We're going to read a passage in Acts 20, turning to that chapter please, Acts chapter 20. And we'll read together from the verse 28. Acts chapter 20 and the verse 28. Let us hear God's Word. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel, yet ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all, and they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him onto the ship." And we know that God will add his blessing to this reading of his own blessed word. He's before the Lord and we will Just unite our hearts again in prayer before we come to the Lord's message. Let's seek God's face. Our Heavenly Father, we bless Thee for Thy Word. We rejoice that Thou hast given to Thy people this blessed book, revealed divinely even from heaven itself, as holy men of God were moved, and they speak by the Holy Ghost. Lord, we thank Thee that Thou hast preserved Thy Word for us. We rejoice that it is a means of grace to Thy people. And Lord, how we pray that Thou wilt make it even that this day as we turn to it now and consider the message together. Speak to us, breathe on us, do the work we ask of Thee, and may Christ have all the glory and all the praise, for we pray in His name and for His sake. Amen. We're turning to Acts 20 and the verse number 32, where we have the text for our service and for this message. Acts 20, verse 32, where Paul says, And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. The believer is someone who has received new life, new life in terms of the principle of spiritual life that has been implanted within the soul as a result of the new birth. We find that that truth is verified over and over again in Scripture in many different terms. We read of being born again. We read of being born from above or begotten by the will of God unto a living hope, even by the power of God itself. The Christian is someone who has been quickened. He has been made alive, in other words. He has become a new creation. All of these terms signify, therefore, that those whom God saves have been wrought upon by the Spirit of God, by the mighty power that He exercises within the heart. have received this new life. Furthermore, a genuine Christian is one who lives a new life as well as having received new life. Paul states in Romans 6 and verse 4 that those who are in union with Christ have been raised up to walk with Christ in newness of life. In the book of John, or 1 John, for example, you'll find that this same thought runs the whole way through, just as another example of this fact that the believer is someone who lives a new life. Because there in that little book, that little epistle of 1 John, you'll find that John lays out seven great characteristics, spiritual characteristics, that mark the individual who has come to know God in Christ. And that same epistle actually gives the solemn warning that the absolute absence of these characteristics indicates that any given person is yet unregenerate and is therefore a child of the devil. 1 John is a most solemn little epistle. But it does indicate that where there is new life, it will be evidenced by certain characteristics. We take the Lord Himself in His teaching, as you find them in the Gospels, and you will discover that there He taught essentially that His people have a new life, they live a new life. It is the life of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit being brought forth in their lives and being set forth in them from the very time when they come to know the Savior and come to love the Savior. So in essence, the teaching of Scripture is that there not only is a beginning of new life through the new birth, but there's a constant development of that life ever afterward. When new life is given, it is going to grow, it's going to develop, it's going to flourish, it's going to progress, there's going to be advancement. These are features that are irrefutably linked to life. Not only physical life, but above all as we think about it today, spiritual life. There are going to be these features of this growth and this development and this advancement of the life. that the Lord has placed on those whom He saves. And that means that within the body of Christ as a whole, and within each member in particular, there is to be a constant striving after this progress concerning the new life that has been implanted within the soul. The perpetual challenge is there to the child of God, as Peter summed it up, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The church, as I say, as a whole, and the individual believer in particular, is to seek to be edified, is to seek to be built up in the area of things spiritual. My dear friend, you must never become content with what you might call stunted growth. You must never become content with that lack of growth. If it's not there, if it's stunted, if it's not taking place, then I tell you right now, you are actually living in denial of the very essence of the Christian life, which is to have new life and that new life develop. It happens. It inevitably happens, because those whom God puts that new life that life is going to advance and grow and develop. It does vary from one believer to another, but my dear friend, it does take place. Thank God the Lord has made provision for the edifying of the believer, the edifying of the body of Christ, that there might be this growth, this development, this advancement. While in the new birth, the Lord works immediately and directly. That is, when He produces a new life in the Christian, He does it by His own sovereign power. He produces that life, He implants that life, He creates it within the soul of the person He saves. But subsequent to that, that new life is then developed through various means that the Lord himself, of course, has appointed, which we refer to as the means of grace. The Westminster Larger Catechism gives a very good definition of the means of grace. And I've given you that definition today in the notes, and you can read it for yourselves sometime. But it says this, the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to His church the benefits of His mediation are all His ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments and prayer. all of which are made effectual to the elect for their salvation. Now, it is important to remember that these means of grace that the Lord has appointed for the spiritual growth, for the edification of His people, do not of themselves. confer grace on any person. When we talk about them being the means of grace, we do not mean that they have some kind of a mystical or a magical power of their own. Remember something, that they're not even necessary to God. Think about it this way. God could cause a believer to grow and develop in whatever way he chooses to do that. The Lord could save a man right now, for example, in this very meeting and then immediately translate him to glory and perfect him in a split second of time if he chose to do it that way. God is not bound to the means of grace, but the point is He has chosen them. in His own sovereign will for the edifying of His people and for their being built up in the faith. He employs them, therefore, these means of grace to bring about this advancement and this growth in the person whom He saves. And therefore, the Christian must not despise the means of grace, the Christian must not neglect the means of grace, and the Christian must not disobey the means of grace. Because if you do, then, my friend, you are going to suffer spiritually. The Lord Himself has appointed the means of grace and His people are to use them. Last week, when we looked at Ephesians 4, 12-16, at the subject of edification, and we came toward the end of that message, I stated that it was essential to move on then and give some attention to this issue of the means of grace as a lot of which we will be edified or are being edified. Now, it's already indicated, the first of the means of grace is the Word of God. Furthermore, it is first because it is the chief means that the Lord has appointed to the blessing of His people and to their building up and to their growing in spiritual things. You'll notice here in this text, in Acts 20, 32, In this passage where our text lies, Paul is addressing the Ephesian elders. He is in the process of leaving them for the very last time. And therefore he commends them, as he puts it in our text, to the word of His grace, which, as Paul says here, is able to build you up. And that verb there, build up, means to edify. And therefore Paul's great concern is that these Ephesian elders, as he's about to lead them, will give attention to the Word, will take that means of grace more than they've ever done before. Pay heed to it. Study it. Look at it. Have it in their hearts. Dwell on it. Meditate on it. For he says it is able to build you up, and therefore he has in his heart a concern for the edification of these elders, and therefore through them the edification of the church there in Ephesus. Now keep in mind that the point that is made by this verse, verse 32, is that Paul does not commend them on this occasion, for example, to the sacraments, but to the Word of God. He says, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace. Now, Paul believed in the sacraments of baptism in the Lord's Supper. And most certainly he believed in prayer. But you notice here that he commends these believers to the Word of God. And in doing that, he is emphasizing that the Word of God is the chief means of grace. In fact, I could put it this way. If you take the sacraments, Or you even take prayer. Isn't it true that the truth about baptism or the Lord's Supper or how we are to pray and seek God, it's all derived from the Word? It's all taught to us in the Word. And therefore, the Word is the chief means of grace. To the child of God and to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, And from every perspective, therefore, we want you to understand that the Word of God is the chief means of grace to the Lord's people. Now, here is a text that plainly refers to believers, on this occasion here, elders, of course, but we will be generalizing it today and applying it to all of God's people. It's a text that refers plainly to the edifying of God's people by means of God's Word. The edification by the Word, the Word as a means of grace, in other words, is a subject that is large and even would require a large range of study in itself. But my purpose to do that is my objective today to leave with you some important points that this text raises. about the subject of the Word of God as a means of grace or edification to the church of Jesus Christ. There are three very important points or thoughts that are found in this verse concerning this subject. of God's Word being a means of grace to God's people. I want you to notice, first of all, the property in the Word as a means of grace. Now again, notice that Paul is commending these Ephesian elders to God. The word command means to commit or to deposit for safekeeping. So he commends them to God. You'll notice there in his opening remarks, I commend you to God. And of course, God is the One who keeps His people. But isn't it interesting that He goes on to say, "...and to the word of His grace." Because the point is, God keeps His people. He preserves them. He builds them up. He sanctifies them. He edifies them. Therefore, He keeps them through the Word. by the Word, by it being a means of grace to His people. He is commanding them, therefore, to the Word as a means of grace. And this is what we notice here. But notice this particular way in which the Word is described. It says here, the Word of His grace. And those terms, the Word of His grace, indicate that the Word of God possesses a particular property, and that is the property of grace. God's Word itself is a gracious Word. It's a grace-filled Word, you might say. The Word of God is described in that way right here in this language, and throughout the Scriptures you will see this idea that the Word of God is the Word of His grace for the simple reason that it's the revelation of the grace of God to our hearts. What is the whole theme of the Bible? It's the revelation of the grace of God that builds up the Christian. Having saved him, having brought him to know the Lord, it then builds him up. So the theme of grace predominates throughout the Scriptures of truth. And in that way we know, therefore, that the Word of God possesses this property of edifying the church and building up the believer. It is the Word of His grace. It is in the Word that we see grace, that we are shown grace. It is through the Word that grace is revealed and grace is conveyed to our hearts and to our souls. And therefore, we may speak here of God's Word as a means of grace, indeed the chief means of grace, as I have already said. Now, from the very language of this text, We must affirm, therefore, that the property of God's Word is the property of grace. And it's true for this reason. And it is the Word of God is the revelation of Christ. And that's why it's the Word of His grace. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. You know the title to the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible? It is that very title, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, that's the title of the last book of the Bible, but you could take that title and you could set it over all Scripture. All Scripture is a revelation of Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus Christ that grace comes to sinners and that grace builds up believers. And therefore, it is the Word of His grace. What a beautiful description of God's Word. The Word of His grace. Because there is grace the whole way through, and there is grace because Christ is the whole way through. Christ is everywhere in the Bible. and therefore the Bible is the book of grace. If you think of some of the titles of our Saviour, they emphasize this point that He is the theme of Scripture, and therefore the whole of Scripture presents grace. For example, John 1 verse 1, that great title that many of us know where it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. There's one of the titles of Christ, the Word. You find it in John 1, verse 1. You find it in many places as well as John 1, verse 1. But what does it signify? It simply indicates that the Lord Jesus is the one through whom God's revelation is given. He is the Word, because by Christ and through Christ, God has given us the Word. And not only has He given us the Word through Christ, but the Word of God in its totality is all about Christ. That's what that name signifies, the Word. You could take another title of Christ that's related to that, and that is that great title, the Alpha and the Omega in Revelation 1 and in other places in the book of Revelation. You'll find it there in that book a number of times. I am Alpha and Omega. You've read that. Verse 8 there of Revelation 1 or other verses where you find those words, and you say to yourself, now what does that mean? What is Christ saying when He says, I am Alpha and Omega? Well, Alpha and Omega are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Christ is essentially saying, therefore, I am the Word of God. I am the very alphabet of God. My dear friend, God has never spoken at any time except through Christ and of Christ. He is the Word. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Beginning and the End. He is the very alphabet of God. God never has spoken to man except about Christ and through Christ. That means that Christ is in the book everywhere. There is another title that is precious. of our Lord Jesus, 1 John 1, verse 1. Look at it with me. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled, listen, of the Word of Life. 1 John 1, verse 1. Notice there that in that latter part of that verse, in those words, the Word of Life, that the particular title there is capitalized. It's referring to Christ again. He's called the Word of Life. That simply means that all spiritual, saving, eternal life is treasured up in Jesus Christ. He's the Word of Life. He's the fountainhead of it. He is the spring of it. He is the very embodiment of this life. He is the word of life to our souls. So when God speaks in the Bible of sinners coming to enjoy and possess this life, this spiritual life, this eternal life, this glorious life, it is all with the Lord Jesus Christ in view. He's the Word of Life because, as I say, He's the very embodiment of it and He's the channel of it. You can't have spiritual life without Christ. And in the Bible, God is always talking to His people about the life that they have in the Lord Jesus. And in many, many verses you will find that kind of language, especially in the New Testament, but also in the Old Testament. We haven't time to start turning to verses, but remember this, He's called the Word of Life because He is our life. Now come back to Acts 20.32, because what I want to suggest to you right now is that here we have another title of Christ. Christ is the Word. Christ is the Word of Life. And listen to this, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace. There is a direct reference to our Saviour in that kind of language. Christ is the Word of the grace of God. It is actually a title of Christ that we are looking at here. Now, both are in view. The written Word, most certainly. But there is also here the incarnate Word. our Savior Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ is the embodiment, as I say, of life, and He is the embodiment of grace, that grace that saves and that delivers men from their sins. As I said earlier, the whole of the Bible is the revelation of God's grace, God's mercy, God's life for men and their sin, bringing it to them and delivering them from their sin and making them new creatures. That is what the Bible is all about, men and women. It is a revelation of the marvelous mercy and grace of God. But as I am showing you, it is not set forth except within the confines of the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, when you take the written Word Who are you seeing? You are seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Word. He is the Word of life. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Word of God's grace. And this is what I mean, therefore, by the property. of the Word to edify God's people, or the property of the Word to build up, or be a means of grace to God's people. It is this property of grace that is found in Jesus Christ and is set before us as He is revealed to us in the Scriptures of truth themselves. Now, turn to Acts 14 for a moment, and what we are seeing, therefore, The way in which we understand all these thoughts is simply this. In the Word and through the Word, Christ is brought nigh to us. for our enlightenment, for our salvation and for our edification. In other words, for everything that we need, dear men and women, believers, all that we need to build us up and be a means of grace to us, it is in Jesus Christ and it is brought to us through Him as He is revealed in the Word. Acts 14, look at verse 3. Here you will find the very same term. Let us look at the setting here. This is most important. for God's people to just consider here. Acts 14, verse 3, "...long time therefore abode they, speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of His grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands." There is the same term, the word of His grace. Now the reference here, the context here, is to the preaching of the gospel in Iconium during that first missionary journey. And as Paul went and his colleagues, they preached the word of His grace. And as he did so, there was a great turning to the Lord. Go back to verse 1, and notice what it says. It came to pass in Iconium that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews. And so spake, notice that language, and so spake, that a great multitude of both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believe. Do you see what's going on there? Here are Paul and Barnabas, and they're in Iconium, and they go into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, most likely, and they begin to preach the Word. And what was their message? They preached the Word of His grace. And as they preached the grace of God and Jesus Christ, we find that they spoke in such a way that even while they were preaching, a multitude of people were converted on the spot. Do you see it? It says they so spake that a great multitude, both of the Jews and also of the Greeks, believed. My friend, there is the evidence that the church of Jesus Christ has seen times when even while the Word was being preached, people were being saved and were told here that the Lord gave this testimony, verse 3, unto the Word of His grace. Now there is what I want you to see. Bring verse 1 and verse 3 together and what do you discover? This was evangelistic preaching. because it resulted in the conversion of souls on the spot. Do you see that? Here is the apostolic example. Therefore, here is the apostolic mandate for evangelistic preaching. They are preaching Christ, the Word of His grace, and as they preach, a great multitude of Jews and also of Greeks believed. And therefore, what we are seeing here is The Word of God became the means of grace to those sinners in Iconium, both Jews and Gentiles. Now think about this. Jews were there who knew the Old Testament Scriptures, who had read the Law, who had heard of Moses. There were Gentiles there, poor darkened heathens, who had never even heard of the living God before. And they are all gathered together. And God works and God moves. The Word is a means of grace to the conversion of these sinners in this great evangelistic preaching that is going on in Iconium. And God's Word has marvelous grace. In other words, Jesus Christ is set before them. And they believe, we are told, what else are men going to believe on or in but Christ? And that means that the reference here, the word of His grace, is a reference to Christ. Here it is, therefore, in the evangelistic arena, preaching the word of His grace in that fashion so that men are converted to Christ. Now turn back to the previous chapter, chapter 13, and look with me at verse 43. Acts 13, verse 43. And it says, when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. Now, what you have here in Acts 13.43 is interesting. Those of you here are believers already. They have been brought to Christ, as it tells us. They believe the gospel. And it puts it this way, they follow Paul and Barnabas. That simply means they have turned to the Lord and they are following God's men. They see these men as messengers of God to them. And Paul and Barnabas speak to them. And it says here, they persuade them to continue in the grace of God. Now the word in, in that verse, or that little statement, continue in the grace of God, means by. Let's read it that way. Continue by the grace of God. To continue denotes growth, remember. If you're continuing, you're going forward, you're growing spiritually. These are Christians here in this verse, believers. And they're going to continue, they're going to go on, they're going to grow, they're going to develop. But my dear friends, the apostles made it very clear that the only way they could go forward and develop was by the grace of God. In other words, through Christ they would go forward They would grow, they would develop, they would be edified, they would find that Christ in the Word would be a means of grace to their hearts, because Paul and Barnabas here spoke to them, you'll notice, speaking to them, persuading them, in other words, setting before them that the only way to go on and continue as Christians was by the grace of God. And then over to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. What I'm showing you, therefore, is the property in the Word as a means of grace, and it's the property of grace itself. Grace is everywhere in the Bible. Christ is the grace of God. You can't separate the written Word from the incarnate Word, where Christ is preached, the Word is preached, and grace is preached. This is what it is. 1 Peter 2 then, verse 2. As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." Do you see that? He's talking here to these believers about having a desire for the Word, the sincere milk of the Word. For what reason? That you might grow, that you may grow thereby. And then he says immediately, you already have tasted. Because the word, if, there, doesn't denote the doubt. It means this, since ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. So you have the Word in verse 2, and you have the Lord in verse 3, and He's called the Gracious Lord. Now go on into verse 4, and note it carefully. To whom coming. And the word coming there is in a form in the original language that denotes a constant activity. So it is this, to Christ coming continually as unto a living stone. And then jump into verse 5 to get the connection. Ye also as lively or living stones, now listen, here it is, are built up. a spiritual house. And there's the very same verb, edify, to build up. Here, what do we find again? We find that Christ in the Word, the grace of God in the Word, is the means of grace to God's people in order that they will grow, that they'll be built up, that they will be edified. The property in the Word as a means of grace is the property of grace itself. It all focuses in on Christ, you see. My friend, if you go through the book of Acts, you'll find something very important. You will discover that the apostles always were preaching Christ. You'll discover that term. a number of times the book of Acts. I haven't time to show you that, but you can do that yourself. Get the book, look at it, read through it. As I said earlier there, and this is something very important, when you read the book of Acts, you are reading of New Testament Christianity at work, in operation. You're reading of its evangelism. You're reading of its founding churches. You're reading of its preaching ministry. You're reading of its advancement and growth and establishment. And I found the whole way through, it's always Christ. Because Christ is the grace of God embodied in all its fullness. And since Christ is the subject of all Scripture, therefore the property of the Word as a means of grace is grace itself. But look at our text once more. I would love to stay with that, but I have to try to move on here. Look at the second thing here. That is, the power in the Word is a means of grace. Look at the property in the Word. That's grace itself. It's the Word of His grace. But then look at the power in the Word as a means of grace. It says here, I commend you to God, Acts 20, 32, and to the Word of His grace. Now listen, which is able to build you up? The Word of His grace, and of course it's linked to God Himself, it's God who's doing the building up, but as I said earlier, He does it through the Word, the Word of His grace in particular. And therefore those words, which is able to build you up, there you have the power in the Word as a means of grace. That word, able, is the word that signifies power or energy. You remember how it says in Romans 1.16 that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Well, the verb able here is related to that word power. It's basically the same word, only a different form. And therefore, the thought here is of the power of the word to build up, to edify. Remember the great verse Hebrews 4 verse 12? For the word of God is quick, that is living, and powerful, and it's the same word again, as able. Right here in our text, the word of God is quick and able. Oh my friend, you and I do not need anything else. with regard to the main means of building up the church of Jesus Christ, but the Word of God. Because the Word of God is able to do this. Isn't this so important? It doesn't say here that Paul commanded these men to entertainment, to music, to whatever you want to mention. Because that's the thinking of today, you know. Well, only build up the church. Of course, when people talk about building up the church, through entertainment and music. They're talking about building up the numbers. And you can do that certainly. You can gain the greatest crowd if you want to do it that way and you get a huge following. But my friend Paul wasn't interested in that. He was interested in God's people growing spiritually. And he tells them that the Word of God not only has the property Within it, to do this building up, it has the power as well. It makes an impact on the soul. The Word of God is living and powerful, Hebrews 4.12. I didn't go on any further, but it says this, dividing even between the soul and the spirit, to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and as a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart, How living and powerful is the Word of God! And of course, there's a multiplicity of Scriptures that bear this out. The fact that the Word of God has the power to build up believers. John 17, verse 17. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy Word is truth. Or if you turn to James 1 and verse 21. Because sanctification, remember, is really what spiritual growth is all about. that what is a means of grace, what is it supposed to do for the Christian, is to build him up in the sense of stripping away from him the sin. That still remains, and as that sanctifying work goes on by the Word being brought to his soul, he then is most certainly being edified, and the Word is a means of grace to him. But look at James 1 and verse 21, it says there, "...wherefore laying apart all filthiness and superfluity of gnawiness, And receive with meekness, here it is, receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save your souls. Now remember something, this epistle is written to God's people. The very first verse tells you that. Verse 2 as well, where it says, especially there, He's talking to the brethren, he's talking to believers, and yet he says in verse 21, "...receive with meekness then grafted waters, that ye may be able to save your souls." What does he mean? He means simply this. The Christian still needs an awful lot of saving, in a certain sense. Oh yes, we have been saved if we are God's people at that moment when the new birth took place. But, brethren and sisters, you and I still need a lot of saving yet. In other words, we still need to be saved more and more from our own corruption and carnality and worldliness and all those things that cling to us, all those sins that beset us. We need to be saved from them. That's what James is talking about right here, where he says that the word, the engrafted word is able to save your souls. And that word, able, is the very same word. as we saw in our text, which is able to build you up, which is able to save your souls. Dear believer, your soul still needs a lot of work done. That's why you must place yourself under the Word as a means of grace, because the Word of God has the power to do what needs to be done. I've often, well, a number of times, I've been very blessed in my own soul when people have come to me and they've said, listen, preacher, or whatever they called me, it doesn't matter. Do you know that when you were preaching last week, or whenever it might have been, that I had come into the meeting and I had a question in my mind, and I was intending to see you to get that question answered. But while you were preaching, it was answered. Now, I just tell you that to illustrate the point. Brethren and sisters, that's what it's all about. Believers' questions being answered. In other words, genuine concerns and troubles and maybe something about the Bible they couldn't understand, whatever it might be. And I say genuine concerns. And they're answered when the Word of God is expounded and set forth, because it is the Word of God that has the power to do this. I haven't time here to go any farther with regard to this, but may I say this. I want to take you to 2 Corinthians 3. I'm not going to do it because I haven't time. I want to say this. For the Word to have this power, it must be preached and even read under the anointing of the Spirit. You see, the Word of God is quick and powerful in the saving of a soul, in the building up of a believer, only as it is applied by the Spirit of God to the hearts of those who listen. The shorter catechism this time, in answer to question 89, says this, the Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word. Our Westminster divines knew what they were talking about. They put a distinction. The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners. Do you see their order? an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners." And then it goes on to say, "...and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation." You see, the Word of God must go home to the heart in the power of the Spirit. Now, there's just one reference I want you to look at with me. Again, there are many, but one will do right now. Acts 4, 29. Here are the apostles, and they're in a prayer meeting. They believed in praying. They had said themselves, or did say a little later, we will give ourselves to prayer. And to the ministry of the Lord, that's over in Acts 6, 4. But right here, Acts 4, verse 29, they're praying, and they say, Now, Lord, behold their threatenings. Grant unto thy servants that with all boldness... And the word boldness means freedom. Freedom. Now, let me tell you something. What they really meant was this. That kind of freedom or liberty that the Holy Spirit gives to the preacher. That's what they meant. Because if you go on, you will see this. Verse 31, And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. Freedom. Liberty. It's the liberty of the Spirit. This is what Paul is talking about. This is what all these apostles are talking about when they speak to us in the Scriptures about the Word being quick and powerful. Oh yes, the Word itself has a mighty impetus, but my friend, it's only brought home to the heart by the Holy Ghost. I could stand in this pulpit And I could deliver a message, a sermon, call it what you will, that might be very correct and orthodox as far as truth is concerned. But my friend, I want more than that. I know I could be as orthodox as hell in the sense of being completely believing of everything that God says, right down to eternal punishment. But if I haven't got the power of the Holy Ghost in preaching, it's all worthless. Because it is as these men preached, having prayed for this, And you notice there in Acts 4, when they did pray, they didn't even single out the Holy Ghost. They just said, Lord, grant to Your servants this boldness. But they knew what it would take for them to have it. And they got it. They got it again. Because they were filled in Acts 2. And now they're filled again in Acts 4. And the same men are filled, I believe, every time they go to preach the Word of God. They're filled with the Spirit. And because they're filled with the Spirit, souls are saved and the church is built. God's people go on. Here is the power of the Word as a means of grace. And then in closing, because our time is gone, the prospect in the Word as a means of grace. I want you just to look at this with me as we come to the end of our study here today, Acts 20, 32. Look at those words. which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." I call this the prospect in the Word as a means of grace, because the Word here is in view. The Word builds you up and the Word gives you an inheritance among them which are sanctified. Now, what's in view here? Well, the inheritance is heaven. The sanctified, it says, among all them which are sanctified, they are the people who are already in heaven. And Paul is saying to these Ephesian elders, I am commending you to God and to His Word. And His Word has the property in it to build you up, or be a means of grace to you. And it has the power in it to be a means of grace to you. but it has the prospect in it to be a means of grace to you. And the prospect that's in the Word, that's a means of grace to the Christian, is the prospect of heaven, the prospect of having this inheritance one day among all those who are sanctified. What is being said here is simply this. Well, let me turn you to 1 John 3 as we close here. Because here you have it summed up, 1 John 3, verses 1 to 3, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him. Now here's the same thing, the inheritance. For the sanctified people, Here is the great prospect that the Bible always sets before the Christian, the prospect of glory, the prospect of heaven, the prospect of being like the Lord. It says, "...we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Now listen carefully to verse 3, "...every man that hath this hope in him." By the way, where it says there, this hope in him means this hope in Christ. It's not in the man himself, although he has the hope, but it's this hope in Christ. What is the hope? Of being like the Lord. That's our hope in Christ. And anyone that has that hope does something. What does he do? He purifies himself. Do you see it? Let me put it to you this way. If you have in your heart today the hope, the guarantee, for that's what the word hope always means in New Testament terms. If you have the guarantee of the prospect of being in heaven and with Christ and being like Christ, that will cause you to purify yourself. that one day you might join the sanctified. I know that that does not mean that you work out in the sense of actually producing holiness. What it means is this, you take yourself to all the means of grace available. The Word certainly, because in the Word you have this prospect. The prospect in the Word as a means of grace. The prospect of glory. We take ourselves to the Word, and we read it, and we study it, and we pray over it, and we assimilate it into our souls. But we also, my friend, attend diligently to the other means of grace. Prayer, the sacraments, You can extend it even farther than that if you want to do so. Fellowship with God's people. All of this is a means of grace to us. But here is the prospect in the Word. It's the prospect of being in that inheritance among those who are already there. And that prospect causes the child of God, we're told, to seek after purity, to desire to grow. I tell you, dear friend, if you have the prospect of heaven in your heart today, you will not be going through this life lying and cheating and being dishonest and living like the devil and all the while claiming to be a Christian and saying, Hallelujah, I'm a child of God. Are you purifying yourself in the sense that you are conscientiously and diligently getting into the Word, going to prayer, attending the Lord's table, making sure that you have been baptized, and all the other means of grace that are afforded to you, and using them and employing them for your spiritual growth and your spiritual development. I tell you, friend, that this is not true. In other words, if you claim to be a Christian and the means of grace mean nothing to you, you are in a sore and sorry state. You need to stop fooling yourself. You need to stop deceiving your own heart. And whatever you need, you need to get down before God and obtain it. Because the prospect in the Word as a means of grace is a prospect that causes a man diligently, carefully, regularly to seek God. Let us bow together before the Lord.