“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you…”
and be glorified,
The glorification of the Word of God builds on the previous phrase on the dissemination of the gospel (“run”).
Paul prays secondly that God would glorify His Word in Corinth, the vilest city in the first century. There was a saying throughout the world at that time for debauchery – “You are Corinthized” (You are debauched). Corinth was a city rotten to the core, the world’s playground.
When people embrace the gospel, they glorify God’s Word. It is one thing for the gospel to spread quickly, but it is something more for the Word of God to be glorified. The Word of the Lord is glorified when the character of its message is clearly welcomed by those without Christ.
“Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region” (Acts 13:48-49).
Principle:
We can cultivate an appetite for the Word of God.
Application:
When people accept the message of the gospel, it adorns their lives and thus adorns the God of the gospel. This exalts the word of the Lord. We cannot make too much of the Bible. There is no other book like it.
“For You have magnified Your word above all Your name” (Psalm 138:2).
We can cultivate an appetite for the Bible. The more we learn the principles of the Word and apply them to our lives, the Bible will become more vibrant, vital, and interesting.
Before we come to Christ, the Bible is a closed book because we do not know the Author personally. Once we embrace Jesus as our Savior, we want to know Him better. We can have greater intimacy with Him if we keep His commandments.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments…
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him….”
“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me….
”You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 14:15,21-24, 15:14-15).
Our attitude toward the Bible reflects our attitude towards the Lord Jesus because it is His message to us.
