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All right, amen. First Peter chapter number two, look down at verse number three. So the Bible says, if so be, you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Now we're gonna talk from the subject this evening, and that is how to develop spiritual taste, how to develop spiritual taste. Here Peter's obviously quoting Psalm 34 eight, you don't have to turn there, I'll just read it, which says, oh taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in him. So that's what we're gonna be talking about this evening. Now you can leave your place there and go to Hebrews chapter number five. Hebrews chapter number five. So we've been talking the last few weeks about how to increase our spiritual senses, okay. We took a break last week because I wanted to get that in before it was too late. But like we have five physical senses. Well, interestingly in the Bible, you'll see all five of those spiritual senses broken down in different ways and a spiritual application applied to each one of those. And so today we are going to talk about taste. What does the Bible say about that? The reason for this is because if you think about it, not everything that you see with your eyes and smell with your nose actually tastes good. And that's where tonight's sermon is gonna come in and try to bring these three together. Just some examples. Let's talk about incense real quick. Incense might look cool, it's burning and stuff like that. I'm sure it smells good. You've never been to somebody's house, lights, incense. Smells good, but I'm sure it wouldn't taste very good. Now, if you're ever hovering down there in Meridian near Cloverdale and Pine, there's a big coffee factory and they're always roasting beans in the morning. Smells really good. I forgot what the name of that place is, but their coffee tastes like garbage. But it smells great. It tastes nothing like it smells or like the pictures on the wall out front give it to be. Another example would be flowers. How many flowers smell good? They look pretty, but they don't taste very good, do they? I was talking about this with Jessica and her frosting. So when she's making frosting, for example, and sometimes I'll walk in the kitchen and she'll have the shortening, she'll have the butter and the vanilla and boy, that smells so good. And there was a time, if I remember correctly, where she actually let me try it and it tasted horrible. Now, why is that? Well, because there was no sugar in that. It was just absolutely terrible, okay? And so you'll see the same thing on a spiritual level this evening. And we're basically gonna prove this point this evening, which is we taste to see if what we smell and see is actually edible, okay? That's the entire point. So we're gonna back up here for a minute and kind of do a little bit of review. Hebrews chapter five, look down at verse number 13. So again, the writer says this, for everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. We've spent a lot of time on this. You know, he's not knocking babes in Christ. We need babes in Christ. That's a sign of a healthy church, a healthy ministry, okay, but look at verse 14. The strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those, and here it is, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Now that is why we need our spiritual senses exercised. Now what I don't want is I don't want you guys to be like, okay, what did he say like four weeks ago about my eyes and get bogged down about, okay, my spiritual eyes, my spiritual smell and how my spiritual tastes and just get confused, okay? Look, it's super easy. It's super easy. If you read the Bible, you study the Bible, and number three, you apply the Bible, you'll be well tracked on your way to increasing your spiritual senses. You will mature. All of them will come together. What this does, this sermon series, is it kind of allows us to just go through the Bible and just study the different categories and things and see what the Bible says about it, and it's very interesting. Now go over to chapter number six. Chapter number six. So this is, I guess, a little bit of a controversy. You know, different pastors have different views on Hebrews chapter number six, and one thing that is definitely certain is you'll never see any of us fighting about it, okay? We could talk about it like men and just reason, and it's totally fine. Where you see the fights typically about this is usually in the chat rooms, usually on Facebook or some forum like that, and it's other people while the rest of us, pastors are like, it's not that big of a deal because none of us believe that this chapter is teaching that you can lose your salvation. So now that I've got that out of the way, let's look at verse number five here, okay? So chapter four, the writer in verse 14 starts talking about spiritual senses, okay? And the value of us increasing in maturity so that we can get better at what? Discerning good and evil, okay? Because we live in a world ran by the devil, okay? And the Bible says that he does not savor the things of God, but he savors the things of man. And so what does he do? Well, he puts bait out there and that bait looks good. It looks good, it smells good, okay? But when you taste it and if you bite down on that, there is a hook inside of there that will take you down a road you do not want to go. And that's what we're also gonna talk about today. So after talking about senses, look at the wording that he uses here. He uses this twice, once in verse four and once in verse five, but he says this. He says, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. So I just wanted you to kind of see that here. Now we're gonna back up to verse number one. We're gonna go through this here. I'm gonna show you how this applies to our lives and why we need to understand the value of taste, okay? So again, we taste to see if what we can see and smell is actually edible. That's something that we should invest in and eat more of. And of course the word of God is good. If someone has tasted of the word of God and they say that it is good, that is a good thing. Now, if somebody says, hey, I tried that word of God stuff. I tried that whole Christianity stuff. I tried that and it just didn't work out for me. I walked away, I learned more. Well, you never tasted it was good because there's only one flavor that the word of God has and that is good. Now let's back up here, look down at verse number one. So after talking about having our senses exercised, and that exercise comes through study, it comes through application and of course reading. It comes from us actually making the volitional choice to study, to do all of these things, okay? It's not automatic and that is his point here. Look at verse number one. He says, therefore, okay? So for that reason, he's like, hey, therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ. What does that mean? Okay, well, he's saying, hey, we don't want you guys to just get stuck on these milk doctrines and to never advance, to never move forward. So he says, therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, okay? Obviously that's step number one, okay? That's what we preach every single week. Hey, go knock on somebody's door and talk to them. What do we typically find? We typically find they are trying to work their way to heaven. And so what do we do? We show them the word of God. We get them to hopefully see and taste that the Lord is good and that salvation is better than probation. So he says, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, verse two, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. We spent time over the last couple months talking about these things and breaking these things down, so we're not gonna do it again. Verse three says, and this will we do if God permit. Now what I want you to understand next here in verse four is that he circles back to verse number one, okay? Because he gives a list in verse number one. He starts off by saying, hey, we're not gonna lay again the doctrine of repenting from dead works and turning from that system to God's system, which is far better, okay? So he circles back here and look at verse four. He says, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, there's number one, and here's number two, and have tasted, okay? See that word there. And have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. Now I wanna break this verse down before we move on and get to the applicable part, what the Bible teaches regarding taste, okay? Now the first word that I wanna focus on here in this verse is that word enlightened. How else is it used in the Bible, okay? Well, let's just take a look at a couple examples. Actually, we're just gonna look at one, okay? That's all we're gonna have time for is one. Go to Ephesians chapter number one. Ephesians chapter number one. So the writer here is saying that it isn't possible for this person, for these people that he's describing to get re-saved. That is the way that I see it, and I just wanna show you why I teach it this way. So let's look at that word enlightened. Once enlightened here. Ephesians chapter one, look at verse number 15. So Paul here writing to the Ephesians, he says this. He says, wherefore I also, after I heard, now pay attention here, of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints. So obviously he's addressing the saved, the brethren. Now skip down to verse number 18 for the sake of time. And he says this, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance and the saints, okay? Now we've gone through this chapter in detail. I wanna say it was six, seven months ago when we went through the book of Ephesians. And so what Paul's saying here is saying, hey, you're already saved. Your eyes have been enlightened. You've received the Holy Ghost. You have the ability to now go further, okay? So we've all seen this, right? You have people that receive the word of God, they get saved. I mean, they get it, they've got it. They're good to go, they're saved, okay? But they never take the next step. They never actually say, you know what? I want to actually learn about this hope in detail, the hope of his calling. I wanna see what these riches are that are in the Bible. They never get the full meal. And what happens? Well, they typically get caught up in the things of the world. They don't go to church. They don't get discipled or anything like that, okay? And so you're gonna see that as we study this out that there's basically when a person gets saved, you're either going to serve the Lord or you're gonna serve the world. You're gonna serve yourself, okay? That is typically what choices people have. So the first thing that I want you to see here though is these people that are saved were enlightened, okay? You see that there? They were enlightened. Now we'll go back to Hebrews chapter number four. So again, we taste. The purpose of our tasting is for what? It's so that we can validate whether what we're looking at, what we're seeing, what we're smelling, even touch could also obviously be in there, but we're trying to discern whether or not this is something that is edible, okay? Is this edible? Is this something I should invest in or eat in? And for the believer, okay, what you find in the Bible is over and over again that his word is sweeter than honey. If you make that choice, you say, you know what old man, I'm gonna have to squash you down and I'm gonna have to start walking in the spirit, be disciplined, I'm gonna read, I'm gonna study and I'm gonna apply, okay? And when you do that, you will increase in your senses. So verse four, yeah, verse four, Hebrews chapter six, look what it says, for it is impossible for those, okay, for this group of people who were once enlightened, okay? Paul uses that wording in Ephesians. There's also a couple other places in the Bible we don't have time to get to, but he says that, hey, these guys, you guys that are saved, okay, your eyes have been opened, you're enlightened, your understanding is there, you're good to go. You have the ability to discern the word of God, you have the ability to receive truth. Now look at this next word again. So and have tasted of the heavenly gift. Now, if it stopped right there, I might be like, okay, the subsequent, you know, passages, it might be talking about reprobates, but here's the one that gets me, okay? And says, and we're made partakers of the Holy Ghost. Well, who makes the new man? Who makes us? Who makes us to be in the kingdom of God? Is it us or is it God? Well, it is God, okay? So it says, and we're made partakers. Well, back up, if you would, to Hebrews chapter number three, because we're gonna see how this all fits together, okay? So these guys who were enlightened, okay? They have tasted that the heavenly gift is good, and after they tasted that it was good, something happened. They were made something. What were they made? They were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, okay? Hebrews chapter three, the writer uses the same language here. Look at verse number one. It says, wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. So again, one of the things that you learn by studying the book of Hebrews is that he, the writer, who I believe is Paul, is constantly trying to affirm these guys and to give them reasons not to go back to the old system, okay? It was a struggle for these early Jewish Christians. You know, they were caught up in, you know, which customs do we let go of and do we really need to let go? You know, it's hard for us to let go of the past, and that's one of the things that we're struggling with, but notice the language here, verse one. Wherefore, holy brethren, okay, these people are saved, partakers of the heavenly calling. Now skip down to verse number 14, okay? And I want you to see this here, verse 14. For we are, and I want you to pay attention to these next two words. What does it say? Made, okay? Made, for we are made partakers of Christ. If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast and to the end. Now he's not saying that you can lose your salvation. I don't have time to break that down. I've already done that. But he says, for we are made partakers of Christ. Now go back to chapter number six, okay? So what do we see so far? Well, we saw an example of people enlightened in Ephesians that were saved. We see in chapter three an example of people that are saved that were made partakers of Christ. These three are one. So with that in mind, look at verse four again. It says, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, look at verse five, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. Okay, so these people here that he's talking about, there's something that is impossible to happen to them. Okay, there's something that is impossible to happen to them. And they have tasted of the heavenly gift, meaning they understand that this gift is good. Wow, this is better than what I was on before. This is better than work salvation. This is better than being on probation. This is freedom. This is true liberty. So they understand that, and they also understand the judgment. Okay, that's what he's talking about there at the end of verse five. It says, and the powers of the world to come, that is also a reference to judgment. And of course, like I said before, when someone comes to you and says, I tasted the word of God, it tasted that good to me, you didn't really taste it, okay? And we'll look at an example of that in Luke chapter here in just a moment. So it's impossible for these guys to do something. Let's look at verse six. Okay, so two times using the word tasted there, okay? Verse six, if they, okay, I want you to pay attention to these pronouns, they, them, okay? Big, big words today, pronouns. Everybody likes to talk about them. If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame. Now remember, there are three attributes that he gives us about these people here, okay? Verse six, look what it says. If they fall away or shall fall away to renew them. What are those three attributes? Well, they were enlightened, they tasted of the heavenly gift, they tasted that the word of God was good, okay? But also they were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. Okay, so those three things about these people. So if they fall away, it's impossible for them to get saved again. That's the way that I see it, okay? And if you look at the end of the verse there, after that semicolon, after the word of repentance, what does he say? Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame. Now that's what the Catholic Church does. That's what the world's religion of human achievement does on a weekly, if not a daily basis, okay? By saying, oh, you know, if you lost your way, hey, don't worry about it, you can always come back and you can rededicate your life, you can get resaved, okay? Basically what you're saying is that the sacrifice that Jesus gave once and for all was not good enough. You're saying that it's only good enough as long as you help him out by you turning from your sins and you doing all of these other things. And we know that not to be true. Now go to Luke chapter number eight. And let's answer this other question that's probably looming in your mind. Hey, what does he mean here if they fall away? Okay, does that mean if they lose their salvation? No, you guys know that's not what he's talking about. So the question becomes, these people that tasted of the word of God, got step one right, okay? Is it possible for them to fall away? And if so, what does that look like? Okay, well, let's check it out. Let's look at Luke chapter eight. And I want you to look down here in verse number, look at verse number nine. Luke chapter eight, look at verse number nine. So the Bible says this. His disciples asked him, saying, what might this parable be? So they're like, you know, listening to Jesus give this parable, and obviously these guys are saved minus Judas, but they're confused. They're like, oh, we're not quite sure what this means. What does this mean? Please explain this to us. Look at verse 10. And he said, and this is Jesus speaking to them, okay? Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand. Verse number 11, okay? So he gives you the purpose and the reason for these parables. Verse 11 says, now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Verse 12, those by the wayside are they that hear then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. And I'm sure if any number of you can recall, you've probably been at a door or talking with somebody, giving them the gospel, right? And it's just like, you're putting a verse in and the next thing you know, that verse is gone. It's almost like you never even read it to them. Like you never even explained it to them, okay? I've had numerous encounters like that where I was like, you know, I'm giving people all these Bible verses, you know? We're sitting down, they're like, okay, I understand that. And then just like 10 seconds later, they're like, but just faith and works, right? It's still, you still gotta have the works. I'm like, you just said a couple of minutes ago, you understood that there was no works involved. And they're like, I did? What do you mean? That's probably an example of a devil snatching that word out of the heart. Now here's the problem, if the word is gone, not able to stay in the heart, it's gonna be kind of hard for you to taste it. It's gonna be hard for you to actually be like, hmm, that is good, I'm gonna go ahead and eat this. Okay, that's my point. That's the way that I see this here. Verse number 12, look what he says. Those by the wayside are they that hear, and cometh the devil, and take away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. Very clear, verse 13. They on the rock are they which when they hear receive the word with joy. And these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation, and here it is, fall away. Okay, well if they believe, they're saved. If they believe, they are saved. But here's an example of people that believe that fall away. What is he talking about? They fall away from service. They fall away from yielding fruit. And you're gonna see that come up in Hebrews in just a minute. Verse 14, and that which fell among thorns are they which when they have heard go forth and are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. Okay, keep your place here in Luke now. Go to 2 Peter chapter number two. 2 Peter chapter number two. I'm sorry, go to 2 Peter chapter three. I forgot to help you out by getting you one chapter closer to where I really wanted you to go. Either that or I just can't read. Only one of those is true. It's your job to taste and see if what I said is. All right, it's been a long day, I get it. 2 Peter chapter number three, okay? So beginning in verse 14, Peter's giving them some edification and he's saying, hey, don't forget that Paul, the apostle Paul, that he's written things unto you, you know, very similar to what I have written unto you. And in verse 16, he talks about how a lot of people misunderstand what Paul says and they wrestle with his scriptures and they just basically go shipwreck. They just basically self-destruct, okay? Now after he says that, look at verse 17. So again, we're answering this question. Okay, can people who have tasted the word of God fall away? Look at verse 17. So he says, ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also. Okay, ye also. So there's a group of people that wrestle with the things that Paul says to their own destruction, they can't interpret them. Okay, they're trying to put the cart before the horse. They're trying to eat meat before they have been able to digest milk. Okay, so he says, ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, and here it is, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. What does it look like for a Christian to fall away after they've tasted the good word of God? Well, it looks like they can fall away by just going into the world and just living selfishly. Okay, all of us have seen that, or maybe you, if you're like me, I've done that in the past, you know? It's a thing that can happen, where you can fall from your own steadfastness. You could be, you know, I'm three to thrive now, I'm reading the Bible, and so on, and I'm doing all these things, and then a couple years from now, something happens, something changes, and your life catches you off guard, and the next thing you know, you're no longer steadfast. You're being blown around with different winds of doctrine, and so on and so forth, okay? That's what we're trying to prevent, and the way that you prevent that is by remembering what you first tasted when you got saved. You tasted that the word of God was good, so you know it's always good to eat. You can see, you can smell, you can touch, you can use all of your senses, and you know, and the Bible tells you over and over again that these things are what need to dominate your new man, okay? Verse 18, it says, but grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to him be glory both now and forever, amen. Okay, so again, these people are saved, but they can fall from service, and that's what he's talking about. Now go back to Hebrews chapter number six. Hebrews chapter number six, let's look at verse number six one more time. It says that they shall fall away, so remember it was impossible for these folks that tasted the good word of God, they tasted that the heavenly gift was good, they tasted that the word of God was good. They got that spiritual sense down, okay? Now they're gonna go, like, basically if you boil it down, they're gonna go one of two directions, and that's what we're gonna get to, but he says it's impossible that they shall fall away to renew them again to repent and sing. They crucify themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame, okay? And you know, that's the reality of it, okay? You go down to the Catholic church and just every, you know, service, oh, come down here and eat this wafer, and this is the body and blood of Jesus Christ, okay? What are they doing? They're putting him to shame in the Catholic church. Really, honestly, even in the New Evangelical Church, they have Jesus on the cross every single service, you know, oh, come down to this altar and rededicate and turn back over. You know, obviously we need to learn from our mistakes and the Bible's gonna step on our toes and we need to make changes, we get that, okay? But this idea that you just, you know, oh, I don't know if you lost your salvation but you probably came pretty close and you need to redo everything and just for safety, let's rebaptize you in water again, okay? That's all trash, that's all garbage, okay? What he's saying here is that the sacrifice was once and for all, and when people say otherwise, that you have to sacrifice him again and again and again, you're putting him to open shame. Here's why, just go a couple chapters over to Hebrews chapter 10, real quickly, look at verse number 14. Hebrews 10, verse number 14. So he says this, for by one offering, how many? One, it takes one to get you saved forever, one, for by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. So when you're saved, you get born again, you were sanctified, you were baptized, you were placed into the body of Christ, we get that, we understand that. Now, go back to Hebrews six, let's move on here. So again, we taste to discern if what we see and smell and what our other senses are actually true, we taste to see if we can actually eat this, if this is edible. Verse seven, he says, for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs and meat for them by whom it is dressed receiveth a blessing from God. So you take a look out in the vegetation world, okay? You've got many different types of plants and trees and things of that nature, okay? The rain falls on them, okay? But guess what, the rain also falls on the sticker bushes, the rain also falls on the thorn bushes, the rain also falls on things that don't grow as well, that are not, commonly look at verse eight, he says, but that which bear thorns and briars is rejected and nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. So again, if verse four was written differently, I'd be like, yeah, okay, maybe that is reprobate, and if that's your position, that's totally fine, it's not a problem, okay? Now, with that being said, what I see here, I see in verse seven, I see that guy who tasted the word of God, who said, wow, this heavenly gift is great, I'm saved, obviously, I'm all in, and what else is there? And they keep eating, and they keep eating, and they keep digesting, and they keep growing, okay? Remember, the word of God here, the rain, it falls on all of it, okay? So verse eight here is what? It's that other person, Luke chapter eight, verse 14, I'll just read it for you, it's, and that which fell among thorns are they which when they have heard go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. That's what I see there in verse number eight, but that which bear thorns and briars is rejected and nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. Look at verse number nine, it says, but beloved, we are, and here's another reason why I believe the way that I do, but beloved, we are persuaded better things of you. Okay, and so it just, to me, you know, if this was talking about reprobate, it's like, well, a Christian can't go from being a Christian to a reprobate, that's the way that, you know, we all believe that. So he says, but beloved, we are persuaded better things of you. These you there are the they them of verse four. Those who were enlightened, who tasted of the heavenly gift, the word of God, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, okay? So he says, but beloved, we are persuaded better things of you. So he's basically saying, hey, refer back to that parable that Jesus taught, okay? When the word comes and a person gets saved, you know, are they going to allow root to go downward? Okay, how does that happen? Well, it happens by continuously eating the word of God and increasing your senses, like the writer talked about in chapter five, okay? Or what's gonna happen is the person's gonna get choked by the cares and the thorns and the things of this world, and what are they going to yield? What are they going to produce? They're not gonna produce fruit. They're not gonna produce edification to the brethren, and they're certainly not gonna produce evangelizing the lost. They're going to be at a loss for works. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number three and look at verse number 15. 1 Corinthians chapter number three, look at verse number 15. Bible says, if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire, okay? Now that's not to say that some people are gonna have wood, hay, and stubble, and some aren't. We're all gonna have wood, hay, and stubble, okay? It's just the way that it is, but unfortunately, some people are gonna have a bonfire of wood, hay, and stubble at the judgment seat of Christ, okay? And that's what we're trying to avoid. We want to be used by the master so that we can help the kingdom of God and be good stewards with the time that he's given us on earth. Now go back to Hebrew six one more time, one more verse, and then we're gonna move on to the application here. Hebrew six, look at verse number 10. So again, he says this, for God is not unrighteous to forget your work, okay? To forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward his name, and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. I can't tell you how important, again, it is. The things that you do for your brothers and sisters in Christ, the kind words that you say, the prayers that you offer, the help that you give them, that also stores up treasures in heaven, and it pleases God, and we need to be the people that are actually learning how to do that better, okay? By reading, digesting, studying the word of God. Now go all the way back to the Old Testament and go to Ezekiel, and we'll start to kinda peel this off now and see what this looks like, how tasting the word of God brings forth fruit, like I believe the writer in Hebrews is trying to communicate. So Ezekiel chapter number three, very familiar verse. If you know anything about Ezekiel, this will definitely help you. So Ezekiel chapter number three, verse number one, the Bible says, of course, this is God revealing truth to Ezekiel, and he wants him to do something here in this vision, and he says this. Moreover, he said unto me, son of man, eat that thou findest. What is it that he's gonna find? Well, look at the next word, eat this roll. Look at this phrase, eat this roll. What's gonna be the result of him eating? He's already tasted that the word of God is good. I mean, it's obvious from the context here and why he was chosen to be a prophet. So God says, hey, you know, that milk is out of the way here, okay? Eat this roll and go speak unto the house of Israel. Why is that? Well, because again, you are what you eat. That's what everybody says, right? You are what you eat. Well, if that's true physically, then it's more true spiritually, okay? So by reason of use, we need to eat the word of God. We need to digest it. So look at verse two. He says, so I opened my mouth and he caused me to eat that roll. Verse three, and he said unto me, son of man, cause thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. What do you think would have happened if Ezekiel right here was just like, just took a nibble and then set it down and was like, I don't want to eat too fast. I don't want to eat too much. Okay, would he have been as effective for God? You know the answer to that. Verse three, and he said unto me, son of man, cause thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it. And it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. You see that there? Look at verse four. And he said unto me, son of man, go get thee unto the house of Israel and speak with my words unto them. Okay, Psalm 19, Psalm 119. Okay, both of those places in the Bible describe the word of God being sweeter than honey, okay? And you know what? Your new man understands that. But the problem is that old man's like, hey man, that's cool, but this first, this first, this first, and that's cause you're having to fight every single day in your life, okay? Now go to Revelation chapter number 10. We're going to see a similar situation here now with John, but we're going to kind of see that the word of God after it's eaten yields maybe a little bit of a different result here, a little bit of a different feeling. Okay, so Ezekiel, he eats the word of God, describes it, you know, this is in my mouth for honey and for sweetness. And of course, because he obeyed, because he did that, he was able to get filled, he was thus able to go to the captives and actually show them the heirs of their ways. He was also able to go to the religious leadership and show them the heirs of their way. And of course, I mean, his actions, his obedience, what are they doing? Well, they're still serving us today, okay? Revelation chapter 10, look down at verse number nine. So the Bible says here, this is John speaking, and he says, and I went unto the angel and said unto him, give me the little book. I don't know, I just think that's so funny. Just give me the little book. And he said unto me, take it and eat it up. And it shall make thy belly better, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. This will kind of go over into next time or next week's sermon when we talk about feel, okay, and talk about feeling. But look at verse number 10, he says, and I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey. And as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. Verse 11, and he said unto me, thou must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. Now you compare Ezekiel chapter number three with Revelation chapter number 10. Basically what that teaches you is sometimes when you're eating the word of God, it's always gonna be sweet, okay? It should always be sweet, whether it causes a little bit of a bitter feeling, meaning like, man, you're eating this, you're like, man, I'm not doing that, or I shouldn't have done this, okay? That's okay, just remember it is sweet, meaning it is all good for you. We taste, why do we taste? We taste to discern whether what we see and smell is actually good, legit to be eaten, okay, to be edible. Now, let's talk about something that can hinder your taste. Go to the book of Job, and we're getting close to being done here, but go to Job, the book of Job, chapter number six. Job chapter number six, the book of Job. Book of Job, chapter number six. Job actually makes this statement a couple of times here in this chapter. We're just gonna look at one verse here. I think this is very interesting, and this is basically kinda where I started studying for the sermon here in verse 30. So he says this, Job chapter six, verse 30. So of course, he's going back and forth with his friends or trying to tell him all the stuff he's done wrong. He's like, I ain't done nothing wrong. But he does make this statement, and it is definitely found to obviously be true, what he says, is there, verse 30, is there iniquity in my tongue? Cannot my taste discern perverse things? So on a physical side, he's saying, hey, is my tongue broken, is there something wrong? It's pretty obvious I can taste something is good or something is bad, but really, I see the spiritual side of that, and the fact is that we taste to see whether something is edible or not. So we taste it, hmm, is that thing that looks good, that thing that smells good, that thing that's just appealing, is that actually edible, okay? Now, we think about this verse here, you can see there's something that would prevent, okay, that would prevent the blessing of having a mature sense of taste, and what is that? Iniquity, okay, what can hinder your taste? Iniquity, then you go back to that parable in Luke chapter number eight, and just kinda think about the guy, okay, and think about the guy, get saved, he believes on the word of God, he's definitely saved, he's got it, okay, but he doesn't develop any root, and, you know, gets choked with the cares of the world, okay, just not producing any kind of fruit. I don't know about you guys, but I've worked with somebody like that. I actually had the privilege many years ago of getting a guy saved, a guy who was working on for a very long time, got him saved, and, you know, there was a little bit of care, yeah, I'm gonna come to church, I'm gonna do these things, okay? I got to work with this guy for almost a year and a half after I got him saved, and he was one of those guys that you would read about in Luke chapter eight, but you know what the funny thing is? He would sometimes try to, you know, tell you, oh, well, this is bad, or this is good, or whatever, and it's like, dude, what are you talking about? Like, you have no idea what you're talking, where are you, I'm like, where are you getting this stuff from? He's like, well, I watched this YouTube video, you know, about the Christmas tree, I watched this YouTube video, you know, we shouldn't eat pork, and I'm like, no! No, dude, read the Bible! So his spiritual taste is all messed up, why? Because he's in the world, there's iniquity in his tongue, therefore his senses are blocked, he never made it past milk stage, okay? And that's what I'm trying to say here. I'm not saying like, oh, you got mad at somebody and said something you should have, well, you're not gonna be able to have good spiritual discernment, okay? That's not what I'm saying at all. Basically, we're just gonna leave it there. What I'm saying is that, remember this, okay, reading is feeding and chewing is brewing. What does that mean? Well, as you're reading, you're definitely feeding yourself, but again, remember the threefold process to increase your senses. You want to read, okay? No one disagrees with that. You want to also, though, study, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, okay, like my friend I was talking about, okay? So we want to read, we want to study, but obviously also we want to apply because remember in Hebrews chapter five, the writer says what? Hey, if you want your senses exercised, okay, exercised includes application, hearing the word of God, understanding the word of God, and actually using it on a daily basis. When you do that, okay, you're chewing, that stuff is brewing. Remember, when you study, okay, you're studying the Bible, you're meditating on the word of God, you're literally digesting it, and everybody knows on the physical side, the better your digestion is, the better your health is. Well, it's the same thing spiritually. The better that you're able to digest the word of God, the more spiritual maturity you're going to reap, and that is when you're going to definitely become effective, and I'm not saying you're not now, I'm just saying in general, okay? So we're gonna stop right there for this evening. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for the infinite wisdom found in your word. I just pray that you'd bless the fellowship after the service, Lord, and bring us back again safely this weekend. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.