The Happen Stance

How to Make Things Happen In Your Christian Life

K. Neill Foster

GO FLY A KITE!

Jump in the lake!

Drop dead!

These are phrases common to our North American culture. Supposedly, they are meaningless. In fact, they are the careless expressions of people who have somehow lost the full meaning and impact of words.

But in Africa, for example, one does not say such things lightly. The words might be interpreted as curses, with all the unpleasant associations a curse implies.

We may smile at the strange superstitions of the Africans. After all, words are just words. But are they? Even in North America there is no real happiness found in the home where husband and wife curse each other.

And every war in history started with words. Yes, deeds were involved, but so were words.

The most influential men in history are not those who warred or built. They are those who philosophized. They are those who founded religions or wrote books. They are those who used words.

Personally, I believe the Christian's Bible is cross-cultural. What it says is true in Boston or Bombay. But in its teachings about words, the Scriptures will be more easily understood in those cultures where words have not yet lost their meanings.

The Bible makes a strong case for the power of men's words. King Saul, rascal that he was, feared Samuel's words (1 Sam. 28:20). Later in Israel's history, the people "rested" on the words of their king (2 Chron. 32:8). In the case of the patriarch Job, his "comforters" were breaking him into pieces with their words (Job 19:2).

Jesus taught, "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matt. 12:37). He also said of the believing person, ". . . he shall have whatsoever he saith" (Mark 11:23).

And if human words are endowed with such great possibility, how much more power do the words of God Almighty have!

TIDY CREATION

First, God's words have creating power. God did not build this universe by piling one galaxy upon another. He simply said, "Let there be light" - and there was light. Speech was enough. This beautiful world, this fabulous world, came into being when God spoke.

As a sidelight, it is interesting to note that evolution today is being destroyed by scientists themselves. And scientific creationism is having a field day because so many things being discovered today corroborate the book of Genesis. God spoke. And it was so. For tidy creation you can't beat the spoken word!

WORDS THAT RIP

God's words also convict (Ezra 9:4). Many ministers have no doubt had similar experiences, but there have been times when the Word of God has seemed like a sword in my hand. I recall an occasion in a church in Ontario when God's Word seemed to have such power that every hearer was absolutely still. Every foot seemed riveted to the floor. And the silence was overwhelming. Such is the convicting power of God's Word.

There have been other times, however, when the words I have preached seemed like chaff. Sometimes the problem has been my failure to buttress every statement with God's Word. illustrations alone are powerless. But when apt illustrations are based upon biblical truth, they rip right into the heart.

One of the many beautiful functions of the Holy Spirit is to cleanse Christ's church by the "washing of water by the word" (Eph. 5:26). He cleanses our Lord's church with the Word of God. No sincere Christian can honestly and openly read the Bible without experiencing this cleansing. The Bible is like a high-pressure hose directed against a gravel bank. The sand and stones are swept away. One of the reasons Bible camps and conventions are so blessed of God is that the people present are deeply cleansed by the Word.

So too, those who come to Christ for the first time often experience such cleansing that they say, "I feel so clean now!" Such is God's forgiveness. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

HEALING TOO

God's words also have healing power. "He sent his word, and healed them. . ." (Ps. 107:20). It certainly must be admitted that an emphasis on Christian healing has not always been Christ-adorning. It is true many charlatans and immature brethren have carried forth all kinds of antics and erratic behavior under the name of Christian healing. It is also true Jesus warned that false prophets would come in His name and perform miracles and manifest all kinds of charismatic abilities.

Despite the deceptions, however, God does heal the sick through His Word. And in nearly every church (at least nearly every church which faithfully teaches the Bible) there are those who will testify of healing. They are credible people, unaccustomed to lying and deception and they say, "I have been healed by Jesus Christ." I personally have heard enough such testimonies to convince me people today still experience divine healing.

Sometimes the healings occur as people sit under the preaching of the Word of God. In an atmosphere of faith, an anointed message on physical healing from the Word of God is likely to produce healings in the congregation, prior to and apart from the laying on of hands (Mark 16:18) or the anointing with oil (James 5:4).

I well remember hearing the late V. Raymond Edman of Wheaton, Illinois, preach about divine healing in Vancouver, British Columbia. There were healings in the crowd as he spoke, I recall, and no one seemed surprised.

No better therapy can be prescribed for the sick than the consistent reading of the Bible. It is itself healing power.

God's Word melts the ice (Ps. 147:18) and surely it melts icy hearts as well. Those who preach God's Word with spiritual power have often seen its effect upon people. First, there is rapt attention, then glistening eyes, and many times the flow of tears. What other centuries-old book can produce such an effect?

CHANGE PLUS

Habits, life-styles, and thought patterns are all changed by the same melting Word whether preached or shared, whether to crowds or just one-to-one. God's Word melts hearts.

It also has consuming and breaking power. It is like a hammer and like a fire Ger. 23:29). One can pound a rock with a sledge hammer for a long, long time without apparent result. But the moment comes. The rock must and does crack and splinter.

I believe many who bring the Word of God against seemingly impossible objects do not realize just how powerful God's Word is. Too many times they stop hammering just when the rock of circumstances is about to crumble before them!

Chapter 3