Profiting From the Word # 4

5. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word causes a forsaking of sin.  "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Timothy 2:19). The more the Word is read with the definite object of discovering what is pleasing and what is displeasing to the Lord, the more will His will become known; and if our hearts are right with Him the more will our ways be conformed thereto. There will be a "walking in the truth" (3 John 4). At the close of 2 Corinthians 6 some precious promises are given to those who separate themselves from unbelievers. Observe, there, the application which the Holy Spirit makes of them. He does not say, "Having therefore these promises, be comforted and become complacent thereby," but "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit" (2 Corinthians 7:1).


"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3). Here is another important rule by which we should frequently test ourselves: Is the reading and studying of God's Word producing a purging of my ways? Of old the question was asked, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" and the Divine answer is "by taking heed thereto according to thy word." Yes, not simply by reading, believing, or memorizing it, but by the personal application of the Word to our "way." It is by "taking heed" to such exhortations as "Flee fornication" (1 Corinthians 6:18), "Flee from idolatry" (1 Corinthians 10:14). "Flee these things" - a covetous love for money (1 Timothy 6:11), "Flee also youthful lusts" (2 Timothy 2:22), that the Christian is brought into practical separation from evil; for sin has not only to be confessed but "forsaken" (Proverbs 28:13).

6. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word fortifies against sin.  The Holy Scriptures are given to us not only for the purpose of revealing our innate sinfulness, and the many, many ways in which we "come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), but also to teach us how to obtain deliverance from sin, how to be kept from displeasing God. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against  thee" (Psalm 119:11). This is what each of us is required to do: "Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart" (Job 22:22). It is particularly the commandments, the warnings, the exhortations, we need to make our own and to treasure; to memorize them, meditate upon them, pray over them, and put them into practice. The only effective way of keeping a plot of ground from being overgrown by weeds is to sow good seed therein: "Overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). So the more Christ's Word dwells in us richly, the less room will there be for the exercise of sin in our hearts and lives.


~Andrew Murray~


(continued with # 5)