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The Fundamentals This is repeated in Romans 10:8, with the addition, “that is, the word of faith which we preach.” In 1 Thessalonians 2:13 Paul says to the Thessalonians, “When ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” The believing heart is its lodgment, and there it works to effect some definite results. In Colossians 3:16 we have the admonition-, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” I t is in the be lieving heart that the Word dwells richly. The Lord Jesus, in explaining the parable of the sower, said, “The seed is the Word of God” (Luke 8:11) ; and again, “The sower soweth the Word” (Mark 4:14). (A seed, of course, is worthless except it have life in i t . ) And He further explained that the seed which fell on good ground “are they which, in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). To the unbelieving Jews the Lord said, “And ye have not His Word abiding in you; for whom He hath sent, Him ye be lieve not” (John 5:38). In Colossians 1:5, 6, Paul speaks of the “Word of the truth of the Gospel, which is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit.” In these passages we have presented to us the thought of the Word as a living seed or germ, first finding lodgment in the heart of man, and then abiding and growing there. The growth of the Word of God is specifically mentioned in several striking passages in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 6:7: “And the Word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly.” Here we are told specifically that the Word of God in creased. We learn from this that the mere multiplication of copies of the Scriptures is in itself of no importance. It is. of no avail to have the Book in the house, and on the shelf
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