WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:10.599 Elation Church. Week number four in our series 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:15.900 that we've entitled, You Can Hear God. You Can 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:18.460 Hear God. How many of you believe that you can 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:24.179 hear God? We can hear God. Look at the person 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:25.960 who didn't raise their hand and tell them you 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:28.839 can hear God too, even though you didn't raise 00:00:28.839 --> 00:00:34.509 your hand. You can hear God. If you are in Christ 00:00:34.509 --> 00:00:37.710 today, if you are born again, you have already 00:00:37.710 --> 00:00:42.070 heard God because it's impossible to be a Christian 00:00:42.070 --> 00:00:47.310 without hearing God. You got to hear God bringing 00:00:47.310 --> 00:00:51.710 the gospel alive to you and then you respond. 00:00:52.530 --> 00:00:56.590 Romans 8, 14 says this, for all, everybody say 00:00:56.590 --> 00:01:00.859 all. For all who are led by the Spirit of God 00:01:00.859 --> 00:01:06.739 are children of God. All who are led by the Spirit 00:01:06.739 --> 00:01:10.799 of God are children of God. And last week we 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.920 talked about this. Who we are or who we become 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:21.359 is determined by something. Who you are and who 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:23.459 you are becoming is determined by something. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:28.269 It's determined by who you listen to, and who 00:01:28.269 --> 00:01:32.549 you follow. How many of you recognize that from 00:01:32.549 --> 00:01:38.310 life experience? Did anybody ever listen to and 00:01:38.310 --> 00:01:42.930 follow the wrong person? Anybody? And then you 00:01:42.930 --> 00:01:46.650 wind up in the wrong place because you've listened 00:01:46.650 --> 00:01:50.709 to and followed the wrong person? If we listen 00:01:50.709 --> 00:01:54.290 to and follow the right person, we're going to 00:01:54.290 --> 00:01:59.140 wind up In the right place. And who we really 00:01:59.140 --> 00:02:04.260 need to listen to and follow is God. We really 00:02:04.260 --> 00:02:06.519 need to listen to and follow the Holy Spirit. 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:09.699 Because a characteristic of being a Christian 00:02:09.699 --> 00:02:13.139 is that we are led. How are we led? We're led 00:02:13.139 --> 00:02:18.080 by hearing and following the Spirit of God. Those 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:22.199 that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:28.069 of God. We've been looking at this set of verses 00:02:28.069 --> 00:02:31.729 in John 10, verses 1 through 5, and it talks 00:02:31.729 --> 00:02:34.629 about us knowing the voice of God. It says this, 00:02:34.669 --> 00:02:38.229 I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:41.770 the wall of the sheepfold, rather than going 00:02:41.770 --> 00:02:45.270 through the gate, must surely be a thief and 00:02:45.270 --> 00:02:48.250 a robber. But the one who enters through the 00:02:48.250 --> 00:02:53.490 gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper 00:02:53.490 --> 00:02:55.930 opens the gate for him and the sheep recognize 00:02:55.930 --> 00:03:01.129 his voice and come to him. Everybody say recognize. 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:07.409 He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them 00:03:07.409 --> 00:03:10.849 out. After he has gathered his own flock, he 00:03:10.849 --> 00:03:14.150 walks ahead of them and they follow him because 00:03:14.150 --> 00:03:18.770 they know his voice. Everybody say no. They won't 00:03:18.770 --> 00:03:22.949 follow a stranger. They will run from him. Because 00:03:22.949 --> 00:03:28.990 they don't know his voice. So this text tells 00:03:28.990 --> 00:03:32.870 us that the shepherd speaks. When the shepherd 00:03:32.870 --> 00:03:39.169 speaks, the sheep recognize and know his voice. 00:03:40.889 --> 00:03:45.710 And then the shepherd leads and the sheep follow. 00:03:47.449 --> 00:03:51.129 Now to understand this, I mean, I'm going to... 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:53.919 Give this illustration again because everybody 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:57.500 wasn't here. But during this time, there would 00:03:57.500 --> 00:04:01.539 be a sheepfold. It would be a large fenced -in 00:04:01.539 --> 00:04:05.960 area. And if the shepherds needed to do something, 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:08.460 and even overnight a lot of times, they would 00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:11.259 bring their sheep to the sheepfold so that they 00:04:11.259 --> 00:04:16.579 could go home and sleep. But I'm not just talking 00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:19.860 about one herd of sheep. I'm talking about... 00:04:20.029 --> 00:04:25.329 Five or six shepherds, maybe more, maybe less, 00:04:25.470 --> 00:04:29.189 would bring their sheep to the sheepfold. So 00:04:29.189 --> 00:04:31.529 it would be hundreds of sheep. Let's just, in 00:04:31.529 --> 00:04:33.750 our minds, let's just think, okay, every shepherd 00:04:33.750 --> 00:04:38.370 has 50 sheep, and we've got five shepherds. I'm 00:04:38.370 --> 00:04:41.069 just making up these numbers just so we can understand 00:04:41.069 --> 00:04:45.089 it. We have five shepherds, so we have, how many 00:04:45.089 --> 00:04:47.709 sheep do we have, Lucas? I've been working on 00:04:47.709 --> 00:04:50.259 your third grade arithmetic. All right. We have 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:58.060 250 sheep. Everybody say 250. 250 sheep. But 00:04:58.060 --> 00:05:02.660 they're five different herds. But this is the 00:05:02.660 --> 00:05:06.439 way it worked. The shepherd, one of the five 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:10.019 shepherds could walk into the sheepfold and just 00:05:10.019 --> 00:05:15.300 begin to talk. He didn't have to scream. The 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:20.759 sheep weren't branded. They weren't marked. He 00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:22.560 could just go in there and talk so that all the 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:25.060 sheep could hear his voice. And then when they 00:05:25.060 --> 00:05:27.019 opened up the gate and the shepherd walked out 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:30.399 of the sheepfold, every single one of his sheep 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:34.079 would follow him out. But let's just say there 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:36.420 are 250 and 50 of them follow him out. The other 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:39.180 200 stay in the sheepfold because they're not 00:05:39.180 --> 00:05:42.560 following a voice that they don't know. They're 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:44.660 not following a shepherd that they don't know. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:50.579 And I shared about being in Romania and the shepherd 00:05:50.579 --> 00:05:53.860 walking out. You know, we had a bunch of loud 00:05:53.860 --> 00:05:56.339 noise going on and a bunch of scary things happening. 00:05:56.779 --> 00:05:59.259 And, you know, they were just sheep all the way 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:01.139 across the road and in this lady's yard. She 00:06:01.139 --> 00:06:03.579 was out in the front yard swinging a broom trying 00:06:03.579 --> 00:06:07.660 to get the sheep out of her yard. The van driver, 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:10.360 I was in the van. He was up on the sheep blowing 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:12.819 the horn. I mean, you could touch the van and 00:06:12.819 --> 00:06:17.579 touch the sheep. But they wouldn't move. Well, 00:06:17.579 --> 00:06:19.220 they moved, but they didn't move. You know what 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:22.079 I mean? Because the lady was swinging a broom 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:24.519 at them, the ones that were close enough to get 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:27.699 hit by the broom, they were moving because they 00:06:27.699 --> 00:06:29.279 didn't want to be close to the broom anymore. 00:06:31.220 --> 00:06:33.839 But they weren't leaving. They were just moving 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:35.819 around trying to get another sheep closer to 00:06:35.819 --> 00:06:38.899 the broom. The ones in front of the van were 00:06:38.899 --> 00:06:41.620 hearing that loud noise, and it was scaring them, 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:44.540 but they were just moving away from the loud 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:47.870 noise. They weren't moving out of the road because 00:06:47.870 --> 00:06:50.889 they heard a horn. But then all of a sudden, 00:06:50.949 --> 00:06:54.110 the shepherd walked out from behind the house 00:06:54.110 --> 00:06:59.129 and the lady's voice swinging the broom was louder. 00:07:00.269 --> 00:07:03.029 The horn on the van was louder. I could hear 00:07:03.029 --> 00:07:05.649 both of those things. I could see the shepherd's 00:07:05.649 --> 00:07:08.329 mouth moving, but I couldn't hear him talking. 00:07:09.529 --> 00:07:14.269 But he was talking. And he walked from behind 00:07:14.269 --> 00:07:17.660 the house. And he walked across the street and 00:07:17.660 --> 00:07:20.060 he walked in the field across the road. Every 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:24.079 single one of those sheep followed him. Why did 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:28.639 they follow him? He was their shepherd. He was 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:31.600 their shepherd. They knew their shepherd. They 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:35.740 knew the voice of their shepherd. Even with all 00:07:35.740 --> 00:07:39.699 the other loud voices around them, they knew 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:42.779 the voice of the shepherd. And they chose to 00:07:42.779 --> 00:07:48.930 follow him. Sheep recognize and know the voice 00:07:48.930 --> 00:07:53.389 of their shepherd. The shepherd leads and the 00:07:53.389 --> 00:07:58.670 sheep follow. Today, we're focusing in on what 00:07:58.670 --> 00:08:04.709 I believe is the main way that we hear God. Now, 00:08:04.709 --> 00:08:06.430 if you haven't heard the first three messages, 00:08:06.550 --> 00:08:09.310 go on podcast and listen to them. It'll give 00:08:09.310 --> 00:08:12.709 you a whole lot more foundation for where we're 00:08:12.709 --> 00:08:16.689 going today. I believe the most important way 00:08:16.689 --> 00:08:22.170 and the most common way that all of us will hear 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:26.730 God. I mean, there's probably not going to be 00:08:26.730 --> 00:08:29.490 a big angel showing up, a big nine -foot angel 00:08:29.490 --> 00:08:32.269 showing up to talk to you. I'm not saying He 00:08:32.269 --> 00:08:39.289 can't, but that's not the most common way. You're 00:08:39.289 --> 00:08:42.480 not going to have a vision. of Jesus walking 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:44.759 in your room every day to tell you what He wants 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:51.960 to tell you today. He can. He has. It's documented. 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:57.799 But that's not the most common way that we're 00:08:57.799 --> 00:08:59.580 going to hear God. We're going to hear God through 00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:02.860 His Word. We're going to hear God through His 00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:08.059 Word. And I've got a question. How does a book 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:16.720 written 2 ,000 plus years ago become God's voice 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:23.740 to you and to me today. How does it become that? 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:28.940 Well, it's not just because it's a 2 ,000 year 00:09:28.940 --> 00:09:35.740 old book. It's more than that. How does it become 00:09:35.740 --> 00:09:38.740 God's voice? How does it become God's voice to 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:42.509 you today? Him speaking to you today about what's 00:09:42.509 --> 00:09:45.970 going on in your life today. How does that happen? 00:09:47.029 --> 00:09:50.610 Here's how it happens. Hebrews 4 .12. The Bible's 00:09:50.610 --> 00:09:53.710 different than any other book. The Word of God 00:09:53.710 --> 00:09:58.090 is alive and powerful. Everybody say alive. Everybody 00:09:58.090 --> 00:10:02.149 say powerful. The Word of God is alive and powerful. 00:10:02.330 --> 00:10:04.990 It is sharper than the sharpest two -edged sword, 00:10:05.210 --> 00:10:10.539 cutting between soul and spirit. Between joint 00:10:10.539 --> 00:10:13.159 and marrow, it exposes our innermost thoughts 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:17.720 and desires. I'm going to say something, don't 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:20.039 get mad at me, but apart from the Holy Spirit, 00:10:20.179 --> 00:10:23.759 the Bible is just a book of words, just like 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:28.159 any other book. Some of you are looking at me 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.240 funny. There are people who read the Bible like 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:38.019 a textbook, and it doesn't really do anything 00:10:38.019 --> 00:10:43.730 for them. Just like any other book. There are 00:10:43.730 --> 00:10:46.450 people in universities that teach the Bible that 00:10:46.450 --> 00:10:51.529 have never met the author. But they can teach 00:10:51.529 --> 00:10:58.330 a class on the Bible. But the living word, the 00:10:58.330 --> 00:11:01.029 word of God is alive and powerful. It flows from 00:11:01.029 --> 00:11:05.950 our living God. The living word flows from our 00:11:05.950 --> 00:11:11.279 living God. It's Him exhaling His truth to us 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:15.139 and you can read it and never get it. How many 00:11:15.139 --> 00:11:16.860 of you have read the Bible and you just never 00:11:16.860 --> 00:11:23.960 got it before? We've looked at the verse every 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:26.340 week, I believe, but the Holy Spirit, God the 00:11:26.340 --> 00:11:32.799 Holy Spirit, He takes what God has said and He 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:37.990 makes it alive. He makes it understandable. He 00:11:37.990 --> 00:11:43.210 makes it applicable. He makes it personal. It 00:11:43.210 --> 00:11:48.549 becomes a living word. But God is involved in 00:11:48.549 --> 00:11:57.169 that. Because we have to hear the rhema Christos. 00:11:58.269 --> 00:12:01.990 Those are the Greek words that we talked about 00:12:01.990 --> 00:12:05.509 multiple weeks already too. Faith comes by hearing 00:12:05.509 --> 00:12:09.149 and hearing by the word of God. It comes by the 00:12:09.149 --> 00:12:12.529 anointed utterance, the empowered utterance of 00:12:12.529 --> 00:12:18.990 God. That's when it becomes alive. The living 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:22.110 word, everybody say living word. The living word 00:12:22.110 --> 00:12:27.149 does something. The rhema Christos does something. 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:31.490 The empowered utterance from God does something. 00:12:32.429 --> 00:12:38.029 It always brings revelation. It always brings 00:12:38.029 --> 00:12:43.870 revelation. It reveals to you. It reveals to 00:12:43.870 --> 00:12:48.250 me. And these are some important things. This 00:12:48.250 --> 00:12:50.129 isn't the only thing the Word of God reveals 00:12:50.129 --> 00:12:53.110 to us, but these are some very important things 00:12:53.110 --> 00:12:57.409 the Word of God reveals to us. It brings revelation 00:12:57.409 --> 00:13:03.860 of who God is. It's important that we know who 00:13:03.860 --> 00:13:08.580 He is. Because there's a lot of just imagination 00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:14.799 of who God is. That's why there are people who 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:18.279 say they worship God and their God is just a 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:23.799 product of human imagination. And they're sincere. 00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:31.710 But they're sincerely wrong. They are worshiping 00:13:31.710 --> 00:13:34.230 a God of their imagination or the imagination 00:13:34.230 --> 00:13:37.789 of people who have been before them that have 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:43.210 convinced them. Right? So it's important that 00:13:43.210 --> 00:13:47.470 we know who God is. That's one of the reasons 00:13:47.470 --> 00:13:51.490 why we did that whole series on how God has revealed 00:13:51.490 --> 00:13:53.889 Himself to us and all those names that we went 00:13:53.889 --> 00:13:55.750 through. I think we went through, I don't know, 00:13:55.769 --> 00:14:00.730 14, 15, 16 different names of God. To find out 00:14:00.730 --> 00:14:04.169 who God is. But we find that through the revelation 00:14:04.169 --> 00:14:08.169 of the Word of God. Not just from human imagination. 00:14:10.970 --> 00:14:13.070 And there's probably times in all of our lives 00:14:13.070 --> 00:14:16.870 where we're just worshiping the God of our imagination 00:14:16.870 --> 00:14:19.049 because we really don't know who He is because 00:14:19.049 --> 00:14:21.710 we haven't spent time in His Word to see who 00:14:21.710 --> 00:14:26.190 He really is. That's an oh me or an amen moment 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:31.879 or something. The living Word also brings us 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:36.500 revelation of what God has said. What has He 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:43.799 said? It gives us revelation of His ways. It 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:48.460 gives us revelation of what He wants. And it 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:52.200 gives us revelation when we're connected with 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.460 the Spirit of God, when we read the Word of God 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:58.059 and He's causing it to come alive. It's a revelation 00:14:58.059 --> 00:15:03.340 of a now application. Everybody say now. A now 00:15:03.340 --> 00:15:07.740 application. That's important. If we're going 00:15:07.740 --> 00:15:10.740 to be led by the Spirit of God, to be the children 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:14.940 of God, these things are important. They're important. 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:17.879 We're going to look at several stories today. 00:15:17.980 --> 00:15:22.120 I'm going to read them. I could preach a whole 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:23.960 sermon on each one of these stories, but I'm 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:26.100 not going to do it because we're just focusing 00:15:26.100 --> 00:15:31.399 on, our topic today. Don't try to. Somebody say, 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:35.340 help him Jesus. Because I'm always just wanting, 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:40.000 I could preach three or four sermons here. Luke 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:43.240 24, verse 13 through 32. That's a lot of verses. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:49.600 Listen to the story. That same day, everybody 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:53.779 say resurrection day. That's when this story 00:15:53.779 --> 00:15:57.919 is taking place. That same day, two of Jesus' 00:15:58.100 --> 00:16:01.220 followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, 00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:05.700 seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along, 00:16:05.980 --> 00:16:08.500 they were talking about everything that had happened. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:12.659 As they talked and discussed these things, listen, 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:17.899 Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking 00:16:17.899 --> 00:16:24.419 with them. That's an awesome way to hear God, 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:29.340 right? But God kept them from recognizing Jesus. 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:35.019 He asked them, what are you discussing so intently 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:44.779 as you walk along? They stopped short. Sadness 00:16:44.779 --> 00:16:50.120 written across their faces. Then one of them, 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:56.110 Cleopas, replied, You must be the only person 00:16:56.110 --> 00:17:00.710 in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things 00:17:00.710 --> 00:17:04.549 that have happened there the last few days. You 00:17:04.549 --> 00:17:06.990 must be the only one who hasn't heard about Jesus 00:17:06.990 --> 00:17:09.789 and Him being arrested and whipped and beaten 00:17:09.789 --> 00:17:13.509 and crucified and He was in the grave for three 00:17:13.509 --> 00:17:15.450 days and then all of a sudden He's not there 00:17:15.450 --> 00:17:19.569 anymore. You must be the only person who has 00:17:19.569 --> 00:17:24.460 not heard about this. Jesus goes, What things? 00:17:27.299 --> 00:17:30.059 The things that happened to Jesus. The man from 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:33.140 Nazareth, they said. He was a prophet who did 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:37.359 powerful miracles. He was a mighty teacher in 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:42.140 the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading 00:17:42.140 --> 00:17:44.680 priests and other religious leaders handed him 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:47.420 over to be condemned to death and they crucified 00:17:47.420 --> 00:17:54.589 him. We had hoped he was the Messiah. We had 00:17:54.589 --> 00:17:56.869 hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue 00:17:56.869 --> 00:18:00.789 us, to rescue Israel. This all happened three 00:18:00.789 --> 00:18:04.730 days ago. Then some women from our group of his 00:18:04.730 --> 00:18:08.430 followers were at his tomb early this morning, 00:18:08.509 --> 00:18:13.569 and they came back with an amazing report. They 00:18:13.569 --> 00:18:17.069 said his body was missing, that they had seen 00:18:17.069 --> 00:18:22.109 angels who told them that Jesus was alive. Jesus 00:18:22.109 --> 00:18:26.710 is alive. Some of the men ran out to sea and 00:18:26.710 --> 00:18:32.029 sure enough, his body was gone. Just as the women 00:18:32.029 --> 00:18:38.990 had said. Then Jesus said to them, you foolish 00:18:38.990 --> 00:18:43.869 people. Listen, what did he mean when he said 00:18:43.869 --> 00:18:48.390 that? He said, he's basically saying, how do 00:18:48.390 --> 00:18:51.569 you have all this information and still miss 00:18:51.569 --> 00:19:01.420 it? How do we have all this information and still 00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:05.279 miss it? All of us missed it. All of us have 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:07.880 missed it. And all of us do miss it at times. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:14.059 How do we have it and miss it? Jesus said, you 00:19:14.059 --> 00:19:17.059 find it so hard to believe all that the prophets 00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:23.599 wrote in scriptures. He's saying, can't you put 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:28.099 two and two together and connect the dots? Wasn't 00:19:28.099 --> 00:19:32.279 it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:36.660 to suffer all these things before entering his 00:19:36.660 --> 00:19:39.660 glory? I mean, isn't it just spelled out in black 00:19:39.660 --> 00:19:44.220 and white for you? How are you missing it? Then 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:47.099 Jesus took them through the writings of Moses 00:19:47.099 --> 00:19:51.500 and all the prophets, explaining from all the 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:56.859 scriptures the things concerning himself. By 00:19:56.859 --> 00:20:01.500 this time, they were nearing Emmaus and the end 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:04.299 of their journey. Jesus acted as if He were going 00:20:04.299 --> 00:20:08.180 on. Like, it's been nice walking with you guys 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:11.119 and talking with you, but He acted like He was 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:13.660 going to just keep walking. But they begged Him, 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:17.940 stay the night with us since it's getting late. 00:20:18.180 --> 00:20:20.680 You don't want to be out on this road in the 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:24.240 dark all by yourself. Just come on to our house. 00:20:26.190 --> 00:20:28.490 Stay the night with us since it's getting late. 00:20:28.630 --> 00:20:33.250 So he went home with them. As they sat down to 00:20:33.250 --> 00:20:40.230 eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he 00:20:40.230 --> 00:20:44.950 broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, everybody 00:20:44.950 --> 00:20:48.430 say suddenly. Suddenly their eyes were opened 00:20:48.430 --> 00:20:54.170 and they recognized him. And at that moment, 00:20:56.870 --> 00:21:01.609 he disappeared. How would you have liked to have 00:21:01.609 --> 00:21:05.869 been sitting there that night? Well, they said 00:21:05.869 --> 00:21:10.710 to each other, listen to what they said. Didn't 00:21:10.710 --> 00:21:17.210 our hearts burn within us as he talked with us 00:21:17.210 --> 00:21:20.970 on the road and explained the scripture to us? 00:21:21.829 --> 00:21:24.230 Something was happening on the inside of us. 00:21:28.750 --> 00:21:30.630 Look to the person beside you and say, something's 00:21:30.630 --> 00:21:36.089 happening. This story tells us these men knew 00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:39.829 the Scriptures. They knew the prophecies. They 00:21:39.829 --> 00:21:43.430 were good Jews. They were even followers of Jesus. 00:21:45.450 --> 00:21:47.890 Because they said, you know, some of the people 00:21:47.890 --> 00:21:49.869 with us, some of the ladies who were part of 00:21:49.869 --> 00:21:52.829 our group, some of the other guys who were part 00:21:52.829 --> 00:21:55.890 of our group went to the tomb. I mean, they were 00:21:55.890 --> 00:22:02.799 connected. They knew the Scripture. But Jesus 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.140 took the Scripture, He walked them through Moses 00:22:05.140 --> 00:22:07.940 and the prophets, and He explained what the Scripture 00:22:07.940 --> 00:22:11.019 said concerning Himself. And in the process, 00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:18.579 something was happening. Their hearts were burning. 00:22:20.140 --> 00:22:24.079 Jeffrey shared a verse last week. The Spirit 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:28.480 of the man is the candle of the Lord. Everybody 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.819 say candle. A candle is not good unless it's 00:22:31.819 --> 00:22:37.400 burning. Right? Their hearts burned within them. 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:41.619 Now, here's a Greek word for hearts. When they 00:22:41.619 --> 00:22:44.140 said our hearts burned within us, it's kardia. 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:48.940 Now, there are other meanings. It's never saying 00:22:48.940 --> 00:22:52.079 that it's the blood pump in your chest. All right? 00:22:52.660 --> 00:22:54.940 But one of the definitions, everybody say one. 00:22:56.039 --> 00:22:58.160 And the most important one with what we're talking 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:03.779 about today is this. Their thoughts and their 00:23:03.779 --> 00:23:08.339 feelings. Their thoughts and their feelings. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:13.119 It's the core of who you are. And it says that 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:15.279 their thoughts and their feelings were burning. 00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:19.740 And that word, there's the Greek word for burned. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:22.880 And this is not the full definition, but it's 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.099 part of the definition. It's an inward flame 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:36.299 or a light of illumination and revelation. So 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:38.579 when they said our hearts burned within us, they 00:23:38.579 --> 00:23:41.500 were like, boy, our minds and our feelings. I 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:45.200 mean, it's just like all this started becoming 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:48.559 real and started coming together. You know, we 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:50.599 talk a lot about negative feelings, but there 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:54.210 are good feelings too. They're good feelings. 00:23:54.329 --> 00:23:59.829 They're faith feelings. With this inward light, 00:24:00.009 --> 00:24:08.150 they had heard the prophecies, but the prophecies 00:24:08.150 --> 00:24:12.410 in the Old Testament writings had never been 00:24:12.410 --> 00:24:15.029 illuminated. They've never received revelation. 00:24:15.069 --> 00:24:20.490 They never became real. Just like when we read 00:24:20.490 --> 00:24:22.690 our Bibles sometimes and we just read and it's 00:24:22.690 --> 00:24:25.490 just words on a page and it doesn't become real. 00:24:25.670 --> 00:24:28.430 So we can say that our hearts are burning when 00:24:28.430 --> 00:24:31.529 it starts coming alive to us and it's the living 00:24:31.529 --> 00:24:37.509 Word of God. Our hearts begin to burn within 00:24:37.509 --> 00:24:41.269 us. They'd heard the passages before, same Scripture, 00:24:41.430 --> 00:24:48.859 but a different experience. When Jesus opened 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:57.619 the Scriptures to them. It's something we need 00:24:57.619 --> 00:24:59.740 to recognize. We can read Scripture without seeing 00:24:59.740 --> 00:25:06.259 what the Scripture is revealing. Now, the Holy 00:25:06.259 --> 00:25:08.839 Spirit's work in this, He's not giving us a different 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:13.299 Bible. He's not telling us something that doesn't 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:16.579 agree with the written Word of God. You know? 00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:21.039 What He does is He opens our understanding to 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:26.500 what God already said. He opens our understanding. 00:25:31.339 --> 00:25:36.759 Luke 24, later in this chapter, verse 45, it 00:25:36.759 --> 00:25:43.359 says this, Jesus opened their minds to understand 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:51.240 the Scriptures. Just like the Holy Spirit wants 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:55.400 to open your mind. When you read the Word of 00:25:55.400 --> 00:25:57.480 God, the Holy Spirit wants to open your mind 00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:04.880 to understand it. I mean, I've been in Bible 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:06.940 studies before and I've listened to what somebody 00:26:06.940 --> 00:26:09.460 said and I'm just sitting there going, that's 00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:16.140 not even what this says. That's not even what 00:26:16.140 --> 00:26:20.150 this is saying. I don't know if you recognize 00:26:20.150 --> 00:26:24.390 that or not, but we need God to help us know 00:26:24.390 --> 00:26:29.069 what it says. Don't just listen to every teacher. 00:26:29.150 --> 00:26:37.009 Don't just listen just to me. You know, we can 00:26:37.009 --> 00:26:45.849 be motivated to believe the wrong thing. Hello? 00:26:48.140 --> 00:26:50.359 How many people in this world are motivated to 00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:53.440 believe the wrong thing? How many people even 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:55.960 within Christianity are motivated to believe 00:26:55.960 --> 00:27:01.099 the wrong thing? That God's out to get you. When 00:27:01.099 --> 00:27:03.579 the Bible says every good and perfect gift comes 00:27:03.579 --> 00:27:05.640 down from God, all the good things in our life 00:27:05.640 --> 00:27:09.099 come from God. But I've heard messages from Christian 00:27:09.099 --> 00:27:14.259 pulpits saying that God's going to get you. And 00:27:14.259 --> 00:27:20.220 they were using Bible verses to support it. They 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:22.539 were saying things about God that were moving 00:27:22.539 --> 00:27:26.059 God away from being good or moving God away from 00:27:26.059 --> 00:27:33.920 being love. Come on. Don't just listen to me. 00:27:36.839 --> 00:27:39.160 I look back over my own preaching and there were 00:27:39.160 --> 00:27:41.160 some times when I look back at my own. I mean, 00:27:41.180 --> 00:27:43.200 I had a good heart and I was behind. I mean, 00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:45.259 you know, I wanted to be sharing the right thing, 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:49.670 but I didn't know the right thing to share. I 00:27:49.670 --> 00:27:53.569 was going on human reasoning and human interpretation. 00:27:56.549 --> 00:28:03.130 No one's too spiritual for that not to happen. 00:28:05.289 --> 00:28:13.230 No one. That's why we need the Holy Spirit. Guidance, 00:28:13.430 --> 00:28:22.259 leading, revealing to us. When we read our Bible, 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:24.859 the goal isn't to finish today's Bible reading 00:28:24.859 --> 00:28:29.579 plan as fast as you can. Who's been guilty of 00:28:29.579 --> 00:28:32.200 doing that? You're trying to complete a Bible 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:35.420 reading plan, so you just, okay, I don't really 00:28:35.420 --> 00:28:37.180 have time, but I'm going to take time. I'm going 00:28:37.180 --> 00:28:39.160 to stop, and I'm going to read it, and I'm just 00:28:39.160 --> 00:28:41.660 going to speed read it as fast as I possibly 00:28:41.660 --> 00:28:46.680 can because I've got important stuff. We wouldn't 00:28:46.680 --> 00:28:50.700 say it out of our mouth, but in our minds. There 00:28:50.700 --> 00:28:54.079 are some things really pressing. I'm going to 00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:56.700 give Jesus a quick three minutes, but that's 00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:02.940 all I've got to give him today. Come on. I'm 00:29:02.940 --> 00:29:09.859 telling the truth with my hand up. The goal isn't 00:29:09.859 --> 00:29:12.119 to speed read through the Bible as fast as you 00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:17.500 can. The goal is hearing the author while you're 00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:20.490 reading his words. I want to say that again. 00:29:20.589 --> 00:29:24.430 The goal is to hear the author while you are 00:29:24.430 --> 00:29:28.109 reading his words. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. 00:29:29.069 --> 00:29:34.029 So we're going to break down these things. And 00:29:34.029 --> 00:29:36.529 it might not be everything, but these are important 00:29:36.529 --> 00:29:39.730 things. Revelation that we're going to receive 00:29:39.730 --> 00:29:42.470 from the word of God. The first one is revelation 00:29:42.470 --> 00:29:48.910 of who God is. Revelation of who he is. Because 00:29:48.910 --> 00:29:50.990 like I said, we often choose reading the Bible 00:29:50.990 --> 00:29:55.869 over taking time to listen. Because we're trying 00:29:55.869 --> 00:30:03.230 to accomplish something. Listen to me. Reading 00:30:03.230 --> 00:30:06.750 the Bible is going to always lead you to a person. 00:30:07.490 --> 00:30:11.750 That's why it's written. To lead you to a person. 00:30:12.990 --> 00:30:18.759 To lead you to a relationship. Not to lead you 00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:30.920 to more religious information. But to lead you 00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:36.960 to a person. We begin to recognize His voice 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:41.920 when we're developing a relationship with the 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:47.579 shepherd. It'll help us to Recognize His voice 00:30:47.579 --> 00:30:52.700 when we begin to know who He is. And the greater 00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:55.839 our relationship is with Him, the more intimate 00:30:55.839 --> 00:31:00.440 our relationship is with Him, the more revelation 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:05.099 we're going to receive. Because it's coming through 00:31:05.099 --> 00:31:14.500 relationship, not through information only. There 00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:19.099 is information. But the information makes a huge 00:31:19.099 --> 00:31:22.240 difference when it's wrapped in relationship 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:31.900 and not just intellectual knowledge. Christianity 00:31:31.900 --> 00:31:35.579 isn't primarily knowing more information about 00:31:35.579 --> 00:31:42.140 God. It's knowing God. Knowing God. And when 00:31:42.140 --> 00:31:49.930 we open up our Bibles, When we open them up every 00:31:49.930 --> 00:31:56.829 day, when we open them up every day, I'm just 00:31:56.829 --> 00:32:00.569 waiting on you to get it. When we open our Bibles, 00:32:00.630 --> 00:32:05.089 one of the things we need to ask the Holy Spirit 00:32:05.089 --> 00:32:12.990 is, help me. God, you are the author. And I want 00:32:12.990 --> 00:32:16.269 to know the author. And I want to know what the 00:32:16.269 --> 00:32:27.019 author, What does this reveal to me about who 00:32:27.019 --> 00:32:31.259 you are? God, show me who you are today. When 00:32:31.259 --> 00:32:33.619 I read my Bible, show me something about you 00:32:33.619 --> 00:32:37.000 that I haven't recognized or I have recognized, 00:32:37.140 --> 00:32:41.180 but it's not on the front burner anymore. Help 00:32:41.180 --> 00:32:47.519 me to see who you are as I read. Help me to know 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:54.079 you, your character, your nature, your faithfulness, 00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:57.680 your goodness, your priorities. God, help me 00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:03.900 to see you and know you as I read this scripture. 00:33:06.460 --> 00:33:11.319 This is another familiar story. Matthew 16. We 00:33:11.319 --> 00:33:14.359 read this every message of a series that we did 00:33:14.359 --> 00:33:19.210 recently. Matthew 16, verse 13 through 17. In 00:33:19.210 --> 00:33:21.829 our door series, this was one of the main ones. 00:33:22.089 --> 00:33:25.069 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, 00:33:25.170 --> 00:33:28.569 he asked his disciples, who do people say that 00:33:28.569 --> 00:33:33.390 the Son of Man is? Now these are people, these 00:33:33.390 --> 00:33:36.430 are religious people. He's just asking, what's 00:33:36.430 --> 00:33:39.029 everybody saying about me? Jesus asked his disciples. 00:33:40.549 --> 00:33:43.430 Well, through human reasoning. Everybody say 00:33:43.430 --> 00:33:47.519 human reasoning. Through human reasoning of the 00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:52.339 prophecies. Well, they replied, some say John 00:33:52.339 --> 00:33:59.099 the Baptist. Some say Elijah. Others say Jeremiah 00:33:59.099 --> 00:34:04.180 or one of the other prophets. Everybody say human 00:34:04.180 --> 00:34:10.519 reason. Human reason. They were taking the word 00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:12.280 of God and what they had heard about the word 00:34:12.280 --> 00:34:15.400 of God. They were taking it. and coming to a 00:34:15.400 --> 00:34:20.639 conclusion based on human reasoning and intellect. 00:34:23.900 --> 00:34:26.460 But then Jesus asked him, but who do you say 00:34:26.460 --> 00:34:31.519 I am? Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:40.739 the Son of the living God. Jesus replied, you're 00:34:40.739 --> 00:34:44.559 blessed, Simon, son of John. Because my Father 00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:47.539 in heaven has revealed. Everybody say revealed. 00:34:47.820 --> 00:34:51.280 Everybody say revelation. Because my Father in 00:34:51.280 --> 00:34:56.179 heaven has revealed this to you. You did not 00:34:56.179 --> 00:35:05.019 learn this from any human being. This is not 00:35:05.019 --> 00:35:09.579 human intellect and reasoning. This is revelation. 00:35:09.860 --> 00:35:12.880 Everybody say revelation. Revelation of who? 00:35:13.960 --> 00:35:21.739 Jesus is. So we need to know who God is. And 00:35:21.739 --> 00:35:25.239 we can know who God is through the revelation 00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:33.039 of the Word of God. It's important. Then we need 00:35:33.039 --> 00:35:37.579 revelation of what God has said. Or we could 00:35:37.579 --> 00:35:42.719 put it this way. The real interpretation of Scripture. 00:35:44.139 --> 00:35:49.519 What God is saying. What God has said. And the 00:35:49.519 --> 00:35:53.480 more clearly we see who God is, the easier it 00:35:53.480 --> 00:36:00.239 becomes to recognize Him speaking. Because if 00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:04.219 you don't know who God is, you can come up with 00:36:04.219 --> 00:36:08.000 some weird interpretations if you don't know 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:15.440 who God is. Here's what Jesus said in John 14, 00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:19.960 26. But when the Father sends the advocate as 00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:24.179 my representative, just in case you don't know 00:36:24.179 --> 00:36:26.719 who the advocate, his representative is, he said, 00:36:26.760 --> 00:36:32.880 that is the Holy Spirit. What did Jesus say he 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:35.679 was going to do? He will teach you everything. 00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:42.099 Everybody say, he's our teacher. And will remind 00:36:42.099 --> 00:36:47.920 you of everything I have told you. He will teach 00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:53.820 you and remind you. John 16 verse 13 says this. 00:36:54.940 --> 00:36:58.199 Jesus said, when the spirit of truth, everybody 00:36:58.199 --> 00:37:00.719 say the Holy Spirit. When the spirit of truth 00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:10.150 comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will 00:37:10.150 --> 00:37:16.829 guide you in all truth. So when, at the moment 00:37:16.829 --> 00:37:19.630 we are born again, the Holy Spirit moves on the 00:37:19.630 --> 00:37:22.590 inside of us and takes up residence on the inside 00:37:22.590 --> 00:37:27.289 of us, He is in us, He is with us. And when we 00:37:27.289 --> 00:37:29.369 acknowledge Him, especially when we're reading 00:37:29.369 --> 00:37:34.170 Scripture, He's going to be our teacher. He's 00:37:34.170 --> 00:37:39.639 going to be our reminder. Has anyone... Has anyone 00:37:39.639 --> 00:37:41.679 been in a situation where you were talking to 00:37:41.679 --> 00:37:45.039 someone and all of a sudden a Bible verse pops 00:37:45.039 --> 00:37:50.239 in your head that has to do exactly with what's 00:37:50.239 --> 00:37:53.340 going on? You think that's just happening in 00:37:53.340 --> 00:37:57.460 your brain and in your intellect? No, you're 00:37:57.460 --> 00:38:02.719 hearing the Holy Spirit. He's reminding you of 00:38:02.719 --> 00:38:08.070 this verse so that you can speak this verse In 00:38:08.070 --> 00:38:10.590 your situation or to the person that you're talking 00:38:10.590 --> 00:38:16.150 with. He's reminding you. He's teaching you. 00:38:16.849 --> 00:38:24.929 He's guiding you into all truth. We've got to 00:38:24.929 --> 00:38:29.610 read our Bibles while we're listening to the 00:38:29.610 --> 00:38:32.389 voice of the author. We've got to be conscious 00:38:32.389 --> 00:38:36.860 of that. Because we want to know. Because here's 00:38:36.860 --> 00:38:39.280 the problem. If we depend solely on human intellect 00:38:39.280 --> 00:38:43.119 and reasoning, we can read the same words and 00:38:43.119 --> 00:38:49.239 arrive at a very different conclusion. We all... 00:38:49.239 --> 00:38:52.000 Look at the person beside you and say, all of 00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:57.900 us. We all need the Holy Spirit to light our 00:38:57.900 --> 00:39:05.610 candle for God's Word to burn. in our hearts. 00:39:05.630 --> 00:39:09.670 We need the Holy Spirit to illuminate the truth 00:39:09.670 --> 00:39:17.869 that He inspired. Now, has anyone ever received 00:39:17.869 --> 00:39:24.650 an email or a text before? Everybody? Are we 00:39:24.650 --> 00:39:26.550 good? Do you know what an email and a text is? 00:39:26.929 --> 00:39:33.230 Okay, great. Have you ever received an email 00:39:34.599 --> 00:39:41.119 And when you read it, you said, I wonder what 00:39:41.119 --> 00:39:45.780 they meant by that. I wonder what they meant 00:39:45.780 --> 00:39:52.260 by that. I wonder if they were being ugly. I 00:39:52.260 --> 00:39:56.960 wonder if they were being ignorant. I wonder 00:39:56.960 --> 00:40:03.989 if they really meant the way they said it. I 00:40:03.989 --> 00:40:07.969 wonder what their intention was. Was their intention 00:40:07.969 --> 00:40:10.690 to help me or to hurt me? Was their intention 00:40:10.690 --> 00:40:20.250 to condemn me? We don't know, do we? Because 00:40:20.250 --> 00:40:22.150 all we have is some words written in an email. 00:40:23.170 --> 00:40:28.349 Same thing with a text. I wonder what their ulterior 00:40:28.349 --> 00:40:34.480 motive is in this text. Are they trying to put 00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:40.920 pressure on me? Or do they really love me? Hello? 00:40:42.019 --> 00:40:53.920 Come on. We don't know. We don't know. Unless 00:40:53.920 --> 00:40:59.579 we talk with the person and understand why they 00:40:59.579 --> 00:41:03.460 wrote what they wrote. I mean, it's not every 00:41:03.460 --> 00:41:05.699 email. I mean, some of them are so straightforward, 00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:08.039 you don't try to read in stuff, but sometimes 00:41:08.039 --> 00:41:15.500 you, you know, are we okay or are we not? It's 00:41:15.500 --> 00:41:22.639 just open to interpretation. Right? Unless we 00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:27.760 really know the person, it's open to interpretation. 00:41:30.539 --> 00:41:35.440 Same way with the Bible. Who knows what the author 00:41:35.440 --> 00:41:42.159 intended to say better than the author? And he 00:41:42.159 --> 00:41:49.579 invites us to allow him to be part of the interpretation. 00:41:52.699 --> 00:41:58.360 1 Corinthians 2, verses 12 through 14. We have 00:41:58.360 --> 00:42:04.179 received God's Spirit. Hallelujah. Not the world's 00:42:04.179 --> 00:42:08.900 spirit. Listen, we have received God's spirit 00:42:08.900 --> 00:42:15.119 so we can know the wonderful things God has freely 00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:18.480 given us. Because we're not going to know them 00:42:18.480 --> 00:42:23.159 without Him. We received His spirit so that we 00:42:23.159 --> 00:42:29.960 can know the wonderful things. Verse 13. Paul 00:42:29.960 --> 00:42:31.800 is saying, he's speaking to the Corinthians, 00:42:31.940 --> 00:42:36.829 he's saying, When we tell you these things, we 00:42:36.829 --> 00:42:39.650 do not use words that come from human wisdom. 00:42:41.769 --> 00:42:44.730 Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He had more 00:42:44.730 --> 00:42:51.570 religious intellect than probably anybody in 00:42:51.570 --> 00:42:58.510 the whole area. He had been trained by the best, 00:42:58.510 --> 00:43:03.449 and he was the best student. But he's talking 00:43:03.449 --> 00:43:06.110 to the Corinthians and he's saying, when I tell 00:43:06.110 --> 00:43:08.670 you these things, I'm not using words that come 00:43:08.670 --> 00:43:15.989 from my human intellect. Instead, I am speaking 00:43:15.989 --> 00:43:22.309 words given to me by the Spirit. And I'm using 00:43:22.309 --> 00:43:26.750 the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. 00:43:28.210 --> 00:43:31.710 The Spirit's words explaining spiritual truths. 00:43:35.079 --> 00:43:40.400 But people who aren't spiritual can't receive 00:43:40.400 --> 00:43:46.099 these truths from God's Spirit. If you're just 00:43:46.099 --> 00:43:48.380 trying to do it in your own reasoning and intellect, 00:43:48.519 --> 00:43:54.559 you're not going to get it. It all sounds foolish 00:43:54.559 --> 00:43:58.780 to them. They can't understand. For only those, 00:43:58.920 --> 00:44:01.659 everybody say only those, for only those who 00:44:01.659 --> 00:44:06.719 are spiritual can understand what the Spirit 00:44:06.719 --> 00:44:19.039 is saying, what He means. So we need Him. The 00:44:19.039 --> 00:44:21.699 next revelation that we need to see when we're 00:44:21.699 --> 00:44:24.099 looking in the Word that God is wanting to give 00:44:24.099 --> 00:44:28.139 us as He speaks through His Word, we need to 00:44:28.139 --> 00:44:31.480 have revelation of the ways of God, God's ways. 00:44:33.019 --> 00:44:40.920 God's ways. God's ways. We could put it this 00:44:40.920 --> 00:44:44.579 way. God's heart behind what He's doing. God's 00:44:44.579 --> 00:44:49.420 motive behind what He's doing. We need to understand 00:44:49.420 --> 00:44:55.179 that. Psalm 103 verse 7 gives us some very interesting 00:44:55.179 --> 00:45:01.539 information. God made known His ways to Moses. 00:45:04.559 --> 00:45:12.639 His acts to the children of Israel. I'll read 00:45:12.639 --> 00:45:17.980 that again. God made known His ways to Moses, 00:45:18.139 --> 00:45:27.039 His acts to the children of Israel. The children 00:45:27.039 --> 00:45:40.800 of Israel knew what God did. They start saying, 00:45:40.880 --> 00:45:51.199 baby, come back. Okay, I'm not listening right 00:45:51.199 --> 00:45:55.239 now. I'm looking somewhere. Hallelujah. Aren't 00:45:55.239 --> 00:45:56.840 you glad that I just don't preach to the back 00:45:56.840 --> 00:46:01.059 wall and I actually look at you? Maybe you want 00:46:01.059 --> 00:46:02.940 me to look at the back wall and not look at you. 00:46:06.739 --> 00:46:14.219 Israel knew what God did. But Moses learned how 00:46:14.219 --> 00:46:22.880 God worked. Moses learned who God was and his 00:46:22.880 --> 00:46:26.900 heart and his motivation, the things that he 00:46:26.900 --> 00:46:31.239 was driven by. Everybody said love. That's the 00:46:31.239 --> 00:46:35.099 most important thing. I mean, that's his character. 00:46:35.179 --> 00:46:43.889 The Bible says God is love. God is good. He may 00:46:43.889 --> 00:46:46.929 do some other things, but He is love and He is 00:46:46.929 --> 00:46:55.070 good. Moses learned how He worked. Everything 00:46:55.070 --> 00:47:03.110 he did, everything he said was out of love. Everything 00:47:03.110 --> 00:47:08.829 he said, everything he did was good. Israel knew 00:47:08.829 --> 00:47:10.730 what He did. I mean, they knew about the water 00:47:10.730 --> 00:47:12.730 coming from the rock. They knew about the manna 00:47:12.730 --> 00:47:14.269 that was out on the ground. They knew about the 00:47:14.269 --> 00:47:17.769 quail that flew in. The quail that flew in. They 00:47:17.769 --> 00:47:23.150 knew about that. They knew what He did. But they 00:47:23.150 --> 00:47:29.590 didn't know Him. They didn't know His ways. Let 00:47:29.590 --> 00:47:32.230 this sink in. God not only wants to show you 00:47:32.230 --> 00:47:36.670 what He can do, He wants to teach you His ways. 00:47:42.250 --> 00:47:48.269 And reading the Word, Scripture, that's the primary 00:47:48.269 --> 00:47:52.650 source of where we discover the patterns of God's 00:47:52.650 --> 00:48:01.650 ways. Where we can see Him working. And when 00:48:01.650 --> 00:48:04.929 we repeatedly see God's faithfulness in Scripture, 00:48:05.070 --> 00:48:08.809 God is faithful. When we see His faithfulness 00:48:08.809 --> 00:48:11.630 again and again and again and His love again 00:48:11.630 --> 00:48:14.909 and again and again, His goodness again and again 00:48:14.909 --> 00:48:18.889 and again, we'll start seeing His faithfulness 00:48:18.889 --> 00:48:23.989 and love and goodness in our own lives. It'll 00:48:23.989 --> 00:48:28.429 become more real to us. We can become more confident 00:48:28.429 --> 00:48:36.460 in it, more established in it. We can move from 00:48:36.460 --> 00:48:38.840 the point of saying, well, I wonder if God loves 00:48:38.840 --> 00:48:42.000 me or I wonder if God is good or I wonder if 00:48:42.000 --> 00:48:46.340 God is faithful. We can move beyond that to say, 00:48:46.380 --> 00:48:51.360 I know He's good. I know He is loved. I know 00:48:51.360 --> 00:48:54.780 He is faithful. And there's nothing that happens 00:48:54.780 --> 00:48:57.579 in this world that's going to keep me from knowing 00:48:57.579 --> 00:49:01.079 that. I don't care what I see because I know 00:49:01.079 --> 00:49:07.900 something. I know the ways of God. I know it. 00:49:07.980 --> 00:49:16.360 I know Him. I know it. When you understand His 00:49:16.360 --> 00:49:22.340 ways, this is important, if you know His ways, 00:49:22.420 --> 00:49:25.380 you'll become less likely to attribute things 00:49:25.380 --> 00:49:35.130 to God that contradict His character. When you 00:49:35.130 --> 00:49:39.829 understand God's ways, you'll become less likely 00:49:39.829 --> 00:49:44.190 to attribute things to God that contradict His 00:49:44.190 --> 00:49:49.989 character. Obviously, the insurance companies 00:49:49.989 --> 00:49:56.750 do not know the ways of God. They have no concept 00:49:56.750 --> 00:50:03.650 or understanding of the ways of God. You know 00:50:03.650 --> 00:50:10.179 why? Because they try to exclude all the disaster 00:50:10.179 --> 00:50:14.880 and pain and suffering out of the policy. You 00:50:14.880 --> 00:50:18.440 know, we're not covering acts of God. Well, it's 00:50:18.440 --> 00:50:25.719 not an act of God. Jesus said, I came to give 00:50:25.719 --> 00:50:27.460 you life and to give it to you more abundantly. 00:50:28.480 --> 00:50:30.920 But He says there's a thief, there's an enemy 00:50:30.920 --> 00:50:35.769 who came to steal and to kill and destroy. And 00:50:35.769 --> 00:50:38.750 listen, when you know who God is and you understand 00:50:38.750 --> 00:50:42.389 His ways, if something has to do with sickness, 00:50:42.570 --> 00:50:47.489 pain, death, disease, you know, killing, disaster, 00:50:47.929 --> 00:50:52.570 when you know His ways, you can say, that's not 00:50:52.570 --> 00:50:58.389 God. How many people in this room have attributed 00:50:58.389 --> 00:51:03.809 something to God that wasn't God? Once you came 00:51:03.809 --> 00:51:07.050 to know Him a little bit more, you say, well, 00:51:07.130 --> 00:51:15.349 I can't believe God's doing this to me. And then 00:51:15.349 --> 00:51:19.110 when you grow a little bit, you say, that wasn't 00:51:19.110 --> 00:51:23.750 God doing that to me. I shouldn't have attributed 00:51:23.750 --> 00:51:28.690 this situation to God because that's not who 00:51:28.690 --> 00:51:38.510 God is. Here's another one. Through the Word 00:51:38.510 --> 00:51:40.550 of God, we're going to find revelation of what 00:51:40.550 --> 00:51:47.650 God wants. Do you know what God wants? Do you 00:51:47.650 --> 00:51:50.869 have a revelation of what He wants? Well, Caitlin, 00:51:51.130 --> 00:51:52.809 you know, hopefully we're going to have a baby 00:51:52.809 --> 00:51:56.690 today or tomorrow. But I know what she wants. 00:51:57.869 --> 00:52:02.710 When she gets home from having Elisha, I have 00:52:02.710 --> 00:52:08.510 made a solemn oath and a solemn promise to give 00:52:08.510 --> 00:52:12.190 her what she wants as soon as she walks in the 00:52:12.190 --> 00:52:16.469 house. Because she has been craving this her 00:52:16.469 --> 00:52:18.610 whole pregnancy and Jeffrey won't let her have 00:52:18.610 --> 00:52:23.550 it. Because of cold cut meats, there can be listeria 00:52:23.550 --> 00:52:27.190 and that can hurt the baby. And they found that 00:52:27.190 --> 00:52:29.789 out. Hey, we ate a bunch of cold cut meats when 00:52:29.789 --> 00:52:33.590 Jeffrey was... In the oven, but we didn't know 00:52:33.590 --> 00:52:38.949 any better. But he came out okay. But I know 00:52:38.949 --> 00:52:42.269 what Kayla wants. And they just opened. Hey, 00:52:42.369 --> 00:52:45.090 it even hurts worse because they put a brand 00:52:45.090 --> 00:52:49.250 new Jersey Mike's right across the road from 00:52:49.250 --> 00:52:51.369 their housing development. They live in Greater 00:52:51.369 --> 00:52:53.489 Groves and there's a brand new Jersey Mike's. 00:52:53.510 --> 00:52:56.630 There's signs all over the place. She keeps getting... 00:52:57.019 --> 00:52:59.400 Getting a Facebook message saying, we're now 00:52:59.400 --> 00:53:08.239 open. What do you want? As soon as she walks 00:53:08.239 --> 00:53:10.619 in the door with Elisha, she's going to get a 00:53:10.619 --> 00:53:15.360 Jersey Mike's ham and provolone sub. Mike's way 00:53:15.360 --> 00:53:18.679 with extra pickles and mayonnaise with a cup 00:53:18.679 --> 00:53:21.360 of pickles on the side. Because that's what she's 00:53:21.360 --> 00:53:24.320 been wanting for months and months and months. 00:53:26.670 --> 00:53:31.050 She told me what she wanted, and I'm determined 00:53:31.050 --> 00:53:37.809 to give her what she wants. Now, don't remember 00:53:37.809 --> 00:53:43.130 the illustration. Remember the application. The 00:53:43.130 --> 00:53:49.849 Word of God tells us what God wants. Tells us 00:53:49.849 --> 00:53:52.389 what God wants. We can find out what He wants 00:53:52.389 --> 00:54:02.500 in His Word. How determined are we to say, I'm 00:54:02.500 --> 00:54:07.619 going to give to God what God wants. I'm going 00:54:07.619 --> 00:54:15.500 to give to God what God wants. God don't want 00:54:15.500 --> 00:54:17.079 you to go to Jersey Mike and get him a soap. 00:54:20.259 --> 00:54:23.219 Ephesians 5 .17 says this, Therefore, listen, 00:54:23.360 --> 00:54:29.400 do not be unwise, but understand what the will 00:54:29.400 --> 00:54:33.860 of the Lord is. When we don't know God's will, 00:54:33.960 --> 00:54:39.099 it's saying that we're unwise. Because He gives 00:54:39.099 --> 00:54:44.119 us His will in His Word. And when we read His 00:54:44.119 --> 00:54:47.099 Word connected up with the Holy Spirit, telling 00:54:47.099 --> 00:54:49.360 us and showing us, He's going to show us what 00:54:49.360 --> 00:54:57.079 God wants. We can know what God wants. Scripture 00:54:57.079 --> 00:55:01.559 clearly reveals God's will concerning some very 00:55:01.559 --> 00:55:04.699 important things. It's always, everybody say 00:55:04.699 --> 00:55:08.639 always, it's always God's will to walk in love. 00:55:12.039 --> 00:55:15.480 You never have to go to God and say, God, how 00:55:15.480 --> 00:55:19.300 do you want me to respond to this person? Because 00:55:19.300 --> 00:55:24.059 you already know His will. He's already told 00:55:24.059 --> 00:55:29.320 you. Come on. We're all happy about the sub, 00:55:29.500 --> 00:55:31.559 but now we're just like closing down a little 00:55:31.559 --> 00:55:35.079 bit. We're always supposed to walk in love. We're 00:55:35.079 --> 00:55:37.820 always supposed to forgive. We don't have to 00:55:37.820 --> 00:55:39.559 go to God and say, God, this person did this 00:55:39.559 --> 00:55:41.519 to me, this to me. What do you want me to do? 00:55:41.619 --> 00:55:47.239 Do you want me to hit them over the head? No, 00:55:47.260 --> 00:55:56.099 God wants you to forgive. Well, I'm just going 00:55:56.099 --> 00:55:59.400 to read the list instead of trying to halfway 00:55:59.400 --> 00:56:03.260 preach every word here. It's always God's will 00:56:03.260 --> 00:56:07.659 for you to serve. Serve others. Serve His kingdom. 00:56:08.260 --> 00:56:13.670 It's always God's will for you to pray. It's 00:56:13.670 --> 00:56:16.090 always, always, always God's will for you to 00:56:16.090 --> 00:56:19.670 be thankful. Well, it just happened to me. I 00:56:19.670 --> 00:56:21.949 have no reason to be thankful about it. Always 00:56:21.949 --> 00:56:28.750 be thankful to God. Not always for what happened 00:56:28.750 --> 00:56:33.110 to you, but in what happened to you. It's God's 00:56:33.110 --> 00:56:36.570 will for you to be thankful. It's God's will 00:56:36.570 --> 00:56:41.250 for you to live generously. You don't have to 00:56:41.250 --> 00:56:45.750 ask Him. It's God's will to honor other people. 00:56:46.849 --> 00:56:49.349 Not to dishonor people, but to honor people. 00:56:49.590 --> 00:56:54.190 Always God's will. It's always God's will to 00:56:54.190 --> 00:57:02.530 control your words. Think about it. To speak 00:57:02.530 --> 00:57:06.730 in agreement with what He said about the situation 00:57:06.730 --> 00:57:09.829 that you're going through. It's always God's 00:57:09.829 --> 00:57:13.949 will for you to control your words. It's always 00:57:13.949 --> 00:57:18.989 God's will for you not to worry. He straight 00:57:18.989 --> 00:57:26.389 up calls it sin. It's always God's will for you 00:57:26.389 --> 00:57:29.510 not to worry. It's always God's will for you 00:57:29.510 --> 00:57:35.210 to seek first His kingdom. Seek Him first above 00:57:35.210 --> 00:57:41.389 the things of this world. Always God's will to 00:57:41.389 --> 00:57:44.860 seek His kingdom. So you don't have to ask Him 00:57:44.860 --> 00:57:47.920 about those things. Because He's already made 00:57:47.920 --> 00:57:51.980 it very clear. Listen, don't ask God for a new 00:57:51.980 --> 00:57:54.340 word when He's already given you a clear word. 00:57:54.519 --> 00:57:57.300 If He's given you a clear word in that situation 00:57:57.300 --> 00:57:59.420 that you're in, you don't go to Him and say, 00:57:59.480 --> 00:58:05.840 God, I need a new word. My word's the same. Forgive. 00:58:08.400 --> 00:58:12.699 My word's the same. Honor. My words are the same. 00:58:13.800 --> 00:58:18.019 Be careful what you speak. Careful what you speak. 00:58:19.519 --> 00:58:23.559 My words are the same. But we always want Him 00:58:23.559 --> 00:58:30.199 to give us a new word. Hello? When He's already 00:58:30.199 --> 00:58:32.860 given us a clear word about what we're in right 00:58:32.860 --> 00:58:42.599 now. Everybody say, last one. Last one. We probably 00:58:42.599 --> 00:58:44.539 should have preached a whole series just on this 00:58:44.539 --> 00:58:48.659 one message. But when we look into the word of 00:58:48.659 --> 00:58:51.340 God, we need to be looking for a revelation of 00:58:51.340 --> 00:58:57.940 the now application. Everybody say now. Because 00:58:57.940 --> 00:59:02.880 we see application, but if it's a living word, 00:59:03.099 --> 00:59:10.300 we need to see a now application. Again, not 00:59:10.300 --> 00:59:14.139 just reading for information. We need to be asking 00:59:14.139 --> 00:59:18.420 God, how do I apply this to my life? How do I 00:59:18.420 --> 00:59:21.440 become a doer of your word? Not just hear it 00:59:21.440 --> 00:59:24.019 today, but how do I become a doer? And how does 00:59:24.019 --> 00:59:30.320 this apply to my life today? What's the now application? 00:59:32.500 --> 00:59:35.880 Acts 8, verses 26 through 35. As for Philip, 00:59:36.969 --> 00:59:40.130 An angel of the Lord said, we're not talking 00:59:40.130 --> 00:59:43.909 about angels, right? Everybody say angel. As 00:59:43.909 --> 00:59:46.349 for Philip, an angel of the Lord said, go south 00:59:46.349 --> 00:59:49.309 down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem 00:59:49.309 --> 00:59:56.070 to Gaza. So he started out and he met the treasurer 00:59:56.070 --> 01:00:01.530 of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under 01:00:01.530 --> 01:00:08.929 the candake, the queen. Of Ethiopia. The eunuch 01:00:08.929 --> 01:00:13.150 had gone to Jerusalem to worship. And he was 01:00:13.150 --> 01:00:16.929 now returning, seated in his carriage. He was 01:00:16.929 --> 01:00:19.989 reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 01:00:20.369 --> 01:00:23.570 Everybody say Isaiah. It's very rare during this 01:00:23.570 --> 01:00:28.010 time for a person to have just one of the Old 01:00:28.010 --> 01:00:34.010 Testament books in written form. I mean, you're 01:00:34.010 --> 01:00:40.530 talking... handmade paper, beat out reeds and 01:00:40.530 --> 01:00:42.909 woven together, and you're writing on it, and 01:00:42.909 --> 01:00:45.269 it's all handwritten. There's no printing press. 01:00:48.070 --> 01:00:53.769 It's a very big deal. He has gone to Jerusalem, 01:00:53.809 --> 01:00:57.690 most likely bought this scroll of Isaiah, and 01:00:57.690 --> 01:01:02.590 he's taking it back to Africa with him. And he's 01:01:02.590 --> 01:01:05.869 reading it. He was now returning, seated in the 01:01:05.869 --> 01:01:07.909 carriage. He was reading aloud from the book 01:01:07.909 --> 01:01:14.309 of Isaiah. And now, listen, we've already had 01:01:14.309 --> 01:01:16.630 an angel speak to Philip. Now we have the Holy 01:01:16.630 --> 01:01:20.590 Spirit speaking to Philip. Everybody say, voice 01:01:20.590 --> 01:01:25.809 of God. Go over and walk along beside the carriage. 01:01:29.889 --> 01:01:35.260 Philip ran over. And heard the man reading from 01:01:35.260 --> 01:01:41.119 the prophet Isaiah. And Philip asked him, do 01:01:41.119 --> 01:01:45.940 you understand what you're reading? Do you understand? 01:01:47.460 --> 01:01:50.460 And listen to what the man said. The man replied, 01:01:50.820 --> 01:01:56.320 how can I? Unless someone instructs me. I mean, 01:01:56.320 --> 01:02:00.860 he could read. He had a brain. He was very smart. 01:02:00.960 --> 01:02:04.940 He was the treasurer of Ethiopia, the whole nation. 01:02:05.559 --> 01:02:10.659 Very smart man. Very respected man. Very educated 01:02:10.659 --> 01:02:17.960 man. And he says, how can I understand it without 01:02:17.960 --> 01:02:21.099 somebody teaching me, without somebody instructing 01:02:21.099 --> 01:02:22.940 me, without somebody guiding me and helping me? 01:02:22.980 --> 01:02:28.329 How can I understand? And he urged Philip. to 01:02:28.329 --> 01:02:33.010 come up in the carriage and sit with him. The 01:02:33.010 --> 01:02:35.449 passage of Scripture he had been reading was 01:02:35.449 --> 01:02:40.929 this. This is a God moment, people. He was led 01:02:40.929 --> 01:02:45.750 like a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb is silent 01:02:45.750 --> 01:02:50.010 before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 01:02:51.329 --> 01:02:57.599 He was humiliated and received no justice. Who 01:02:57.599 --> 01:03:02.000 can speak of his descendants? For his life was 01:03:02.000 --> 01:03:07.460 taken from the earth. And the eunuch looked at 01:03:07.460 --> 01:03:12.659 Philip and he said, tell me, what's this talking 01:03:12.659 --> 01:03:17.119 about? Tell me, was the prophet talking about 01:03:17.119 --> 01:03:20.380 himself? Is Isaiah talking about himself? Or 01:03:20.380 --> 01:03:26.940 is he talking about somebody else? I believe 01:03:26.940 --> 01:03:28.780 Philip got the biggest grin he could possibly 01:03:28.780 --> 01:03:31.659 get on his face right there. I'm glad you asked, 01:03:31.739 --> 01:03:36.260 buddy. Let me tell you about it. So beginning 01:03:36.260 --> 01:03:39.519 with that same scripture, Philip told him the 01:03:39.519 --> 01:03:42.440 good news about Jesus. Hey, this is talking about 01:03:42.440 --> 01:03:45.559 the Messiah. And guess what? He just came. I 01:03:45.559 --> 01:03:48.639 met him. I heard him teach. And then he was. 01:03:48.969 --> 01:03:52.110 He was crucified and he rose again from the grave 01:03:52.110 --> 01:03:56.070 and he saw over 400 people saw him after he rose 01:03:56.070 --> 01:03:58.550 from the grave. Let me tell you about who Isaiah 01:03:58.550 --> 01:04:01.750 is talking about because I know him and you need 01:04:01.750 --> 01:04:07.329 to know him too. You can know him. Philip told 01:04:07.329 --> 01:04:11.210 him the good news about Jesus. Listen, the Ethiopian 01:04:11.210 --> 01:04:14.170 was reading scripture. He had the text. He has 01:04:14.170 --> 01:04:22.039 the information. The words are on the page. But 01:04:22.039 --> 01:04:28.179 it took a helper, a guide, a teacher for those 01:04:28.179 --> 01:04:34.099 words to become personal revelation to him concerning 01:04:34.099 --> 01:04:42.280 who Jesus is. See, revelation doesn't necessarily 01:04:42.280 --> 01:04:44.420 mean God is saying something He's never said 01:04:44.420 --> 01:04:49.860 before. Revelation can be the Holy Spirit showing 01:04:49.860 --> 01:04:54.670 you How what God has already said applies to 01:04:54.670 --> 01:04:59.369 you right now. And that's what Philip did in 01:04:59.369 --> 01:05:04.469 the carriage. What was written had been said, 01:05:04.570 --> 01:05:07.769 been written, been said, hundreds and hundreds 01:05:07.769 --> 01:05:13.650 and hundreds of years. But the now application, 01:05:14.030 --> 01:05:17.710 everybody say now application. The now application 01:05:17.710 --> 01:05:26.550 took a helper, a guide, a teacher. Does anybody 01:05:26.550 --> 01:05:30.409 know from the verses that we read today who the 01:05:30.409 --> 01:05:35.469 helper is? Huh? Say it out loud, please. Holy 01:05:35.469 --> 01:05:39.510 Spirit. Who's our teacher? Who's going to show 01:05:39.510 --> 01:05:48.010 us? Who's going to guide us? Yeah. So why do 01:05:48.010 --> 01:05:49.670 we think we can read our Bibles without Him? 01:05:52.050 --> 01:05:54.110 We'll be just like this guy in the carriage, 01:05:54.170 --> 01:05:56.840 just... In our own intellect and reasoning, that's 01:05:56.840 --> 01:06:04.639 all we got. So, we need to ask ourselves these 01:06:04.639 --> 01:06:06.519 questions. Take a picture of it if you have to, 01:06:06.599 --> 01:06:10.760 but when you're reading your Bible, we need to 01:06:10.760 --> 01:06:13.400 ask the Holy Spirit these questions. Ask God 01:06:13.400 --> 01:06:19.679 these questions. Holy Spirit, help me, lead me, 01:06:19.760 --> 01:06:25.449 guide me. Guide me into all truth. Take what 01:06:25.449 --> 01:06:28.150 the Word says and make it become alive, a living 01:06:28.150 --> 01:06:34.630 Word in me. Show me as I read. Show me what I 01:06:34.630 --> 01:06:37.789 need to see about who God is so I can know God. 01:06:38.070 --> 01:06:44.530 Show me what He is saying. I don't want to depend 01:06:44.530 --> 01:06:47.309 on my own understanding. I want to trust in you 01:06:47.309 --> 01:06:49.889 that you are going to reveal to me what you are 01:06:49.889 --> 01:06:56.650 saying. What does this say about your character, 01:06:56.690 --> 01:06:59.889 who you are? What does it say about your ways? 01:07:00.030 --> 01:07:04.610 What does it say about your will? For me, what 01:07:04.610 --> 01:07:08.349 do you want? I know you don't want a Jersey Mike's, 01:07:08.349 --> 01:07:11.730 but what do you want? Because I want to give 01:07:11.730 --> 01:07:16.389 you what you want. Holy Spirit, what are you 01:07:16.389 --> 01:07:18.590 showing me right now? Is there anything in this 01:07:18.590 --> 01:07:21.170 text that I read today, is there anything that 01:07:21.170 --> 01:07:24.179 you're showing me right now? That I need to apply 01:07:24.179 --> 01:07:28.880 to my life. That I need to become a doer of. 01:07:28.980 --> 01:07:35.960 Not just a hearer of, but a doer of. You want 01:07:35.960 --> 01:07:39.519 to hear God? Do you really want to hear God? 01:07:41.360 --> 01:07:47.000 This will help you. It'll help you. Or you can 01:07:47.000 --> 01:07:49.280 just keep speed reading until you get to whatever 01:07:49.280 --> 01:07:51.679 it is that's more important to you today. It's 01:07:51.679 --> 01:07:57.539 up to you. We need to hear it, yeah. Because 01:07:57.539 --> 01:08:02.079 you can own a Bible. You can read a Bible and 01:08:02.079 --> 01:08:06.380 never hear the author. You can read chapters, 01:08:06.539 --> 01:08:11.119 a chapter a day, you know, ten chapters a day. 01:08:11.559 --> 01:08:13.699 You can read chapter after chapter after chapter 01:08:13.699 --> 01:08:18.659 and still never receive revelation. I've done 01:08:18.659 --> 01:08:26.920 it. So I know what I'm telling you is true. But 01:08:26.920 --> 01:08:33.779 when we approach Scripture in relationship with 01:08:33.779 --> 01:08:38.600 the Holy Spirit who is in us, who communicates 01:08:38.600 --> 01:08:41.699 to us spirit to spirit like we've looked at in 01:08:41.699 --> 01:08:44.939 former weeks, when we're in relationship with 01:08:44.939 --> 01:08:48.199 Him, we're not just reading words on a page anymore. 01:08:48.640 --> 01:08:53.399 We're listening. We begin to see who God is. 01:08:54.079 --> 01:08:56.420 We begin to understand what He said. We begin 01:08:56.420 --> 01:08:59.100 to learn His ways. We begin to discover what 01:08:59.100 --> 01:09:02.000 He wants. We begin to recognize how His Word 01:09:02.000 --> 01:09:13.239 applies to my now moment. Help us, Jesus. So 01:09:13.239 --> 01:09:16.539 from now on, don't read the Bible just to finish 01:09:16.539 --> 01:09:21.560 the chapter. Read the Bible to hear the author. 01:09:22.920 --> 01:09:25.520 This online worship experience was brought to 01:09:25.520 --> 01:09:28.159 you by the friends and partners of Elation Church.