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The Word Made Effective 323
saving of his soul, for now the Holy Spirit is applying truths which previously
had no effect. This is illustrated in the case of the woman with the issue of
blood: she had consulted many physicians without success; but a mere touch
of the Saviour’s clothes brought immediate healing.
Whatever spiritual trouble an individual may experience, spiritual healing
must be the result of treatment by the great Physician – no matter the human
instruments He may be pleased to use. So He speaks in prophecy: “The Lord
God hath given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak
a word in season to him that is weary” (Is 50:4). In His infinite wisdom and
knowledge He knows exactly how to speak to a weary soul. Thus when Paul
was wearied by the thorn in the flesh, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient
for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
Christ as Prophet is still full of wisdom and knowledge, as Robert Gordon
comments on Isaiah 50:4: “Is it not the word of Christ, accompanied by the
power of the Spirit, that gives rest to the weary and the heavy laden, when
they are enabled to receive, as addressed to themselves, His gracious invitation
to come to Him? Is it not the word of Christ, even the blessed assurance, ‘My
grace is sufficient for thee’, that imparts new strength and vigour to many a
depressed soul, struggling against temptation, or ready to sink under the burden
of difficult and self-denying duties? And is it not the same word, even the
greatest declaration that their great High Priest is touched with a feeling of
their infirmities, and sympathises in all their sorrows, that imparts consolation
to believers under the manifold trials and bereavements to which they are here
exposed? So true is it still, and ever will be, that He knows ‘how to speak a
word in season to him that is weary’. This then is the gracious office to which
Christ here says that He was appointed, even to bring a message of peace to
sinners – to reveal to them the will of God for their salvation.”
1
Christ in the Old Testament, Free Presbyterian Publications 2002 reprint, vol 3, p 303.
1
Although we live in a generation under judgement, we might look back
to another generation which was very much given over to hardness of heart:
the one into which the Saviour was born. He had the power to bring the truth
to bear effectively on multitudes of souls but, as we have noted, it was
not His will to do so. Instead He told His disciples: “The harvest truly is
plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest” (Mt 9:38). We in
our generation also are to pray in this way; we are likewise to pray that, as
these labourers go out to preach, the Holy Spirit would be poured out and
that the Word preached would be powerfully applied to the souls of those
who listen, so that many would be convinced of sin and brought to faith and
repentance. Then, as David Brown pointed out, Christ will be glorified.