesus Speak in Parables?

However, there are a number of places in Scripture where very similar questions arise, and we are told something about that I want to submit to you, helps us to see that the purpose behind that may well be revealed to us. And I’d like for us to look together at a series of questions that are posed in Scripture to which an answer is given, and I believe we can draw a conclusion as to why it is that God has done it as He has. A very similar question comes, and it’s one of the first I’d like us to deal with. Jesus spoke in parables. And if you turn with me if you haven’t already, to Matthew chapter 13, the apostles will ask a question about why are you doing it that way, Lord?

You know, certainly a parable is something that people will look at, and some will look at it one way, some will look at it another. Not all conclusions that are drawn are accurate, not all conclusions are in keeping with all of what is taught in Scripture. How does Jesus answer that question about parables? Read with me, Matthew chapter 13, beginning in verse 10, and we’ll go down to verse 17. And the disciples came and said to him, Why do you speak to the people in parables? He answered and said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not been given. And what does he mean by that? Well, notice, for whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

Now, is the Lord talking here about some type of partiality in which, well, he wants to give it to some, he doesn’t want to give to others. Read further, and we’ll see. That’s not that’s not what he’s getting at here. Verse 13. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Well, why is that? Why is it that they’ll see the same thing and they will not understand it? Now listen to how he explains it, verse 14. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive, and here’s the reason. For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

Their ears of heart are hard of hearing, and notice this, and their eyes they have closed. Notice it’s not God that closed their eyes, they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.

Here we see the Lord describing a condition of heart that exists in all people in one form or another. A condition that is either open and receptive to the things of God’s word, or is they are blinded to it because they close their eyes. They have certain assumptions, certain judgments, certain preconceived ideas. Jesus here, I think, indicates to us that the parables are given in a form so that the one who has an open and discerning heart will receive it. Notice, he goes on to say, but blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear. For assuredly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous have desired to see what you see and not and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.

I want to suggest to you that in this answer, the Lord reveals something that is borne out throughout Scripture. Over in 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 4, I want you to notice that there, Paul through the Holy Spirit, describes God as he speaks to those in Thessalonica as God who tests the hearts. Think about that. In the words Jesus offered in parables, he was in essence putting forth something that would sort out. Are you one that is approaching the word of God with a preconceived idea? Or are you open to it? Are you opening your heart? Are you opening your ears and opening your heart so that you can accept it? This is not an isolated statement. We’ll find in the book of Proverbs.

In Proverbs chapter 17 and verse 3, there it describes it this way the refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts. Let’s look further at some passages that echo this same idea. Turn to Psalm 7. Psalm 7, and let’s look at verses 8 and 9. Psalm 7, verses 8 and 9. Now we’re going to talk a little bit later about a distinction that I think Scripture clearly bears out between tempting and testing. You know, a temptation is laying a sin before someone and trying to entice them to engage in that sin. The Bible will indicate that God never, under any circumstances, does that. But is that to say that God never sets before us choices that will determine and seek what type of heart we have?

I think the latter is true. Notice in Psalm 7, beginning verse 8. The Lord shall judge the peoples. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity within me. Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just. For the righteous God, listen to this, tests the hearts and minds. Isn’t that interesting the way it is described there? Look over in Jeremiah. We’ve mentioned several times how what a treasure trove we find in the book of Jeremiah. Notice here in Jeremiah chapter 17, verses 9 and 10. Jeremiah chapter 17, verses 9 and 10. We’ll see much the same idea. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, listen to this, search the heart.

I test the mind, even to give every man to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Now think about that in light of the question we posed at the beginning. Could it be that the reason God has revealed his word in the way that he has exactly the same reason that Jesus taught in parables as a means to test the hearts to see whether or not we will be open to it and obey it, or if we will approach it with a set idea in mind. You know, you’ve all seen people like that. Tell me, tell me what I ought to do when they’ve already decided what they ought to do. And you can talk to them until you’re blue in the face, but they have decided what they’re going to do without even really listening to what you have to say to them.

What does it mean if we approach the God of all creation with such an attitude? We say, I want to look to your word to find out guidance in my life, but here’s the way I’m going to do it, regardless of what you say. Is that really a humble, submissive kind of attitude? No. By writing the scripture as he has, by telling parables as Jesus did, he sorted through all of that kind of attitude. He determines, are you going to be a kind of people that, well, if it’s quick and easy and it doesn’t take much effort on my part, you know, then I’ll do it and then I’ll follow it. Or are you going to be the kind of people that love me enough to really try to determine what does my Father in heaven want me to do?

2. Why Did God Give the Sabbath Manna Law?

Let’s look at another question that I think is very similar to this. I was talking to one of the brethren about this last night. Why did God give the Sabbath manna law? You know, we talked about this since we were kids. You kids that are here, you’ve learned in Bible classes about how God provided manna for the children of Israel in the wilderness. And I’ve studied this, you’ve studied this. It wasn’t until some years ago that I noticed a little something in this, and I call it to your attention. Go with me to Exodus chapter 16, verses 1 and 4. Exodus chapter 16, verses 1 and 4. Yes, it was that God provided manna in order to sustain the lives of the Israelites when they were wandering in the wilderness.

But I want you to notice that there was a little more to it than simply just a matter of giving them food. He could have done that in any way that he saw fit. But remember, he gave them this unusual means of sustenance, this bread from heaven, and it was something that carried with it a restriction. Six days they could gather it. But on the seventh day they couldn’t gather it. And if they did, they would be cut off from Israel. Why would the Lord do that? Well, let’s look at what the text says. Exodus 16, beginning verse 1. And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the seventh day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt.

Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the children of Israel said to them, Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full.

Now, think just incidentally about the craziness of such a complaint. God has delivered them from bondage in Israel. He has saved them when the firstborn in Egypt were destroyed. He has brought them through the Red Sea, and yet they are complaining about what God has done for them. I want you to notice as it goes on to say here, verse 4. Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and shall gather a certain quota every day that I may test them. Notice that. That I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not. Again, he could have just delivered pizza to them every day. He could have given them whatever he chose to.

But he lays before them this to see, are you going to do what I say or not? And I find that intriguing. God knew what they would do, but God gave them this opportunity to either follow what he says or follow their own wishes. Over in Deuteronomy, notice with the Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 16. This is not something, and I think this is important where we need to draw this distinction between tempting and testing. Because you might say, well, if that’s what he’s doing, isn’t that kind of unkind? Isn’t it something in which he’s really being mean to them? He’s trying to see if he can trip them up. Well, no. Notice with me the wording in Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 16. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 16.

We’re going to see that God’s motive in doing this was not unkind. It was not something that was meant to trip them up. It was something that, while, yes, it was a test to see if they would obey him or not, it was something ultimately for their good. Notice that. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 16. Here, as God is talking about what he’s done for the Israelites, picking up in the middle of the thought it says, who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you, and that he might test you to do you good in the end. That’s something for us to think about. If we consider the fact that the Word of God is revealed exactly the way God intended it is revealed in a way like parables to test and to discern whether or not we will be open to it or not.

3. Why Did God Speak From the Mountain?

And it is something that ultimately, when we are open to it, will be for our best interest, will do us good in the end. That may help us to answer our question. But let’s look at a third area in which this question isn’t necessarily posed in Scripture, but I want you to notice some things that are said in connection with this. Why did God speak from the mountain? You may remember this rather unusual circumstance when, if I’m understanding it correctly, when the children of Israel came into the wilderness, and the very first time that the Ten Commandment Law is declared to them, imagine the awesome nature of this. You are in front of this mountain in which there’s clouds and lightning and such things, and it’s not simply a matter of Moses telling you, here’s what God said.

On this occasion, God actually spoke to the people. Read with me if you would in Exodus chapter 20, verses 18 through 21. Exodus 20, verses 18 through 21.

And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. I want you to notice, we live in a day and age in which it’s rather common for people to say, Well, God told me this. God told me that. Now, I want to make a point here, and I realize that not every time when God spoke in Scripture was it something as awesome and monumental as we’re going to read here. But I do think it is important for us to recognize that when God actually spoke to people, it was not just a matter of, you know, I think I get this strong feeling, so God must be telling me to do something. When it really happened, look at the people’s reaction. And compare that to claims that we hear today.

Notice, as the people did this, verse 19, then they said to Moses, You speak with us. We will hear, but let God, let not God speak with us lest we die. Now think about that. It was such a frightening, kind of awesome experience. But there was no question about, well, wasn’t that God? Or was it just, you know, a piece of undigested cheese from last night that makes me feel a certain way. No. We are talking about something that is clearly God communicating to man to such an extent they said, don’t do that again. Don’t let that happen again. Now let’s continue reading down to verse 21. And Moses said to the people, do not fear, for God has come, notice once again, to test you, and that his fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.

So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. You know, I realize that there may have been times in the past in which the only emphasis that was placed upon our understanding of the nature of God may have been one in which God was communicated as a God of fear and as a God of awe, and there was such a fearful attitude that people had towards God that it didn’t balance it with what Scripture teaches about with respect to his love. I don’t think we live in that time now. I think, if anything, we live in a day and age now in which God is portrayed to such an extent that we cannot even conceive of the fact that he will bring us into judgment.

And as we think about this unusual circumstance where God in a dramatic way spoke from the mountain to such a degree that the people were trembling and said, please talk to Moses. Don’t do that again. Moses says he did that to test you. So that you will fear him so that you won’t sin. I think we need that today. I think we need to recognize that, yes, it may be a challenge sometimes for us to dig into Scripture and to try to understand what it means. And I certainly don’t think we ought to have an attitude that says, Well, I understand it perfectly, so I’m meriting my salvation because of that. No, we shouldn’t have that kind of attitude. But we absolutely should have an attitude that says, the God of all creation who has spoken and revealed his will to me, I want to do it to the uttermost.

4. Why Did God Make Israel Wander in the Wilderness?

I want to understand all of it so that I am pleasing to him, because there’s enough areas in my life where I have been displeasing to him. I absolutely want to follow what he says in all things. So once again, can it be that the reason he has revealed his word is for the same reason he spoke from the mountain, the same reason he gave manna to the Israelites, the same reason Jesus spoke in parables in order to test our hearts. Let’s look further at this. Why did God make Israel wonder in the wilderness? And we kind of see a theme here, and it’s not as if I’m keeping the point of my lesson secret until we get to the very end. I’m trying to convince you that I think what we see here is God is trying to test our hearts to show what they really are.

I had a good discussion after services last night with some brethren. We were talking about, well, if God knows everything that’s going to happen, why go through this whole period of time where he knows what we’re going to do already, yes, but we don’t know what we’re going to do. And we have not yet responded to his word in either an appropriate way or in a way that is not appropriate. This period of time that we live through is that testing ground. We may not like it. We may wish it was different. We may wish that we could end it on a day that everything’s going smooth and not on a day when we have weakness, but nonetheless, we are living in this period now where he’s testing us.

Deuteronomy chapter 8. Let’s look together. Deuteronomy chapter 8, verses 1 and 2. Why did he make the Israelites wander in the wilderness? Once again, to test the people, to determine what was in their heart. Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 1. Every commandment which I command you today, you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness to humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. You know, if you’re talking geography, that trap, that journey from Egypt to Canaan is not very far.

One time I was looking at some of the distances, at least just in Israel. And you know, if you think about where the Sea of Galilee is and you look at where the Dead Sea is, up in my part of the state, that’s about the distance from Amarillo down to Lubbock. Now, if you think about that, I know Texas is a big state, but that’s a relatively small territory. Basically, we could think of it if we’re down here in Houston, that maybe be a little further, but you’re not talking about a huge journey. God could have taken them into Egypt immediately. But they weren’t quite ready. They did not have a heart and the disposition to obey God fully. And even when they first approached the land and they send the spy then, did they have a confidence yet in God that he would do what he said he would do?

No. And so they need a little more time. And it would be the next generation that would actually have the hearts to do what they needed to. As we talked about in our Sunday night lesson. They had to come to realize that sometimes hardship can be a testing that refines us. Go over to Psalms with me, Psalm 66. And I want you to notice the way it is described there in Psalm 66. We mentioned that passage at the beginning of our study from where the idea was communicated that you have a testing that goes on where there’s a refining that comes by God’s testing. In Psalm 66, let’s read together verses 8 to 12. Psalm 66, verses 8 through 12. Oh, bless our God, you peoples, and make the voice of his praise be heard.

Who keeps our soul among the living and does not allow our feet to be moved. For you, O God, have tested us. You have, listen to this, refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net. You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads. We went through the fire and through the water, but you brought us out to rich fulfillment. What an interesting idea that is communicated there. We don’t think of it that way very much. I made the point earlier in that lesson Sunday night that sometimes that hardship that we go through, we looked at Romans where Paul talks about that tribulation produces character. We probably don’t think about it too much with respect to our response to the word of God.

We might wish that it could be the kind of thing that everybody could look at it and there’d be no struggle. But the fact of the matter is that sometimes if I look at the word of God, but I’ve already decided that I want to do it a certain way, and I reject the word of God because of my preconceived notion, the problem isn’t with the word of God. The problem is with my heart. And what we see in the word of God is the wisdom of God whereby he sets forth his word in a way that like the Israelites in the wilderness, like the manna that was given, like speaking from the mountain, like parables, whereby he is refining us to see, are we going to put in the work?

Are we going to love him enough to care about it? You know, it’s pretty easy to have an attitude that says, you know, we can do whatever we want to do. And sometimes we’ll see that often people that have such an attitude, Tony and I were talking about that. You know, if you don’t have many convictions, if you don’t have much interest in doing exactly what the word of God says, it’s pretty easy to smile and get along with everybody all the time. It’s harder when you recognize I have an accountability of my God. And I must understand his word and I must obey it. I need to try to help you and others do that too. And how are we going to do that? Can we accomplish what the word of God says?

5. Why No Instantaneous Judgment on Those Teaching Falsehood?

And we get frustrated at that. And we shake our heads at that. But that is refining. That is God through his word working in our hearts and minds to see do you really love me? Do you really care enough to put in the work to do these things? Well, let’s look just at a few other things as we bring our lesson to a close. This one is probably one that we struggle with a great deal. Because as we think about the fact that we live in a world in which there is error, there is apostasy that is all around us. I don’t know about you. I sometimes wish that God and his power would just eliminate that. You have a false teacher, you have one that is promoting error.

Just get that person out of the way so he doesn’t lead anyone else astray. But let’s see what Scripture tells us about such things. Is there a reason that God reveals why in his providence he doesn’t just simply bring about instantaneous judgment on those that err or those that are teaching falsehood? Turn to Deuteronomy with Deuteronomy chapter 13 and look at verses 1 through 5. Deuteronomy chapter 13. And let’s read together verses 1 through 5. If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods which you have not known, and let us serve them.

You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice. You shall serve him and hold fast to him. Verse 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage to entice you from the way which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.

Now, think about that. I realize we are, we’re not living under the old law. I realize that we are not in a situation in which the same kind of capital punishment is to be exerted as he was commanding the Israelites in this time. And I think it’s also important for us to recognize that when it describes that this is happening, it’s not saying God’s the one putting the falsehood in the prophet’s mind to test you to see. No, I think it is the sense of allowance. He is allowing this to happen. And that relates a lot to the conditions we live in, isn’t it? He does not the very first time that someone stands up and says, you know, you don’t have to be baptized to go to heaven.

He is not going to the very first time that someone stands up and says, you know what? Jesus Christ isn’t the only way to salvation. You can be a Buddhist or you can be a Muslim, or you can go whatever way you choose. The Lord doesn’t just immediately bring them into judgment and take them out of this world. But in the fact that the Lord allowed that to happen, just like the Israelites, He is allowing us to go through a testing period. Are we going to hear such things and either be moved by peer pressure? You know, we lived in a country which for years and years has in many respects had a respect for the Word of God. That’s not the way it is much anymore.

We have a lot more people around us that either deny God altogether or have bought into all sorts of falsehood, or maybe even have come to a point where, as we talked about last night, the Bible isn’t relevant. You don’t have to listen to it. I wish that wasn’t the case. I wish I lived in a place in which everybody was following what the Word of God said. But you know what? If that was just the case, would my love for God be because I really loved him? Or would it be because I’m just kind of going along with the peer pressure? When we live in an age in which it is not true that everybody all around us is serving God, it becomes even more clear when there are those that have the courage to follow what the Bible says when it’s not popular.

To follow what God has said even when those around us are not doing so. We think about that, back to our original question. Why does God reveal things as he has? Why does he do this? It is a way to see, do you really love me? You know, as we think about this idea, it really puts us in a position to be able to demonstrate, I really do love you. I’m going to stand with you, Lord. I’m going to follow your will, whether it’s easy for me or not, whether it feels natural to me or not, whether all those around me are following it or not, I’m going to do what you say. The last question I want to pose, and this probably may be very personal for some of us.

6. Why Does God Allow Wicked People to Exist?

You know, I’ve got family that has not done what the Lord has commanded. Others I know are in the same condition. But as we think about this, maybe we’ve seen those that we love be influenced by those that are wicked. Or we’ve seen it to be a situation where, you know, if it wasn’t for that kind of influence of the wicked in their lives, maybe they wouldn’t have gone astray. So that being the case, why does God allow wicked people to even exist? Why doesn’t he just take that out of the way if he doesn’t want us to be tempted beyond what we’re able? We looked at that in 1 Corinthians 10 earlier this week. Well, the final passage I’d like for us to look at addresses this very question, and I think we see the same type of answer.

Genesis chapter 3. I’m sorry, Judges chapter 3. Let’s look together. Judges chapter 3, verses 1 through 4. You’ll remember that the period of the Judges falls immediately after the conquest of Canaan. Children of Israel have come out of Egypt. They’ve gone through their wilderness wandering. Joshua brought them into the land and they conquered the land. But you’ll remember that they didn’t, they left some places where they didn’t cast out all of the people as they should have. When you come to the period of the Judges, I’ve often heard it described as kind of the Wild West period of the Old West.

Because it is a time in which, as it’s stated two times in the book, every man did what was right in his own eyes. You know, it was a period in which they should have seen God as their king, but the fact that they didn’t have a king often led them into a position where they just go wherever the winds blew them. And so we’ll see all sorts of chaos during this period. Read with me, verses 1 through 4 of Judges chapter 3. Now, these are the nations which the Lord left. Notice once again, that he might test Israel by them. Now, remember, what does it mean the Lord left them? You can look in Joshua and in Judges, and they were commanded to cast them out, but they didn’t fully obey what God said.

God didn’t intervene and force them to do what they should have done to begin with. He allowed it. But his allowance is here described as something that would accomplish something. He did this, that he might test Israel by them. That is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan. This was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it. Namely, five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians and the Hivites who dwelt in Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hama. They were left that he might test Israel by them to know whether they would obey the Lord, the commandments of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

Conclusion

Once again, to the issue of God’s foreknowledge, he knew what they would do, but they didn’t know what they would do. And it is only in time when they actually either followed him or rebelled against him and turned to follow the gods of these other nations that they really demonstrated. Who they were and where their heart was. Did they follow him or not? Now, these questions that we looked at, as I said at the beginning, Scripture doesn’t just directly and absolutely answer that question. Lord, why did you write Scripture as you did? Why didn’t you do it the way we think it should have been done? That’s really what we’re saying sometimes, isn’t it? Because we imagine, well, if he had explained this about questions we have about instrumental music, or if he had explained this about questions we have related to institutional issues or whatever it may be, then there wouldn’t be all of these kinds of struggles that exist today.

Well, maybe not. You know, mankind is pretty good at coming up with all sorts of twisted ways, even when the most simple things are revealed in God’s word. But I think we’ve seen, as we’ve looked at these situations where there are answers to these questions, that God did it in each of these cases. Maybe even though in our foolish wisdom we might have looked at it and said, well, we should do it different. God knew exactly what he was doing. And in so doing, it set before man a way in which he could demonstrate Am I going to follow the Lord? Am I going to love the Lord and serve him or not? Now, I mentioned earlier that we need to make a distinction between God testing us and God tempting us.

Over in James chapter 1 and verse 13. There the Lord affirms absolutely. God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. We need to recognize that God is not going to set before us some kind of evil that will entice us. We can do that ourselves. But when we are looking at the Word of God, and that’s really where our focus was and where our question is, I think we need to recognize that God’s word was revealed to accomplish exactly what God intended. I said that was my last passage. I changed my mind. Go with me to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55. Let’s look at one last text here that I think is pertinent to our study. Isaiah 55, and let’s look at verses 10 and 11.

God knew exactly what he was doing in revealing scripture in the way that he did. Our challenge is we need to trust that he knew what he was doing when he did it. And we need to trust that it is accomplishing exactly what he intended for it to accomplish. Isaiah 55, notice with me, beginning in verse 10. For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread for food. Listen to this. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I send it.

Do you get what the Lord says there? It’s going to do exactly what I meant for it to do. We may our time seeing why he do it that way. But God had a reason. The Hebrew writer in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 will talk about the word of God and what it accomplishes, and I think it addresses some of exactly what we’ve been considering tonight. It describes the word of God as a double-edged sword that is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. God’s word lays my heart barren to see, am I going to do what it says? Or in my rebellion, am I going to say, no, I know I know a better way. I’m not going to listen to you, Lord.

Imagine if you, who are parents here, your children. You know better than they do, what’s going to be for their best interest and their safety, how to protect them, how to raise them, how to care for them. What do we think about when a little child will look a parent in the eye and say, I know you said that, but you I know better? We realize that three-year-old, that four-year-old doesn’t know anything about life. Somewhere along the way, sometimes as we grow to maturity, we forget that as we stand before the God of all creation, we are like children. And he knows everything about how we ought to live. He knows better than we know. He knows what we need for our good. And when we look to his word, we are put in a position in which our heart is exposed, and either we will yield to him.

Or if we reject that, we are like a little child saying, I know better. I’m going to do it my way. You don’t know what you’re talking about, God. I hope that if you’re here this evening, in your recognition of the power of God, in your consideration of his word and what his word accomplishes, you will never have such an attitude. But rather, instead, as you recognize that the word of God is set forth to test your heart and my heart, may we each pass that test by humbly committing ourselves to do all that we find within God’s word. If you’re tonight and you’re not a Christian, your heart is being tested by the gospel of Jesus Christ. God has set before you, as he described it in the old law, a way of life and a way of death.

But in Christ, that way of life now comes through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Don’t imagine that, well, you know, I’m good enough. God will he’ll give me a pass. You know, he’s been willing to forgive all of us for our sin. But that rests in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and putting on that blood. Would you not deceive him? Put your faith in Jesus as the Son of God. Confess that faith before men. Repent and turn from sin that separates you from God and be baptized into Christ or the remission of sin. If as a child of God, maybe as you think about the Word of God, maybe there’s been some issue you’ve been wrestling with, and you said, Well, I can serve God except this I don’t want to do.

Or I don’t understand why he did it this way. I don’t presume to have answered all of your questions tonight. But I hope that as we’ve thought about these things, maybe it helps you move a little bit towards that recognition, God’s ways are best. God knows what is best. I may not understand, I may not like it, but I will yield to it and I will submit to it, and in the end it will be for my best interest and it will be for my good because heaven awaits us. And if as your brothers and sisters in Christ, there’s some way we can help encourage you and invite you to come while we’re standing there.