Summary:
The word of God is powerful and able to result in great effects! But for that to happen to/in us, we need to be tender-hearted towards His word. How can we be tender-hearted?

1. Know what is in the Bible
2. Apply our Biblical knowledge to our lives

The Mid Year Spiritual Meeting is about to take place. The theme is ‘Loving the Bible’. To prepare ourselves to attend the Spiritual Meeting, we should take some time to reflect on our attitude and response to the word of God. Moreover, since the Spiritual Meeting is going to be held online, not all of us may be fully committed to listen to all sermons. Or our hearts may be pulled aside by other things on our phones. It’s hence important to reflect on our attitude and how we react towards God’s word. That would make a difference to how we keep the Spiritual Meeting. This sermon will cover being tender-hearted towards the word of God.

A reminder on the power of God’s words

Isa 55:10-11
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

God’s message through Isaiah tells us about the power of God’s words. First, the word of God will never turn void. When God speaks, His word will always take effect and bear fruit; it will fulfil His purpose. Second, His purpose is meant for good. Just like the rain and snow that gives water to the ground so that the sower can plant seeds and the person who needs to eat can have bread from the harvest, God’s word always fulfils His purpose, and His purpose is always good. The speaker can think of no greater example of God’s word being so powerful that whatever He says will come to pass than the example of creation itself. In Genesis we read that when God said, “Let there be ___”, creation occurred. That is the power of God. From nothing comes something. Do we recognise the power of God?

In science, the study of the natural world shows a conservation of energy and mass in the universe. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be converted from one form to another. Human beings have been using this idea to convert one form of energy to other forms. It’s only when we entered into the nuclear age were we able to convert mass to energy and a great amount of energy was able to be produced. But the universe still has a finite amount of energy and mass. The only time this law was broken was during creation; when God created the heavens and earth. Before creation, there was no energy and mass. Then when creation occurred, suddenly there was a finite/fixed amount of energy and mass. All this came to be because of God’s words. Not only is the word of God evident in creation, humankind continues to exist today because of His word and power.

2 Pet 3:5-7
For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

The current existence of mankind is because God’s word continues to preserve us. There are a lot of extinction events that can happen to planet earth. There are various objects in space hurtling about at such great speed, should they crash to earth, there’d be catastrophic events. There are super volcanoes on earth due for eruption that could cause global changing events that affect all of humanity. But God’s words continue to allow humans to exist, and this is because of His grace and mercy.

The irony is this: when God speaks something in creation or preservation, it happens. While God’s words are all powerful, when human beings hear God’s words, they may not receive or accept them. The word of God doesn’t seem to take effect in that person. We have read example of such people. In v5, it says that they wilfully forget the word of God. In the later verses, they not only forget but even reject God’s words!

Why do human beings who are part of creation not allow God’s words to take effect when they hear them? Why are some people unmoved and don’t allow the word of God to change them? Let’s not be too quick to judge others or those labelled as scoffers in this chapter, because if we were to turn the mirror to ourselves, can we honestly say we have been transformed by the word of God?

John 17:17
Jesus said, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

The word of God actually sanctifies is. The power of God’s word is meant to sanctify us; to cleanse and make us holy. But has this really happened in our lives? Have we responded in kind and allowed the word of God to bear fruit in us? Some of us have read the Bible countless times; some of us have heard countless sermons since we were baptised. The effect of the word of God is meant to sanctify, make us holy, cleanse us. But has it really done so in our lives? Sometimes people shun us in the world not because they think we’re different or holy, but because we’re selfish. Maybe in the office, we are bearers of bad news, spreaders of hate, gossipers. Has the word of God truly taken effect and changed us? The words of Jesus reminds us that the word should sanctify us.

God’s words are all powerful and will definitely take effect. We see this in all creation. When Jesus was on earth and said, “Waters, be still!”, they became still. But God gave men a choice so that when God’s words come to a person, he can choose to respond positively or negatively to it. When the word of God came to Jonah, he chose to flee in the opposite direction instead of obeying God’s words. But when God commanded the waters and winds to become boisterous when Jonah was on the ship, they obeyed. When Jonah was cast into the water, God commanded the fish to swallow Jonah and it did. God’s love allows men the choice of whether to listen to His word. The question is: how have we chosen to respond to God’s words? If we have chosen to respond positively, not a jot or tittle of the law will pass away until His word is fulfilled, as recorded in Matthew 5:18. Ultimately God’s words will never lose its power, but those who don’t respond positively to God’s words have chosen to go against it. It’s not that God’s word lacks power to transform us, rather we push it away.

Ultimately:
John 12:48
He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

God’s words will still always take effect. While God still gives humankind the choice to heed His words or not, His word will ultimately be fulfilled and used against us if we refuse to heed. Our response to God’s words is hence crucial.

Josiah: the king with a tender heart

A good example of a person who responded properly to God’s words is King Josiah.

2 Kings 22:8-10
Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the Lord.” Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

Josiah asked his scribe to give money to the priests working in the temple. These priest responded by saying they found the law of God in the temple. When the scribe returned, he read the law before Josiah. Some background on King Josiah: When the law was read to Josiah, it was the 18th year of his reign. He started reigning when he was 8 years old. At this juncture, he was a young 26 year old man. He came from a line where the previous 2 kings were very wicked. His father, Amon, was killed and was very wicked. His grandfather Manasseh was even more wicked; so wicked that he brought things that were abominations into God’s temple. But Josiah had the heart to cleanse the temple and wanted the people to worship God. So when the word of God came to him through the law, we see the kind of response he had.

v11-20
Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her. Then she said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read— because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.’ ” ’ But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard— because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord. “Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the king.

Here we see the response of king Josiah, and as a result of this response, we see God’s word acting upon him.
v11 He tore his clothes! A symbol of great remorse and regret. After this emotional reaction, he turned this reaction into an action.
v13 He went to ascertain whether it was really the word of God. It seemed like what he read was true, but he wanted to make sure and so inquired of a prophetess. Indeed it was true the people would suffer because of their sin.
v19-20 But God saw his heart was tender. As a result, God promised that Josiah wouldn’t suffer the fate as the rest of the people.

Josiah didn’t stop upon hearing that he was safe. As a further result of God’s words acting upon him, he got all the people together to have true worship and rededicate themselves to God. He tried to remove as many idols as possible so the people would stop worshipping false gods. He tried to reinstate the Passover which had not been kept for a long time. He even invited Israel over to keep it (not just the kingdom of Judah). All this happened because he responded positively to God’s word; God’s word had a powerful impact on him to try to get the people back.

This is a heart we should try to emulate. Josiah’s heart was tender to God’s words. It allowed him to take action and influence others to return to God. Can we have a heart tender to God’s words? Can we make that happen? We can do something and God also does something at the same time. Because of the way we react and act, we can have a heart tender to God’s words.

What are practical steps we can take to get a heart tender to God’s word?

To find out, we look at another example of a person whose heart was tender to God’s word; upon understanding God’s words, he realised the errors of his ways. This man is Paul. From what he says, let us learn how to practically make our hearts more tender to God’s words.

1 Tim 1:15-17
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

1. We must know what is in the Bible; what is God’s word
Paul knew God’s words; that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. When Jesus was on earth, He said He didn’t come to call the righteous unto repentance but sinners. Paul knew this message either from God’s direct revelation or from the apostles; whatever it was, he had this knowledge about God’s words. To start to be tender hearted, we need to know God’s words. We need to read the Bible for ourselves. We must of course also listen to sermons. But we don’t just stop at knowing what’s in the Bible. The next step is to live/apply that knowledge in our lives.

2. Apply the knowledge we have of God’s word to our lives
When Paul says Christ came into the world to save sinners, that’s a fact from the Bible. Then when he said “of whom I am chief”, he takes it to another level and applied it to his life. Jesus coming to the world and dying wasn’t an event that had nothing to do with him, but everything to do with him. He felt so strongly about it, his conclusion was: “Look at my life! How great a sinner I was!” How out of zealousness for God he arrested and tortured Christians. He even consented to the death of Stephen. When he confronted his past and acknowledged he was the greatest of sinners, this led him to think further. This is a step we tend to overlook when we read the Bible and listen to sermons. Often we read the Bible or listen to sermons and think: “If only so-and-so were here, he would have changed!” As if the message is for other people and not for ourselves. But Paul’s example here shows he directed the message to himself and linked it to his own life. The word of God is also linked to our own lives, whether we read or listen to it.

Paul does the following quite often. We know Christ died on the cross for all humanity, but Paul sometimes says Christ died for him. The word of God needs to be linked to our own lives. So he concludes that since God did that for him, he needs to do something for God! When we link God’s word to our lives, the response will be powerful. When we make the personal connection, we need to think as well as feel. There is sense-making with our logic and emotions involved. When Paul thought about the reason God chose him, it was logical thinking. “Why did God choose me - the chief of sinners?” When he thought about it he realised, “The greatest of sinners was still able to be shown grace by Christ. I’m a pattern that God wants to show to the world that even a great sinner can be forgiven.” This was logical reasoning. This caused him to not be able to contain himself to give spontaneous praise in v17 “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever.” This is an emotional response because he realises God is so great, he chose him, such a great sinner, to be a pattern to the rest of the world. When we respond to God and make a rational connection, we likely need a logical mind to make a rational connection. But there’s also an emotional response that connects us deeper. For Paul, he praised God spontaneously. This showed Paul’s tenderness towards God’s word; not only having knowledge but also applying it to his life, leading to an emotional connection.

But sometimes having this emotional connection is just an outburst. The power seems to be gone after that. But we know that for Paul it was very different. After he made the logical and emotional connection, he allowed the word of God to be his guide throughout his entire life. When he realised God’s great grace for him, he wasn’t just inspired to serve God at that moment in time, he was grounded by God’s words and kept to his mission all the days of his life. This is something we can learn from Paul and implement in our lives. To be tender-hearted requires us to connect what’s written in God’s words to our lives. Both our minds and hearts must respond. Then our lives will be transformed and led by the word of God.

While we do our part, God does His to help us be tender-hearted

While we take these practical steps on our part, God can also help us to be tender-hearted. If we really seek and long for God, He can help us to become tender-hearted.

Eze 36:26-27
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

When we pray to God, He’s able to change our very hearts. God is able to remove the hardened heart and replace it with a heart of flesh. He also says He’ll give us His spirit to help us to walk in His word. His spirit can help soften our hearts; to turn our hard and dead hearts towards God’s words, and to allow the word of God to guide our very lives and transform us. This is an important point. We must believe in God’s power to change our hearts. While we do our part to try to make the connection to change our lives, also pray to God to ask His spirit to guide us and lead us into all truth; to soften our hearts and allow us to be really transformed in our lives. Then the word of God can really work in our lives. The word of God truly has the power to sanctify us, because we ourselves have chosen to succumb to the word of God.