One of the biggest lacks in modern Christianity (and a key to revival)

As I sat in Sunday School listening to 1 Peter Farrell expound on Deut 6:6-7 and talk about our command to speak the word of God constantly - it was like a quick burning fuse was lit that exploded dramatically into about a billion thoughts and verses.

Deu 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Deu 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deu 6:8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
Deu 6:9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

How many times do people read and then could not give you a single thing they learned or perhaps even remembered about their reading? I go a step further and ask the question - HOW OFTEN IS THERE DISCUSSION ABOUT GOD's WORD?

Is this not the key? If I knew I were going to have a test, I would study - if I know there will be accountability time at Home Bible Study, I might be more likely to pay close attention in my reading - if I am preparing a message or a lesson, I have no choice but to study with attentiveness and prayer - if there were Bible quizzing or trivia contests coming up then I would rehearse important facts. Whether the motives were right or not - it would motivate. People read so many times and gain nothing because they do not

• pray that God will open our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of His law
• devote the time and energy to comprehension and meditation
• they do not journal, blog, memorize, take notes, email a friend, converse or in some other way organize what they are reading into thoughts; consider and address the personal implications of what they read and then share them with others

What does Deut 6 and about a hundred other places challenge us to do? To know the word of God - to memorize, to read, to meditate, to apply, to study, to preach, to teach, to provoke others to love and to good works - to be in the Word and let the Word be in you.

Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me - Ps. 119
It is a lamp and a light
It is quick (alive) and powerful, it is sharp and discerning
It is like a fire, it is like a hammer
It is like water to a thirsty soul
It is the sustaining and nourishing bread of life
It is promised to accomplish what God will have it to
When it is in you, it burns and you cant contain it, you must speak the word or you will explode

When hid in your heart, it will be a powerful force in keeping you from sin - 1) it is a means of keeping your heart with all diligence, 2) its presence means there is an absence of something else (something either harmful or at least less profitable than the word), 3) it will be brought to your memory in the midst of temptation and the list goes on.

It is part of the armor of God - the most versatile piece. The sword is used in both offense and defense as well as being the most intimidating part of the armor. Do you know of an enemy vanquished by a helmet, a shield, a breastplate etc - it is the sword that will vanquish the enemy. Is that not what Jesus used to make Satan flee?

We could go on all day about what God says about His word - its power, its prominence (magnified above His name), its promulgation etc. Hundreds and hundreds of verses (and that is just in Ps. 119!)

So why the apathy of "Christian" kids today - why the spinning of the Bible or forgetting to bring it, why so few that claim to have read it even once that week? Why does it require mass entertainment and sports to get them even interested in being there?

Will these kids be a witness? HA
Will these kids resist temptation?
Will these kids love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength - will their parents, will we?

God tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together - this is one rule a good baptist just won't violate (provided there is food)
Why are we to gather...
What did the early church do in their gatherings...
Why did God want the children of Israel to bind the word on their hearts, keep it as frontlets before their eyes, put them on signposts at their homes and to talk of the word when they sit, stand, lie down, walk in the way...

Here is what clicked.
WE ARE TO LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART SOUL MIND AND STRENGTH
MEANING HE IS ALWAYS ON OUR MIND AND IN OUR CONVERSATION

If we were to commit ourselves to talk of God's word in our everyday conversations and challenge each other in our reading every time we got together I suspect the following would happen

1. We would spend more time reading our Bible
2. We would pay much closer attention to our reading, if for no other reason then that we know it would be discussed and it would be embarrassing not to have an answer for those Christians who ask us what God is showing us. Should that not be a shameful thing for us as children of God?
3. That word that we are reading would begin to work in our lives
4. Our Individual and collective knowledge of the Scriptures will multiply (do we need a list of how this will advantage the kingdom of God)
5. Our children will see this emphasis and realize that no longer are temporal matters our priority, but eternal - this is the perhaps the last and only hope for the next generation since this one is so Laodicaean in nature as a whole.
6. Our kids will care about what we care about - Prov. 22:6 - our kids aren't leaving what they were raised with - the Red Sox are still their team, they still prefer Chevy over Ford, they like camping and barbecue and they still will follow their parents advice in areas of college, career and investing. The Bible - well that was something the preacher talked about, not mom and dad so much... WHAT IF THE OPPOSITE WERE TRUE
7. When our conversations are consistently about the Bible then the result will be that those who don't have a use for the Bible will be forced to either step up "their game" of faking it or they will leave OR they will sense the excitement and moving of God and want to be involved and start digging into the Word in sincerity.
8. When we are used to talking about the word of God to the saved consistently, it will be much more natural to speak the word of God to the lost. (out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh)
9. When we discuss the Word of God consistently with believer and unbeliever alike (as we are commanded) then it seems that the things of God would now be consuming our daily thoughts and actions - this would be the first time that we could honestly start to think that maybe we are close to loving God with all of our being.
10. If God were always on our mind in this way then perhaps we would have desires and dislikes more in line with God's and be less susceptible to sin.
11. We would spend more time in the word and therefore less time and money on selfish endeavors giving us greater resources and motivation to minister to the needy, to spread the gospel and to support our missionaries.
12. Friendships would be created or restored, jealousies would diminish, GOD WOULD BE GLORIFIED

I am certain there would be MANY other benefits.

So where does this start? With beginning a practice of talking about the Word of God. Ballgames, video games, movies, stock investments, car shopping and vacation planning - none of those things will profit us spiritually or matter in eternity so lets meet on our common ground. Lets discuss the one thing that is supposed to bring us all to church and make us one family - Jesus Christ - Lets talk about THE WORD OF GOD and see if it doesn't help our families, our church, our friendships, our work ethic, our victory over sin, our boldness, our prayer lives, our worship, our separation, our attitude, our love for God, our service and the spreading of God's word throughout this lost world.

There are a lot of our, my, I and we statements in that last paragraph - if our desires are God's desires then that is fine because those are the things God wants of us and that give Him pleasure.

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly...ready to give an answer...studied to shew yourself approved...word hidden in your heart...observed to do according to all that is written therein...prepared your heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach...let the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart be acceptable...walk in the law of the Lord...

We learn of God through His word

We see who He is and who we are

We get our calling and direction
We get our victory over sin
We know of the glory ahead
We know of our great Saviour
We know the promises He has made us
We know the power available to us
We receive conviction of sin and promise of forgiveness
We know God's tremendous love and His burden for the souls of every person He died for (that is everyone)
The list goes on - I THINK THERE IS PLENTY FOR US TO TALK ABOUT - especially if God has said that the Bible contains unsearchable riches

Deu 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

It was John and Charles Wesley that were indited as the holy club and the methodists who were guilty of practicing this premise. I suppose I could think of worse things to be called.

he shall read therein all the days of his life

Deu 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
Deu 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
Deu 17:18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
Deu 17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:
Deu 17:20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

As we have in Deut 17 the instructions to the king, let us not forget our royal lineage and responsibility.

1 Peter 2 says that I am part of the royal priesthood, Romans 8 tells me that I have been adopted into the family of the KING of Kings and Rev. 1:6 tells me that Jesus Christ has made me a king and a priest unto God and His Father.

Being royalty as a child of God, we are obliged to take great consideration when reading this text.

Not multiply horses to himself - greed and covetousness
nor cause the people to return to Egypt - this king must be an example of separation and standards as well as a watchman that warns of the pitfalls of the world (Egypt)
Ye shall henceforth return no more that way - this king has been saved from that world, why should he ever want to return, why entertain even a portion of it and why would he not consider that the slightest association that he maintains with the world will only be magnified by those he influences by thinking "if it is ok for the king..."
Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away - Solomon was warned and fell in this area. There is to be one wife, she is to be loved and ministered to, the kings are not to wander elsewhere. Prov 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence... Matt. 5:27-28 - adultery is not just physical, Job 31:1 - make a covenant with your eyes, Ps 103 - set no wicked thing before your eyes, 2 Cor. 10:5 - cast down imaginations, Prov 5:14-23 - rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold - 1 Tim. 6:10-11 - the love of money is the root of all evil. Not only will it corrupt and destroy you in greed and covetousness but the king has been made God's steward with the noblest of causes - SPREADING THE GOSPEL - the resources we have been given should be used for that cause - time is short - how much will we regret standing before God having built up storehouses for ourselves that will never get used for the spreading of the gospel, much less at such a time as this when the need is so great.
he shall write him a copy of this law in a book - we can praise the Lord that we have the Bible in written form and beautifully bound already but this writing of the law is less about having a copy for personal reading; after all, the king could have had a scribe do that. The writing is about writing the law of the Lord upon the tables of our hearts (Prov. 3:3; 7:3; 1 Cor. 3:3). Some in times past have hand copied out the scriptures - I think that is wonderful and would be a worthy undertaking. Other will take that to mean memorization - I am a big proponent of memorization as I believe in God's ability to bring thing to RE-membrance which implies initial "membrance - memorization." What better thing could you put in your mind than Bible. More than that though is Ps 119:11 which (as we all know) says Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee. This is more than writing, reading or even memorizing. It is the moving of the words in your mind to the Truth manifested, understood and vowed allegiance to in your heart.
And it shall be with him - in mind, in heart and as a testimony to others of the dedication you have to the Bible. The physical presence of a Bible in your hand, on a desk etc has an impact and also places a serious measure of accountability on the one that is carrying it. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid - Mt. 5. A city on a hill is seen from a distance. This is not something that you have to have personal contact or relationship with. From far away, a city on a hill will stand out as blatant as a 6'8" guy in the Philippines :). So should there be a difference in a king - not only inwardly, but outwardly. Many have used outward dissimulations of piety for selfish reasons but that ought not to take away from the fact that a Christian should not look like the world. The fashions and immodesty of the world should not be part of the kings attire. It is a royal priesthood - and the priest had certain garments that identified him with the priesthood. Jesus did face the hypocrites and tell them their outside was clean but inside was filthy - the remedy that was suggested was not to make the inside clean and let the outside be filthy - He desired both to be clean...
and he shall read therein all the days of his life: - ok, this one is as obvious as it sounds. Never is the king to think himself as having attained. Never should we think that the perfect law of liberty has nothing left to show us. Every day we must tremble before the living, cutting, discerning, edifying and true words of God. May the Lord help us if other reading ever becomes more sweet or important as the word of God or if we think we have a good enough grasp because we can put messages together efficiently.
Also keep in mind that the scanning of 3 or 4 chapters in a reading plan will have little effect without the help of the Lord

Psa 119:18
(18) Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Notice the colon after that phrase - the next points are sub points or things that will be gained from the daily reading of the word.

• that he may learn to fear the LORD his God - we must tremble in reverence and awe before a God whose holiness exceeds what our minds can comprehend. I taught Sunday School last week on sort of an overview of the wilderness wanderings. We talked of all the times the children of Israel rebelled against God's authority and were not content with His provision - to see the earth open up, fire consume, plagues move across the congregation, fiery serpents etc - my fear of the Lord was increased. The more we stand still and meditate on His holiness and then His mercy on us, the more we should fear and love Him together. Lam. 3:22-23 say that it is only God's faithfulness, mercy and compassion that we are not consumed every day!
• to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them - knowing what the word of God says only means that you cannot plead ignorance with God - the expectation is not just to know it or understand it but to live it. Ezra 7:10; Joshua 1; Deuteronomy 6; Psalm 119; James 1:25 and the list could go on. I won't comment on the foolishness of pleasure seekers who want to disregard the law in the name of "liberty." Paul was the one who penned this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit - did he live in opposition to the law? Ceremonial law, yes, this is well documented - moral law? - read Romans 6. Salvation - faith that works. Sounds like Lk. 16:15 to me when people try to justify themselves using Galatians.
  Joh 14:21
  (21) He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
• That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren - surely it is the Bible that teaches humility. God does not want us ever to forget that SUCH AS WERE SOME OF YOU...BUT! We all deserve hell and it was God that made the way of escape, that orchestrated for us to hear the gospel, that convicts of sin and that does the saving work. After salvation it is God which works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. He will perform and do what He says in our lives - the only glorying that we should ever do is that we understand and know Him! (Jer. 9:23-24; Gal. 6:14)
• that he turn not aside from the commandment - our deceitful hearts are prone to wander - it is that daily focusing on God's word and seeking His help in keeping it that will keep our feet from sliding in due time

THE RESULT

to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children - follow the instructions of the king and not only will you continuously dwell in the realm of God's kingdom (by seeking the Kingdom of God - Mt. 6:33) but consider the impact on your children. Whether that be your physical earthly children that will be raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord or spiritual children - disciples that you have the privilege of influencing with your witness, conversation and teaching.

What did the Lord show you today?