“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
—John 5:24
WE LIVE IN a day similar to what the Lord foretold through the prophet Amos. A day of famine, not of bread and water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. A day when we have many places across our land called the church and many men who are called preachers, but only a few are faithfully preaching God’s Word. As Amos prophesied of Israel during his day, “They shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it.” Even so, today you can run from city to city, church to church, and you will find a famine of hearing the words of the Lord because preachers are not proclaiming God’s Word.
BUT NOT ONLY do we live in a time of famine of the preaching of the Word of God, we also live in a time of famine for the hearing of God’s Word. How many church members truly hunger for the faithful preaching of God’s Word? If they did, they would not put up with men who don’t preach the Word. Beloved, we live in a time when ministers fail to preach and church members fail to hunger for God’s Word, a day of spineless men who are afraid to proclaim the Word of God with boldness and conviction. A day when many who call themselves Christians would rather be entertained on Sunday morning rather than hear the faithful exposition of God’s Word. Yet our text tells us how vitally important it is for the Word of God to be preached and for people to hear and believe God’s Word. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
JESUS BEGINS, “Most assuredly, or truly, truly.” Literally it means, “Amen, Amen.” This is usually said after a preacher speaks the truth, but Jesus begins by saying “Amen, Amen,” which means so shall it truly and surely be. And notice what Jesus says, “He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life.” Our text says he who hears the Word and believes it has everlasting life. Do you see how vitally important it is for preachers to preach the Word of God? Without the preaching of Scripture no one will ever be saved because it’s through Scripture that Jesus speaks. “But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:20-21). “Whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. How then shall they call on 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?” (Rom. 10:13-14).
PRAY THAT THE LORD gives His people a hunger and thirst for His Word. Pray that preachers would be granted a zeal by the Holy Spirit to faithfully preach the Word of God since only in this way is God glorified, the voice of Jesus is heard, and people are saved from the wrath of God. May the Lord give His church an insatiable hunger for His holy Word.
Friday Devotional: September 6, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry