VN520473 10-9-16 Doyle Williams Speaking The Word Of God

Joshua 1:8. “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 good success.” I like the way it says that, good success. According to this God wants His people to be successful. He wants his people to prosper. Now, that’s the promise that was made right there. Be courageous is in the verse previous to that. Be courageous. Face the things that are coming your way. Do according to what is taught and meditate and speak the words of the law that Moses gave you day and night and he says he would cause the way to prosper and they would have good success. Now, the question is going to be did Joshua have good success? Did he make it? I’d like to point out to you that the word meditate means more than just to think about it. Like we said before it means to mull it over in your mind. Say it. Mumble it under your breath so that you’re actually reinforcing what the Word of God says.

Like we were showing the kids today, the Word of God is what we need to have the good life. It’s what we need to understand Him and His way, and He revealed to us the things that we need to know so that we can show our love for Him because of what He did for us. So, we meditate on the Word of God and we speak the Word of God. Now, you’ll notice it specifically says day and night we are to be speaking the Word of God. We’re to take the words, the Bible verses that apply to the situations that we’re going through at the time and say them out loud so we’re focusing on something positive. The Word of God is a light to our path. It’s right there for us to show us the way. He uses it most generally to lead, guide and direct us so we’re to be saying these words over and over again. We’re to focus on something positive and that’s the Word of God, but you’ll notice it says to do it in the day and in the night. What that’s basically teaching us is you think about this stuff when it is good, things in your life are going good.

Don’t forget to focus on the Word of God when you’re winning. Don’t forget to focus on God when things are just breaking your way all the time. Say thank you, I appreciate that God. Your Word said that You would prosper me and I’ve had good success. I appreciate the promises that You made and quote the other verses that He brings to your mind because it says the Holy Spirit will bring to our minds the things that He has taught us. But, you’ll also notice it says even in the night to meditate and to speak these words. The idea there, folks, is when things are bad don’t quit dwelling on the Word of God. Say it, say it, think about it. When times are tough, late at night when everything is going wrong, or if you’re going in your life and things are just not breaking your way and you’ve had it up to here start quoting the Word of God and saying I’m going to focus on what God’s Word tells me, and if I focus and do this He says that He will bring success to me. He will bring good success to me. My life will be better because I have known Him.

Now, whatever the Bible does tell us to do we are supposed to do it accordingly. Now, did Joshua succeed? That’s the real question. How did he come out? Well, if we’re to go over into Joshua 24:31 it will say this, and if you get there you might want to hold it. “Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the LORD which He had done for Israel.” If you mosey around in that part of the Bible you’ll see where it says that the people did not serve the idols, they did not serve false gods. The whole time Joshua was alive and leading them they were serving the God of Israel, and the elders that he taught and helped equip along the way they also influenced the people and the time of the elders that followed Joshua. The people did not worship idols until after he and those elders he helped train passed away. So, yes, Joshua succeeded in his life as far as influence, being an influential person on the nation of Israel which we know when they came out of Egypt is around 2 million people, and so with Moses and Joshua and the elders that followed, they did not go after false gods or idols.

He was successful in leading the children of Israel in the worship of God. Joshua was influential; therefore, Joshua was successful. He influenced the people in a very good positive manner, but if you read the verse right before it, verse 30, it says that when he died, actually he was 110 years old when he passed away, “and they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.” I know, it looks like you should ga-ash, but it’s gosh is how you pronounce it. Gosh. They buried him on the north side of Mount Gaash in the area or in Timnath-serah, in that area on the north side of Gaash. They buried him. Now, if you were to read back in Joshua chapter 11 you will find out that he went to the hill country and in that hill country, and this is where they buried him in that hill country. If you read in Joshua 11 you’ll find out that there were giants in that mountain area. Yes, folks, giants were living in that mountain area and Joshua whipped them. Now, don’t forget he was only about 40 years old when he came out the first time, “Twelve men went to spy out Canaan and ten were bad and two were good.” He was one of those two.

So, when he came out of there the first time and he and Caleb, they kept saying we can do this. The people were saying there’s giants. He said don’t let that bother you. We can do this. So, whenever he got there this particular area that he was to inherit that was appointed to him, was a land filled with giants and he whipped them. Now, he would have had to have been 80 years old or older when he went to war with the giants that he said he could whip at the age of 40. Now he’s 80 and he’s still whipping those giants. So, he did succeed in taking this particular place that was called his inheritance, Timnath-serah, and they buried him on the north side of Gaash. Now, the interesting thing, and the Bible always does this, this was his inheritance, but that word Timnath-serah has a Hebrew meaning. The Bible is just loaded with stuff and most of us just read and go yeah, yeah, yeah, Timnath-serah. The word Timnath-serah means a portion of abundance. He didn’t just get a chunk of land. He had appointed to him a portion of abundance. He prospered where he went.

He prospered, not just squeak by, not just an existence. He prospered where he went. Timnath-serah is what he got, a portion of abundance was his inheritance, and he whipped the giants and the other enemies in that place, and he was buried on the north side of Gaash, and the word Gaash means a place of quacking or a place of trembling. Why did they bury him there? Because he made the enemies of God and his enemies shake in fear. They shook in their boots so they put him on the north side. There’s a lot of history there about the north side and we won’t get into it, but they buried him on that north side because he put the fear of God in his enemies. Actually he wiped out the giants that were living in that place. God prospered him. God helped him succeed. Now, I want you to know that this just didn’t fall in his lap like Newton and the apple or a plum falling in your lap. He did struggle with the giant. He did have to go out against the enemies, but he did what God said and he was abundantly prospered in that country which became his private domain, his area.

He owned the mountain. He was the king of the mountain as they say. He got up there with success. He took it. He said by faith I am up here. By God’s direction I am standing. This is my area. I have been so blessed. I have been so blessed, and when his life was full and he was satisfied with his life at 110. He went to be with the Lord which was even better, but he had a place of abundance when he was living in this life, walking in that promised land, and he was out there putting the fear of God in the enemies that God had led him to, and he was influential enough that the people around him followed after God also.
What’s this got to do with us? Well, Joshua was Old Testament. When we read in the New Testament the Book of Hebrews you’ll find repeatedly it says that the New Testament is better than the Old Testament. Our sacrifice is better than the Old Testament sacrifice. Our High Priest is better than the Old Testament High Priest. Our covenant is better than the old covenant.

Joshua’s covenant was with God through the Mosaic law and there were all these rules and regulation that he had to keep in order to maintain the proper relationship with us. We have a better covenant. He had lots of rules and when he messed up he had to go get the proper sacrifice and go find a High Priest and make that offering and then say okay, we’ve got that taken care of God. Now I’m going to go back down and I’m going to battle some more with those enemies that are up there and those giants that are in my inheritance. They’re not getting it, it’s mine, and he went after them. We belong to a covenant of grace, a covenant of favor and faith is a good way to say it. We belong under the New Testament , a new covenant of favor and faith. We are required to do one thing, trust in God. Jesus Christ Himself says he has fought all of our battles. We are to trust in God. We are to resist the devil and he will flee us. Not with a real honest to goodness spear and shield and going out there and finding our enemies and stabbing them and beheading them like David did Goliath, but we are to trust in God and have faith in what His word tells us.

Stand by faith and say through the blood of Christ I have triumphed in my life. It looks pretty shabby right now, but I am going to have abundance. I am going to prosper because God said if I keep saying His words over, if I meditate on them, if I have faith that God doesn’t lie He is going to bring it about in the same way he did to Joshua. We will triumph over the giants in our life and over the enemies of our life and we will have a good and blessed life here. I’m not saying perfect. I’m not saying that you’re going to have thousands and thousands of dollars in your bank account each and every day, but when you hit that place where you say God, I’ve had a good life, I’m satisfied with my life and you stand there on your mountain looking back over you’ll say this is where God brought me and look at this. I’m the king of my mountain because God brought me to the top of this mountain and look, I’m up here looking down on my enemies, I’m looking down on all the victories that He has promised me through His word. I am trusting Him and by that trust I overcame.

Praise God Almighty, and then you will be able to say I’m ready to go home whenever you’re ready to take me, Lord, because you have kept Your word. We can triumph over our enemies, we can triumph over our giants in our life, but it doesn’t come without struggle, it doesn’t come without taking a stand and saying here I stand. Sola scriptura which just in Latin means I stand on the Bible and the Bible alone. I stand by faith. I stand right here trusting in my God because He said that, and here’s the words that He has spoken to me and start quoting the Bible verse after verse after verse and quote it to yourself. Quote it to anybody that will listen. If you quote it to other people you will become influential in their life also. If you’re reading the King James especially, you will see where it says that you will have good success. It specifically says good success for a reason. There’s bad success. God doesn’t want us to have bad success. Doyle, how can you have bad success? S U C C E S S, that’s the way we spell success. How can you have bad success?

I see it all the time in the business world. People are out there and they have success. They’ve worked hard. They fought their way to the top. They clawed. They knifed people in the back to get there. They tread on their friends. They have ignored their families. They wanted wealth and by golly they got that wealth and they’re standing there with their wealth and they have success as the world defines it, but they’ve destroyed their families, they’ve destroyed friendships, they’ve destroyed their churches, they’ve destroyed the respect that people should have had for them. They just wiped all this out of existence. It’s not there any longer. They’ve got the money, they’ve got the cash, they’ve got the wealth. They can buy their way, anything they want whatsoever. Like the song says it might not buy happiness but it will buy me a boat, it will buy me a truck, and if that’s all you want in your life then go out there and wreck everything else, but at the end of the day you’ll be standing there saying look at what I have accomplished. I’ve got a bank account I can’t take with me, a boat that needs to be patched. I need new tires on that truck. God, I didn’t do so good. I had success but it was bad success.

God says we will have good success. God says we will have good success and our success will be in all areas of our life. We will have good family relationships, we will have good friendships, we will have respect from the community around us. I’m not saying we’re not going to ruffle feathers along the way because we do have enemies, we do have people who do not want to see us as Christians to success. There are people that resent every one of you people here that is represented in this church right now. There are people that resent you because you have made something with your life, because you have turned to Jesus Christ, and a lot of people will turn on you for that reason right there. You’ll come home and you’ll say I have accepted Christ as my Savior and you can see these people start shifting in their idea of you and they will turn on you, but you’ll have success because you will end up in heaven and He, God, will lead, guide and direct us in all things.

So, don’t think that this is just going to be a walk in the park. There are going to be struggles, there are going to be enemies, there are going to be battles of faith to take and stand on the Word of God, but at the end of all this learn to be just like Joshua because when you’re successful you’ll be able to say this, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Once you pass on and you hand over the headship that your kids go on into their own houses and they have their families I hope that we have instilled in our families and in our friends that one day those children that have been raised in this church will be able to say I went to Glenwood Church. My mother, my grandfather, my grandmother, my father, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, they stood in faith and taught me yes, there is a God. He hears and answers prayer. His word is absolute truth and I can trust in it, and I have struggled and I’ve had problems but here it is. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

As for me and mine we’re going to be at church, we’re going to be assembling in the presence of God, and if you can’t make it to a Bible-believing fellowship that’s okay. Sometimes that stuff happens but you can circle the kids up, you can circle your family and say we’re going to have devotions this Sunday morning even though we’re not able to go to church for whatever reason. We can have a devotional right here and pray, and parents pray for your kids out loud so they can hear you asking God’s blessing upon them. Talk about the Word of God and how much you trust in it. If you have an experience that God has done something specifically for you mention it and tell that to your kids so that they’ll say you know, I remember God hearing my parent’s prayers, and I know that if He hears theirs He will hear mine and they too will have the good success in their life.

Shall we pray? Father, in the name of Jesus I ask that we will learn verses, that Your Holy Spirit will cause us to remember those verses and help us to repeat them, to think upon them, to quote them, to share them with other people. Give us success in our struggles and cause us to prosper in a very good way so at the end of days we’ll be able to stand there and say thank you Jesus. You have brought me so far and I have triumphed over my personal enemies and over the giants that were in my life and as for me, I serve You and I’ve taught my children, I’ve taught my family to serve You also. Father, I ask that you bless us. I ask that You would cause us Christians to be an influential group on this nation, on these elections that are coming up. I ask that Your blessing will rest upon Your children and You would motivate them to be influential in the election. Father, we want to bring glory and honor to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.