First Baptist Church of El Dorado - Sermons
Tune in each week as Pastor Taylor Geurin leads us into a study of God's Word.
First Baptist Church of El Dorado - Sermons
Slow Hearts to Burning Hearts: How Scripture Changes Everything
Dr. Robert Smith Jr. unpacks the Emmaus Road narrative from Luke 24, revealing how Jesus transforms disciples from discouragement to passionate witnesses through Scripture engagement.
• Moving from "slow hearts" to "burning hearts" happens through deeper Scripture engagement
• Jesus is present throughout the entire Bible, not just the New Testament
• True learning from Scripture should ignite passion and create yearning to share with others
• The purpose of Scripture is not just information but transformation
• God often reveals Himself gradually to create an appetite for more
• Sometimes Scripture that seems unpalatable at first is still profitable
• Understanding comes through struggle – Jesus could have revealed Himself immediately but chose the journey
• Our testimony should match Christ's teaching – He appears when we explain what He expounded
• We fight from victory, not for victory, because of Christ's resurrection
Most powerfully, Dr. Smith articulates three essential responses to Scripture: learning, burning, and yearning. Knowledge alone isn't enough – Scripture should ignite passion and create an urgent desire to share with others. "Learning and burning are not antithetical," he explains. "The more you learn, the more you ought to burn." When our explanation matches Christ's expounding, Jesus himself appears among us.
Ready to move from merely knowing about the Bible to truly experiencing its transformative power? Join us as we treasure God's Word and discover how Scripture can turn our slow hearts into burning hearts.
Good morning. I hope you're all doing well this morning. I want to welcome you to First Baptist Church For any I don't know. My name is Taylor Guerin. I'm the senior pastor here. I am thankful for this day. I'm thankful that, on a cloudy and extremely windy morning, that you've made your way here for a couple hours today that I think you will leave very thankful, very thankful that you came. I want to say a few things before I introduce Dr Smith, but number one is this I want to take a chance to thank Pastor Clark Whitney for just being so kind to share Dr Smith with us this weekend.
Speaker 1:Dr Smith is here to preach at Emanuel tomorrow morning and I'm looking forward to Emanuel. I know you had him a couple years back maybe just a year back, a couple years back and so he is back to preach at Emanuel To my church members. If you're not here because you slept in, we may have a problem. If you're not here because you're sneaking to a manual, I'm honestly not even going to be that upset with you. Maybe come back next week. I do want to see you again, but if you need to be there tomorrow, I won't be overly upset. We have an absolute privilege this morning to have Dr Robert Smith Jr with us in this pulpit, in this room.
Speaker 1:Dr Robert Smith Jr spent decades as the Charles T Carter chair of preaching Christian preaching at Beeson Divinity School. He was a professor there for many years. Before that was at Southern Seminary. Before that he was in pastoral ministry in the church. But even when he moved from the church to the academy he never left pastoral ministry. He has been in churches all over our country, all over the world preaching. Every student he has ever had knows very well that he is a pastor to students. He has been a pastor to me and to Katie.
Speaker 1:When I was at Beeson I remember you're there for three and a half years or so and everybody's waiting to get to year three. When you get to year three you get to walk up to the third floor into the preaching lab and you got to have Dr Robert Smith Jr and it was a privilege and it was a treat. It kept you on your toes. I remember he did something called fishbowl. What fishbowl was is there was a bowl he would have and there were 15 people in the class. He'd have 15 sheets of paper. On 13 of them they were completely blank. On one of them there was a scripture reference and on one of them there was a little fish drawn on there. If you got the blank, you were free. If you got the scripture reference, you stood up and you fish drawn on there. If you got the blank, you were free. If you got the scripture reference, you stood up and you read the scripture. And if you got the fish, you then stood up and you preached on that passage of scripture.
Speaker 1:Right then and there, in that moment, with Dr Robert Smith Jr watching you. It was terrifying, it was nerve wracking, but it made us, as scripture, scripture said, to be ready to preach the word in season and out of season. If, in this moment this morning, starts passing around a fishbowl, maybe just walk out of the room. You may. I don't know if you want to hang around or not, but Dr Smith has been a gift to me, to Katie, a gift to churches all over the world. He's going to be a gift to me, to Katie, a gift to churches all over the world. He's going to be a gift to us this morning, a gift to this community, to Emmanuel, tomorrow morning. His wife, dr Wanda, is just an incredible individual in her own right. They are a gift and we are beyond privileged to have them here. We were going to do a teaching session first and a preaching session second.
Speaker 1:Dr Smith said this morning that he just felt like the Lord said we're going to preach first and I'm thrilled so you don't have to wait any longer to hear Dr Smith preach, and so I would love to. As we think about what today is about treasuring the word, that's what we'll be thinking through over the next couple hours. I'd love to start with the scripture reading and just let us pray together for just a moment before Dr Smith comes to lead us. Now I'm going to be in Psalm 119, starting in verse 97, and I'll read through 112. And it says this as we think about the word of God oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day.
Speaker 1:Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the age, for I keep your precepts are my meditation. I understand more than the age, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts I get understanding. Therefore, I hate every false way.
Speaker 1:In verse 105, accept my freewill offerings of praise, o Lord, and teach me your rules. I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statues forever, to the end.
Speaker 1:Would you bow your heads with me and Lord Jesus? We do give you thanks for your word, lord, the God-breathed, god-inspired word that you have given to us. You are a God who speaks, who communicates, and you have given us the privilege of getting to learn about you through your word. Experience you through your word. Thank you that you have revealed yourself to us. I pray this morning that our hearts will be open, that our hearts will be ready to respond. I pray for Dr Smith, god, that you would use him greatly. Speak through him to us, lord, because we are ready to hear from you. We pray this now in Christ's name Amen Would you join me in welcoming Dr Robert Smith Jr.
Speaker 2:Thank you even now, lord Jesus, even now, even now, for I ask this in your name amen, god be praised, god be praised, god be praised, god be praised, god be praised. What a joy, what a joy on a Saturday morning to have a Sunday morning feeling and to be here with people that I'm meeting for the first time. And since that's the case, I thought it would be a good idea, since we we're going to spend eternity together, for us to get to know each other a little more. Thank you, dr Geary. I'm speaking anticipatorily, it's coming. And to Dr Clark Whitney, thank you for having me. And to these churches that are gathered together in this place, it's a real privilege to represent Christ. I want to commend First Baptist upon the selection of Dr Gearing. You put on the right glasses, you look through the eyes of the Lord. He and his wife, katie, are, in my opinion, two of the most beautiful jewels in God's pastoral ministry. I'm speaking about what is now and what is going to be. It's been wonderful watching you grow. Speaking about what is now and what is going to be, it's been wonderful watching you grow from a children's slash youth ministry to being a significant theologian of the word, bible teacher, lover of people, to watch Katie in her growth. She's not some kind of owner, but to make him look good. She knows exactly who she is. God has gifted her distinctly and she's using that gift. She understands that the ministry of caring for children is a high ministry. Being at home, well, I'm just no. She's not just anything. She's God's child and she's performing a great ministry, one that Jesus says if you offend one of these little ones, it's better for you not to be born. If you were born to have a millstone put around your neck. She understands her ministry. I'm proud of you. I feel about you as I feel about Pastor Whitney.
Speaker 2:As Paul and Bonas were contemplating going over plans for the upcoming missionary journey their second according to Acts, chapter 15, they thought about going back and visiting the brothers to see how they were doing. That's what this trip is about. God has allowed me to live to be able to see the witness, to see the hearings, to see how they are doing, and that's such a privilege. So thank you for letting me be here and I praise God for allowing me to be alive, to see you again and to meet brothers and sisters that I shall spend eternity with. I want to read Luke, chapter 24. And I want to focus on this teaching passage, this teaching paragraph Verses 13 through 36. Luke 24, 13 through 36. From tragedy to triumph, from tragedy to triumph. Hear these words from the word Now.
Speaker 2:That very day, two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. While they were talking and debating these things, jesus himself approached and began to accompany them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Then he said to them what are these matters you are discussing so intently as you walk along? And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Clopas, answered him Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days? He said to them what things? The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene. They replied A man who, with his powerful deeds and words, proved to be a prophet before God and all the people. They replied only this. But it is now the third day since these things happened.
Speaker 2:Furthermore, some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early this morning and when they did not find his body, they came back and said they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it, just as the women had said. But they did not see him. So he said to them you foolish people, how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Wasn't it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory, the beginning with Moses and all the prophets? He interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures. So they approached the village where they were going. He acted as though he wanted to go further, but they urged him stay with us because it is getting toward evening and the day is almost done. So he went in to stay with them. When he had taken his place at the table with them, he took the bread blessed and broke it and gave it to them. At this point their eyes were open and they recognized him when he vanished out of their sight. Then they said to each other didn't our hearts burn within us while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us? So they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. They found the eleven and those with them gathered together and saying the Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon. Then they told what happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. While they were saying these things, jesus himself stood among them and said to them peace be with you.
Speaker 2:Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the knowledge of the Bible is the knowledge of the Bible. Perhaps what keeps us from knowing more about the Bible than we think we already know about the Bible is what we know about the Bible. So when we come to a passage like this that is so pregnant with familiarity We've heard it, we've preached it, we've taught it, we've studied it there is always the propensity, the tendency, the proclivity to put our minds on Cruz Crowe, because we know this passage and we've looked at the diamond of this passage so many times that we know all of the facets and there is nothing new and revelatory about this passage that we can gain. This morning I will say to you that it is a mistake. It is what DL Moody said no-transcript. It's how many times the Bible has been through you. I wonder if we would look at this passage like a child, second naivete, climb up into the cranium of Yahweh of God and assume we've never been in this passage before and say to him sing it over again to me. Wonderful words of life, let me more of their beauty see. Wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty. Teach me faith and duty. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
Speaker 2:Judith Wirz wrote a children's book in 1972 that became a musical and a Hollywood movie in 2014. It was titled Alexander and the Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I want to suggest today and it was about her third son that she piled up these negative adjectives I would suggest today that in this text, these experiences that her son had, these two disciples are having it was a terrible, it was a horrible, it was a no good, it was a very bad day for them when they left Jerusalem on their way home. And so I propose to you that Jesus, who is the righteousness of God, became sin, that we who are sinners might become the righteousness of God through the horrible death on the cross, the glorious resurrection from the dead by the Spirit, in order that we might live with him in holiness for eternity. Jesus, who is the righteousness of God became sin. That we who are sinners might become the righteousness of God became sin. That we who are sinners might become the righteousness of God through the horrible and terrible death on the cross, the glorious resurrection from the dead by the Spirit, so that we can live in holiness with him in eternity. They leave two disciples, one named Cleopas, the other is anonymous. We don't know his name, but they are infiltrated with Sadness, dismay, discouragement. They want to leave Jerusalem Because it's the place where their hopes are dashed and the stars fall from the sky.
Speaker 2:They could have gone east, but it was too dangerous. They knew back there in Jericho that it was a dangerous place. They knew about the parable of the Good Samaritan, that a man left Jerusalem and went down to Jericho and was beaten, robbed and left half dead. They didn't go back to Jericho. They could have gone up north to Mount Ephraim, but perhaps it was too far. They could have gone south to Bethlehem, but it was probably too painfully memorable. That's where he was born. So they decided to go west, to Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. And as they walked they talked and they communed one with another, and there was one who they thought was a stranger. He really is the Savior, but they saw him as the stranger. Their eyes are kept in such a mysterious way from recognizing who he is and he abducts the conversation. He kidnaps the conversation. He takes over the conversation. He kidnaps the conversation.
Speaker 2:He takes over the conversation and he asked them in verses 17, verse 18, what are you communing about? What are these sad things you are discussing? And they were sad and they looked at him and they asked and said to him you must be a stranger in these parts and you don't know what's happening and what has happened over these past three days. Jesus shows us how to treasure the word by not giving the complete story at once. He's the only one who knows what's happening and he ain't talking because he asked the question what things? He knew what things, but he never said it. He does not want to spoon feed them, he wants to create an appetite. So they want more and more and more, as they discussed. If I was to contemporize this and their response that they give, I would say you must be a stranger in America. Don't you know what happened December 7th 1941? The bombing of Pearl Harbor? Don't you know what happened on November 22, 1963? The assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Dallas? Don't you know what happened on April 4, 1968? The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr? Don't you know what happened on September 11th 2001? The implosion through the explosion of the Twin Towers? How can you live in America and not know that? You must be a stranger from Mars or Venus or Jupiter or Saturn. You don't know these things. Jesus said what things?
Speaker 2:And they began to relate the things they're talking about. That has claimed their heart and crushed their spirits. How that Jesus the Nazarene, a prophet who was mighty in words and deeds, was arrested by the chief priests, scribes and elders and was crucified. And we had hoped that he'd be the one who would deliver Israel. Take them from the tail to the head, make them dominant overall, help Israel to regain a position of prominence. And we were told that the women went out and said they went to the tomb but it was empty. But they saw some angels. But who trusts what a woman has to say? A woman can't even give testimony in courts. Their testimony is not tenable, their testimony is not credible in that culture. And then we were told that two of our own, james and I mean Peter and John they went out, they saw the tomb, but it was empty. No one was in it and it's the third day and, to our knowledge, he's still dead. He said he was going to get up on the third day. It's what he said, but no one has seen him to our knowledge. But no one has seen him. To our knowledge.
Speaker 2:Jesus listened to them talk, because that's really what you do when you create an appetite for the scripture. You allow this to be a dialogue and not a monologue. You create conversation space. And Jesus says in verse 25 this is what you and I cannot do, probably in a setting like this. Oh fools, you're slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken unto you. You can't call fools you're slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken unto you. You can't call fools, people fools, but watch it. He takes disciples who are slow of heart and in verse 31 and 32, he moves them to have burning hearts.
Speaker 2:That's the distance from slow hearts to burning hearts, so that you never give up on people, you never give up on your children. They start with slow hearts in Jerusalem. Seven miles later they have burning hearts in Emmaus. In fact, that may be the story of some of you, slow of hearts, and that God, meticulously and methodologically, and slowly and intensely, brings you to the point that you have burning hearts.
Speaker 2:And you're like Jeremiah, who said in Jeremiah 20, verse 7, and then moves to verse 9. He says I said I would not speak anymore in his name. He's frustrated. He said in verse number 7, lord, you deceive me. That's his word, and I was deceived. That word for deceived in verse seven is the Hebrew word patah. All it means is seduced. And in Exodus, chapter 22, verse 16, that same word is used that if a man violates the virginity of a young lady, seduces her, he must marry her and pay her father a dowry.
Speaker 2:You know what Jeremiah is saying. Lord, you sovereignly seduce me. Well, if you're standing next to Jeremiah, you're going to move over, because you don't talk to God like that, do you? And yet that is the problem that we have. We think it and yet we won't say it. And I want to say God is not fragile, god is faithful, he can take it. You say well, you know I wouldn't say that to God. Well, psalm 139, verse 2, says he knows our thoughts are far off. So while the thought is getting to you, he intercepts it before you even get it. So, even though you don't say it, he's got it. Go on and tell him how you feel, if you're upset, if you think he's mismanaged your life, if you feel that he didn't show up, tell him. He'll give you the benefit of the first word, but he always reserves the last word for himself. And he'll let you, job, start in chapter three and go to chapter 37, five straight chapters, without interrupting you, and let you talk and then ask you a question in chapter 38, verse 1. Where were you, job, when I laid the foundation of the world? 39, 40, 41, 42. And in 42. He'll say to you, job, what he said to you in verse 1 and verse 2. Said to Satan, my servant, job, you're still my servant, regardless of what you said.
Speaker 2:No parent who's worth his or her salt will say to a child there's some things you can't talk to me about. God invites us to come and share what's on our heart, since he already knows it. It's not for his benefit, but it's for ours. Just to know that you can have a little talk with Jesus. Tell him all about your troubles. He'll hear your faintest cry. He'll answer by and by. Feel a little prayer will turning, know a little fire is burning. Just a little talk, everything's all right.
Speaker 2:Slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have said, not just what James and John said, not just what the women were saying, but what the inspired prophets had talked about. You're slow to believe that and slowed to believe all that I've already shared with you. I told you that I was going to be arrested by the chief priests, scribes and elders and I was going to be crucified. I told you that. But I told you that on the third day I was going to rise again, and so the women were right. They came to the tomb looking for the right man at the wrong address, and the angel said to them he is not here. Why are you seeking the living among the dead? This same Jesus has risen from the dead. Why are you seeking the living among the dead? Why are you coming to a territory that's known as tombstone territory, verse 26.
Speaker 2:A good tombstone territory, verse 26, a good communicator of the word asked significant questions. What things now? Yes, was it not necessary for Christ, the Christ the anointed one, to first suffer theology of the cross and then enter glory, theology of glory? It's a question that's a rhetorical question. Yes, it was necessary. We need a theology of the cross and we need a theology of glory.
Speaker 2:The problem today is we have removed the theology of the cross because we are so infatuated with the theology of glory. That's why prosperity theology is so pervasive, because no one wants to talk about theology of the cross. But you can't have Easter without having crucifixion. And we don't need a theology of prosperity, we need an adversity theology. Anybody can do well when they're prospering, but how do you handle life when there is adversity?
Speaker 2:When you're experiencing prosperity, you can live and believe in struggles, but when you're in the trenches and you're walking through the valley of the shadow of death, it's not only what you may believe, it's what you have to believe, because you have nothing else and you never know what you believe until it's time to believe it. Oh, I know, I know, I know we can come up with a plethora of scriptures and just quote them. That's fine. But do you really believe it? And you won't know until that moment hits you, that pink slip hits you Three times diagnosed with cancer.
Speaker 2:I heard that. Two times a stroke. I heard that. I know what it's like to be a widower. I know what it's like to lose two sons. On and on and on, I've been to the bottom. But I want to tell you, the bottom is solid. Because he's at the bottom. He's not only the bright and morning star, but he's the lily in the valley.
Speaker 2:Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. Why? Because he's with me. His rod, his staff help us and sometimes he gets more glory in sustaining us in danger than delivering us from danger. Because, after all, it's not what you, not what you are trying to accomplish by getting out of trouble, but it's what you accomplish by what you get out of trouble. What do you get out of trouble? What do you learn? It's not God abandoning you at all. It's that God has chosen to just sustain you, so that people can watch and see how God has protected you. When everything around you is falling, how in the world is this person still standing? She or he stands because God is holding him or her up and God has chosen to use you as proof that he's able to keep you in the midst of your struggle. Was it not necessary? Jesus asked in verse 26 for the Christ to first suffer and then enter glory, and starting verse 27 with Moses one third of the Hebrew Bible and then the prophets two thirds and in verse 44, the writings. In other words, jesus took the whole Bible, all three sections, the writings, proverbs, psalms, et cetera, the law and the prophets. And the Bible says he showed them how all the things in scripture were speaking about him. Without going from Matthew to Revelation, he taught them from the Hebrew Bible because that's all they had.
Speaker 2:I think that in many ways we have become contemporary Marcionites. Marcion was an old church father who was excommunicated from the church in Rome in 144 AD. Why? Because he jettisoned, he threw overboard the Old Testament. He saw the Old Testament as a Bible that God did not write, because the New Testament talked about the love of God, the mercy of God. Old Testament dealt with the wrath of God. He said so, he jettisoned it and they excommunicated him.
Speaker 2:Now we are not we're not Marcion, in that we don't believe in the Old Testament. We just don't talk about it, we just don't read it, we don't teach it and preach it. See how the pages of Nahum stick together and Zephaniah, zephan who Haggai, haggai Aside from Ezekiel and the dry bones, chapter 37. He's kind of weird anyway. But Jesus took an Old Testament Bible and said those things that were written were written concerning himself. You're looking for Jesus. Don't wait till you get to Bethlehem. In Matthew and Luke you can find him all the way through here. I wish I could have been on that journey with Jesus to see what text he actually used, because after all, he knew the Old Testament, he wrote it. I wish I could have been there.
Speaker 2:I think that he must have stopped at Genesis, chapter 3, verse 15. What we call the Proto-Evangelion, the first gospel the seed of the serpent shall bruise the seed of the woman's heel to put him out of action. But the seed of the woman shall bruise the seed of the woman's heel to put him out of action. But the seed of the woman shall bruise the seed of the serpent's head to defeat him. Because this is a mortal blow. And on Friday Jesus was put out of action. Friday, saturday, Sunday. But when he got up on Sunday morning he gave a mortal blow to Satan, so that Satan has lost. If we ever get that in our head, that we fight from victory to victory, we're not trying to gain victory, we're more than conquerors through him, who loved us.
Speaker 2:I think he must have stopped at Genesis 49 and 10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor lawgiver from between her feet, until Shiloh comes. That Christ is going to come through the line of Judah. I think he must have stopped at Isaiah 9, 6 and 7. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Surely he stopped at Zechariah 13, verse 1. In Jerusalem there will be a fountain that's open for sin and uncleanness. And the hymn writer saw the significance of that text and picked up his pen of inspiration and dipped it in the ink of illumination and wrote there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's vein, and sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilt and stain.
Speaker 2:All of that from the Old Testament and Peter preaches a sermon just one sermon on the day of Pentecost and all he had was an Old Testament and he preached an Old Testament sermon and 3,000 souls got saved from one sermon, from the Old Testament. I wonder. I just kind of think that those who will put the Bible together made a major mistake by putting this page between the end of Malachi and the beginning of Matthew. I said this in a recent class I lectured in and to my amazement, a young lady just tore it out. And to my amazement, a young lady just tore out just that blank page, because it gives the indication that there are two Testaments, two books. There is one.
Speaker 2:Old and New Testament have the same rank and the same value, because the Bible ultimately is not about the plan of salvation. The Bible is about the man of salvation, jesus, who carries out the plan. No man, no plan. So we need to remarry both Old and New Testament. That's what Jesus here's, the consummate fulfillment of both. And there he is beginning, at Moses and the prophets and verse 44, the writings. He shows them how all of those things that were written were written about him. So the Bible is a hymn book, it's an H-I-M book, it's all about him. So when you teach and preach and communicate. Until you really get to him. You don't know, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story. He's the crown Jew. You got to get to him. Moses is a great man, but the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Well, verse 28, 28, 28, 28. They near the village of Emmaus and the Bible says Jesus acted as if he was going to go on farther and the conversation is going to be over, but he's created such an appetite that they don't want him to leave. They said abide with us. The day is far spent, the night is at hand. Stay with us a little longer. What you're talking about has left us with a desire for more and more and more. He acted as if he was going to go on further and they made the request that the benediction be delayed because they wanted more. When you have an appetite for the Word of God that becomes so increased that you desire it more than anything else. You want more. Enough is never enough. Then, after you get more, you want much more. Then, after you did that, you want more than much more, and it never stops.
Speaker 2:My mother we celebrated her six year death anniversary this week. She was one of God's great cooks. She was. Hundreds of people would tell you that.
Speaker 2:I won't take up time to talk about how she fed people from off the street and all that, but you know, as good of a cook as my mother was when I was growing up, there were some foods that were not palatable. And I said, once I get out of her house and I can make my own selections, because Mama didn't have optional menus If you didn't want this, then you select another menu. Oh no, no, whatever she cooked that night, that's what you ate. If you didn't want to eat it, fine, you go to bed hungry, that's it. She didn't offer anything optional, but there were some foods. I said when I get out of your house, I wouldn't tell her that, but when I get out of your house, you and my father's house, I ain't gonna ever that's what I said I ain't gonna ever eat black eyed peas, lima beans and squash Never, because they weren't palatable. I wanted stuff that was palatable French fries, onion rings, hot dogs, hamburgers, as we call them but mama said they may be palatable but they are not profitable for a strong bodily constitution. So I'm going to take and keep giving you that which is profitable, in hopes that one day that they will become palatable.
Speaker 2:You hear Paul saying in Acts, chapter 20, verse 1 I have not kept anything back from you that was profitable, but I've taught you publicly and from house to house, because I'm interested in profitability. And Paul says in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it is profitable For doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the people of God might be complete, Fairly furnished unto all good works. So mama just kept giving us that which was profitable but not palatable. And because she did that, when I got out of her house got my own family guess what became my favorite foods? Black-eyed peas I'm serious, lima beans Squash.
Speaker 2:When you're talking to beans squash, when you're talking to people, when you're communicating with people and when you are studying scripture for yourself, it's not always going to be palatable. There's some text that don't taste good, even today to me. I don't think most of you read Leviticus for your devotion, but it's just as profitable as Psalms. But keep feeding on the word that is not palatable but profitable, so that one day that which is unpalatable will become palatable because it always been profitable. Your children are not gonna like devotions immediately. We used to get them up early in the morning. They won't do that. Read the scripture. What do they do? Do it to their children.
Speaker 2:Let the word of God reign and even if it doesn't taste good, because it's convicting me, because it's stretching me, because it's challenging me, because it won't let me have the luxury of neutrality I make a choice between or between. And as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And they said abide with us. The day is far spent, the night is coming, it's dangerous out here. Come and let us show you some hospitality in our little home in Emeas, and a good communicator and teacher, love of the word, will accept the invitation Because the lesson is not over and he comes into their abode. He's supposed to be guests, but he becomes host Because he always changes things. He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, gives it, and they recognize him in their sight. And he disappears Because a good teacher, communicator, makes herself or himself exposable, dispensable. You're not necessary. You don't want people to be codependents.
Speaker 2:These two pastors are trying to work themselves out of a job. That means they're trying to work themselves out of a job as far as being a pastor, but what it means is they want to mature people. So once they mature this group or take care of this ministry, they can move on to another ministry, because these individuals, if they have disciples, know how to fight spiritual warfare. They can go on vacation and a member will stub their toe and not ask of a pastor to come visit them, because they know how to pray, they know how to deal with stuff. Don't let people become so dependent upon you that you become their Christ and Jesus disappeared from their sight. And you know what they said.
Speaker 2:We've got three things from this One. We've got some learning. Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us, by the way, and opened to us the scriptures? Opened to us the scriptures. The Bible is not open just because I open it, and it's not open just because I carried it when I preach. That's fine. I'm not talking about quotation and revelation. I'm talking about interpretation. You are responsible for rightly dividing, cutting straight the word of truth, which means you have to be in the word.
Speaker 2:Ken Edwards, who teaches at Biola University just quickly, when he was in Boston, he rented a car, turned it in and got on after his lectures and got on the transporter car, the van, to be taken back to the Boston airport. The driver knew everything there was to know about the airport. That's what Ken said. Knew where all the airlines flew out, from what gate to let people out, knew the schedule, the whole bit. And then Kent asked him so what is your favorite airline? And he had to admit, I've never been inside of the airport, I've never flown a plane. I just know all the facts about the airport.
Speaker 2:This is not enough just to know facts. You gotta be in the book and the books got to be in you. You've got to experience what we call your exegesis. You've got to experience it. So do you talk about what you know?
Speaker 2:So when you come to a place like the blind man in John 9, verse 25, and these church bosses are criticizing this blind man who was born blind and had never seen the lily of this crimson splendid, nor the rose in this purple purity, never seen his parents, never seen anything. And they asked him how did you get your sight? And he said a man by the name of Jesus set up a pharmaceutical practice on the side of the road, spit in some dirt, put it on my eyes and told me to go to Siloam and wash. And I came back seeing they said, oh, that man's a sinner. You know what he said. Whether he's a sinner or not, I don't know. He didn't go to Beeson Divinity School. He didn't know whether this was good Christology or not. Oh no, but he said this one thing. I know I was blind, but now I see there's some things you got to know that. You know that. You know that. You know Not because somebody else told you, because you've experienced it yourself.
Speaker 2:Get some learning. Second of all, they got some burning. Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us, by the way, and opened to us the scripture? Learning and burning are not antithetical. Learning and burning are inextricably connected. So the more you learn, the more you ought to burn. I'm not talking about some kind of inexplicable exhibition of emotion. If that's how God works upon you, fine. I have no problem with people who run up the wall, as long as they know why they went up the wall when they come down from the wall, because God is logical. But the more you know about the word, the more you ought to burn.
Speaker 2:Taylor loves Katie. Am I right, son Say it. I love Katie, that's right. But you know what he just said ain't gonna do.
Speaker 2:Katie, I love you. I just think you're so adorable and you're kind. I love the way that you live life. I love how you are oriented intellectually. I love this, yeah. But Katie's going to say thanks, taylor, put your arms around me and kiss me. I want to feel your love. I don't want to just hear about you giving me all of these platitudes. I want to feel your love when it comes to scripture.
Speaker 2:Express how you feel about God's word. Oh, how I love Jesus because he first loved me. Long. My imprisoned spirit lay fast, bound by sin and nature's. Night, the eye diffused a crimson ray. I walked the dungeon flame with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed thee. Amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, would die for me? You got to feel that. Learning, burning and then yearning. Learning, burning and then yearning.
Speaker 2:They said now that we've seen Christ, the 11 have not. We can't go to bed and go to sleep when the 11 need to hear that we have met Jesus. We got to get up this same night and go right back seven more miles and tell them the Lord has risen. Indeed, jesus could have saved them 14 miles. He could have said to them at the beginning of their journey hey guys, it's me. Why take them seven miles up? Reveal himself. And they have to go seven more miles back. Save him 14 miles. But that's when the word is so deep that distance doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:You need to be called fool. Slow to believe, you need to grapple. You need to be called fools. Slow to believe, you need to grapple, you need to struggle. The answers can't always be so easy and the learning takes place in the longevity of the journey. 14 miles, you are dealing with burning questions that haven't been answered in your life yet. There's still some questions that God has not explained to you. It's not All you can say is Father Long, we know all about it. Father Long, we'll understand why. Cheer up. My brother, my sisters Live in the sunshine. We'll understand it by and by. And you live that.
Speaker 2:And when they got back to Jerusalem and they saw the 11, and I'm about done now, I'm not finished, but I'm about done they saw the 11 and verse 35, and you won't see this in English, but in the Greek it says that they told that word told. There is the word exagunta and it connects in verse 27 with what Jesus was teaching. The air may noose it. When he was expounding in verse 27,. They were explaining in verse 35. And when their explanation matched his expounding verse 36, jesus showed up. And he always showed up. When we say what his word says, he doesn't say when I put my, he doesn't show up. Just because I give my opinions, he doesn't say when I put my, he doesn't show up just because I give my opinions. He doesn't show up. When we give our fanciful illustrations that are cute, he shows up when his word is explained, even if the explanation convicts me.
Speaker 2:It was a, it was a terrible, horrible, it was a no good, very bad day when they left Jerusalem, but when they came back, it was triumphant. I just can't imagine them going back to Jerusalem with the same gate, the same rhythm, same cadence. I think this is what they did going to Emmaus. They're sad, the Bible says, but when they're going right back to Jerusalem, I think they're doing this because they got to tell the disciples I know it's dark, I know it's late, but we got to tell them. You don't need to feel discouraged. Christ is risen.
Speaker 2:I think when they went back, when they were going to Emmaus, their faces are sad. But when they went back, even though the sun was down, their faces are sad, but when they went back, even though the Sun wasn't it was down, their faces glowed because there's so much joy, for Christ has risen. Indeed, and one of these days there will be a time when Emmaus will no longer exist. No more despondency, bible says the former things are passed away. No more sadness, no more mourning, no more death, no more gloom and doom, and even though there won't be a sun in the city, there will be light in the city because he will be light. I think that's what I want to say. Thank you.