Man and the Word of God — Nikolay Pletnev

Greetings to you, dear brothers and sisters! Let us all say: praise the Lord! Today is Monday, April 20. Before our prayer I want to share the Word of God. It is written in the Gospel of John, chapter 17, which is our main text, and I want to speak on the theme “Man and the Word of God.” This is an important theme that I want to teach today and to reflect on together with you.

Let us begin reading from the seventh verse, selectively. Christ prayed for His disciples: “Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me” (John 17:7-8).

This is the first thing I want to draw your attention to. Christ, praying for His disciples (this prayer is called the High Priestly Prayer), tells the Father that they have received the Word of God. They have known, they have understood, that this word came from You; they received it as the Word of God and believed. And this is what I want to underline today: it is important to receive the Word of God. We must be that good soil which receives the seed. And when the seed comes into this soil, when the seed and the soil come together, something amazing happens: a tree grows up, or some other plant. Something altogether extraordinary happens in a person’s life when the Word of God comes: it changes everything.

And before we read further, I especially want to read those passages in the Acts of the Apostles where it is written how people received the Word of God, because this is where everything begins. Christ says: they have received the Word of God. Let us look at these passages.

The Acts of the Apostles, chapter two, verse 41. The Day of Pentecost: people hear Peter’s preaching, God touches them through the word that Peter preaches, and it is written: “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2:41). Gladly, that is, it was the desire of their hearts. It is very important to receive gladly. Three thousand people received the Word of God with great desire. And how do we receive the Word of God? Remember that moment, with what gladness, with what desire and zeal we received the Word of God! It did its work in us, it inspired us, it was in first place, and everything else was in second. That is how it should be. And it was with such gladness that the first Christians received the Word of God.

Samaria: the Word of God came there through Philip the evangelist, and it is written that the Samaritans received the Word of God; the apostles heard about it and sent Peter and John there (Acts 8:14), and you know that God baptized them with the Holy Spirit. They received the Word of God! Acts, chapter 11, verse 1 testifies: when the Jews gathered after Peter came from the house of Cornelius, they heard that it was the Gentiles who had received the Word of God in the house of Cornelius (Acts 11:1). And how did they receive it? Let us remember once more: with great thirst they received what Peter preached. And the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 17, verse 11: Paul came to the city of Berea and preached the Word of God in the synagogue, and there we read that they, that is, the Jews, “received the word with all readiness” (Acts 17:11). We must receive gladly, we must receive with inspiration and with all readiness, searching the Scriptures to find out whether these things are so. “Therefore many of them believed” (Acts 17:12).

James, in his epistle, chapter one, verse 21, says: “Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). With meekness: here is another condition. It is important to have gladness, desire, it is important to have zeal, but it is also important to have meekness, to stand in reverence before this word so that it may dwell in us. And it is able to save our souls, and it does save them.

The Epistle to the Colossians, chapter 3, verse 16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16). Not a tiny bit, not a little, but richly, in an abundant stream. That is how it should dwell in our hearts. How do we read the Word of God? How do we thirst for it? This is very important: richly.

The First Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse 6: “And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:6). There was affliction, but they followed even the Lord Himself, they followed the apostles: in spite of affliction, they received the Word of God with joy. Whatever may be happening in your life, rejoice that you have the Word of God, rejoice as you receive the Word of God. David says: I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure (Psalm 119:162). This is the greatest treasure there can ever be in your life and mine. Glory to God that He gives eternal riches, eternal life! Hallelujah!

And the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 13: “…we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The attitude: that this is the Word of God. Reverence, trembling before the Word of God, because it is the Word of God. And it is written: on this one will I look, on him who trembles at My word (Isaiah 66:2). Let us remember this and treat this word with great reverence, as the Word of God, which God has spoken for us.

In the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 10, verse 8, the apostle Paul says that this word must be in our mouths. Remember, it is written there: “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8). Receive it not only into your mouth, not only repeat it; sometimes we preachers do that. Speak it, because confession also matters; it is even said that the word shall not depart from your mouth (Joshua 1:8). It must sound from our lips: read it aloud, talk about it. But that is not enough. It is written: and in your heart. Let it be received not only by our mind, so to speak, but in the depths of our heart; there it will truly work, for it carries within itself the greatest power.

Let us return to chapter 17 of the Gospel of John and continue reflecting on that prayer which Christ spoke. So, the first point: remember, I devoted a lot of time to receiving the Word of God, how we must receive it. Further on, Christ prays for His disciples and says in verse 11: “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are” (John 17:11). You see, Christ prays and asks that they may be in unity. Because when we read the Word of God, it unites us with God and with one another. And Christ attached great importance to our having unity: unity with one another, as He has with the Father.

The next thing I want to say: I already said earlier that they received the Word of God with joy in affliction. But let us read verse 13. Christ says: “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:13). Look at this: Christ says that we, having received the Word of God, must rejoice. Afflictions, pains: sometimes, yes, it hurts, it is affliction, no one disputes that. But there is the Word of God, and it carries joy within itself. And Christ prayed for this. Hallelujah! The Word of God brings unity, the Word of God brings joy, the Word of God brings faith. Hallelujah!

And the next verses I want to read are 14, 15 and 16: “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (John 17:14-16). We see that through receiving the Word of God something happened in our lives. First of all, the atmosphere changed: God loved us, but the world hated us, just as Christ was hated. And Christ prays about this and says that when they received the word, they became like Me, and the world hates them, not because they are of some special nation or anything else, no, none of that, but because the Word of God now lives in them. And Christ says: I do not pray that You would take them out of this world of evil and temptation, but that You would keep them in the midst of this evil.

You know, there is much evil around us. Sometimes we do not even know what is going on around us: all kinds of plots, Satan trying to do something, to knock us off the path. But when we pray and abide in the Word of God, when we go into it and go deeper into it, the Lord destroys those plots. Glory to God! Such is the power of God. And what we read here is precisely that God would keep us from evil in this world.

Another thing I want to say today: verse 17, an important verse. It is written: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). And Christ underlines it: Your word is truth. Beyond the fact that we receive the Word of God, and that is good; beyond the fact that we have believed, and that is wonderful, that is marvelous; beyond the fact that we rejoice and strive for unity, there is one more important thing that the Lord does through the Word of God, and that is our sanctification. He sanctifies us according to His word. He once said to the disciples: you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you (John 15:3). Therefore the Word of God has great power: as water cleanses a person’s body, so the Word of God cleanses us inwardly. This is sanctification, this is a process, and we must pay attention to it.

And only after this process of sanctification, in verse 18, it is written: “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:18). Not the other way around; not that He sent them into the world and now I will sanctify them. No. This is important: before we can have this great commission, this sending, this revival that we pray for, we must go through sanctification. We must learn to possess our own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles (1 Thessalonians 4:4-5). This is very important, brothers and sisters! That is why, with the revival that took place a hundred years ago (it began in Los Angeles, on Azusa Street, you know, and touched the whole world), before it came, the church and the brothers who were in that revival devoted themselves to the word, to sanctification; it was a holiness movement; they abided in the word, they were being sanctified. This path is not in vain.

So let us learn, first of all, to walk up these steps. Sanctify yourselves, says the Lord in the Old Testament, sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow you will see the wonders of the Lord (Joshua 3:5). Be sanctified inwardly. It is important, before preaching the Gospel, to be holy, sanctified by the Word of God, washed, cleansed, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17), especially for preaching the Gospel. Hallelujah! Glory to Christ! So give yourselves to this, brothers and sisters: take heed to yourselves and to the doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16). This is a process, a very important one; do not neglect it. Today everyone wants to preach, to go here and there; that is important, that is good, but it comes afterward, after our sanctification. And you will feel it: God will send you, fill you, the anointing will be at work, and you yourself will be amazed at how you have begun to witness at work, how you have begun to witness to your neighbors. It will come as a result; the Holy Spirit will arrange it all. Are you ready for this, brother? Are you ready for this, sister? This is what the Lord has called us to.

So, in closing, I want to sum up what I have spoken about today. Number one: the importance of receiving the Word of God. Man and the Word of God: when they come together, an extraordinary work takes place, supernatural and great, in our lives. Not because of who we are, no, but because the word has power in itself. Paul says: we are earthen vessels, but there is a treasure in us, the Word of God; we carry it (2 Corinthians 4:7). That is where our strength is, brothers and sisters! That is how we must value it: receive it, abide in this word and live by this word. It is a treasure, it is precious! Glory to Christ!

The next is faith: only on the foundation of the Word of God will our faith be established and preserved. The third thing Christ prayed for is sanctification through the Word of God. And the fourth is the preaching of the Gospel, the preaching of the Word of God; Christ prayed for this. But there is one more, the last, the fifth, which I have not spoken about. At the close of His prayer (let us read verse 26 of this chapter) Christ ends the prayer with these words: “And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26). The disciples already knew much about God, but He says: there is something they do not yet know, and it will be revealed to them. You already know much, you have already received much, but there is still something we do not yet know, brothers and sisters, and of this Christ says: and I will declare it. Paul writes that we, with all the saints, may know what is the depth and height and width and length, and may comprehend, may know the love of Christ which passes knowledge (Ephesians 3:18-19). “And I will declare it,” do you hear? And further it says: with which You loved Me, may be in them, and I in them.

I would say the fifth is attaining the fullness of the knowledge of God. This is the most beautiful thing: when we come to know the love of God deeper and deeper, and it is in us; through knowledge, through the Word of God, it comes to dwell in us. And we see as Jesus Christ sees, we look at things as Jesus Christ looks at them, we have the feelings that Jesus Christ has, divine feelings of compassion, love and mercy; we have His presence in our lives: “and I in them.” This is the main thing God has called us for: to be in us, so that we may be in Him and He in us, as He was in the Father and the Father was in Him. He wants to live in us. Let us strive for this, and God will reveal His depths, His blessings, His heavenly expanses, and through this we will be enriched. May the Lord help us in this!

Let us pray now, let us seek the face of God. This is not time wasted; this is the most productive time in a person’s life: prayer, reading the Scriptures, this is so important. Now, having heard the Word of God, let us pray together on our knees, you there where you are, and we here, and let us pray that the Lord would fill us with the Holy Spirit and reveal things to us. I will pray that God would give the brothers a word to preach, and give the brothers and sisters a testimony, and if anyone needs sanctification: His blood cleanses, beloved, so says the Word of God (1 John 1:7). Let us pray, dear church, let us call on the name of the Lord! Glory, praise to You, hallelujah! Thanks, thanks, glory to You!