24, 25. (a) How should what the elders teach influence the way we view them? (b) When and where should we apply what we are taught from the Bible? Why?

²⁴ The Bible emphasizes that a principal reason these overseers or elders deserve respect is that they are teaching “the word of God.” (Hebrews 13:7; 1 Timothy 5:17) And concerning the power of that “word,” Hebrews 4:12, 13 states: “The word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-​edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and their marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart.

²⁵ Thus the truths in Jehovah’s Word expose the difference between what a person may appear to be and what he really is.