Experiencing The Power of God's Word - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

If you have your bibles, meet me in the book of first Timothy. First Timothy in chapter four. It's a new year, but we're still in the same book. Not going anywhere just yet. Chapter four.

One verse to consider today, verse 13. First Timothy chapter four verse 13. Paul says, until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Let's pray one more time. Lord, with a verse like this, you must help us to see the wonders behind it.

Help us to understand how we can apply it. Help us as a church to obey it. This morning, your voice as your word is open will be loud and clear. Assist the ministry of the word by the power of the Holy Spirit. Drive these truths deep into our souls.

May they transform us. Lord, destroy every distraction. Destroy everything that would keep us from receiving all that you have to say. Lord, cover us and draw us in as we receive from you. Your name we pray.

Amen. For any church that claims and believes that the Bible is infallible, inerrant, perfect, the only source needed for faith and practice, a verse like this comes off as common sense. That anytime a people who claim to be Christians come together to worship, it will be heavily surrounded around the scriptures. Verse as an instruction for pastors and leaders to know how to conduct themselves and lead the people of God into true worship. God, the Holy Spirit, has given this verse to also give the average believer a measurement to know how to determine the maturity and the validity of any gathering that claims to be a church.

Regardless of a ministry's production value, no matter of their warm fellowship, regardless of their vast programs, it doesn't matter what kind of stimulation they may offer you emotionally on a weekly basis. If there is an absence of a engagement and interaction with the word of God, there is a serious issue at hand. Paul told this young pastor in the ESV translation, devote yourself. In other translations, give attention to a certain practice that must be regular and that must be something that is a standard for every church under the banner of Jesus Christ. What is it?

To read the word of God, as you just heard before we worship again. To make passionate pleas to the conscience, to apply the truth that you heard into your own life, and to take the word of God and to teach it, to break it down so that every person in that room does not leave confused, but with greater enlightenment of God what God meant when he wrote these things. There must be a devotion to that. There must be effort and energy and focus. Every single time a church comes to worship, the word of God must be central.

The danger for any church is to divert from that kind of a devotion. To come to a place where they now focus on non essentials, not just non essentials, but even non biblical practices. And things that have no value to the soul for growth in Christ. And what happens is over time is that even though that ministry, that church may have so much to offer, may be so busy, there will be a malnourishment. And there will come a poverty of the soul due to a shallow experience or even a non existent one concerning attention to the word of God.

But if someone were to ask you this question, why should a church, why should your church, why should any church come to the scriptures and explain what it has to say and receive from it? And why do we have to hear preaching on a weekly basis? Why why come to the Bible? What would your answer be? Why not just teach denominational tradition?

Why not just have a gifted speaker go up there and tell personal stories that will move you emotionally? Why not be entertained? Why not get your mind off of the troubles throughout the week and just just be taken somewhere else by some kind of means? Psychological means. Philosophical means.

Why the bible? You know, you'd be amazed. I remember sitting in a q and a session with leaders. I wasn't in the the panel, I was attending it. And the focus of that meeting was, how do we draw the younger generation into the church?

How do we keep them? How do we gain their attention? And how do we keep their attention in the church? And I remember a mother standing up. I remember where I was sitting exactly.

I remember where she stood up, and she asked this question in the following way. To these ministers that were sitting on the platform, my son and my daughter don't like attending church. They don't really see any point of the singing part, and they can't really relate to being preached at. So what can we do to bring them into the church? I couldn't believe what I just heard.

And I don't remember what the minister said, because the only thing that was ringing through my mind as a solution was get them saved. Get them saved. And and you might think this is absurd, somebody would ask such a question. This is even more absurd. You have ministers that are being trained and people in different seminaries even that are being told.

When you plant a church, make sure that when you move into a neighborhood that you put out a survey. And you go out to that neighborhood, you go to the neighbors, and you ask them, what do you want out of a church? What do you wanna experience in a local congregation? And many today are gathering that kind of a data and forming their ministries around that. So hold on.

You're getting insight and you're getting instruction on how to build a church from carnal, unsaved, unregenerate people. Recipe for disaster. And so this is a verse that is greatly needed today. A devotion to the word of God. A trust in the word of God.

And as we look at this kind of a verse, you might think, well, why is it so complicated for people to obey? Why is it so difficult for leaders to just take the truth, and to expound it, and to preach it, and to declare it, and trusting that this is the only thing that will bring people in and transform their lives. I'll tell you why. At least one reason. Because people really don't believe in the power of the word of God.

They think it's stale, they think it's boring, and they'll use the scriptures as a footnote to their meeting to make sure that nobody blames them for being heretical or unbiblical. But it's not the essence. It's not the substance. It's not the driving force. Why?

Because people really don't want the Bible. They want other things. They need other things. The bible can't really help you. It has some nice verses here and there that are encouraging, that will help you no matter where you come from in life, no matter what kind of faith background you have, but it can't really, really offer fruit.

It can't really transform. Now, nobody would outright admit that, but methodology, many ministries are proving that by the way they organize themselves, and how they surround the worship service around this and that. Here's what we're gonna do today. I want you to join with me as we go through the scriptures, at least in part, to see that we can trust in the power of the scriptures, that you and I can experience God's power. You and I can only experience God's power when the word of God is opened.

And when vessels who are filled with the Holy Spirit declared in the fear of God, you won't need any anything else in life. You won't need anything else in ministry if you have that. Consider this. Why truth? Why the Bible?

Why why doing what we're doing right now? Why devote ourselves? Why be so serious about the scriptures as a church? Number one, truth is our main weapon in spiritual warfare. Truth is our main weapon in spiritual warfare.

Go to second Corinthians chapter 10 in verse three to five in a very common passage. Second Corinthians ten three to five. Listen, as you're turning there, be reminded this morning that you are a Christian who has been enrolled into an army. You've been enrolled into an army that has been involved in an ancient battle since the beginning of time. This war is as old as Adam and Eve, and it will never cease until the end of time.

Can I remind you that this war that you are in, it is not possible to make a truce with our enemy? There will be never a peace treaty. Our foe is vicious and determined to destroy and to lure as many people into his kingdom, and he will remain on that path until God himself deals with him. Be reminded that this is not a physical war with physical weapons. We're not dealing with humans, but spiritual beings that require spiritual weapons in order to be effective.

And would you like to know Satan's main method of warfare? It's not afflicting diseases. It's not possessing people with demons. Let's read together. For though we walk in the flesh, Paul says, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but of divine power to destroy strongholds. Now look at verse five very carefully, and see if you can trace the commonality. We destroy arguments, and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. Did you see it? Argument, opinions, the knowledge of God, thoughts captive.

The main place for the battle of the spirit and in the spiritual world is in the mind. It's in the mind. Satan's main tactic is to establish systems of thought that draw people away from the truth. Ideas and ideologies, philosophies, religions, perspectives, and reasonings that will pull you away from saving knowledge in Jesus Christ. That's what he does.

And what happens is when people are convinced and deceived and embrace those different arguments, and thought processes, and belief systems, and philosophies. Over time, it creates what Paul says in verse four, strongholds. Strongholds. What's a stronghold? Well, stronghold is a building that you take shelter in.

It's something that you find refuge in. If you think about a castle, it's a defense system. It's something that you hide behind. And what the enemy does is give people a false hope to hide behind a thought where they are shielded from truth. And some of you have experienced talking to somebody who has a stronghold in their mind, where even when you prove that their belief system is is illogical and it doesn't it doesn't even make sense, they still are stubborn.

They still hold fast to what they believe. They can't shake it off. Why? Because they have a fortress in their hearts. And you debating with them and arguing with them is almost as pointless as beating down a wall with a toy hammer.

This is how Satan operates. This is how Satan takes captives. But notice what Paul says. You and I have weapons that have not just power, divine power to smash down rubble. And then from that heap of myths, plant the banner of Jesus Christ, allowing the Lord himself to conquer their hearts and become Lord of their souls.

Doesn't he say that? We have weapons. The weapons of our warfare have divine power to destroy strongholds. I don't I'm not intimidated by cultists. I'm not intimidated by somebody who grew up a Muslim their whole life.

I'm not even intimidated by Jihadist, Because this weapon is able to destroy strongholds. The weapons of our warfare. What is it? Engaging with demons and casting them out? What's the main weapon?

It's the truth. It's the truth. It's being able to wield the sword of the spirit and to pierce people with the truth. Now think about that. If that is the case, if the essence of people's bondage are lies, then what are we offering people when they come in here week after week?

Or what do we offer people outside of this church if we don't have the weapon, the only weapon that can destroy those lies? People are entertaining souls to hell today. People are giving self help, but not enough help to see salvation. Paul reminds us that if you're gonna be an effective church, an effective believer, then you're gonna dedicate time to study the word, and know the word, and declare the word. And it's not just having a bible on the pulpit, reading a verse, and coming off of it, and just sharing whatever you wanna share.

No. It's about mastering the scriptures, and inviting people into the truth, and seeing what God has to say, and declaring it without apology, and with passion. With the hopes that whoever comes in here, even today, this morning, you've come in with a stronghold. The stronghold of atheism. The stronghold of Islam.

The stronghold of Mormonism. The stronghold of a false perverted view of Christianity. The only thing that's gonna work is not somebody's charisma. It's not people's love and kindness necessarily, it's the word. But people don't believe that.

People don't believe that. Perhaps the reason why leaders don't believe is because they haven't experienced it in their own hearts. And this is quite amazing because we see it lived out in the Bible. We see the power of the scriptures and actual testimonies throughout the scriptures. So what better place to go in the Bible to see the power of the word of God than the book of acts.

Would you join with me? Let's go to acts chapter 13. I love the book of acts. It's like watching a movie. Every time I read it, can't put it down.

Now look what happens here in verse six of acts 13. Paul and Barnabas have been sent out by the Holy Spirit to begin their missionary ministry. And we're told here in verse six, when they had gone through the whole island, as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar Jesus. Meaning son of Jesus ironically. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

So what's happening? You have these two missionaries that are preaching up a storm in a region and this man named Sergeus goes, what's this ruckus going on? These two guys. And he's a man of intelligence. Perhaps he just enjoyed learning new things.

And so he summons these two missionaries. He says, I wanna hear what you have to say. And so they come, and when they come, we are told that beside this politician was a false prophet, Bar Jesus, also known as Elymas. And it says here Look what it says very carefully, that he was with the proconsul. He was with him.

He clinged to him. He was attached to him. This false teacher with false ideas. Isn't it amazing that the kingdom of darkness takes great effort to influence those who have power and authority? That's no accident.

The masses are being duped by what? People who have platforms. People who have wonderful persuasive personalities. People that have abilities and talents. And so many people being tossed to and fro just by the word of somebody who carries influence.

And you don't think the enemy is gonna go to the entertainment industry. You don't think the enemy is gonna use celebrities. Politicians. No. No.

There's a neutral space in this world. It's not evil against good. It's not darkness against light. There's a place where there's just nothing wrong. It's either light or darkness.

There's nothing in between. There's no safe zone in this universe. The war is too great. Satan loves to use clever people and clever things. He loves to use like, men like Surges, men of intelligence, men who are eloquent, men who can persuade your mind, men who can move your emotions.

So he was with the proconsul. That's a tactic of Satan. If I can get Sergius, I can get his old region. And Paul and Barnabas appear, and they begin to preach the gospel. We don't know what they said exactly, but surely they use the scriptures.

And as they're pointing to this and that, what happens? Elymas begins to interfere. He begins to interrupt. He begins to persuade Sergius of another truth, a false truth. This is spiritual warfare.

Truth and lies colliding with one another, while the soul of a man hangs in the balance. And Paul here, as he's listening to Elymas, is fed up. You know what this proves? Preaching, teaching, what is happening right now is not some academic exercise. It's head to head combat with the devil.

Souls hang in the balance every week. Your sanctification, your potential for God to use you hangs in the balance every time the word of God is exposed. What did Paul and Barnabas meet? When you read 13, in the beginning chapter 13, they are sent out by the Holy Spirit. They've been commissioned by the Holy Spirit.

And this is what will happen to any person or ministry that has been commissioned and empowered by God the Spirit. They will come into contact with satanic opposition. They will come into contact with the devil and his forces to try to hold you, and he will make sure that nothing that you have to say will be received or even heard by anybody else. Like, you know, this morning, people think that when you're in the pulpit you don't see anything. Like you're just in a zone and you can do whatever you want.

Oh, you'd be amazed to know what you see up here. You'd be amazed to see how the enemy sometimes can use things. In a church service even, did not Jesus say that when you go out and you plant that seed, there are birds of the air that come and pluck the seed from people's hearts? What are those birds? Demons that wanna distract you while the preaching is going on.

That wanna pull you away. They don't even want you to hear what is being said. And sometimes demons can get so desperate while there's an evangelistic campaign, while there's a teaching, while there's preaching, that they'll manifest themselves and expose their darkness. Seen that happen too. I remember being in a service, a youth service, and in the appeal of the gospel, when the gospel was going out as an appeal, a young girl dropped down and began to have a seizure.

And the meeting ended, Because everybody's attention went there, they didn't care what I have to say anymore. Here's a girl that's shaking on the floor. And God redeemed it because we went to another room, and we used that opportunity to say, do you realize that you can drop down at this age in your life and step into eternity? Where are you with God? I could tell you that whatever the enemy meant for evil, God turned around for good.

But here, Elymas is pressing against the gospel. And what does Paul do? Paul is so infuriated, he's so filled with righteous indignation, that he does something that if most people heard it, would say, that's not very Christ like. You've probably read it yourself. Look at verse 10.

And said, You son of the devil. Paul, you're trying to you're trying to win the surges here. I don't know if you wanna say that. You enemy of all righteousness, full of deceit and villainy. Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time. And this mist comes upon Elymas, and the man now stumbles and ask people for guidance because he can't see anymore. Now we are quick to criticize what Paul is doing here, but please be careful, this was a work of the spirit. And it's not licensed to be rude or aggressive with those who hold to different points of view, but I think the principle here is that Paul had a revelation that many Christians lack today, and that is the seriousness of false teaching. The seriousness of interfering with the word of God.

The seriousness of trying to persuade somebody to believe what is false when you yourself are deceived by it. And so what Paul is presenting here is the gravity of what Elymas has done to himself and what he's trying to do to another person's soul. Most Christians today just wanna be nice and kind. If you believe what you believe, that's fine. I won't persuade you otherwise.

And sometimes I even hear this from people in the pulpit. I'm not here to persuade you to believe what I believe. Is that what Paul said? Is that what Paul said when he stood before judges? When one king said, are you trying to persuade me in a short time to become a Christian?

He goes, not just you, but everybody else in here except for these chains. I am here to persuade you. I want you to repent. I want you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. I'm not just here to bring you perspective that works for me, there's only one thing that works for everybody.

And so Paul here says, you don't know who you're messing with. And I'm sure some of us would like to have the ability that Paul had here. Right? You'd just be blind for a few hours. Just get out of here.

It's a unique work of the Holy Spirit. And who's watching this the whole time? Sergius. The politician is witnessing all of this. Here is my court magician, this false prophet who claims to be a messenger from whatever God he claims to be serving, and now he's stumbling around blind.

What would you do if you witnessed that? What would you do if you're a non believer and you saw that take place before you? God performing a miracle right before your eyes. Would you not be astonished? Would you not be shook?

Would you not fall on your knees and say, Surely, the God that Paul declares is God, is the only and true God? I believe that God didn't just perform us to inflict judgment on Elimez. He had different purposes, I'm sure. But I want you This is why we need to read our Bibles carefully. I want you to read to me verse 12 as the response of the proconsul, and see something quite amazing.

Then the proconsul believed, I mean, yeah, I would too. When he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at what? The miracle? The supernatural intervention? The judgment of God in a tangible way?

No. He was blown away by the teaching of the Lord. You know what people say today? If we're gonna win some more people, we need miracles. We need miracles.

Can God perform miracles? I believe it. Can God manifest supernaturally? I'm a firm believer in that. But here I learned something, that there's something more profound, more impactful, more gripping, more arresting than miracles.

The Word of God. The Word of God. That's what gripped him, and that word astonishes a strong word. It's almost as though to say, it took his breath away. When he heard these truths, God coming in the flesh, God dying on the cross for my sins, God extending grace and mercy, it won his heart and I make this case today, that if we not only wanna see souls saved, but see the saved more passionate followers and worshipers of God, it will require a devotion and a deeper understanding of the scriptures.

That's what we see. Because when you go on after this incident, you see something quite amazing, which is my second point. Truth is not just our main weapon in spiritual warfare, truth Truth is the main way we deepen people's love and faith in Christ. So after this incident, what happens? Well, Paul and Barnabas move on and they go to Antioch.

And when they go to Antioch, Paul had this wonderful strategy. He would go to synagogues, these Jewish houses of worship, where it was a custom to invite rabbis to speak as guest speakers. So if you ever read Acts, you'll see that he's always in synagogues. Why is he in synagogues? Because he's already aware that these people are open to religion.

They're open to the concept of God and truth and objective reality. So he goes into these synagogues hoping to be invited and at this point, he is invited to speak. And listen to the invitation. I like how it's done in the ESV. It says here in verse 15 of the same chapter, after reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them saying, brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.

Some of your translations maybe say exhortation. But encouragement is a part of exhortation. What does it mean to encourage somebody? Every person, every follower of Christ needs encouragement. It's the wise words of somebody that pick you up and place you on your feet again.

They're the words of somebody that can blow the clouds of despair away. They are the things that are spoken into your heart that fuel your tank for faithfulness. We all need encouragement. Now if you were here in Paul's situation, being invited to speak to a group of people to encourage them, what would you do? What would you say?

Different circumstances call for different methods, but you know what Paul does to encourage? To give confidence, and hope, and strength? All you have to do is scale. Look at verse 17. I'm not gonna read it.

But verse 17 down to verse 22. He gives an overview of the Old Testament. He gives an overview of the old testament, and then he leads to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Does that sound like encouragement to you? Does that sound like something that will build you up, and lift up your heart, and lift up your head going to the scriptures?

And don't think for a moment that this is Paul's strategy of just evangelizing these Jews. No. Paul knew the power of the word of God to actually bring tangible comfort to the soul. Ready for this? One of my favorite verses in the New Testament about the Old Testament.

You can turn there if you'd like, or you can just hear what I have to say from it. In Romans fifteen four, for whatever was written, Paul says, in former days was written for our instruction. That through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. This might be surprising to some. Paul didn't have the New Testament when he wrote that.

They might have had the gospels, but Paul here is speaking about the old testament, their bible. And you know what he's saying from it? God has given it, not just to point to Jesus Christ, not to just see fulfillment of prophecies, but that you can go to those stories, you can go to Leviticus, you can go to Deuteronomy, you can go to first Samuel, and you can actually be comforted by them. Do you get comfort when you read the Old Testament? Believers today not only not find comfort, they avoid the Old Testament altogether.

Paul says, no, no, no. Don't do that. Do you realize that you are missing out on God touching your heart and building you up in a special way? We all quote that verse in Psalms one nineteen verse 18, open my eyes that I may see the wondrous things out of your law. Right?

We go, yes. Open my eyes. Open my eyes because we need our eyes to be open, or else it's just words on a page. But again, realize the context. David wrote that with one Bible in mind, the Bible of his day, the first five books of the Bible.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Open my eyes, let me see the wonders tucked into those scriptures. We think the wonders are only in Psalms and John, Ephesians, no no no. They're everywhere. Treasures to be discovered and unburied.

Trues to be connected. There are times I must admit that I will read this book on my own. I'm not trying to find a sermon. I'm not trying to find an interesting thought to share with people. I just want to hear God speak to my to my heart.

And when I open and I read it, and I come upon a scripture that maybe I've read a thousand times, you know what I'm about to say. There are times where I either discover something new that I haven't seen before, or there's a truth that I connect to another portion of the Bible, or I I know something about God and his character and his dealings with us, that caused me to put this Bible down to look up to my ceiling and actually say out loud, wow. Wow. And like Sergius, astonished at the teaching of the Lord, astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. I'm telling you, that's an experience for all of us to have.

I pray that your relationship to the word of God would never succumb to just something you check off, because you don't wanna be embarrassed when somebody asked you that week, did you read your bible? But that you would be gripped. It would be your source of worship. It would be your means to to lifting your affections to Christ. And that should be true in the private sector of our lives, and it should be especially true when we come together and we're hearing it declared.

We should be astonished. We should be taken back. We should be amazed. Who said the word of God is boring? It's boring if the person declaring it is boring.

I can't expect this to light a fire in your hearts if it doesn't light my heart on fire first. I can't expect you to be reverential concerning the word of God if I come up here and I'm irreverent. That's what first Timothy is all about brothers and sisters. The example of the leadership down to the flock. And I think about that experience on the road to Emmaus.

Two disciples with their shoulders now, walking out of Jerusalem, going to their village. One of my favorite scenes in the New Testament. And then Jesus appears to them, as they're walking, and he hides their eyes from recognizing him. And as Jesus comes close and walks up behind them, he overhears their conversation. I can't believe, we thought he was really the prophet.

We really thought he was the deliverer of the nation. He killed They killed him. Now he's in the tomb somewhere. It's over. Let's just go back and go back to life as it was before he came.

Jesus said, what are you guys all sad about? And they stood still and they began to explain, like, hey, are you just like a visitor? Do you not realize what happened? What what took place just just a few days ago? You know what I always wondered?

Why didn't the Lord just show up like how we did with the 12 disciples and say, peace be to you. I have defeated death and I am risen. Don't don't stay in unbelief anymore. Believe. Look.

Look at my scars. Look. It's me. It would have made that journey a lot quicker. It would have made that story a lot shorter.

But instead, he he hides their eyes from recognizing him, and then he begins to walk with him. And you know what he does instead? Instead of opening their eyes to see that this is the Messiah. This is the same Jesus that we saw teach and do miracles. Now he's alive after he died.

You know what he does? Listen to this, in Luke 24 verse 27. And beginning with Moses, in Luke 24 verse 27, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them and all the scriptures the things concerning himself. He has a bible study. He has a bible study.

Is a bible study really what they need, Lord, right now? I think they need to see that you rose from the grave. And instead, wouldn't you like to be there To hear that wonderful bible study? Wouldn't you like to see Jesus, the great expositor, going through the Old Testament and showing all the places that declare him, that point to his sacrificial work? All the appearances of Christ in the old I don't know where he went, but I'm sure it was glorious.

Why? Lord, why a bible study? And why not just appear to them and manifest your self, so that they can have the eyewitness account which they did later? Here's why I believe that was the case. Because he was teaching these disciples, and all disciples for all ages, to derive their hope and their strength from what has already been revealed in the word of God.

What was the thing that was gonna lift them up out of their discouragement, out of their lack of faith? It was what God had already written. What he had revealed, he was placing their confidence back in the scriptures. See, they didn't understand that the Messiah had to die. So then they interpreted those events wrongly and he goes, No.

No. No. Let me show you that this had to happen. The Christ had to suffer. And he points him back to the written word to find their strength from that.

You know what we want when we want strength? We want a manifestation. We want a feeling. We want something to happen so we go, oh, God is real. We want our names written in the skies.

Oh God, you love me because you wrote I love you. Fill in the blank. You know what he does? Do not criticize God's wisdom here. He goes to the scriptures, the ancient text.

He says, it's already been said. Do you see what God said? And you might be thinking, well that's great, but that only feeds the mind, and it only brings clarity to thought. That's not what these disciples said about this Bible study. Because after all was said and done, and Christ did reveal himself, you know what's amazing?

Look at verse 32. They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures? Now consider this. They said this after Jesus broke bread with them and he exposed himself. He revealed himself to be the Christ and then he vanishes.

So they they saw that this is Jesus. And the first thing out of their mouths when Christ had appeared and disappeared from their midst was not the manifestation of Christ, it was the Bible study. The thing that they were talking about was not even the fact that at least immediately that Christ, that was him the whole time and look he appeared. The thing that first came out of their mouths was didn't our hearts burn within us when he opened to us the scriptures? Don't tell me this is just some mental exercise.

Don't tell me that this is just something for the mind. No, it affects the heart. What happened when Jesus interpreted that word there is expounded. He stuck close to the text and explained what the text said. That's what he did.

What what happened to them? Their hearts were set on fire. The hearts, their bosoms were burning within them. There was an encouragement, there was a connection, there was a stirring of affection that came from what? A book that's thousands of years old.

Why? Because it's not just a book, it's the voice of God. And as the Lord was walking with them, one point after the other, those disciples shoulders lifted up, and they began to feel a strange sensation in their chest. And they began to feel their affection stirring, and they were so gripped and so touched by the word, by the word. And you know what they began to do?

They said to each other, there's no fellowship, like the fellowship of those whose hearts burn for the word of God. The fellowship I appreciate the most in my life is with those who have a connection, who are passionate about the scriptures. Not for information, not just for theological debate, but because it caused them to love God more. And can you imagine? This is what fellowship should look like, burning hearts looking at one another.

Burning hearts looking at one another and conversing about the very things that consume them. Only adding more fuel to each other's fire. They said to one another, just like those seraphim around the throne of God in Isaiah six. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. You know, they weren't saying that to God.

Right? Read Isaiah six very carefully. It says, they said to one another, those creatures looked at one another and said, holy, holy, holy. Because they were in the presence of God, they could not help but testify of the majesty and the character and the nature of God. You get into God's presence, you come into his word, you can't help but that.

What's burning in your heart to come from burning lips right after? So their bosoms were burning. Does your heart burn? Or you bored out of your mind right now? If the scriptures are delivered the way Christ delivered them, in his power, exalting him, testifying of him, pointing to him, you better believe that hearts will burn.

You better believe that hearts will burn. And and what happened? What happened after they said, Our hearts burned within us? Look at verse 33. And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the 11 and those who are with him gathered together saying, the Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.

The fire in their hearts awakened a willingness and a passion to go out and to testify. A church that truly preaches and teaches the word of God in the power of the spirit, will have a people who long to declare what they have learned and heard with burning hearts. And people don't believe that. So what do people do? What do what do many ministries do?

Now I'm not here, please hear me carefully, to criticize or condemn anybody. I'm just coming to the word of God. And let me tell you even from personal experience, that so many people because they don't believe this instruction that we heard in first Timothy four thirteen, because they don't grasp the power of the scriptures, They rely on hype tactics. And they and they wanna get you hyped up and emotionally stirred, and they wanna use noise, and they wanna use charisma, and they wanna use just fleshly ability for what? So that in the meeting, you're you're like in a balloon inflated, but guess what?

It only lasts as long as you walk to your car to go back home after the service. And you're deflated, and all that emotion just was left at the door. But I'll tell you what will happen when the word of God is expounded. It will keep you up at night. It'll strengthen you for the week.

It will deposit something in your soul. Why? Because there's a pointing to the unchanging, infallible, wholeheartedly, trustworthy truth that you have access to. And you know God is saying this. And when the word of God really gets in you from a burning heart with burning lips into your burning heart, it will come out of your life one way or another.

These men were so consumed by that Bible study by the way, that they said, let's get up in the middle of the night and let's trek back to Jerusalem and testify what we've seen and heard. And I can guarantee you that their hearts were burning all the way through. Truth is the main way to build up worshipers and followers of Christ. But here's my last point, truth is the main way to accessing, desiring, experiencing fellowship with God. You're still there in Luke 24.

Right? Consider this thought from the same text. After the Lord has his bible study with these two disciples, oh, to be a fly on that wall. He finishes seven mile journey on foot. And they're walking and they're hearing, and and then he finishes because they come to the village that they were meant to come to.

And what does the Lord do? It says that he pretends to walk on, as though he was going further. So he keeps walking on, and God is doing this to see how these disciples are gonna react. And look how they react in verse 29. But they urged him strongly saying, stay with us.

Stay with us, for it is toward evening and a day is now far spent, so he went in to stay with them. Could it be that the strong urge Some translations says, constrained by force. You can almost visualize it where they came up to where they didn't know it was Jesus, and pulled them by the sleep. No. If you're Middle Eastern, you know this.

No. Don't worry you coming. Come here. No. You can't leave.

Right? You know this Middle Eastern's. Right? You say bye then you go to the door and it's thirty minutes at the door. Come here.

And it's they're constraining him. It's almost forceful. And you read that and you think, well, it's because they wanted to be hospitable. I would argue it's because they wanted more of the word of God. Because when you see that they testify of their burning hearts, that was the thing that that that consumed them.

And so here's the stranger, this man who who was so compelling and with his discourse was so encouraging. And there was something about him that kept them there and they wanted more. So they said, oh, please just come over. We wanna hear more. We wanna we want we want you to be with us.

And though they didn't know it was Christ, the principle is still there. That will make you run after the person, will make you not want Christ to be so far from you, to move on while you go in a different direction, what will cling you to him is this word. You wanna know Him. As one preacher said, it's one thing to know the word of God, it's another thing to know the God of the word. But to know the God of the word is through the word of God.

I say that because some people are just again satisfied with just setting up and systematizing their doctrine and theology and not being drawn to the person of God himself. And yet these disciples, with their bosoms consumed, eflamed, touched by scriptures, were saying, please stay with us. Please fellowship with us. Please come and eat with us. Please stay with us for the night.

Do you know what the prayer is for every message no matter what it is, whether it's through Leviticus or first Timothy? Here's a prayer of this leadership, That every time a person hears what is being said, if there's gonna be any fruit, any result is that you would leave here wanting Christ more. Not the preacher, not the church, Christ. I remember first being saved. It didn't matter what the preacher was preaching on.

Just because it was the word of God, my heart was burning. I remember there was a message on Elisha and the two she bears that ate those kids, and my heart was still burning for Christ. There's something about the word that made me wanna make that fellowship as though fellowship is so important, but in that season, I just wanted to get home and sit at his feet. How can I offer that to you? How can any preacher offer that to anybody?

My personal stories can only go so far. They can help. Testimonies can help, but they always should assist the scriptures and not be the substance of the message. Because this this is what is gonna keep you grounded. This is what's gonna stir your heart ultimately.

This is what's gonna make you wanna get closer to Christ. And so we come back to that verse in first Timothy four thirteen, devote yourself. Pastor Tim, devote yourself. The people will take what you give them. I'm a firm believer for youth groups, as much as we need activities and stuff like that, we underestimate how much they can understand and value.

You give them the scriptures, they'll take the scriptures. You give them the word of God and you present it with passion and clarity, they will receive from it. There's a famine in the land today. There's a famine in the land today. And there's a lot of trust and reliance on things that corporations and businesses use to increase and to grow in their profits.

We have a different strategy because we have a different mission. And maybe said at this church that we love the word of God and we love the God of the word, It may be testified week after week in our fellowship. Did not our hearts burn within us while the scriptures were opened? That can only come when we hunger and desire for him, when we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. And I can guarantee you that real revival will come when the word of God is preached.

True, genuine, sincere awakening in the land will only come when hearts burn for the word of God, and you long to invite others into that same sensation, God will honor that when we honor His word. Let's pray together.