It's the Word!

I felt for Ben Durbin last Sunday as he was trying to work his way thru my notes and deliver a sermon completely unfamiliar to him. He was absolutely fabulous. I went back and watched it on livestream.com. But, I want to share something with you that he could not have shared with you because this was not in the notes. This is going to be more extensive because you will get the whole thing. One of the great treasures of the Christian world in the 20th century was Ed Cole ("the only scriptures you believe are the ones that you obey"). Right before he died, he wrote the forward to Steve Gallagher's At the Altar of Sexual Idolatry, and I want to share some highlights from this gem with you. His premise is that EVERYTHING about the Gospel being THE TRANSFORMING FACTOR in EVERY aspect of our lives is revealed in the WORD OF GOD. See how many times he refers to THE WORD!

Ed Cole writes,
"The solution of course, as in every thing with the Lord, is in the Word of God. God's Word is where every solution is found to every problem or issue that a man or woman faces. There is no place for help like the Word of God. All God's healing work begins with His Word.
The subjective emotion and thinking of the addict is, "I'm too unclean, too unworthy, too unholy, too undeserving to read the Bible." That is a lie! God's Word is written for such people, to show the way Jesus Christ has made for them to get out of the pit or hole they dug for themselves.
Or they say, "I have failed so badly. How can I ever be good enough again so God can hear me? You don't get good and get to God, you get to God and God makes you good. (Tim: there is one for the bottom of your e-mails) Getting to God is getting into His Word.
The Word does the work!
Read it when you feel guilty; read it when you don't get anything from it; read it in the face of the devil and his accusations against you; read it when you are not even sure you believe it, just read it!
The Word does the work!
The Word of God washes the mind as soap does the hands. The Word is like soap in that it only effective when used.
All you have is The Word!
Life's greatest failure is not your sin, but in failure to read the Word.
The only only way the Word can wash your mind is when you read it. Reading the Word is the only way God can do His work in your life.
Christianity is not difficult to live, it's impossible. It is Christ living in you that is real Christianity. That is where the life of Christ is. Not what you try and do, but what he does in you.
The Word pays no attention to your sin, emotions, or actions; it merely does its work when you read it.
God's Word never changes, we do.
It doesn't make us feel guilty, we do that to ourselves. It gives us a way out of our feelings, habits, desires, and wants. God's Word is our source of life and blessing.
But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and cleanse us from every wrong. [And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.]
When you do your part, God will do His. You can't do His part, and He won't do yours. Yours is to act on His Word, and let His Word do the work.
The Late Dr. Edwin Louis Cole

My suggestion for you is to put that quote about His role and your role on your refrigerator (I know you will see it there) and look at it all the time. And then pick up your Bible and let God complete the work that He has started in you.
Did you hear Dr. Cole?
IT'S THE WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!