Overview
Rev. Rico Magnelli presents “The Pure Word,” beginning with please turn to Psalm 12. The teaching draws from Psalm 12, Psalm 119, John 1:5, Isaiah 9 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Transcript
Understanding The Pure Word
Please turn to Psalm 12. We want to consider for a few minutes the purity of the Word. It says in Psalm 12, verse 6, the words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times. The idea is the purification process removes all the extraneous elements and and the only thing that's remaining is the pure pure silver. God again using a physical illustration to communicate a spiritual truth that His Word is pure. It's a pure word. When it comes forth from God, whether it's written or spoken, it's pure.
What happens at times is we might put that pure word through a screen or a disclaimer to filter out its purity. But we want that pure word. And as we hold forth that same pure word, we shine as lights holding forth the Word of Life. Because His Word has no contaminations in it whatsoever. And it's not about necessarily building more believing, but perhaps more removing the filters, the disclaimers that we subtly put on that word when we hear it. It comes to us, it's pure. We heard it. The manifestation is pure.
But yet at times we put it through a filter, our own, by our own doing, our own screening system. God says He loves us and we hear, well, He loves us sometimes. God says that we're seated in the heavenlies and we hear only when we're doing righteous things. Look at Luke chapter 1 please. Luke chapter 1. The Word says in Psalm 119 verse 105, Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It lights our way so we can see. But it has to have any contaminants removed from it.
We know that 1st John 1 5 says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. So His Word that goes forth from Him would have to be that pure, pure light. Well when John the Baptist came on the scene, the prophecy over him was very interesting. I just want to look at just a few verses of it.
The Biblical Foundation
Verse 76 of Luke chapter 1, it says, And thou child, speaking about John the Baptist, shall be called the prophet of the highest, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, meaning before God, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring or the sun rising from on high hath visited us. What's this? To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.
And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit or spiritually and was in deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. See, John the Baptist was about as pure as someone can get having a sin nature. He had spirit, Holy Spirit, from his mother's womb. He was kept away in desert places. So his isolation would help him keep the world out. It aided him in not having these screens or these disclaimers to filter out the purity of the Word when God would give it to him.
And when that pure Word gets into someone's heart, and we don't put any disclaimers on it either, it comes out as pure light. And John was to give the light to people that sat in the darkness. Look at Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. Why is this so important? Well, because oftentimes I've heard people say, well, I've just got to build my believing. I've got to build my believing in this category. I need to get more believing. Wait a second. You have the faith of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps it's not about getting more believing, just getting rid of stuff, removing some of those disclaimers, removing some of those screens where the pure Word doesn't get to our heart for some reason. Matthew chapter 4 in verse 13. It says, and leaving Nazareth, that's a reference to him opening his public ministry in Nazareth.
Examples and Spiritual Lessons
Here it just says, and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the seacoast in the waters of Zebulun and Naphthalim, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentile. This is a quote from and a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 9 verses 1 and 2. Jesus opened up his public ministry, and it's interesting that the first land that was afflicted by the Assyrians was this land that's talking about right here.
It was the first land afflicted, and this is also the first land that gets to hear and see the Messiah. How interesting that is. And it says, the people which sat in darkness saw great light, they saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, which is just to change your mind, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Jesus Christ came to bring the will of God down to earth, which is what the kingdom of heaven is about, and they saw great light. When Jesus Christ spoke the word, do you think that there was a disclaimer with it? Do you think that there was a filter on it or a screen? No. When he spoke the word, it was pure. We can do the same. It's important that we receive it first as pure light. Those that sat in darkness saw great light, they saw great light. Oftentimes sitting is associated with judging.
You got people walking in darkness, they can't even see, and then you got people sitting in judgment in darkness. They make decisions as blind people, they can't even see. That's why they need the word. Look at Matthew 15, please. Where do some of these filters, these disclaimers, these screens come from? Well, they don't come from God. They do not come from God. Oftentimes they come from people. Look at Matthew 15, please. Matthew 15, verse 7. Here's Jesus Christ dealing with the religious leaders, the Pharisees.
Faith in Action
He says to them in verse 7 of Matthew 15, ye hypocrites, hypocrites are people that say one thing and do something else. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesied you saying, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and on earth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And God looks on the heart. God's not really interested that we look really religious on the outside. He's interested on the inside. But in vain or fruitlessly, they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. That's where a lot of these screens, these disclaimers come from.
We picked them up along the way. When God is saying he loves you and he will never leave you or forsake you, but yet we at times say, well, I feel forsaken. I'm acting like I'm a forsaken person. See, can't be. The Word of God is pure. He has not forsaken us. He will never leave us. The commandments of men that portray themselves to be the Word of God, they actually filter out the pureness of the Word. They contaminate the pureness of the Word. And then people wonder why they don't get the results they're looking for.
Well, perhaps we got to get some of that stuff out. And he called the multitude and said unto them, hear and understand, not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples and said unto him, I love this, knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying? Sure, I bet they were. They were professional institutionalized hypocrites. Absolutely. They say one thing and do something else. See, Jesus didn't cut people corners that way. If you were a hypocrite, he let you know it.
But he did it with love, of course. Watch this, verse 13. But he answered and said, every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up. See, that's our job, to figure out in the garden of our own mind, is that something the Father has planted? That attitude, that way of thinking, is that something the Father has planted? Or that come from somewhere else? You don't want to water the other stuff. You want to water what God planted. And God planted the purity of his Word. Jesus says, let them alone.
Walking in Love and Confidence
They be blind leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Yeah, they can't see. Commandments of men, they dilute the Word. It's not, I need to study 10 more hours, or I need to build more Word of God in my heart. How about just removing some of the things that filter out the purity of the Word? If God tells you he loves you, why do we doubt him? If God tells us that we're seated in the heavenlies, why do we doubt him? It's the pure Word that we're after.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 4. Why is that so important? Well, it is directly related to how we can help people. If we're filtering the Word out, if we're screening the pure Word out, man, we're not going to be able to help a lot of people. 2nd Corinthians, chapter 4, familiar section, but look here in verse 4. It says, In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The world will do that.
The world will glom on all these screens, these disclaimers, oh, it's just the Bible, it was just written by men, or that's just so-and-so talking, blah blah blah blah blah blah. All these disclaimers, when God is declaring the purity of his Word. For we preach not ourselves, absolutely not, but someone's got to open their mouth. We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. Boy, there's the full package. The anointed one, the one that was crucified, made Lord. And ourselves, your servants for Jesus' sake, emphasizing his earthly ministry, that we endeavor to be ambassadors in like manner.
For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts. It's the pure Word to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Wow. Jesus Christ is the face, if you will, of truth. He's the face of truth. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. And let's close in Philippians. We want the pure Word. When we hear it, we don't want to filter out, screen out, dilute it.
Applying the Teaching in Daily Life
If God tells you he loves you, you believe it. If God tells you you're seated in the heavenlies, you just, you believe it. Here in Philippians chapter 2 is a great section in this light. Because it says in verse 12, wherefore my beloved, which is a practical application of the preceding truths, wherefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, meaning Paul says, not just when I'm around, but now much more in my absence, Paul says, work out your own salvation with respect and awe. Fear and trembling is respect and awe.
Salvation is not talking about the new birth. It's talking about your wholeness. Would you work out your own wholeness? We remove those filters. You know what helps you remove the filters is when you hear the pure Word of God unfiltered, unscreened. When you hear that Word of God, it starts to clear out the cobwebs. It starts to clear out those screens that we put in front. I do it too. Everybody, to some degree. Watch this. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
He will inspire that perfect will and recognition within us. So we remove anything that would dilute the Word. Anything. Sometimes it's just, have you ever had phrases where you just say them? They're just knee-jerk reactions? You just say phrases. I say them too. You know, you hear people say phrases and you just react. Well, better not to say anything. Say what the Word says.
Verse 14, do all things without murmurings and disputings, that you may be blameless and harmless to sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation or generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the Word of life. We need to figure out what are the screens and disclaimers that filter out that pure Word when we hear it. No knee-jerk response to the Word. Just pure heart to the Word. Just open our hearts to the Word. So it gets to our heart.
A Life Shaped by God’s Word
And then when we hold it forth, we shine as lights. We shine as lights when the Word is held forth in its purity. In its purity. We've added nothing to it. It's the pure Word. We've added no personal filter, no disclaimer, no screen. It's just the pure light of the Word. And when we do that, it becomes the Word of life. Because God is after life for us. He's not after some religious system to set up year after year, figure out a new system. He's after the Word for us. So it's an encouragement, if you will, and I include myself.
When I hear that pure Word, not to filter out, not to dilute it with knee-jerk responses of my own, but let that Word sink in deep into my heart. And then when I hold it forth, because I've worked out my own wholeness, that Word comes forth and I shine. You shine. And it brings life unto people. Quality of life. And this is one of the things that we want to do for sure. So that's what I wanted to share. Thanks for listening.
Key Takeaways
- We want to consider for a few minutes the purity of the Word.
- It says in Psalm 12, verse 6, the words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times.
- The idea is the purification process removes all the extraneous elements and and the only thing that's remaining is the pure pure silver.
- God again using a physical illustration to communicate a spiritual truth that His Word is pure.
- When it comes forth from God, whether it's written or spoken, it's pure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main message of “The Pure Word”?
Rev. Rico Magnelli presents “The Pure Word,” beginning with please turn to Psalm 12. The teaching draws from Psalm 12, Psalm 119, John 1:5, Isaiah 9 and applies these truths to faith, spiritual growth, and daily Christian living.
Which scriptures are central to this teaching?
The teaching draws especially from Psalm 12, Psalm 119, John 1:5, Isaiah 9, Matthew 15.
How can believers apply this teaching?
When it comes forth from God, whether it's written or spoken, it's pure.
Scripture References
Psalm 12; Psalm 119; John 1:5; Isaiah 9; Matthew 15
This text was prepared from the teaching audio or source document. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
