The Word — Michael Koulianos

Take your Bibles to 2 Timothy 3, if you would, please. And tonight is going to be bananas. So get there. Haven't we just stepped into a glorious few months here? It's been really, I mean, gosh, last week, Sunday night, that choir, and many of you, you guys were singing.

I don't know how long did I go? An hour almost, or 40 minutes? An hour? Incredible. I don't think I've ever seen a choir stay after the dismissal and sing with tears in their eyes. They stood for probably three hours.

And do you guys remember that Methodist pastor that I prayed for? So he went back home to his church and had a service, I think, last night, and a Friday and Saturday night. And he sent me a text thanking us for ministering to him and his family.

And I spoke to Brian Guerin earlier, and Brian told me he was there. And the Lord just showed up. And I'm so grateful that people are coming, leaders, and catching something substantial and taking it back to their local congregations.

And Guerin said it was explosive. He said the worship went to a completely different level in a week. Thank you, Jesus. Come on, let's give the Lord praise. So yeah, thank you, Lord. I've been praying that pastors would catch fire here and take it back to their.

Emily, come here. Come here, Emily. I want to talk to you a second. Come here. And Ryan, grab that mic for her, would you please? Come here. I heard the Lord touch you last week. I love this girl. She's something.

She's, she's, she's. What happened last week? It won't hurt you. OK. If you hit that button, though, it is a lightsaber. Go right through your forehead.

Be careful. OK. Be careful. Oh, I was just, I woke up that morning, actually, just really, really hungry for a touch from the Lord to, like, really meet Him and have Him encounter me again, just in the way that I know that He could.

I felt like I hadn't been encountered in that way in a really long time. And I just woke up that morning really hungry for a touch. And the whole service, I was just, like, I had felt Him in the room.

Like, you know when you can feel Him in the room and there's a difference when you feel Him in the room and then when you feel Him come upon you and come near in that way. And while the choir was worshiping and you had just prayed for the pastors, they, like, fell right in front of my seat.

And so I didn't really have a seat to go back to. So I just went to the, to the side. And I just started worshiping. And I felt Him come upon me. And it wasn't like I was knowing the Lord as, like, He's in the room.

He was upon me. And I felt Him so just heavily. And then you said my name. And I was just like, someone grab the camera. I'm ready for whatever the Lord's going to do.

I don't remember praying for you, which is a good sign. That means we're all in that sweet spot.

Yeah, because I don't think you even saw me. I was just on the side. And when I was on the floor, I just felt the fear of the Lord so intensely, just like He was really God in that moment. He wasn't, like, you know, He's a lover.

And He's Father. And He's, He comes near. But He was just God in that moment. And, like, I didn't even know that I encountered Him as a kid. But the only thing I could describe was, like, this was the God that I knew as a child.

Wow, wow. And I don't even know what happened after that. I just, it was just a really holy moment. I'm so proud of you. What happened to your camera? I'm just kidding. I don't know. Someone took it. Someone took your camera?

Michael Jones took it. Praise the Lord. Did you give it back? I found some selfies on there, so. Wow, I love you. I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you. Well, let her know you love her, would you? That's so awesome.

That's so awesome, yeah.

Isn't the Lord's presence wonderful? There's enough worry in the world. We'll take some peace and some joy. And the people said? Austin called me. When did we talk? Monday or Tuesday? Yeah, he goes, I don't know what happened.

I prayed for Austin. He goes, but I don't care about anything anymore. He goes, I don't know how that happened. He goes, but I don't care. He's like, I am so free. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful?

And you are welcome to receive the same thing this morning, unless you want to keep your worry. You're more than welcome to be serious and holy and hang on to all that serious worry. It just does the body good.

I love looking at it. You know, our Sunday morning is a bit more experimental from the people's end, not from our end. But this is the service where people come in and you're testing everything out. You're wondering if your friend that brought you is crazy and part of a cult.

And you're here wondering if we're a cult. And we're not. But this is the service where you actually see the difference in countenances over like a few months. And one of my favorite countenance shifts is the holy serious face that many walk in with.

And in a month, they actually feel permission to smile. And it's beautiful. It's beautiful, especially the theologians. If only we could follow you home, see what you're really like. Welcome to Jesus Image.

We are glad to have you here. If you're a first time visitor, would you please raise your hand? We have a gift bag we'd like to give you. Would you please meet us out there? Just fill out this card and tell us what you love to do.

We'd like to plug you in by next week. Would you please start a small group for us? Welcome to Jesus Image. We've got a bucket of popcorn, and you're going to love it. And I promise you, we will be done in 28 minutes so that you can get home and enjoy your Sunday.

Dot com. Wish I had a mic. I'd drop it. All right. I feel like we need to pray again. Father, help us this morning. Help me teach the Word very seriously. Thank you. Wow, thanks there, Nathan. You're doing great.

The Word of God Is God-Breathed

Thank you, Jesus, for your Word. Cut us deep. In Jesus' name, amen. 2 Timothy 3, verses 16 through 17. We're talking about the Word of God and you building your life on the Word of God and the necessity of giving your heart to the Lord through the scriptures.

And so 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 and 17 says, All scripture, say all, is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Scripture, Sin, and Knowing Jesus

I want to go back to that old saying that I mentioned last week. Say this out loud. My Bible will keep me from sin, or sin will keep me from my Bible. I'd like to say it another way, actually. Say this, the Word will keep me from sin, or sin will keep me from the Word.

There are a lot of people who carry Bibles who are really mean and full of sin. So I want to differentiate the difference between the Word and ink and paper. There are many. Do you know there are chaplains in universities who are atheists?

No, that's a fact. How can you be a chaplain and be an atheist? So I just want to be very clear that you can have a theology degree and be hell-bound, not know the Lord Jesus Himself. When I talk about the Word, we're going to go on a journey together and we're going to discover that when the Holy Spirit gets involved and becomes your teacher, when you open the scriptures, He begins to open the scriptures and then you experience the Word.

At the core, the Word is a person. The Word is a person. There are many companies who embrace kingdom principle and actually see breakthrough financially, culturally, within their companies, but they're heathens.

And that's not our mandate. We should live according to the scriptures, but our mandate as believers is to discover the Lord Himself in the scriptures. Remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees, you search the scriptures thinking that in them you will find life.

He said, but the scriptures speak of me, but you won't come to me so that I would give you life. So have you ever met people who have chapter and verse sticky noted all over their fridges and stuff, but they're super mean?

OK, something's wrong there. Something's really wrong there. When the Holy Spirit gets involved and becomes your teacher, there's another old saying that the Bible is the only book that requires the author to be present when you read it properly.

Now let me swing the pendulum to the other side. Nobody here is too spiritual to memorize chapter and verse. It's so important. But all I'm saying is that you can know theological positions and check off all the right boxes and not even be born again.

You're like, no, you can't. Well, the devil doesn't know that Jesus is raised from the dead. He's more aware than most Christians. He was in the underworld when Jesus broke out of it and shot through it as the firstborn from the dead.

Jesus or the devil is well aware that Jesus died on the cross. He can check off that box too. He's also well aware that the Bible is the word of God. He's been spanked by it multiple times. He understands the power of it when Jesus resisted him with chapter and verse.

So the devil clearly is not born again. Neither are princes and powers of darkness. So you've got to go beyond checking off the right box. It's really only in the West that we make things so dogmatic.

We go, do you agree with that? Yes, I do. Cool. How about that one? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Cool, I get to go to the club now. And that's the way it works. It's like, oh, yeah, I believe in Jesus. Great, so do demons.

Jesus’ Words Are Spirit and Life

Do you understand? So the Lord's clearly looking for something not only different, vastly different, much deeper, more beautiful, and loyal. Amen. So all scripture, say all scripture, is God-breathed.

Now Jesus made a statement. You need to go dig this up. It's in the Gospel of John, early on, very early on. He says this, my words are spirit, and they are life. Let's break this down here. 2 Timothy 3 says, all scripture is God-breathed.

Then Jesus says, my words are spirit, and they are life. So imagine you had this holy cartoon, like a little veggie tale. That Jessie grew up on. And salty, all, you name it, she did it. 90s Christian PK, went to all the concerts.

She knows, she's feeling this one. Imagine you had a Christian cartoon, and if you drew a cartoon figure of Jesus, when he spoke, imagine a dove flying out of his mouth. And when that dove is received, life comes.

So Jesus actually speaks a language, listen very carefully, called spirit, the Holy Spirit. Say this, Jesus speaks Holy Spirit. Wow. So the language of Jesus, like you speak English, his language is the Holy Spirit.

So he says to those listening to him, he goes, hey, I've got good news for you. When I talk, life is available. How many of you feel your heart being lifted now? That has nothing to do with my sermon, and everything to do with the fact that I'm giving you the Word of God.

Life is being deposited. In a sense, every time you sit under the Word, listen carefully, you definitely sit under the influence of the Spirit, and a resurrection can take place every Sunday. So Jesus says, my words are spirit and life.

The Father Speaks Through the Son

And then the Father has a language as well. He speaks Son. He speaks Son. That's Hebrews 1, verses 1 through 3. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. You've heard that a million times from me.

It'd be safe theologically to say it this way. He hath spoken Son to us. In times past, through the patriarchs and the fathers of the prophets, basically, God has spoken through them, the Bible says, but in these last days, in other words, in these last days, from the New Covenant on, specifically Pentecost on, in these last days, from the moment Jesus, I should say, from the Incarnation on, the Father is speaking one message, and that is his Son, Jesus Christ.

Mike Bickle says it this way. Jesus Christ is God's only and final sermon to humanity. So you can actually stop going. Can I be fun with you? You can actually stop going to every event, except ours, and chill with your family and cook them a nice dinner, looking for the next greatest message.

The next greatest message is Jesus Christ. It's the only great message. God's not changing the subject. He has nothing else to say. The Father only, he speaks Son, and that is by the Spirit. So the whole Trinity, imagine this, is involved when you sit under the Word.

Encountering God Through Scripture and the Holy Spirit

The Word is God-breathed. Listen up. Jesus himself is the face of God. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4, 6, that the glory of God is found in the face of Jesus Christ. So imagine this, that every time I position myself in communion, this is very important, with the Holy Spirit, and my Bible is open, oh, you're going to love this one, I position myself before the face of God, because God is speaking.

If I value God's Word, which is his speaking, I value God's movement, because you can't speak without moving. If I value the Scriptures, like I should, if I truly value the Scriptures, I discover something, that his breath is available, because all Scripture is God-breathed.

Now hold on, who is the breath of God? The Holy Spirit. You want more Holy Spirit? Open your Bible, and open your heart. So if I love the Word, I love the move of God, because it takes movement to speak, and nobody can communicate without breath, nobody.

Has anybody here ever tried speaking without breathing? It is, listen, it is the breath that makes the, listen carefully, the intentions of the heart audible. If God doesn't breathe, God can't communicate.

And when God speaks his Word, the move of the Holy Ghost is available. It's the Holy Spirit who takes the text and makes it audible to the heart. This is what I want to get to, that you can't say, I love the presence of the Holy Spirit and not love the Scriptures.

We don't get to say, I love the move of God. I just have an issue with this Bible thing. No, no, when God speaks, he moves. If you like the way he moves, you love what he says. And God has spoken. And if you're looking for a prophetic word, and of course, we believe in prophetic ministry.

This ministry is a prophetic ministry. But if you're looking for one, here you go. 66 books, a lot of prophetic words here. And if I had to choose between what you think is prophetic and the Scriptures, I'm going with this every time.

The Bible as the Standard for Prophetic Discernment

Fall in love with the Word of God. It is God-breathed. Say this. It is God-breathed. Thank you, Lord. My friend of mine texted me yesterday. He goes, somebody, my wife, told someone that the Lord spoke to her heart.

And that person said, that's impossible. He only speaks through the text. He goes, what are your thoughts? I said, well, my thoughts are that the text says otherwise. So it's a real tragedy, listen carefully, when we use the existence of the Bible to refute it.

And that's the height of religion is to say, no, no, no. God can't do that. You have a Bible now. And your response should be, I know, but the Bible I have now says He can do that. So there's a problem here.

So what I'm not saying is that God can't speak to you in a dream. Of course He can. I'm not saying God can't open the eyes of your heart so that you can see while you're praying. I'm not saying God doesn't give us prophetic words.

Of course He does. Of course. God speaks constantly. He's the Word. Every sunrise is a speaking. It tells us that Jesus is alive, that He's been raised from the dead. Every sunset is a speaking. It tells us that He's been buried, and then He died for our sin.

And then when He died, He entered into darkness to bring light. Does it not? Every time the season has changed, which feels like it happened today, sort of. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Every time the seasons start to shift, it should remind us of the Lord.

That the Holy Spirit is the wind of heaven, and that seasons come and seasons go, and that He brings beauty for ashes. You have to be dead inside to look at the world and the beauty of creation, and not hear God talking.

The Bible even says that the heavens declare the glory of God, that God tells the story of His glory through creation alone. So of course the Lord speaks, but this is what I want to say. If we think we've heard from the Lord, and it contradicts the scriptures, we have not.

Say this out loud, the Bible wins. Say it again, the Bible wins. And when you go through a challenge, the last thing you want to do is war with your own perspective and spiritual encounters. I'm not sure.

I'll say it anyways. Some people think they have encounters from God that are from the enemy, because the devil does disguise himself as an angel of light. And so people have these encounters, they'll even move.

I know people who have moved cities because they saw a rainbow in the sky, or a dove fly by. Or it could have been a pigeon. It wasn't a white dove, so at that point you have to know what you're talking about, just from a bird watching perspective.

Really, and this type of person becomes like nomadic in the kingdom. They don't put roots down. There's no long term fruit. They don't receive the dreams of their heart. They never really tap into their calling.

And many just go from movement, to movement, to movement, to movement, to movement, thinking that the movement is the source of life. It happens, it happens all the time. In fact, people feel like if I run to a new city, my character will change when I get to the new city.

And cities don't change your character. Cities don't renew your mind. Now I'm honored that people are coming here. I really am. It's a dream come true that people are laying everything down to come and be in this environment.

But it's not the city or the building that changes lives. It's God's presence and His word. The point is, is if you see a bird fly by and you feel like it's a sign, I would highly encourage you to go to the scriptures before you pack your car and do what they say.

One of which is, there is safety in the counsel of many. So if you get counsel that doesn't line up with the pigeon's movement or direction or the rainbow it shot through, I would highly advise you to listen to the counsel.

The Holy Spirit and the Word in Revival

Oh, you prophets are so mad. But I know how you roll. This is true. The Bible teaches that we are to bear fruit that remains. Eternal fruit. Smith Wigglesworth said, in the last days a great revival will come.

And it will be a marriage between what? What? The move of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. To be honest with you, in God's economy there is no division between those two. Because the scriptures are God breathed.

They are wrapped in the breath of God. The Holy Spirit himself. Imagine that every time, with an awareness of Jesus, you sit under the teaching of the word. Imagine the Holy Spirit comes and deposits that word himself straight into your heart.

He's a great sower. And every time you come in to an environment like this and you worship, and don't get tired of worshiping because you're already three songs in. Where did we come up with these stupid perspectives?

Like an idea is that two fast songs, one mid-tempo, one slow one, half a really slow one in transition. Where do we get all this? That is not the culture of heaven. You worship until the Lord says stop.

And you sit there once the Lord makes himself real. And this is what happens to your heart. The moisture from the cloud begins to make hard soil, good soil. Rocky hearts, tender hearts. All of the sudden without even knowing, the heart is open.

Jesus Explains Himself in All the Scriptures

Then the word comes and the Holy Spirit sows it into moist soil. Now this is the power of the word. Now this is really good. Luke 24, 27. Oh, man. You ready for this? Say this out loud. The resurrected, victorious, perfect God-man, whose name is Jesus Christ, taught the Bible after the resurrection.

Let's say a few more things. Say, therefore, I should receive the word and value the word. Luke 24, 27. Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them, you ready, the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.

Now what's the context here? What's the backdrop? The road to Emmaus. Disciples are walking. They're depressed. They don't understand why Jesus died, rightfully so. They're broken in the heart. And they are walking in the evening.

All of a sudden, a man shows up that they don't recognize. Their eyes had been closed, the scripture says. That man was Jesus. And Jesus says, hey, what are you doing? Can we just read it? Because it's comical.

OK, hold on. Let's just read about the patience of the Lord and his sense of humor here. I love this about him. Luke 24, let's go back to verse 13. Now, behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.

So you know, they're walking in the evening. Like Lake Mary, I don't know, Altamont. No, not too far, unless you're walking. They didn't have rollerblades back then. Austin would have. They saved those for Austin.

OK. Verse 14, and they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was while they conversed and reasoned. Hey, hey, hey, look up here. While you're talking, he's watching. And while you're reasoning, he may just show up.

I want you to remember, I've heard people say, I've said to people, don't talk to me about that. That's gossip. And they'll be family. And they'll go, well, I mean, we're family. I go, doesn't matter.

He's here. Who gives a rip? You think that you get a family discount on that one? No. You get a pass? They'll say, I don't want to hear that. Well, I'm just talking to my family. Really, I've had it happen.

Jess and I have talked about it. And sometimes Jess has come to me, and she'll be like, I don't want to talk about that. I go, I don't want to talk about that. And vice versa, because we shouldn't do that.

And that's the family. Let me just be really clear. The family I'm talking about is Jess and I. Where Jess will come, she'll say something, I go, I don't think that's right. Or I'll do the same. She'll go, I don't think that's right.

We tend to think that's because it's husband and wife. That Jesus goes deaf. Even the fear of the Lord actually matters in marriage. Now, here's the deal. You start talking about spiritual things, or not.

You may be surprised. You have a visitor that you're unaware of. It doesn't just say that while they conversed, he showed up. It says, while they reasoned. Do you know he actually listens to our opinions?

Next time you post that. Remember that. And the people said, listen. So it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so they did not know him.

Their eyes had been closed. And he said to them, what kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad? Do you think he heard their conversation? Beware when he asks you questions.

He already knows the answer. He's waiting on you to rebuke you. That's what he's doing. Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to him, this is so funny. Again, this is after the crucifixion.

That's why they're sad. Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? Jesus is like, no, I made Jerusalem. I just died there. But no, I do understand what happened. Yeah, I'm well aware. Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem?

And have you not known the things which happened over the last few days? And he says, what things? Aren't you glad you served Jesus? I love the way he is. He has a sense of humor. He has more wisdom than we know what to do with.

He is wisdom itself. And he likes to mess with us a little. What things? So they said to him, this is great, the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty indeed in word before God, and all the people.

They had a partial revelation of who he was. Prophet? Yeah, sure. He is the prophet that Moses spoke of. A prophet will come, like me, from our people, hear him. And if you don't, you will be cut off and judged.

That's what Moses said. It's very true. But their vision of Jesus was partial. He's more than a prophet. I said he's more than a prophet. I'll say it again. He's more than a prophet. Verse 20, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him.

But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. We thought he was just a prophetic politician who would deliver us from Rome. That's pretty common today. Jesus is a part of people's political views.

He's much more than that. I said he's much more than that. Indeed, beside all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us.

When they did not find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels. Who said he was alive. They were witnessing to Jesus here. All right. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said.

But him they did not see. I have a question for you. Do you remember when the women came? Did the disciples receive the report? No, do you know the first evangelist was a woman? Oh, I know, I know, I know.

Rah! Go, come on. All right. I'm with you. Jesse already cut loose on behalf of all of y 'all. I get it. It's true, the first evangelists were women. And I believe God's going to raise up a company of soul winning women.

I believe it, ones who've seen the Lord, who love him, have been changed by him. What I love so much about what Mary said when she told that gardener. She said, where is the Lord? Where have you laid him?

In other words, give him to me. I shared this with our students. What was she going to do with a body that heavy? She didn't care. Her heart moved before her mind. She said, I don't care. Just give him to me any way I can have him.

That's the love that was in her heart. Now Jesus deals with them. Oh, this is wonderful. Then he said to them, oh, foolish ones. Oh, this is the resurrected Jesus. He's had to be much nicer than that.

Oh, foolish ones. There's another way to say that in the Greek. Oh, dummies. Oh, foolish ones. And slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Are you ready for this? Believing the scriptures is a heart issue, not a brain issue.

Our belief, or lack thereof, is, listen carefully, it is a diagnosis of the heart. Jesus doesn't go to the brain first. You can be foolish in the heart. He says, you're slow. Listen to what he does, though.

You are slow. You're slow of heart to believe in all, say all, the prophets have spoken. He turned them back to the Bible. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?

And now here's verse 27. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Jesus is raised from the dead. And he has a Bible study to turn the doubtful back to himself.

If anybody, listen carefully, could have found another avenue, another method, another strategy, it would have been the one who's raised from the dead, who has an amazing resume. He said, the answer is not, listen, the answer is not what you think.

Jesus Uses Scripture to Teach His Disciples

You have a heart issue, and I know how to fix it. This is what the scriptures say. If you have a heart issue this morning, open your Bible. That's Luke 24. Now, turn to Acts chapter 1. And this is where I'm going to close.

And we're going to take communion. Are you enjoying this? I am. And my voice is back. Thank you, Jesus. My back is back. I'm standing. I'm yelling. I'm getting excited. I need counseling. I have issues.

Hallelujah. If you don't get it, I get excited when I think of the fact that Jesus had a Bible study. I would love to have been there. Acts 1 .1. Do you know who wrote the book of Acts? Say Luke. All right, I just gave you that answer.

You can click on the text to give link to say thank you. The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, listen to this, until the day in which he was taken up, speaking of the ascension, after, listen, he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

After he, listen carefully, through the Holy Spirit had given commandments. Those commandments are the scriptures. Today we read those commandments in the scriptures. What am I saying? That if Jesus used the scriptures to defeat the devil in the wilderness, and he used the scriptures after he was raised from the dead to teach his disciples along with the Holy Spirit, we need to be addicted to opening our Bible.

The Biblical Jesus and the Only Way of Salvation

More than ever, there are so many perspectives on Jesus that are not the Bible. Therefore, they are a lie. They are a lie. Even within the church, I shared this a few weeks ago. What was it, 68 of people between the ages of 18 and, what was it, 29, the study your dad sent me, don't believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

Well, you can't read the Bible and land on that perspective. You just cannot. That comes from creating your own vision of Jesus. So I want to say this clearly. Listen, because we are a Jesus movement, a Jesus people.

We are a Jesus church. Listen, the only Jesus that saves, heals, and delivers is the Jesus of the Bible. Another one may make you temporarily more comfortable with mixture, with sin. But there is no salvation in a different Jesus.

You say, there's only one Jesus. That's not true. That's not true. Everyone with the name Joshua has the name Jesus. It's true. None of them can save you. You can give your own creation in your mind a name, Jesus.

But there's only one Jesus who has the power to change a life, the Jesus from the Bible. We have a family member named Josh. My brother-in-law, he'd be the first to say, I can't save you. It's the same name in the Hebrew, the Jesus of the Bible.

And I find it amazing that after the resurrection, Jesus still wants to sit with his disciples and show them who he is in the Bible. Now, here's the most exciting piece about this. If he hasn't changed, he wants to do that with you.

This is an adventure. It's an adventure. It's a journey into the heart of God, the scriptures.