# How Do You Take Heed

Key Passage: 2 Peter 1:16-19
Date: June 7, 2024

Turn in your Bibles, if we would, to 2 Peter. Second Peter chapter number one in God’s word tonight. Second Peter chapter number one. We have been having just a short series on how to study the Bible. How to study the Bible. This is our fifth Wednesday on the subject. I think it will be our final night on this subject. We’ll be gone next Wednesday to see a brand new grandbaby. We’re excited about that, and a couple of different things going on. When I’ll be missing two Wednesdays—won’t miss any Sundays—but there’s two different grandbabies and then a teacher’s meeting and conference. Pray for me. When we come back, I plan on starting a new series.

I think I know what the Lord wants. Pray with me about that. I appreciate your prayers on what to preach. Sometimes that’s the hardest. I don’t want to just preach something I think might be good; I want to preach what the Lord wants. So would you pray with me about that? We’ll probably start something new. But this is the last Wednesday night on this subject.

How to study the Bible. By the way, I appreciate Brother Bill. The Lord used Brother Bill. He was in my front yard and he said, “Man, I’d like to know how to study the Bible better,” something on that line. And the Lord said, “Hey, you’re supposed to be teaching those folks about those things.” So I appreciate Brother Bill; the Lord used him in that. Good to see some folks slipping in back there. Been a minute. Good to see them again tonight. That’s great. Both of them, and others. Good, good, good.

These folks right over here, their little son is in our school, Mateo. Mateo’s doing a good job. He’s in kindergarten. He was getting all his numbers to 10, and he’s grown so, learned so much. Today he set them to me backwards on purpose now. He did it just kind of right now in 10, 90s. I was like, “Wow, he’s growing. He’s getting it,” you know. So good to see them tonight. That’s awesome, and praise the Lord for it.

Second Peter, chapter number one. We’re going to start reading in verse number 16, 2 Peter 1 and verse number 16 of God’s word. Would you please stand as we read God’s word together? 2 Peter 1 and verse number 16. God used Peter to pen this. If you’re not able to stand, we understand, but if you can, that’d be great. God used Peter to pen this. So let’s see what he says here. He says, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty.”

Now, Peter here is saying, in inspiration, he said, “I’m not telling you something I read,” and some—Ms. Chisgar, that’s the school teacher, Ms. Chisgar’s—reading Charlotte’s Web to the students. How many have ever read the book, Charlotte’s Web? Come on now. Man, the rest of you are deprived. I’m telling you what. I tell you what: Don’t watch the movie; the book’s better, amen. But it’s a wonderful little story. He’s saying, “I’m not telling you some fairy tale story I read somewhere. I’m not telling you something I’ve seen on some TikTok or whatever it is.” He said, “I’ve seen it. I was there, real life. I was eyewitness of this thing.” That’s what it’s talking about.

Look at verse number 17. He—Jesus—received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Now, that happened twice in Jesus’ life: one time when he got baptized in the Jordan River, and one time on the Mount of Transfiguration when he began to glisten and glow. Which times do you talk about? Look at it. Look at it. Next verse, 18. “In this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.” Who was with Jesus? Who was with Jesus on the matter of Transfiguration? Who were the three men? Who are they? Yeah, the three: Peter, James, and John. Peter was one of them. Peter said, “I was there. Man, you should have been there. I heard the voice of God. I heard it. I was there.” He said, “It was amazing. We heard that voice.”

But watch what he says next. It’s amazing. Verse number 19. “We”—you and I, all of us—“have also a more sure word.” Wow. I’d like to have been on that mountain hearing that voice, but he said you got something that’s more sure.

Have you ever been somewhere and seen something, and it was just so magnificent, that the next day you’re like, “Did I really see that?” Anybody ever been there? Or if somebody tries to tell you differently, they just confuse your brain a little bit—don’t take much to confuse me. I mean, they’re just kind of twisted. You’re like, “I thought that’s the way it happened, but now you begin to ask me, I’m not really sure. Maybe I didn’t sleep real good the night before. Maybe I was a little bit, you know, I don’t know, you know.” He said we got something better than that. You can get confused about all that. We have it in black and white. We have a more sure word of prophecy. It’s in writing. We can go back and read it again. Is that what it says? You go back and read it. By the way, praise the Lord, it doesn’t change if it’s the King James Bible. We got something sure. Better than eyewitnesses in hearing that, he said, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy.” Watch this: “Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed.” That’s what we’re going to preach about or teach about: How do you take heed? That’ll be the title: How do you take heed? “Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” Knowing this: verse 20—“no prophecy of the scripture,” that’s the context, scripture, “is of any private interpretation.”

Would you pray with me just that God would maybe give you a little glimpse of how you’re to study His word? It’s going to be different for you and me; we’re all a little different. Just maybe a little glimpse, maybe a little challenge that God would say, “Hey, I want you to start looking for these things a little bit more in My word.” Would you pray that God speaks to your heart about that as I pray the same? Lord, we come to You tonight. Lord, I really cannot myself. I cannot create in them a desire to just grasp and retain and digest Your food, Your word, Lord. But You can. Lord, I do pray that You send Your Spirit to every single person—young people, all of us alike—Lord, just challenging us to dig into Your word and to get out of Your word. Lord, please help You make these truths real and alive to Your people. And Lord, we thank You. We’ll brag on You and praise You for what You do, Lord. Father, we’re asking for this in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

I just told my other Bible there. It says, “I want you to take heed.” Take heed. Strong’s, if you studied it out, he says it has to do with it. It just kind of makes your mind stop, and you take a look at it mentally. Take heed. How do you do that? Well, it really gives us a little bit on how to do that. Notice the next little phrase he says there in that verse, verse number 19: “Whereunto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place?” If I think of an everyday place in my life that’s very, very dark, it will be my garage. If you go down to the garage, turn the lights off—all the doors, there are no windows—and even in the daytime, especially at nighttime, it’s very dark in that garage. Help me out; can you think of a place in your life that’s very dark? Can you think of a place in your life that’s very dark? On the count of three, say it out loud. Here’s one, two, three. What was that? The man cave? Mammoth Cave. Mammoth Cave, okay. And I think Shad, whatever, all these different things. But in the garage or in your place, it’s very dark. He’s talking about a dark place. Sometimes, even at nighttime, if I stay in there for a minute or two, my eyes will adjust, and I can see just a little glimmer of light coming maybe on each side of the garage door. Just a little sliver. It’s so minute; your eyes have to adjust to it at nighttime. Now, those lights are very important because they keep me from stubbing my toe on things in my garage. You know what I’m talking about? Hitting your shin against a woodworking shop or something like that—it’s just not a good day. You know what I’m talking about. Those lights, sometimes you go to the light, or that light gives you bearing. I know where the garage door is on each side. If I’m going to go around the back way, I know which way to go. It gives me bearings because of the light. I can set where to go and where not to go. It’s a light in a dark place.

Now, let’s talk about the Bible here. He just said, “Take heed to the Bible as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.” We’ll get to just a moment here how the light—the Bible—gives me bearings: where I’m supposed to go, where I’m not supposed to go. A light shining in a dark place. Let’s keep going. What’s the next four words? A light shining in a dark place. What are the next four words? “Until the day dawn.” When the sun comes up, a little bit more light comes on. Maybe you’re in just a dark place in your life, and you really keep your eyes on the Bible until more light comes up on that issue in your life. See? I take heed unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn—the sun comes up, if you will. And then look at the last little phrase: “And the day star arise in your hearts.” The day star, I believe, is a reference to Jesus Christ. In the morning, there’s a star that kind of precedes, very bright, precedes certain times of the year, the day coming up. You can know, “Well, it’s about time for the sun to come up because a star is brightly shining.” And Jesus, He’s the one that brings the light, you see. So He’s saying, “I want you to take heed to the Bible when things are dark in your life, and it’ll give you bearing what to do during dark times of your life until the day—till light comes up in that situation—and Jesus just shines brightly in that situation.” The Bible. It’s kind of like those ships back in the day before they had all the different technology they have now and GPS systems, all that, and they would have lighthouses. That ship’s coming in, maybe coming into a harbor, and it will make sure it doesn’t hit this side or that side. Where is the harbor at exactly? That old lighthouse turning would give it bearings of where that ship should be and where it should go. Now, that’s the Bible. And he said, “Don’t you take heed to the Bible.” It’s like a light shining in a dark place until more light comes on there. Jesus just, man, it just lightens the whole thing up—the Bible.

Now, let’s just say this. Let’s just say, and it could be a lot of different illustrations; I’m going to try to use three. But maybe you’re going through a dark time financially. Oh, my goodness. Anybody with me? You’ve never been through that, right? Never at all. Can I tell you, this is honest truth, and I’m not just trying to raise money for our church, so this is truthfully for me: when I’m going through a dark time financially, Malachi 3—you want to go over there, look over there, it’s the last book of the Old Testament—it is one of the lights that helps guide me during that time because during that time it’s more important that I follow this principle than ever because I’m going through such a dark time. I really, honestly, this is a time that I really want to make sure I’m following the light here on this subject of finances. There are a lot of different lights from the Bible about finances, but for me, this is one that speaks to me very clearly when things get a little tight. I want to make sure I’m right because this is a pretty bright light shining from the Word of God: Malachi 3.

When you look down in verse number 10, Malachi 3 and verse number 10 right there, he says, “Bring ye all the tithes.” Now, that’s the tenth of your income. “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.” What 1 Timothy 3:15 tells us what that is—that’s the church—“that there may be meat in mine house; and prove me now herewith,” saith the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” I like this part here: “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.”

There have been so many times that things get a little tight. Sometimes I’ll tell my wife, I’ll say, “Hey, man, if we ever are tithing, now is the time we’re going to make sure we’re tithing because things are dark. We need help.” The temptation is, “Well, everything’s going good, then I’ll tithe,” and praise the Lord for that. But friend, for your own sake, you don’t want to curse when things are already going bad. I wanted you to rebuke the devourer. I mean, you know what the devourer is. It’s called C-A-R, that car. I mean, you know, the alternator, the radiator, all the other aids—everything on that thing can go bad, just boom, like that, you know. Whatever it may be, but God says He can rebuke. Anybody have a tire on your car and you say, “That thing should have gone out about 10 months ago”? I mean, sometimes there’s been a time or two, and I’ve seen some of our people’s tires that I think they must be tithing because God’s keeping that tire going right there, you know. Praise the Lord for it. But we have lights that guide you in the dark times.

Marriage. I know you never have dark times in your marriage. Never. I understand that. Never do. Maybe my wife did one time—you know, we’ve been married 29 years. At one time, I think about 20 years ago, we did. It was dark. It was so bad I didn’t see her for two weeks. You said, “What happened?” Well, after that, my right eye started opening up just a little bit, you know? Honestly, this is—man, this is for you. This is a good lighthouse when you’re going through dark times. The main thing—it says a lot of things, of course—but the main thing He says over in Ephesians 5: Help me out. Husbands, what? “Love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” I’m telling you, men, when things are just catawampus, you know, all you got to say is, “Wait a second, I got a light that kind of guides me through this dark time. My job is to love her.” Whether she’s doing everything I think she ought to do or not, and things are good, bad, or ugly, she’s having a bad hair day, I’m having a bad hair day, whatever may be—my job is to love her. And I’m telling you, that can really be such a light that keeps your bearing. By the way, a lot of times how you treat her in the dark, a week or two later when everything’s going wonderful, that spoke volumes to her. That can give her security that she knows she’s loved even during the dark times.

And then just talk about the Bible: You let it be a light that shines into a dark place until the day dawn, till more light comes on the situation. Let’s talk about child-rearing for just a moment here. You’re already in Malachi. Look over in Malachi, the last chapter of Malachi. Look at the last verse of the book of Malachi. When I learned this principle, it was such a great light to me during the child-rearing years. It kept my bearings many times when it was a dark time. I mean, when Sarah was in Judy for a couple months—no, I’m teasing about that fold; that’s not true—but this really has been a light for me during dark times. When you raise children, everything’s not always going to be hunky-dory. That’s just part of it. John Rice used to say, “If you’re going to have babies in the house, you’re going to have diapers on the line.” That’s back in the day when they did that, you know. That’s just part of it. But look what Malachi 4:6 says. Watch the formula. He said, “And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” He’s saying if that formula doesn’t happen, things end up getting—society gets so bad, I’ll have to bring a curse. America has suffered, especially in the past, because of the lack of dads whose hearts were turned to their children. Sad situation. So what’s the problem? Dads out doing this or that and not focusing their hearts turned to the children. That’s the problem. But that’s been a light to me when I’m in a dark place with child-rearing and all that. I said, “Wait a second, I’m just pulled. I got this, that other.” And I’m like, “What should you do about it?” I said, “Wait a second, my heart is supposed to be turned to my children,” and then their heart turns to me. That’s been a light to me in many a dark time. Hearts get pulled here, there, and yonder, and everything going on. Life pulls from you, bills pull from you, people pull from you. But it was always such a good light for me: “Wait a second, Paul, wait, wait, wait, my heart is to be turned to my children.”

You see how I’m saying the Bible can be a light in dark times? How do you take heed to the Word of God? You let it—you let it be that light. It might be just a small light sometimes when it’s really dark, but you say, “Man, there’s some light.” And that light that I’m getting from the Word of God—the entrance of the word gives light, the Bible says—I’m going to let that light guide me where I’m supposed to go, where I’m supposed to avoid during those dark times. You take heed to the Bible.

Point number one: We basically let the Bible be a lighthouse to us. Let the Bible be a lighthouse to us. Now, Jeremiah, it seemed like every time he preached the message God wanted him to preach, he got in trouble. I mean, poor guy got put in the mire, in the pit, and they had to take rags and put underneath his arms—however it happened—pulled him out of all these things. Jeremiah, every time he said what God wanted to say, he got in trouble. Jeremiah is kind of like, “Hey,” he said, “I don’t know about this business here. I don’t know if speaking what God says is really a good thing to do.” And God’s speaking to him. Look at Jeremiah 23, verse number 28. “The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream: and he that hath my word let him speak my word faithfully.” I like this right here: “What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord?” What does that mean? They would take their wheat, their barley, and they would thresh it out. They would do a lot of different ways. They might walk on it or get an animal to walk on it or use stones. They would kind of open it up, crunch it, open it up. Then they would use it a lot of times on mountains because they got a breeze on the mountain. They’d take big old shovels or whatnot, like a big old snow shovel or something, and they would just toss that up in the air, and then the wind would blow, and the hull or the chaff would blow away, and the wheat would fall down, and they would separate it. God’s saying, “Hey, Jeremiah, My word is the wheat.” That old chaff is no comparison to the wheat. It’s the real deal. That’s where God’s word is—it’s the real deal. At work and other places, they may scoff at it a little bit, but they don’t think about that word. That word won’t return void. It’s powerful. It’s going to be in their brain; they can’t get rid of that thing. That chaff, those words, they come back at you. Don’t pay too much attention to it; just keep the word of God in there. See, that’s the key. That’s what it’s talking about. Years ago, there was a creationist and an evolutionist, and they were debating. The creationist kept trying to use all the man-made philosophy and all the rest of that, and the other fellow was smart, and he was probably doing a little bit better. But the one time the creationist just used the Bible, the evolutionist really couldn’t stand up to it. I want to say, quit all your intelligence; that’s not going to get the job done. Just get the word of God in there. Amen? That chaff won’t stand up to the wheat. The next verse is the verse we’re trying to get to, but I had to get that in there. Amen. It’s too good to pass by.

Verse number 29, here it is. He says, “Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” Now, I’m going to take a little twist. I’m not going to prefer or change the word of God; I’m going to think it’s used a little bit differently. It talks about the Bible is a fire. It’s not “My word is like a fire.” When I was a little fellow, we lived in a trailer behind Indian Springs Baptist Church for a while. The furnace in this trailer, the pilot would not stay lit. When we were going to turn it on, Dad would take a newspaper, roll it up long—come on, some of you did these things—and you light the one end of it, and you stick that down that pipe, and it hits the fuel in there, and poof, it lights up. It was right by the back door. We’d have the back door open, and he’d stick that newspaper in there and light it, and then he would toss that paper outside. Man, us kids were ready for it. We were waiting outside that door. We had pine needles, we had leaves. As soon as that fire hit the ground, man, we were there, putting stuff on, blowing on it. We wanted the fire. Here’s the bad part: the fire department got called out there one time for our fires, sure enough. But here’s the thing: we knew if that fire just lands there—Brother Marlin’s still laughing about the fire department; that’s an honest truth right there—if you just leave it there, it’s going to die out. You had to put some fuel on the fire.

There’s so much that can be said about His word being like a fire. But let me just talk to you for a minute here about putting fuel on the fire of the Word of God. You say, “What do you mean by that?” How many remember that Sunday night, Brother Kevin Baldazzora? Okay, Brother Kevin, you remember him when he preached for us? I remember the subject he preached on. Hopefully, Brother Kevin’s not watching tonight online, amen. He preached on joy. Look over, if you will, to John 15. I’ll be honest, I had to look up the verse. John 15, this was his main text verse here, John 15 and verse number 11. “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, that your joy might be full.”

Can I be honest with me? I’m going to confess here, all right? I’ll come to the altar later on. But this is honest truth: when he read that verse, the Lord said, “Man, that’s a good one right there.” The Holy Spirit said, “Paul, you need that verse right there.” Can I confess? I haven’t put wood on that fire. It’s still in my mind when I study and prepare, and I think about this being a good illustration in a bad light, that I didn’t put any wood on the fire. I really haven’t gotten—it was a blessing; he did a great job that night—but I know the Lord wants me to study that out more. I know that, but unfortunately, I haven’t yet. The fire’s kind of died. I haven’t thought about the message. It hasn’t been a permanent thing in my life because I haven’t put any wood on the fire. That’s so important. It’s so very important.

Years ago—I’m not sure if it was Brother Kevin or somebody else; I know Brother Kevin uses this verse a lot; he likes it, I love it too—there’s a verse, Isaiah 58:11. It says, “The Lord shall guide thee continually.” For me, I’m like, “Woo, I like that already.” “The Lord shall guide me continually, and satisfy the soul in drought, and make fat the bones.” Well, man, I need to go on to die; I don’t need that part there, right? He’s talking about Him making it with a big old backbone so you can stand, you know. He’ll guide you continually. He’ll satisfy your soul in drought, make fat the bones. And that should be like a water garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. I’ll be honest: when I heard that verse, I thought, “Man, I like that promise right there.” I praise the Lord on this when I put fuel on the fire. I probably could—I think I could quote it tonight. I’ve memorized the verse. I’ve studied the verses in front of it. This is a conditional promise. What do I have to do? I want to be able to claim that. What do I need to do to be able to claim that Isaiah 58 promise? What can I do? He’ll guide me continually. Wow. If I can just bore down what it’s supposed to do, it’s basically two things: I help the poor, and I fast sometimes. And now, see, that verse, that promise, I’ve used it many, many times in my life. It’s been a great help to me. Why? I put fuel on the fire. Whoever it was that said that verse to me the first time, man, it just lit up, or said, “Hey, that’s a good fire right there.” It’s kind of like us kids; we’re right there, and I put fuel on that fire. It’s been a help to me for years. You see, it’s so important that when God puts a little fire in your life from His word, you put fuel to the fire. It’s vital.

During vacation this year, we went to Montana. It’s beautiful. I thought, well, I read Psalm 19. Psalm 19 is about God’s creation a lot, but I never realized how much is about the Bible, though. I started reading Psalm 19, and God began to give me a little fire out of Psalm 19. So, praise the Lord, I’ve tried to build—look over there in Psalm 19, if you would, please. A fire can go on for years and years. The fire of God’s word can go on forever, but so often, I’ve got to keep putting some fuel on it. Psalm 19, man, it just came alive to me, and I’ve been working on it ever since vacation. As of late, I’ve been memorizing, working at verse number seven and verse number eight. Psalm 19. I knew probably the first half of the chapter, but these verses have been—I’ve been trying to put fuel on this fire. Psalm 19, would you look at verse number seven right there? Verse number seven: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the mind.” I’ve been trying to put fuel on that fire. Here lately, I’ve been thinking about it. All right, what is the Bible doing for you? It’ll convert your soul. Soul is very much who you are; it’s your personality. So much about you is your soul. “Man became a living soul.” It’ll convert your soul. Then it’ll make wise the simple. Man, this world is full of simple people. Sometimes I can be simple. I can be the guy who just likes to go off and have a good time, not worry about everything; it stays simple. God said, “No, no, no, no.” It’ll make your heart rejoice. Well, boy, I want that right there. “The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.” And then He says the commandment of the Lord is pure; it’ll give my eyes enlightenment. I’ve been trying to digest that little bit. I’ve been trying to put fuel on that fire. I thought about your soul, man, that’s so much of you. Then your mind, it makes you wise. It affects your soul; it affects your mind, if you will. It affects your heart, affects your eyes. Wow. I’m trying to—I’m to the point now, I don’t have this part figured out; the Lord hasn’t shown me yet, but I’m trying to figure out a little bit more. God gives you a little bit of time. What’s the difference between law, testimony, statutes, and commandments? They’re all a little different, or else God wouldn’t have put them differently. He said what He meant, and then what He said. I’m trying to put fuel on that fire. So when God gives you a little fire, you don’t just say, “Well, that was good,” and leave it. No, you want to put fuel on there. It’s a fire. If you keep putting fuel on there, you’re liable to get a whole lot more fire out of it. That’s so important as you’re studying the Bible. It’s a fire. If there’s no fuel to the fire, it goes out. The Word of God will be burning somewhere forever, but in your heart, your mind, your soul. See?

So how do I take heed to the Word of God? Well, I let it—you let it be a light that shines into a dark place until the day dawn. And then I put fuel on the fire. When it puts a little fire in my life, I want to put fuel on it. Last thing, and we’re going to go home tonight. Look over Matthew 13, if you would. Matthew 13. God’s word tonight. Matthew 13.

Who has to get up before 3 a.m. tomorrow morning? This fellow’s not going to go to sleep, though. He’s working third shift. Pray for him. He needs a third shift. Help me out now. Who thinks God just made the nighttime for sleep? Who believes that now? Yes, sir. We have a guest, Brother Tim. I praise the Lord, he’s working. Amen.

Matthew 13 is just a chapter of parables. Look what he says in Matthew 13. Look in verse number 10, if you would please. Matthew 13, verse number 10: “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath”—you’ve been taking it in, you’ve been comprehending, you’ve been trying to get something out of it—“to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.” He’s talking about the Pharisees and the religious people. They had plenty of opportunities; they never took it. So he said, “Now I’m taking away what they got. I’ll give him more.” God’s the wisest investor ever has been. Verse number 13: “Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” Man, they heard all the prophets. They’ve heard so much that they didn’t want to see it. That’s what it’s talking about. “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. God said, “Blessed is the fellow who’s trying to listen, he’s trying to see.”

Can I just put it this way? You’re always listening for His voice. You’re always—I’m talking about the voice of God from His Word. Mamas are amazing. We have one of the families who go to the school; they just had a little girl a couple of weeks ago, a little baby girl. The fellow comes in, drops his daughter off, and I said, “Did you get any sleep last night?” He said, “Well, my wife’s the one who lost sleep for the most part.” I was asking Brother Anthony about it this morning; he said, “Well, I woke up a piece of Miss Gatorre,” you know. Somebody else here recently—Brother John gets up every time they… He’s got two, man. He’s working double duty, you know. Those moms, they are tuned into that baby. That baby just a little whine, a little cry. Can I be honest? I’m confessing a lot tonight. I sleep right through it, man. I mean, how’d you do last night? I was up half the night. I’m sorry, I didn’t even know it. I mean, I just, I’m out, you know. It’s all over, you know. If she kicks me hard enough, I’ll get up, you know. I try. It’s just… They’re in tune, though. That mother, she knows when that baby just—she’s always kind of got an ear listening. You get like that with the Word of God. You’re trying to listen; you’re trying to get something; you’re trying to learn. The thing is, yes, in your devotion time, but it can come any time during the day.

Sunday morning, I preached on John 21, and it caught nothing. Earlier in the week, I was just listening to—I like to listen to K-O-A-M NBC. You got an app on the phone and all that. You can listen to Revival Times. It’s Jack Treber. It’s about a 12-minute thing, and you can listen to it any time on that app. I put it on; I was eating a little lunch in the fellowship hall back there, just by myself one day. I was listening to that, and he just briefly mentioned “caught nothing.” The Holy Spirit said, “Hey Paul, are you listening?” I tell you what, from that, just that—I didn’t expect it while eating lunch—but you never know when the voice will come, and you’ve got to be listening. You’re always in tune, listening. Before cell phones and all that, voice recording and all that, literally there have been times I pulled over on the side of the road to write down something God spoke to my heart about. It’s amazing how quickly I’ll think, “I’ll remember,” and if I don’t write it, I don’t remember.

One of our men in church had a verse that spoke to his heart and encouraged him. He said, “I want you to know, I don’t act like I got that during my prayer time.” You know, one of these Bible apps on your phone? He said, “That was the verse of the day.” Amen, God used that in my heart. But he was listening. You just never know when that voice will come, but you’re always kind of tuned into the Bible. Your ears perk up to the Bible.

Can I say this? Listen for formulas in the Bible. Look over in Hosea chapter number 10. We’ve got to hurry along here. Hosea chapter number 10. For me, this is a formula in the Bible for when I’m backslidden. What do I do when I’m backslidden? How do I get right with God? We all backslide. Every one of us here, every one of us here, besides Brother Dumpur—I’m looking for something about it—but we all backslide. How do we get right with God? This is a great formula. We’re always looking for formulas all through the Bible. Look for them. You’re listening for them. Here’s a great formula: How to get right with God? Hosea 10, look in verse number 12. Hosea 10, look in verse number 12 right there. A great formula. When we were studying the book of Hosea, we didn’t cover it because we’ve preached on it before here. But Hosea 10, look at verse number 12. Here’s the formula.

First thing we do, if I’m going to get right with God: “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, then ye reap in mercy.” You’re backslidden, but you’re going to get some mercy. We need mercy when we’re backslidden. So you sow to yourselves in righteousness, and then what’s the next thing you do? “But break up your fallow ground.” What’s fallow ground? Fallow ground is ground that used to be tilled up, a garden and all that, and you let it kind of go by the wayside, so grass has grown back up in there. You know how it is in the springtime when you first plant your garden, you keep every piece of grass out of there. By the fall time, you can run a lawnmower through there, cut all the grasses. You know what I’m talking about? That’s fallow ground. You let the grass grow all back up in there. So you sow to yourselves in righteousness, you reap in mercy, then you break up the fallow ground. You get all that grass back out of there, get your life clean back up, get the dirty movies and music and everything else, and get it all out of there. “Sow to yourselves in righteousness.” That might be just starting to pray, “God help me.” Get back in your Bible. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy. Second thing you do: break up the fallow ground. Third thing: “For it is time to seek the Lord.” You’re not seeking money; you’re not seeking this or that; you’re seeking the Lord. You start to seek the Lord. By the way, you won’t properly seek the Lord until you’ve done the first two things. Then you seek the Lord. And what does it do? “Until he come and reign righteousness upon you.” Oh, that’s when your Bible comes into your heart. You got your joy back, you got your happiness back, got your thrill back, man. God answers a prayer, put spring in your step. It’s a formula.

As you read the Bible, you’re looking for formulas. There are formulas all over the Bible. How to enter His presence? Psalm 100, verse number four: “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.” That’s a formula there: how to enter into God’s presence. How to succeed? We preached a little while ago on Joshua 1:8. The big thing we think about is meditating on the Bible. A formula there. But you’re looking for those.

Listen for phrases in the Bible. Sometimes just a little phrase. I said this to someone today—I think they’re in here tonight—they’re going through a rough time. It’s a little phrase: Psalm 103, verse number 19. It says, “His kingdom ruleth over all.” Man, that phrase, that’ll help. You’re looking for little phrases; you’re digging for them. Jeremiah 33: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Just those two words: everlasting love. Man, that’ll do something to you. You’re looking for little phrases all over the Bible. You’re listening for it. You’re just waiting. You never know when it’s going to happen, so you’re always kind of tuned in. It can happen while you’re sleeping. Have you ever come out of your sleep with a verse or something? Oh, yeah. Spurgeon and his wife: sometimes he could go to bed on Saturday night without a sermon all ready to go, and he was battling it and praying over it. There have been times that in his sleep he was talking about it, and his wife would wake up and write down what he said. I’m just saying, you just never know when or how. But you’re listening for a whisper from the Word of God, and a fire, and you want to put fuel on the fire, and you’ve got your ears open to it, and you want it to be a lighthouse during dark times—the Bible.

I could say so much, but who was it that used to say? It’s impossible to enslave a people or society that has the Bible. I’m not quoting exactly right. Someone said fingerprints on the Bible are more important than footprints on the moon. Someone said if you have a Bible that’s falling apart, you’re probably not [using it]. The Bible. So many of our founding fathers talked about how our society was built and our country was built on that book. It’ll give you what you need.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Heads bowed and eyes closed. I’m going to ask a couple of questions, not different for a Wednesday night, but maybe you’re there and you say, “I’m going to let the Bible be a lighthouse during dark times. I’m going to let the Bible be a lighthouse during dark times in my life. I’m going to ask for it, and I’m going to let it be a light to me during dark times.” Is that you tonight? I’ve already seen some hands. God bless you. God bless you. That’s good. That’d be a lighthouse to keep your bearings during dark times. God bless you. Thank you so very much.

Maybe you say, “I need to put fuel on the fire.” God spoke to me. I just kind of let it die out, and I need to put fuel on the fire. God spoke to my heart about that. It’s a fire; I need to put fuel on the fire. Is that you tonight? You slip your hand up; that’s me. I need to put fuel on the fire when God puts a little fire in my heart. God bless you. Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you so very much.

Maybe you hear tonight and you say, “I need to be listening. My ears got a little dull of hearing. I’ve heard it so much, I’m not really listening to the Word of God. I need to listen. I need to get my ears cleaned out and listen to the Word of God.” God spoke to my heart about that. I want to be listening, always listening for God’s word. That’s me right there. God bless you. God bless you. Me too. Me too. God bless you. Thank you so very much.

Would you please stand? We’re going to have a word of prayer. Maybe you just want to come forward and pray. Whatever, however God leads you, would you be obedient to the Lord? Would you do that? Thank you for Your word. It’s a wonderful, wonderful book. Forgive me, Lord, so many times I’ve kind of just passed by it, not really listening, hungry. Lord, help us to digest Your word. Help us to get strength from it, power from it. Lord, and bless our people tonight. Help us to get more from Your word because of tonight. We thank You for what You do, Lord Jesus. Let me pray. Amen.

Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - - How Do You Take Heed - Wednesday PM 09142022