January 1, 2006  •  Pastor Randy Smith

For many people, today, the first day in January represents a fresh start — a new beginning, a chance to clean the slate and move forward into the New Year with high expectations. Often ambitious resolutions are established. They hope the upcoming year will bring with it more prosperity and success.

From a biblical perspective many of these pursuits are commendable. There is nothing wrong with setting goals provided they are done, as we learned two weeks ago, for the glory of God. Even many of the top resolutions: More time with family, losing weight, getting out of debt, helping others, quitting smoking can all be supported with the Scriptures. Furthermore, Philippians 3:13 says we are to "(forget) what lies behind and (reach) forward to what lies ahead." Even prosperity and success, when tempered according to biblical guidelines, is a natural and noteworthy pursuit.

Like many, Joshua from the Old Testament, found himself in a similar situation. He too had a difficult past, but a great promise for tomorrow stood before him. His mentor, Moses, had died, but the Lord’s plans for him were quite alive. Therefore the leadership of the nation was cast upon his shoulders (cf. Num. 27:15-23). With thousands of Israelites awaiting his orders, Joshua stood on the bank of the Jordan River prepared to enter the Promised Land (Jos. 1:2).

The forty years of wandering in the desert had come to an end. It was a new start for Joshua and the Israelites. Good times were promised, but standing in between them and the good times was a rugged terrain, hostile people and fortified cities (Num. 14:6-10). No doubt bearing on Joshua’s mind was thirty-eight years earlier when his advice to enter the land was rejected (Num. 13:1-16). What guarantee did he have that entering the land tomorrow would be better than the desert and Egypt were yesterday? A fresh start was to begin with a step of faith into the unknown.

So God spoke to Joshua and gave him a word of encouragement. Three times in verses 6-9 God told His young leader to "be strong and courageous." In verse 5 He said, "Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you." And in verse 8, called by some the theme verse of Joshua, God promised prosperity and success. "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success." According to verse 8, success was contingent on faithful understanding and unwavering obedience to the Scriptures (cf. 1 Ki. 1:1-4).

My friend, the times have not changed. We would all like to put behind us some desert events from 2005. We are all crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land of 2006. We all want success and prosperity. The solution? The world will offer you countless suggestions, but according to God, success and prosperity come from clinging to the Bible! (For a detail explanation of these benefits read Psalm 119.) Even Joshua, Israel’s greatest man at the time, was not exempt from his responsibility to the Word of God.

This morning as we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Table, I would like to provide a very practical message that has been on my heart for quite some time and may sound more like a Sunday school lesson than a sermon. I want to exhort you to live by the Word of God, but I plan to do that through implementing some basic principles that will help you gain more from the Scriptures. For some of you, much of this material will come, and I hope with great encouragement, as a review. Yet for others this material will be new, and with God’s promise, a great blessing to your hearts if followed.

1. KNOWING GOD’S WORD

I trust we all know the application of God’s Word is most important, but in order to apply God’s Word it is necessary that we first know it. We can’t do what we have yet to learn. Therefore God told Joshua in the beginning of verse 8, as we begin our first point, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night."

It has been said that there are five ways we can learn the Scriptures. Some have compared them to the five fingers on a hand. All of them are important for anyone who seriously accepts God’s command in his or her approach to the Scriptures. Let’s briefly examine each of them:

Listen to it!

First, all, at the lowest level, we must listen to the Bible. Now there are a variety of ways we can hear the Bible.

One way we can all listen to the Bible is to faithfully attend church and place ourselves under the preaching of the Word. I already know that Sunday morning is rightfully carved out in your schedules. I hope all of you are here this morning for the central purpose of worshipping God through the proclamation of His Word.

But can I entertain your minds with another thought? How about giving yourself another opportunity to hear the Word of God throughout the week? Did you ever consider coming out on Wednesday evenings? Starting in February I plan to begin an extended series on the Christian family. It will be filled with practical information pertaining to marriage roles, parenting techniques and conflict resolution - all from a biblical perspective.

How about joining a Growth Group? These small informal Bible studies take place twice a month in the homes of the Grace Tabernacle family. Russ can provide you with more information if you are interested.

Furthermore, in February, we plan to resume the Men’s Discipleship Group on Saturday mornings where we will continue of study of the "Godly Man." The Ladies are looking forward to resurrecting their morning Bible Study as well. More information regarding these events is forthcoming.

As your pastor, I encourage you to get involved in these invaluable opportunities to hear the Word of God.

Moreover, as you attend these events, make every effort maximize your investment, not to mention glorify God by giving greater honor to His Word. Come prepared to learn. Give forth a disciplined effort. Get yourself a good night of rest. Pray that you will receive the Word with eagerness and understanding, absent of any distractions. Take notes to the best of your ability. I have provided you with the sermon outline; all you have to do is fill in the blanks.

You see, note taking will help you stay focused, not to mention help assist you in learning more material as you write things down. It has been estimated that we will only remember 10% of the material we hear. If we write it down those statistics increase. Additionally, you will learn and remember more if you periodically review your notes in the future. Some have chosen to keep a file of their sermon notes in a 3-ring binder. Others choose to write them directly in a journal. If you really want to benefit from the message, listen to the sermon again (available on the website and free CD’s in the back of the church) and/or read the sermon transcript which is also available on the website. Tremendous resources have been made available to you that past generations went without — take advantage of them!

In addition to the biblical messages here, you may listen to other sermons from other preachers much more gifted than me through materials available on the Internet or even the various cassette tapes we have in the library.

Another way you can listen to the Bible is to obtain a copy of the Scriptures on cassette or CD. Most Christian distributors sell these audio Bibles that are excellent for the car stereo or exercise headphones.

Another way you can listen to the Bible is to read the Bible to each other. Dads, are your wives and children hearing the Bible from you? Spouses, are you hearing the Bible from each other?

We must place ourselves under hearing the Word of God. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hear the word of God" (Lk. 11:28a; cf. Rev. 1:3).

Read it!

In addition to listening to the Bible, it is imperative that we read the Bible to ourselves.

Often we refer to this as our daily devotions. A fairly recent poll in USA Today reveals that only 11% of Americans read their Bible every day (Feb. 1, 1990). Research indicates that less than 18% of those who claim to be "born-again Christians" read their Bibles daily (Discipleship Journal, no. 52, pg. 10). Each of us should have a time that we set aside each day to read the Holy Scriptures. Opinions vary as to how long and how much we should read, but all would agree we should do what it takes to benefit from these times alone with our Savior.

If you are a brand new believer, I would encourage you to spend most of your time in the New Testament. Camp out in one of the Gospels, like Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. If you are a more mature believer be sure that you do not neglect the Old Testament. A good idea is the attempt to read through the Bible every year (which can be accomplished by giving 15 minutes a day) to always keep a perspective of the whole in your mind as you dissect the parts for more in depth analysis.

Meditate on it!

We should listen to the Bible and read the Bible. We also must meditate on the Bible. And this is specifically what Joshua 1:8 is speaking about when God said, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night." My friends, according to this verse, meditating on Scripture "day and night" is not optional, it is commanded!

Meditating on God’s Word means to reflect and consider a small portion of what you have just heard or read. Meditating means getting away from the noise and busyness, giving yourself a "mini-retreat" and thinking deeply over God’s Word in privacy. As Mary, pondered the birth of Christ and treasured it in her heart (Lk. 2:19) we should be doing the same with Scriptures.

The Puritan, Thomas Brooks, once said, "Remember that it is not hasty reading, but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths, that makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the mere touching of the flower by the bee that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time on the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove to be the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian."

After your time in the Word alone or at church, find a quite place to go over and ruminate the truth of Scripture. Jesus did this frequently (Mt. 4:1; 14:23; Mk. 1:35; Lk. 4:42). He found the time for it. We must as well. Such a process will deepen your understanding, fasten the truth on your memory, center your heart on God and provide practical application.

We find joy in thinking about that which is most important to us. Do you love the Word of God? Evidence will be your desire to meditate on it. King David in Psalm 119 said, "O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Psm. 119:97). And this cycle intensifies because the more we meditate on the Word, the more will we grow in our love for the Word (Psm. 39:3). And anyone who exhibits this kind of affection for the Scriptures, as God promised Joshua, will have success. The Psalmist concurs that the blessed man is the one who "delight(s) is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night… And in whatever he does, he prospers" (Psm. 1:2-3b).

Our time this morning has come to an end. As the Lord permits, next week, we will conclude this message. But for now let us review where we have been. In order to have success and prosperity according to God’s standards, we must make every effort to prioritize the Word of God. Application is the most important, but in order to apply the Word, we must first have it in our minds and on our hearts. Three ways we can learn God’s Word are to listen to it, read it and meditate on it. May all of us as individuals, as families and as a church implement these disciplines immediately for our joy and the glory of God!