From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 4 of a series. Read parts 1 - 2 - 3

Postmodern Evangelicals are trying all kinds of approaches to the problems of the nations - except the one that God says will work. In this series we've seen the true story of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who took God at His Word, despite opposition from the Evangelicals of his day. His commitment to the authority of the Bible revitalized a church, revolutionized a city, and rescued a nation from disaster.

In previous articles, we saw this unlikely man come to an unlikely place for the start of a revolution in the church. We saw the flame quickly kindled as he rejected failed church-growth strategies and relied strictly on the power of God and His Word. We saw the passion God placed within him - to facilitate the growth and development of a Scripture-driven church - and the parallels for our time. Today we begin examining this question: "What does God do when a church experiences the renewal of Scripture-driven thinking?"

For the answer, we shall examine three things. First, we shall go to Scripture, specifically the book of Acts, to see how the Holy Spirit worked in the early days of the church. Second, we shall return to the Sandfields revolution of Martyn Lloyd-Jones' time, to examine the results of that revolution and to understand how they came about. Third, we shall look at an example of the quiet revolution that has begun in a few Evangelical churches in our day.

We shall see that a renewal of Scripture-driven thinking in the pulpit and the pew can radically transform the Evangelical church, making it successful in the only way it truly can be - on God's terms, not man's.

The New Testament Model: The Word at Work

Today let's consider what the New Testament says on this subject - the experience of the church in the book of Acts and beyond.

In the days immediately after the coming of the Holy Spirit upon 120 believers in Jerusalem at Pentecost, when they began to preach the Gospel, we read this: "Many of those who heard the Word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand" (Acts 4:4).

Just a short time later, we read this: "The Word of God spread, and [as a result] the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the [Jewish] priests" - men who had been the enemies of Christ during His earthly ministry - "a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7).

A short time later, the church at Jerusalem was being scattered because of persecution. They were fleeing to other parts of the Roman world because of that persecution. And what do they do, as they go? What do they do, even in the face of persecution? "Those who were scattered went everywhere, preaching the Word" (Acts 8:4).

And then a bit later we find this: "The Word of God grew and multiplied" (Acts 12:24). The church grew and multiplied because the Word of God grew and multiplied - the seed of the Word was sown, and it bore fruit.

The Word Prevails at Ephesus

And then some time later, we come to the account of Paul's journey to Ephesus in Acts chapter 19. We read in verse 8 that Paul "went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God." Paul was ready to give an answer for the hope that was within him. And then a few verses later we read that there was a moving of God among those in Ephesus who had made their living by practicing spiritism, the black arts. And we come to verse 18, and we read this: "And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic [that is, spiritism] brought their books together and [they] burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver."

That was over 160 years' wages for the average laborer in that day - a phenomenal amount of money. At today's minimum wage rate, it would be $2.9 million. For the average wage earner today, it would be over $7 million.

Millions of dollars' worth of the most sinful kinds of books - burned in the fire. Burning these books meant that these people were giving up their livelihood; spiritism was a very lucrative profession in the Roman world. These people were giving it all up - a multi-million-dollar business, in modern terms. Turning their backs on it. What was happening? In the next verse, Luke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us exactly what was happening: "In this way, the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed" (19:20).

The Unchained Word

Postmodern Evangelicals need to grasp the pattern we find in Acts: "May of those who heard the Word believed." "The Word of God spread." "Those who were scattered went everywhere, preaching the Word." "The Word of God grew and multiplied." "The Word of God grew mightily and prevailed." The driving force behind the growth and development of the New Testament church was the expository preaching of the Word.

Later in his life, Paul wrote his second epistle to Timothy. And we read this in Second Timothy chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. He said that because of the Gospel he suffered trouble and was treated as an evildoer, even to the point of being in prison and in chains. But, he said, "the Word of God is not chained."

The Word of God is not chained! The world may do what it wants, as God allows it. The world may look on Christians as evildoers - and we certainly see that attitude in our society today. But, Paul says, let the world do its utmost to suppress the truth - the Word of God is not chained! It is the Word of God that is alive, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. It is the Word of God that gets to the heart of the issues of life. It is the Word of God that is the critic of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Believe God's Promise

God has promised this, as we read in Isaiah 55:11: "My Word that goes forth shall not return to me void" - it shall not return to Me empty, it shall not return to Me without fruit, without result. "But it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." The people and leaders of a Scripture-driven church understand that God honors His Word. They understand that it is as the Word prospers and grows and prevails, that the church prospers and grows and prevails. It is as the Word of God accomplishes His purpose, that the church accomplishes its God-ordained purpose.

The early church understood this. And it was as the early church stayed on-message, on-mission, and on the battlefield, that the Word of God accomplished great things by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Next: The Word Prevails at Sandfields

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