A Plan For Prosperity And Success
A PLAN FOR PROSPERITY AND SUCCESS
Psalm 119:9-16
In the book, "The Lost Art of Disciple Making", Leroy Elms tells of a time when his family was driving through south Florida. As far as the eye could see there were orange trees loaded with oranges. So when he stopped for breakfast, Elms ordered fresh orange juice with his eggs. "I'm sorry," said the waitress. "I can’t bring you any orange juice today. Our machine is broke. At first,” he said, “I was dumfounded. We were surrounded by millions of oranges, and I knew that they had oranges in the kitchen because our plates were garnished with orange slices. The problem wasn’t a lack of oranges, the problem was they had become dependent upon a machine to get it. And when the machine broke down, they didn’t even consider squeezing orange juice by hand.”
And then Elms wrote, “Christians are sometimes like that. They may be surrounded by bibles in their homes, but if something should happen to the Sunday morning preaching service, they would have no nourishment for their souls.” He adds, “The problem isn’t the lack f spiritual food. The problem is that many Christians have not grown enough to know how to get it for themselves.”
Now, the purpose of this message today is to encourage you to read and study the bible on your own. I'm glad that you're coming to church and you're listening to the bible being taught. I believe one of the reasons God has blessed this church in so many ways is because we try to teach the Bible. I hope when you leave here every week you'll be able to say, “I learned something about the bible today.” But if I do my job as a leader, I must motivate you to study the bible on your own. It's been said, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” A good preacher, therefore, needs to do more than just feed people a lesson a week. We need to teach you how to feed yourself on the milk and the meat of God's Word. Every parent spoon-feeds a baby. But there comes a time when that baby is taught and desires to feed himself. And as you grow as a Christian, there should be an increasing desire within you to feed yourself from the Word of God.
Now, I am going to begin with the assumption today that most of you do not read the Bible regularly. I don’t mean to insult you. I'm just being realistic. I don’t think most of you read the Bible regularly. And I know your reasoning. First, you say, “I just don't have the time. I am so busy that I just can't seem to cram something else in to an already crowded schedule.” The second reason that some of you don't read the Bible very often is that you feel you can't understand it on your own, or you don't know how to read the Bible. People say things like, “Well, I've read the bible some, but I don't get much out of it. It wasn't very entertaining. I got out of the habit.”
You know what the real problem is for most of us? We’re not convinced of the value of reading our bibles regularly. If I said to you today that I would give you $500 a day if you were to read the Bible and try to digest it for the next year . . . would you do it? I think you probably would. You see, it's a matter of priority and motivation. Well, I'd like to convince you toady to develop a regular program of study that will be much more beneficial to you than any cash gift that can be given. Psalm 19:10 says, “The ordinances of the Lord are more precious than gold, than much pure gold, in keeping them there is great reward.”
I. WHY SHOULD WE STUDY THE BIBLE?
Now, why should we study the Bible? Well, one reason is, God commands it. There are other reasons than that. But if we had no other reason for doing so, God instructs us to do it. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not nee to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” The KJV says, “Study to show yourself approved to God.” Now, that sounds like a tedious command, unless you love the Author of the book.
Lori and I had been dating about 4 months during our freshman year of college when I went to Youngstown, Ohio to serve an internship with a church, and she went back to her home in Indianapolis. And for three months we did not see each other. She wrote to me everyday. She was crazy about me! And I wrote to her every day. I was in love with her. And the lady in whose house I rented an apartment never once had to say to me, “You got another letter from Lori today, now go read it.” I couldn’t wait to get a hold of those letters. If you love the letter writer, you will devour the letter! Now, as we grow in our love for God, we ought to be increasingly anxious to read the letter that He has directed to us. It is not a chore, it is a joy. I John 3:5 says, “This is love for God; that we obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”
But we should also study the bible because it increases our faith. Romans 10:17 reads, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the words of Christ.” Some of you here today struggle with doubt. You have intellectual questions that have not been resolved in your mind.
What about the fossils that seem to support evolution?
If the bible is true, why do some theologians think that it is not true?
How can you explain so much suffering in the world if God is in control?
And you think the way to resolve those questions is to sit and ponder for a long time, or to read what all the great minds of the centuries have said. But nothing will convince you of the validity of the Scriptures like a study of the Scriptures themselves. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. You do not need to read books about the bible so much as you need to read the bible itself. Isaiah 55:11 reads, "My word that goes out form my mouth, it will not return to me empty. But it will accomplish what I desire and it will achieve the purpose for which I sent it." God says that his word will not return void. It's a living word, not a dead word. It's like a seed that can be planted in a soil and it will take root and grow.
You can drive me to destination 10 times straight and chances are I won't remember how to get here. But if I have to find the route one time on my own, I'll remember how to get there. And you can have somebody lay it out for you again and again. But until you have to dig it out and lay it out on your own, you won't begin to believe or have your faith increased the way you would if it comes on your won.
We should also study the bible because it reinforces us against temptation. Psalm 119:9 asks, "How can young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.", is the answer. Then David says, "Your world have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you." You and I are battered every day with temptations from the world. And we need an inner reinforcement against that. Every time Jesus was tempted, he withstood it by quoting Scripture;
"It is written, man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God."
"It is written, don't worship anything but the Lord your God."
"It is written, don't tempt the Lord your God."
The more we have our minds saturated with the bible, the more prepared we are to stand against the attacks of the adversary. One man rationalized that he didn't read the bible because he couldn't retain it. He said, “My mind is kind of like a sieve.” Somebody said, “That's a pretty good analogy. A sieve doesn’t retain much of the water, but the water keeps the sieve clean.” And if our minds and spirits are going to be clean in this age, we need the refreshing waters of God's word flowing though us continually.
A study of the bible also prepares us to witness. Listen, I don't have to tell you, but the Christian faith is under a more overt attacks toady than ever before in the history of this nation. We Christians are going to be called upon more and more to defend our faith and our beliefs. We're going to have increased challenges and increased opportunities to witness. But we have to be equipped. I Peter 3;15 says, "Always be ready to give a reason for the hope that you have." It is not enough any more, people to say "I believe the Bible because my grandmother believed it", or "I believe that Jesus lives because he lives within my heart," or "Go to church and our preacher will tell you what we believe." We better be able to turn to some passages in the Bible and quote Jesus Christ so that we can defend our faith. Ephesians 6 tells us to , "Put on the full armor of God so that we'll be able to stand against the evil's schemes." And the only offensive weapon that we are told in the passage that we have is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
If a soldier has on a helmet, and he's got a shield and he's got a breastplate, but he doesn't have any offensive weapon, he just stands there and takes all the barrages of the enemy . .. Eventually he's going to be defeated. And I don’t care how moral you are, or how pure your faith, if you're just standing there taking it, if you don't have any offensive weapons, if you don't have the sword of the Spirit, eventually you're going to be defeated. I really think that some of the younger Christians understand that better than some of us who grew up in an era that was more tolerant of Christianity.
We should also study the Bible because it enriches our lives. Listen to Psalm 19 when it talks about what will happen if your regularly read the bible. Beginning in verse 7 it says,
"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul." When you get down in the dumps, you don't need to take an "upper" pill. You need to read the Word of God. It revives the soul.
"The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple." Our world doesn't know right from wrong any more. But if you study the Bible, there is an absolute standard of right and wrong, and it will give you more common sense than 3 graduate degrees if you'll do it regularly. One college professor instructed his student. He said, "When we take this final exam, I want there to be one empty seat between each of you because as the Good Book says, we're going to avoid all appearances of evil." One of his students raised his hand and asked, "What if you don't believe the Good Book?” And the professor responded, "If you don't believe the Good Book, let there be two empty seats between you when you take the test." The Word gives us an absolute standard of right and wrong, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart." The world is looking for instant gratification, a regular reading of the bible gives permanent joy.
"The ordinances of the Lord are sure, and altogether righteous." In other words, they give you a firm foundation for your life. Everything around you is falling apart, but the Word of God give you stability for life. Do you know what? There are only two things in this life that are eternal; people and the bible. The spirits of people are going to live on for eternity, and the bible says, the Word of God is living and it endures forever. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, my word will never pass away." Everything else will be burned up. Everything but people and the bible. So when you read the Word and you saturate your mind with it, there is a sense of constancy, and stability, and permanency about it.
Zondervan Publishing Company recently released statistics that since 1960 the divorce rate has tripled. But the divorce rate for families that pray together and read the Bible together regularly is 1 out of 1,000. Can you believe that? 1 out of 1,000 end in divorce when the family read the bible every day and pray together. If, when you got married, someone handed you an insurance policy that could guarantee 99.9% success of your marriage, how much would that be worth to you? It's more precious than gold, than much pure gold. In keeping hem there is great reward.
II. HOW CAN WE STUDY THE BIBLE MORE EFFECTIVELY?
Now, how can we study the bible more effectively? Let me give you some suggestion that I hope will help you. Number one, begin with a set time every day. Understand that I ma not just asking you to read the bible one or two times every week. I'm asking you to set apart a time every day when you can read the Bible. Get into the habit of setting aside 15 minutes sometime during the day when it's best for you. If you read the bible aloud for 12 minutes every day, you could read through the entire bible in a year. I'm encouraging you to set aside 15 minutes each day to be in God's word.
And listen to me, if you don't make it a daily routine, you won't do it because there will always be something more pressing, something more inviting, something more exciting to do than to read your Bible? Make a commitment that this habit is going to be as much a part of your day as brushing your teeth or reading the daily newspaper. Somebody said if you do something 35 times straight it's easier to keep doing it than it is to stop. And I want you to get into the habit of reading the bible regularly for over a month, so that you feel guilty if you don't do it. The first few days, it's probably not going to be all that meaningful for you, but if you'll do it for a year, I will guarantee you you'll look back and say, I've grown during that year. I've been stronger than I ever have been in my life. Make it a habit.
Secondly, use a readable translation. For years the most popular translation of the bible was the KJV translation. It was translated into English by a panel of scholars in the early 1700's and they did an excellent job of making it accurate, dignified and clear. But the KJV now presents a problem for us in that the language of 400 years ago is now becoming obsolete. The KJV says conversation when it means conduct. One passage in the KJV says let when it means prevent, and today to let means to permit. The N.T. originally was written in the familiar language of the people. And when we read the bible, it needs to be an understandable language. I would recommend the NIV. Recently the NIV has begun to outsell the KJV as the most popular translation of the Bible. Now, some of you like The Living Bible, which is paraphrase and not a translation. Kenneth Taylor, who paraphrased The Living Bible did a good job of making the O.T. and the N.T. very understandable. But when you read a paraphrase of the bible you need to remember that it is one man's explanation it is not a translation. A paraphrase can be helpful if you are comparing it to translation.
Thirdly, start at the right place. I would not start, as a new Christian or one not familiar with the bible, in Genesis and start reading through the bible. The bible is not a novel. It is library of 66 different books. And you don't go to our church library upstairs and take the first book on the shelf and start going through until you get to the next one. You start with books that can be easily read, or books that have some interest to you. And if you begin with Genesis, you move through Genesis and Exodus and you get to Leviticus pretty fast. And Leviticus will bog you down with a lot of details that are hard to understand.
A little 4 year old boy was sitting in the back seat of his dad's car eating an apple and he said, "Daddy, how come my apple is turning brown?"
And the father said, "That's because when you bite the skin off the apple, the meat of the apple is exposed to oxygen. The oxygen in the air oxidizes the apple and it changes it's molecular structure and turns it into another color."
There was along pause and the boy said, "Daddy, are you talking to me?"
And if you're young in the faith and you jump in reading Leviticus, Revelation, or Ezekiel, you're going to say, "Lord, are you speaking to me?"
There are several systems of reading that people find helpful. I would suggest that you start with the Gospel of John and go through John, Acts, and the letters of the N.T. John tells us about the life of Christ, Acts tells us about the history of the church, and the letters tell us about how to live as Christians. Some people like to read one chapter of the N.T. every day and one chapter of Proverbs every day. There are 31 chapters of Proverbs, one for every day. It's a book of wisdom. Billy Graham has this bible reading plan in addition to his other bible reading. He reads 5 chapters in Psalms every day and one chapter in Proverbs. He says, "Proverbs keeps me right with man, and Psalms keeps me right with God."
Fourthly, focus on content and not on the amount you cover. I know people who say, "I'm going to read through the bible in a year." That's good, but sometimes a goal like that can be a race to finish and not a time to feast. When you sit down at the table you don't day, "Ready, set, go!" And then see how fast you can eat up everything on the table. Well . . . some of you don't, anyway. You select what is going to be helpful to you and you savor each bite. Now, the bible is food for the spirit and some of it has to be digested slowly. Psalm 1 says, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and he meditates on it day and night." And the word for mediate is the word to describes a cow chewing it's cud. When you read the Bible, you are to think about it, mull it over in your mind, and absorb it in your innermost being. And if you read just 8 verses and you understand it, that's better than speed-reading 5 chapters without any comprehension.
I'd also suggest that you memorize some Scripture. "I've hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against God." How much have you got in your heart? Years ago a missionary to Burma was arrested by the Communist when they overtook that country. They put him in solitary confinement for over a month. He said the worst part was they took his Bible away from him and he added, "The only thing I had to get me through each day, was what I had memorized." Let me ask you something, if you were taken hostage and put in a closet for a month, how much of the Word of God would you have memorized to sustain you? Jesus wept . . . John 3:16? Make an effort to commit portions of God's Word to memory.
But please remember, the bible as wonderful as it is, is not an end in itself. You have to heed it. Someone said, "The best way to read the Bible is to read it until you come to a command and then go obey it. And then repeat the process." But the purpose of the bible is to introduce us to Jesus. It’s not just to be displayed on your coffee table. It's not just to be read every day. It is not even just to be memorized. The purpose of the bible is to help you to meet the person of Jesus Christ and allow him to fill up your life and your mind. And if you've not met him, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
If I told you that I knew the secret that would guarantee that you would have a successful and prosperous New Year in 2004 would you be interested in what I had to say? Well, I do know the secret. In Joshua 1:8 the Lord said to his servant Joshua, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart form your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
I heard about a church that decided to honor their retiring preacher. He had been there for 30-some years. They had a big roast and a lot of laughter, and lot of tributes to him. And at this gala occasion there was a professional actor in the church who gave a rendition of the preacher's favorite Psalm, Psalm 23. With perfect diction, and dramatic inflection the actor just captivated everyone's attention by reciting the 23rd Psalm. And when he finished there was an eruption of thunderous applause.
Shortly after that the preacher go up and he thanked everybody. He particularly thanked the actor. He got to thinking about how much that Psalm meant to him, and he began to quote it himself. This time, there was not the perfect diction and inflection of the actor. But with a quivering voice he quoted David's Psalm that had supported him for many years, "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. . . yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil . . . surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. . . " When the preacher got done, there was a reverent hush over the audience. There as no applause. But the actor leaned over to he person next to him and whispered, "You know what? I knew the psalm. But he knows the Shepherd, doesn't he?"
Do you know the Shepherd of the psalms? Do you know the Savior of the Scriptures? Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. And if you're not absorbing the word and Jesus Christ is not a part of your life, no matter how much you have, you're really not living. As we sing our hymn of invitation today, maybe the word convicts you. Maybe the Savior is calling you personally to come and give your life to him. We invite you to come forward as we sing and declare publicly your decision to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. As we stand and as we sing, we invite you to come ...