Why Read The Bible?
Many of you have probably have had this experience. You know someone who was once fired up for Jesus and over the years they have lost that excitement. They would read their Bible, pray, and attend church and now they have lost their passion. Possibly, this has happened to you and maybe (I hope not) you are in this situation right now. I have observed that many Christians (leaders included) have a yearning, a desire for revival. Revival is something being revived or to return to life. In other words, we are saying things are a little dead or lacking of life and we want to get back to the fullness of life like it was at a previous time.
It’s like someone needs spiritual Defibrillation. Grab the paddles, fire up the electronic device called an automated external defibrillator (AED), yell clear and whomp.
2 Timothy 1:6 (BBE)
For this reason I say to you, Let that grace of God which is in you, given to you by my hands, have living power. (stir up the gift)
1 Thessalonians 5:19
Do not put out the Spirit’s fire;
Paul tells us that we need to stay spiritually alive, but here he doesn’t tell us how. How do we stay stirred up? How do we our spiritual heart to keep beating and not flat line? How do we stay spiritually alive?
TO find the answer – we need to turn to Luke 24
I Will Begin To Read From The 13th Verse:
I. Spiritual Cardiac Arrest
What is the condition of these 2 disciples when Jesus begins to walk with them on the road?
a. We see that they love God
i. :14 - Their topic was Christ (they were talking about Him.)
ii. :19 - They even would talk about Him to a stranger
iii. :17 - Their faces showed they loved him (they were sad.)
b. But there sadness was not just because He died.
i. :21 - The but WE is emphatic, what they are saying is: Other people thought differently, they laughed at Him and even mocked Him, but we - implies that they had expectations in Him, until the recent events that smashed their hopes to the ground. We were hoping (or had hoped) past tense - they lost their hope.
ii. In the midst of some exciting reports they go home. Why, How did they lose their fire?
iii. They had lost their confidence, not in Him, but in His ability to do what they had thought He was going to do. They had hoped he would redeem Israel, that He would break the yoke (or bondage) of the oppressor, that He would restore the Jews and prosper them just like old times. BUT HE DIDN’T. To them the Cross was a Tragedy. Jesus had failed. Consequently, their enthusiasm was cooled.
iv. They still loved Him, but they were sadly disappointed and they couldn’t fight the feeling that this man whom they considered a prophet, who walked with such power & authority had somehow failed. They felt like someone had blown out their candle or had poured a bucket of water on their fire.
c. I believe that the same thing that happened to these 2 disciples is happening to many Christians in the Church today. We also suffer from a lack of certainty as to His ability to do what we thought He was going to do:
i. I prayed and prayed to be healed and God didn’t heal me...
ii. God told me to take this job and I still am not being able to pay my bills, I thought He was going to prosper me.
iii. God told me to move to this city and that I would be much more effective for the gospel. Not only am I not winning people to Christ, I don’t even have any friends here. I wonder if I didn’t hear God right, I shouldn’t of ever moved here in the 1st place.
d. We shouldn’t be surprised at these two - we have all been disappointed before. The key to their (as well as our) disappointed is with expectations. For example:
i. A kid comes home with an A- , 2 B+ 2 B & C and he is excited to have done that well, but he hears - Your brother came home with straight A’s.
ii. Pete just won an award at the office and the accolades of his workers, but his wife says big deal, Bob got a bonus with his Award. Your salary stinks and we still can’t afford to get some new furniture for the living room.
iii. Sue, I know it’s late, but I knew you wouldn’t mind seeing one more client.
e. EXPECTATIONS
i. They create conditional love. What they say is - I love you, but I will love you more if.... We place them on one another and on God. But God does not do this. Yes, He wants the best of us, but if we let him down - He still loves us. Romans 5:8 "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us."
ii. Jesus Christ understands human nature. I believe that is why he appeared on the road to Emmaus. He wasn’t disappointed in their slowness to believe - He loved them and He wanted to burst the love back into a flame.
II. Spiritual Defibrillation
a. Most people have a strong desire to keep living. You have probably read stories of people going to extreme measures to keep living – from the medical field to those who are in a life & death accident.
b. But when a person goes into defib. They aren’t able to revive themselves – It is another person. If it was you, wouldn’t you want the most passionate EMS guy or gal at the paddles – you want them to want for you to live as much as you do. I have good news for you if you go into spiritual defib. God wants you alive and on fire more than anyone. REV 3:15 tells us that God hates lukewarmness. He hates it when the shadows of false expectations lurk over and slow our hearts. God is the one with the paddles in His hands ready to jolt us with spiritual life - But how does God do this – Let’s see how God the son did this.
i. Jesus didn’t make Himself known. I can just see it, "Hey guys, it’s me - JESUS?" NO! He brought them back to the scriptures. He went to something that was very familiar to them - they study them since they were a boy. Many times we are looking for something new. Wow, did you hear about this ___ revival or about this crusade. Our thinking is that it is the Bible + something. But this is the way Jesus thought. He took the old and turned it into something that became alive. He expounded and interpreted the scriptures.
TURN TO II PETER 1:12
B. Have you ever had it happen to you that while you were reading a certain verse of the Bible that it seemed brand new. You know that you have read it before, but it really stands out now - It’s like somebody wrote something in your BIBLE.
C. This is the METHOD God uses. He sent His Spirit to lead us and guide us into all truth. Let me give you some scripture
Psalms 39:3
My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:
Jeremiah 20:9
But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
Jeremiah 23:29
"Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
Joshua 1:8 - This book of the law...
John 14:21 - He who has my commandments...
John 15:7 - If you abide in me and my words...
John 8:31 - If you continue in my word, truly you are my disciples...
What was the result when Jesus did this?
IV. Hearts on Fire
A. As they listened their eyes got wider with astonishment. The words began to turn their coolness into heat, despair into hope disappointment into certainty. They had to hear more. Please come with us. We don’t have much food, but what we have is yours. Please continue. Then Jesus did something that blew them away. Here is a guest, a total stranger. And He sits down and He took charge of the meal like He was the master. He took the bread, He blessed it, He broke it, and then He gave it to them. HEY, IT’S JESUS, IT’S YOU! and POOF He was gone.
B. They then reflected on the events that just happened. "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road and while He opened the Scriptures to us." It was the Word of God that caused their hearts to burn.
C. So what does the Church need today - more Bibles - NO! (best seller every year) We need to have the things that we know & Possess become real to us. We need to see these old familar scriptures renewed in Power and understanding.
D. We need to return or continue with our 1st love. We need to continue in the Word. We need to realize that Faith comes by hearing. We need to realize that those who read the Word of God and do it are the ones that are blessed (Luke 11:28)
ILLUSTRATION - Story told by Bobby Dodd – athletic director of Georgia Tech
