The Increase of the Word

Acts 6:7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Good Problems

We pick up in Acts 6 and we read about a church that is advancing. It is a mobilized church.

As the church advanced a dispute arose among the widows who felt like they were being treated unfairly.

This is common in the church, because the church has people in it. The sooner you get this, the better you are going to feel about your church.

Can I make an insertion here? You don’t quit the church because you had a bad experience with a person in the church. That’s like quitting the gym because you saw some people in the gym who were over weight. A dispute arose, and it was happening because the lost were being found, the broken were being made whole, and the sick were being healed.

When did we ever get this idea that the church was supposed to be a country club for the religious elite? We are a hospital, not a country club.

The Urgent Took the Place of the Important

Don’t let the Urgent take place of the Important

The unfortunate thing that happened with the church was that the urgent took the place of the important. It was urgent that the church look after one another. It was urgent that the church provide social assistance to the hurting. However the urgent was coming at a cost of time devoted to the word of God.

Let me give you a life-hack while we are on this subject. Life will always hit you with urgent things. Things will come up that are urgent. Never neglect the important because of the urgent.

The disciples were tending to the urgent to the neglect of the important and they made big changes in the church. I’m not going to preach about the changes because I want to focus on what they knew that they had to do, which was focus on prayer and the word of God. When they did this, the word of God increased.

Someone say increase.

The Word Changes Everything

We live in a day where the word of God is treated as a thing, but not the thing. The word of God can help, but there are many other things that you can and should be doing that are better.

Let’s get this resolved right here, and right now Lighthouse.

The Bible is not just a book, but it is the Book.

There is no substitute for the word of God.

The word was written by over 40 different authors over a period of 1600 years. With changing philosophies, nations rising and falling, and religions being formed, the word of God is perfect. It does not contradict itself. It never has and it never will.

There have been small minded men that have tried to eliminate the word of God and to burn every Bible, but that is impossible. Why? Because the scriptures say that heaven and earth will pass away but my word will always remain.

We try to disprove the word in the name of science and discovery, but the Bible is the most accurate historical document that we have an to this day we continue to find archaeological discoveries that prove the authenticity of the word of God.

The word of God stands on its own and is great than any communicator or church. The word of God doesn’t need a defender because its authors wrote as they were moved by the Spirit of God.

The word that we have in our hands began in the mind of God. This is what John spoke about when he said, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.” In the mind of God he saw that the word would not only one day get to you, but it would make its way onto a device, that makes his word so convenient that it is ALWAYS WITH YOU.

None of this surprises God because his word has a purpose, and his word has a mission. The writer said it this way, the word of God will not return to him void, but it will accomplish everything that God has set out for it to do.

So Lighthouse, we don’t just get up and talk about a book on Sunday, but we gather to hear from THE BOOK.

Aren’t you glad that you have THE BOOK? Aren’t you glad that you have THE WORD? Aren’t you glad that God didn’t leave you in this world without a guide, but he gave you everything you need in order to Know Him?

Let’s get excited about his word today!

Famine In The Land

And yet, with all of this, we know that in the last of days there will be a famine for his word.

Amos 8:11

English Standard Version Chapter 8

11  “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD,

“when I will send a famine on the land—

not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,

but of hearing the words of the LORD.

The Prophet Amos warns us that there will come a time when people will not want to hear the words of the Lord. There is coming a time when people will not want to hear what God is continuing to say through his word.

I believe that the number one way that people will stop hearing the word will be because of distraction. We are living in an over stimulated world. So many things are competing for your attention.

Distractions will take away your ability to hear the word of God.

Let me say it this way, every major industry in this world wants what only you could give it, and that is your attention.

This is why ads are targeted.

This is why one minute you are talking about a song and then the next minute it is played on your auto playlist.

How many of you know what I am talking about? You are humming a song one minute, and the next minute it’s playing on your phone?

The devil is a liar. That Siri is a gossip, and so is her ugly cousin Alexa.

The world wants your attention.

Distractions will take away your ability to hear the word of God.

This is why we must be intentional with your time. This is why you have to prioritize your time. If you don’t prioritize your time, other people will prioritize it for you.

I love to establish my days. I love to start my days with a plan. I have my list, and I go after it! I leave some margin, because things come up, but make no mistake, you aren’t hi-jacking my day.

I’m not living life counting the minutes, I am living my life making the minutes count.

Listen to me Lighthouse, don’t give your time away to things that are going to stop you from hearing the word of God.

Don’t allow the busyness of life to interrupt your passion for his presence! There is a famine in the land for the word of God.

The Word Increased

Look at what began to happen as the word began to increase. The bible records that the disciples increased.

Someone say Disciple.

Notice it doesn’t say followers.

Notice it doesn’t say fans.

It says disciples.

We need more disciples in our churches. We’ve got plenty of fans, but we don’t have enough disciples.

Disciples are disciplined. They train themselves like an athlete trains himself. A disciple is in his word and soaking in the word. A disciple is like this sponge who immerses himself in the word, and then pours himself out. He then returns to the source to soak once again before once again, he pours himself out.

We need men and women who want to absorb the word of God. They are absorbing what God is saying, not so that they can hang out and share with others how spiritual they are, but so that they can pour themselves out to others who will become disciples themselves.

Paul, Poured Out

2 Timothy 4:6 ESV

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

Philippians 2:17 ESV

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

Paul gives us these powerful analogies of what it means to be a person who soaks in the word, and then pours it out. This is the life of a person who is increasing the word of God. He is increasing the knowledge of God. He is not making excuses for what other people are doing, he is focused on his assignment and getting things done the way that God has called him to.

The is Purpose in your Pouring

Oh that we would have that same posture as we follow Jesus. Oh that we would have that same countenance when we stand before our maker on that great day of judgment. I didn’t hold anything back. I didn’t just attend a church, but I was the church.

I went to the highways and made your name known. I went to the dark places and let them know about the power in your name. I went to the underserved and showed them your love. I went into all of the world and preached your gospel.

The only thing that this world needs in order to swallow up the Christian faith is for the Christians to be silent.

But as for me and my house, but as for me and my church, we will not go silent. Into the dark we will go, like an army that has been militarized with the power of the holy spirit and with faith that can move mountains. Into the night we’ll go!

Unexpected Soil

When the word of God increased, not only did the disciples increase, but the Priests were obedient to the faith.

Someone say “Unexpected Soil.”

The word has a way of reaching the unreachable. The word has a way of changing the unchangeable.

We just read two verses from Paul, but understand that he was unexpected soil. Nobody expected Paul to be a preacher!

The same is true with these priests. Remember it was the priests who accused Jesus and saw to it that he was crucified. It was the priests who were so often rebuked by Jesus that they became hard and calloused. It was the priests who were against the disciples even as they began to teach and preach Jesus.

And yet, as the word of God increased, it was the priests who became obedient to the faith.

What can make the unexpected person a possibility for the Kingdom? It’s the word of God.

The word of God is not just light a fire in the believer, but also to bring home the wayward son or daughter. That’s what the word does. That’s what the word accomplishes.

Against All Odds

Let me land this message right here. We need the word to increase. In order for the word to increase, we need more preachers.

I’m not talking about men and women behind a pulpit, we’ve got lots of those. I’m talking about people who use the lunch room as their pulpit. I’m talking about men and women who use coffee shops as their altar. Men and women who use dinner tables as their platforms.

I shared these words with my family as I spoke at my grandmothers burial service. You see my grandfather was a preacher. He was an eloquent preacher, much more eloquent than I am. He could preach the paint off the walls. When I would travel and preach I would drop my grandfathers name and many Pastors would tell me their favorite sermon that he preached. It happened all the time. He was an orator.

Now my grandma, she had her pulpit too, but it wasn’t in a church building, and it wasn’t on a stage. It was a small dining table in her small home on 15th St in National City. There, she would preach some of her finest messages as she encouraged her children and their children to pray and to trust God. She would tell me to preach the way my grandfather preached. She would tell me to pray as my grandfather prayed. She poured herself into her grandchildren and preached some of the finest messages that this earth has ever heard.

Let that also be of some of you.

Let that also be your mark on this world.

Let it be said of you that you made someone’s life better because you increased the word of God in their life.

Let it be said that you helped a marriage that was in shambles because you preach the word of God to them.

Let it be said that you helped someone to overcome their habit and their struggles because the word of God increased in their life.

We need an increase in the word of God. We need an increase in preachers.