Make Him Known: Revelations and Results

This is Pastor Raymond Woodward from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, and it's a real honor to teach you today and share this session. If I could give you a gift, it would be to establish in your mind and in your ministry the absolute power and authority of the Word of God. Because this Bible that we preach from is not just a best-selling book or a devotional book; it is a supernatural book. So when we receive its revelations, that's when we achieve its results. And so I want to take you on a little tour of the Word of God and let the Word of God speak for itself.

Moses told the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 8 that God humbled you and He suffered you to hunger and fed you with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know — and all that time, Moses said, God was trying to teach you something: that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. You may think that your daily need is something far different, but the greatest need that we have in our lives, in our churches, and in our ministries is a word from the Lord. We don't live by everything else; we live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Solomon said to the people of Israel, "Blessed be the Lord, that has given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised." And here was Solomon's observation as their leader: "There hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he has promised by the hand of Moses his servant." Solomon looked back over Israel's history and said God's word, God's promise, has never failed us. If that was true in the Old Testament — prior to Pentecost, prior to the Gospels, prior to the New Testament church — you know it is exponentially more true today.

David is one of my favorite writers in the Old Testament. His psalms are so powerful and beautiful. And he says in Psalm 56: "In God I will praise his word, in the Lord will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust; I will not be afraid of what man can do unto me." David — we know him as the great psalmist and the sweet singer of Israel; we know him as a man after God's own heart. He loved to worship God and write songs and sing them and lift up praise, but David honored and praised the Word of God, because the Word of God contains every revelation we have about the God we serve.

In Psalm 138 David says something that some people find strange: "I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." Now what in the world does that mean — "Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name"? I'd like to offer this suggestion to you. Three times in the Gospel of John, Jesus told the disciples that they would receive whatsoever you shall ask in my name: chapter 14, verse 13; chapter 15, verse 16; chapter 16, verse 23. Three times in the Gospel of John. His name gives us the authority to ask for whatever we want, Jesus said, and to bind and loose using that authority. So does that mean that you can literally ask in Jesus' name for just about anything? Absolutely not — because the word outweighs the name, because the word is magnified above the name, because it is the word that reveals the name. So if what you are asking for, hoping for, praying for — if it doesn't line up with the Word of God, you can ask until you're blue in the face, but that prayer is not going to be answered. Because God doesn't only honor His name; God always honors His word.

One of the most beautiful chapters — and the longest chapter in the Bible — is Psalm 119, and the emphasis of the entire chapter is on the ministry of the Word of God in the life of God's people. This chapter describes how the word enables us to grow in holiness and obedience. It tells us how the word can help us to handle the pressures and persecutions that always seem to come with a true walk of faith. Nearly every verse in this lengthy psalm contains a direct mention of the Word of God, so Psalm 119 is literally the word talking about the word, and that's why this chapter is so beautiful and so powerful. It would take a long time to go through the whole chapter, but here are some of my favorite verses, and I think you'll recognize them as some of your favorites as well. Verse 11: "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee." Verse 16: "I will not forget thy word." Verse 25: "Quicken thou me according to thy word." Verse 28: "Strengthen thou me according to thy word." Verse 42: "I trust in your word." Verse 58: "Be merciful unto me according to thy word." Verse 74: "I have hoped in thy word." It goes on and on in every dimension and every facet that you could possibly think of in honoring the Word of God. Verse 89: "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." We love this one — verse 105: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Verse 116: "Uphold me according unto thy word." And one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture, verse 133: "Order my steps in thy word."

It's so important, as we look at the Word of God, that it's not just a textbook from which we get sermons; it's not just a devotional book from which we take some kind of encouragement. But we need to remember that the Word of God is a supernatural book. When it's preached, when it's prayed over, when it's believed, when it's received, it has eternal, supernatural results. Verse 160: "Thy word is true from the beginning." Verse 161: "My heart standeth in awe of thy word." 162: "I rejoice at thy word." 169: "Give me understanding according to thy word." Verse 170: "Deliver me according to thy word." And 172: "My tongue shall speak of thy word." Almost every verse in the longest chapter of the Bible is the word speaking about itself. The word is so powerful: if we can receive its revelations, we can achieve the results it promises.

Isaiah the prophet said this: "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." When the word is taught, when the word is preached, when the word is prayed — God has spoken these words, and when we speak them we are confirming, we are affirming, we are agreeing, we are prophesying what God has already spoken. And since it is the words of God and the voice of God, when it goes forward it cannot help but accomplish its purpose; it can never return void or empty.

You remember the prophet Jeremiah: in chapter 20 he said, "I won't make mention of him" — there's too much persecution all around me; they're misusing me and abusing me, so I will not make mention of him; I won't speak any more in his name. "But his word was in my heart as a burning fire; it was shut up in my bones, and I got weary with forbearing — I got weary withholding it all in — and I could not stay." You know what the prophet said? The fire of the Word of God inside of me was greater than the fire of persecution all around me. I know we live in a difficult and treacherous age. I know there are cultural forces arrayed against everything that is godly, righteous, modest, and moral. But in this day the Word of God still has power, and we have to allow the fire of that word, the revelation of that word, to get inside of us and cause us to speak truth even when a lie is being promoted in every sphere of human existence.

The prophet Ezekiel — he was put in an impossible situation, certainly more impossible than anything you or I have faced, and God asked him a question in Ezekiel 37: "Son of man, can these bones live?" This entire valley filled with dry bones, the tattered remains of an army that was defeated — can these dry bones live? And Ezekiel said, "I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest." I don't know if I'm up to the task; I don't know if this can happen; I don't know if this miracle is too big; I don't know if this situation is too difficult. God, you know. And the Lord spoke to Ezekiel again, and here's what He told him to do: "Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them" — this seems ridiculous, dead dry bones in a valley of deadness and dryness, but the prophecy is — "O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." Because, brothers and sisters, wherever the word goes, there is power; wherever the word goes, there's authority; wherever the word goes, there is life; wherever the word goes, there is supernatural activity. So it was enough to prophesy and say, "Hear the word of the Lord."

Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes — and if anyone would know, he would; he ruled over the golden age of Israel as their king — and he wrote these words: "Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?" Who can argue with the word of a king, because he holds such authority and power? I say to you: who can argue with the word of the King of kings? It holds — and He holds — all authority and power.

And I love this verse. Yes, I know it's an Old Testament verse, but I also know that Paul tells us in First Corinthians 10 and 11 that all of these things happened to Israel for our examples; they're written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. I know that Paul said that all the promises of God in Jesus are yes, and in him are amen. And so I can look back to the Old Testament and I read these words, and it's powerful: "God sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." Israel had created the problem; Israel had committed the sin; Israel had made the mistake; Israel had taken the wrong turn. It was their destruction — they had created it, they were bearing the terrible fruit of it. But in the middle of that, God sent His word, and He healed them, and He delivered them. Anytime you are in the presence of the preached Word of God, you are in a healing service. I love our evangelists; I know there are people that are specially gifted by God with the supernatural gifts of healing — I understand that. But the Word of God carries its own authority that is above every one of us, and in the middle of any service, no matter who is doing the preaching, no matter what the subject of the sermon, if you're in an apostolic church where the truth of the Word of God is being communicated, God can send His word and heal you. That's powerful, brothers and sisters.

But we're not even out of the Old Testament yet. The minute we turn the page to the New Testament, the word becomes even more clear; there's even more revelation, there's even more authority, there's even more power. Because we read these words: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And "that Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." God not only has a word in a book that we call the Bible; He not only spoke His word through the prophets, but He wrapped Himself, robed Himself in flesh, and that eternal Word became the living Word here on earth. He became flesh. We got to see Him and touch Him and talk to Him and walk with Him. And those disciples, those apostles, did not pass down religious traditions or man-made ideas; they passed us revelation, and the Bible is filled with it. And when you receive its revelation, then and only then can you achieve its results.

This is the pattern all the way through the New Testament; it is the mode of operation for the church in the first century. Look at this, Mark chapter 16 and verse 20: "They went forth, they preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them" — and He confirmed not their ministries, not their personalities, not their giftings; He confirmed the word with signs following. Acts 19 and 20: "So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." This is the pattern in the New Testament church: as the word grew, the church grew; as the word got stronger, the church got stronger; as the word prevailed, the church prevailed. I am of the firm opinion and conviction that if we had more word, we'd have more victory; if we had more word, we'd have more revival. I'm not talking about assembling sermons and making people listen; I'm talking about believing and praying over and prophesying and speaking and receiving the word into our lives. When the word prevails, the church prevails.

Even when he was in prison, the apostle Paul put his total trust in the Word of God. Paul could have written to all of those churches — he could have written in all of those letters, and he could have asked for many things, and they would have prayed, they would have tried to meet the need, they would have given, they would have been concerned. But here's Paul's prayer request, Second Thessalonians 3 and 1: "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you." Brethren, pray for us here in this prison — not that we might be free, but that the word might be free; not that we would have free course, but that the word would have free course. Because the word is the most important, and the word is preeminent, and the word is powerful.

He writes, in the very last epistle he ever penned on this earth, to his young son in the gospel, Timothy, he writes these words: Timothy, I'm suffering trouble; they treat me as an evildoer; I'm a political prisoner of Rome, falsely accused, maliciously imprisoned, terribly punished; I'm on death row, Timothy; I will meet my end at the hands of this empire and this emperor. "I suffered trouble, even as an evildoer, even unto bonds." Timothy, they've locked me up, chained me up, and for all intents and purposes thrown away the key. Timothy, I am bound — but the word of God is not bound. That's the determination you've got to get in your heart. I may be bound, but the word is not bound. I may be sick, but the word is not sick. I may be battling depression, but the word is not battling anything. And so I have full confidence in the word, that even when I'm facing personal difficulties that I do not understand, the revelation of the word still works. I may be bound, but the word of God is not bound.

This word that we preach, this word that we teach — it's powerful, it's eternal; it will outlast everything on this earth. Peter said these words, the day of Pentecost preacher: "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. And that grass withers, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever." And then he says, "And this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you." Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." It is all too easy in our generation — blessed with technology and travel and possessions and perks and privileges — it's all too easy to put our confidence in something else, even when we're trying to build churches and do ministry, even when we're trying to live life and do something for God. It's all too easy to put our trust in methods instead of this wonderful, powerful message. At the end of the day, everything else will pass away, but this word will never pass away; it is eternal, and that's why it's so powerful.

You go to the very last book in your Bible, one of the last scenes of prophecy, and you will see this in the words of John the Revelator: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God." You see, the name contains the word, and the word contains the name. The Word of God is inspired; it is eternal; it is dynamic; it is miraculous. It is in the Word of God that we meet Jesus Christ. And so our response to the word is our response to Him. If we say yes to the word, we've said yes to God; if we say no to the word, we've said no to God.

And so when we look at this Bible that we carry, that we read, that we memorize, that we sing about, that we preach and teach from — this word contains revelation after revelation after revelation. But you do not get the results of those revelations unless you internalize those revelations through prayer, through study, through speaking the Word of God. When you speak this word, because it is eternal, you're doing something that reaches into the eternal. You prophesy; you forth-tell; you speak the promises of God into existence, because His word cannot fail, it cannot return void. He's just looking for an earth partner to speak on earth what He has already spoken in heaven. This is exactly why we pray, "Thy kingdom come, and thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." God, I see a situation where your will isn't being done, where your word hasn't yet been fulfilled. It's our privilege, and it's our job, our responsibility, to speak the Word of God into every situation until we see it come to fruition — and it will. Because if we will receive the revelations of the word, we will achieve the results of the word.

Thank you for listening today. I hope something in this seminar has been a blessing to you. Go and embrace the word, pray the word, speak the word, and expect the word to happen. God bless you in the name of Jesus.