Acts 2:42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper ), and to prayer. NLT
HUNGER FOR THE WORD(B)
The revived believer is a seeker of truth. He is not looking for jamboree meetings and Christo-social gatherings. He yearns for an increase in God's knowledge and accurate understanding of His word. That's why you'll see revived persons attending meetings that can add to their knowledge of spiritual things. True revival is accompanied with a deep knowledge of God's word taught to God's people. In Nehemiah 8:3, when the Jews who had been under captivity were revived and pointed to the ways of Yahweh, we were told that they listened to the law attentively, "He(Ezra) faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people listened closely to the Book of the Law." Revived souls pay attention to the word.
I love the early church in Acts of Apostles. When I read through the book of Acts, I saw that the believers devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles, fellowship, prayer and they evangelized. These were their major focuses. Their devotion to sound doctrinal teaching is a pointer to the state of revival of their lives. Lukewarm souls don't like to hear the word taught. We can tell the state of your spiritual health by observing what catches your fancy. There are some believers who would attend a church meeting because of comedians. Some are attracted by guest appearances of secular movie actors in church programs. If you ask them about the message of the day, they may not be able to tell you anything. Some go to church meetings to check out the suit of the Pastor, the altar decoration, and fine girls in the ushering unit and choir.
Let me share a priceless truth with you. Believers can only grow under sound and systematic doctrinal teaching of the bible. Not everything we hear from some altars is the word of God. Some messages meet intellectual needs but not spiritual needs. Believers need more of biblical teaching. Till Christ comes, we cannot exhaust the treasures in the word of God. The simple art of preaching the gospel brought you to Christ but the systematic method of teaching the gospel will determine your growth and rootedness in Christ. To preach is to proclaim but to teach is to explain. Revived souls are looking for explanation.
Father, I receive the grace to pay attention to the word of God in Jesus name.