2 Corinthians chapter 17. I'm so delighted to have the privilege to be asked to speak on the Bible in America, the Bible in America. And we have to come to the word of God and ask God to give us an understanding. That's where we get understanding for what's going on in life. We get it from the Bible and we find the discernment and wisdom that we need from the word of God. And before we read our text in a moment, I'd like to ask you, how many of you own a copy of the Word of God? Would you raise your hand if you own a copy of the Bible? How many of you own more than one copy of the Bible? Okay. How many own perhaps five or more copies of the Bible? Somewhere here and there. Good. How many of you grew up in a home and your parents owned a Bible in the home you grew up in? Would you raise your hand? That's very interesting. How many of you believe that your grandparents owned a Bible and had a Bible in their home? That's interesting. And we maybe could go further, but people don't know as much about their great-grandparents and their great-great-grandparents. The odds are if you are an American, that it's likely that for many generations, maybe even more than you could trace or count, the families that led to you finally being here all had a Bible somewhere in their home. In fact, a survey just a couple of years ago revealed, a very extensive survey revealed, that 94%, 94% of adults in America at least own one Bible. Isn't that amazing? Especially when we look at our country and you see how far removed we are going from the Word of God and the truths of the Word of God, it's amazing that the Bible is still out there, but it is definitely out there. With COVID and a lot of pandemic scare in the last couple of years, those who trace the Bible and what goes on with the Bible in our country tell us that There was an uptick in the number of people who reach for a Bible, not in a church service or not in some religious meeting, but on their own, they at least sometime reach for a Bible. They tell us that in 2021, 181 million adults in America, at least one time picked up a Bible and read it. They must be looking for something, right? And it's amazing to me to think that people still regard the Bible in such a way in this country where they know there must be some answer there for me. Otherwise, why would they pick it up, especially in a time where they're very fearful? Well, there's a lot to say about the Bible in America. We can't say it all. But as I think about God's word, I wanted to bring us to an historical account that God gives us in the Old Testament that I think is very unknown. At least to me it was. Maybe it's been highlighted to you. But to me, when I discovered this, I realized that God has some very interesting truths in this particular part of the Bible that really speak to our nation and to the need that we have in our nation. And it happened under one of the good kings of Judah named Jehoshaphat. How many have ever heard of Jehoshaphat, all right? He's one of the more popular names among all the kings of Israel and Judah. And most of you know that in the Old Testament, the kingdom of Israel was united under Saul and David and Solomon, and then it divided. And then there was a history of a divided kingdom, Israel in the north, Judah in the south, And both of those kingdoms met their end in a great destruction because they both kept going back to idolatry and they kept leaving. Very simply, they were leaving the law of God. And so in the northern kingdom, Israel, all the kings, without any exception, were evil. In the southern kingdom, the kingdom of Judah, most of the kings were evil, but a few of them Actually five of them, for at least some era in their reign, were very good kings. And what made them good was one very simple thing, they got back to the Bible. Now they didn't have the entire word of God, the completed word of God, Genesis to Revelation that we have today, but they certainly had the law of God and the word of God that had been given up to that time. And the one common denominator between all the good kings is they just simply went back to the Bible. Would you look at this account with me, please, in 2 Chronicles chapter 17. Let's notice what God gives us here. Let's see if we can see America, perhaps, in an analogy, an application of what God gives us here in his word. In 2 Chronicles chapter 17, verse one, and Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned in his stead and strengthened himself against Israel. And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the first ways of his father David and sought not unto Balaam, but sought to the Lord God of his father and walked in his commandments and not after the doings of Israel. Therefore, the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presence, and he had riches and honor in abundance, and his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord. Moreover, he took away the high places and groves out of Judah. Also, in the third year of his reign, he sent to his princes, even to Ben-Hel, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nathanael, and to Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them, he sent Levites, even Shemiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebediah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites. And with them, Elishma and Jehoram, priests. And they taught in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Also, some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and tribute silver, and the Arabians brought him flocks, 7,000, and 700 rams, and 7,700 he goats. And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly, and he built in Judah castles and cities of store." I want you to mark, if you would, please, in your Bible, back in verse number nine, the Bible says, and they taught in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them. This is an amazing account. What took place prior to this, we won't take the time to study in detail, but Jehoshaphat had a father who started out right. His name was Asa. He had some great victories when he relied on God, but then he began to rely on the arm of the flesh and he ended in defeat. And now his son, Jehoshaphat, has an opportunity. He's seen his father trust God and then rely on the flesh. And he decides when he comes to the throne with this leadership opportunity, he makes a good decision. He decides that he's going to do something that when his father ended his reign, he was not doing. He made a change. In fact, he made a change that was the difference in his own personal life. It kept him from following just simply after the arm of the flesh like his father was leaning on. And you'll notice if you would, first of all, that he had a regard for God and for God's word. In verse three, it says, the Lord was with him because he walked in the first ways of his father, David. He went all the way back to David and he went back to David who had a heart after God. David who loved the Lord. David who was so interested in whatever God wanted for his life. Not the last ways of David where there were many mistakes in David's life. In fact, one great sin. Thank God he found forgiveness and he found cleansing and he found a way back to God, but the very first ways of David. And Jehoshaphat said, that's the kind of regard that I want to have for God. And it went further because it got detailed. In verse number four it says, but he sought to the Lord God of his father and walked in his commandments. I want to say something very, not very profound, but very simple. If he walked in his commandments, he must have known his commandments. If he walked in his commandments, he must have read his commandments. If he walked in those commandments, he must have studied those commandments and he must have learned those commandments and he must have thought, how do these commandments apply to me as the king of this land of Judah? And that's exactly no doubt what Jehoshaphat did. And it all started in his heart with this regard for God and a regard for the word of God. And so the Bible says in verse five, therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. God begins to bless him. And when he realizes that following God and regarding the word of God brings God's blessing, he knew that he wanted that blessing to continue, not just in his life personally. not just God blessing him, but he wanted to lead a nation that would have God's blessing. He wanted to lead an entire people who would evoke the blessing in favor of God. And so he did something that was completely out of the ordinary. In fact, it's never recorded anywhere else in Scripture just like this. It's an anomaly. It's, it's, it's a unique thing. The common, the common practice in Judah would have been that in the family circle, the word of God would be taught. Perhaps you remember from Deuteronomy chapter number six, where Moses said to the families of Israel that this is what he wanted. He wanted the word of God to be in your heart. And then he said, thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children. And so the family circle was the primary means of teaching the commandments of God and teaching the word of God. And there was some, to some extent, some rabbinical type teaching. We know that the priests sometimes became instructors of the law and explainers of what God's commands were and what God expected for the people. And those were the common ways that people receive the word of God. But evidently, it was failing on that level. Evidently, many family structures had abandoned the word of God. Evidently the religious structures that were in place were not strong and they were weak and they were faltering. And so they weren't doing the job of teaching and giving the word of God to the people of that nation. And so he did something very interesting and very different. He assigned some official men and their names are listed there as we read it a moment ago in verse number seven. He sent his princes. And he lists them, Ben-Hel and Obadiah and Zechariah and Nathanael and Micaiah. And he says, I'm going to invest an authority in these men to go out and get something done. Well, what needs to be done? Well, he sends nine Levites and two priests with them. And he says, here's what we need to do. We need to reseed our nation with the word of God. We've got to reseed our country. We've got to get the word of God out again. And these men begin to execute the orders of the king. And with these nine Levites that are listed and these two priests that are listed, you've got a teaching team and they evidently divide up throughout the land of Judah. And the Bible says that they go to all the cities, all the centers where people can come and they can gather together. And this is not the word of God given in a traditional way, but it's given in an intentional way where people in the public are called together and and those who are trained to give the Word of God stand up and they have the law of God in their hand and they begin to reseed their nation with the Word of God. So this reseeding goes on and you say, well what took place? Well evidently Jehoshaphat's concern and burden to get the Word of God to the people was met with a receptive heart. Because for some period of time, God did something very special for this country. Notice the results in verse number 10. It says, and the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so they made no war against Jehoshaphat. God said, I am going to bless this people because they are receiving the word of God. God's Word is being propagated and God's Word is going forth and God's Word is being heard and believed and received. And because this is going on, not just in the king, but in the people, God said, I'm gonna give that nation rest. I'm gonna give that nation peace. By the way, isn't that what a nation and a people always desire? In the New Testament, God said that we should pray for kings and all that are in authority. And then he tells us why we should pray for them He says the goal is, the intent is that we pray that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and sincerity. God says this is the kind of blessing that I can give to a people. I can give peace, I can give quiet, I can give rest. And not only did he do that, but notice in verse 11 it says the Philistines and the Arabians begin to bring in the tribute and they begin to bring in and God gives prosperity to this nation. That's a blessing from God. wealth begins to come and and that's an extra blessing and then notice it says in verse 12 that Jehoshaphat waxed great and he builds castles and cities of store. God gives security for the future and there's an assurance and there's a rest in their hearts that all is well because God has blessed us and God has helped us. Now when I read of this account in the Word of God I can't help but think about the amazing history that we have here in the United States of America. I'd like to show you something that I brought with me, and as I left our Christian Heritage Center a moment ago, I let the folks know you don't have to call security. I will bring it back, all right? But I'd like to show you something I brought with me. I have in my hands a page from what is referred to as the Bible, of the American Revolution. And it's centered here. There's some words about the man who printed it. There's some words from our first president and our general during the war for independence, George Washington. I'd like to tell you a little bit about this Bible and about our country. See, many years ago when this country was being founded, there was a burden for people to get the word of God out. The first Bible printed in America was certainly not an English Bible. It was really a missionary Bible. John Elliott came in the 1630s from England, and he ended up pastoring a church in Massachusetts, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. And as a local church, they had a burden to get the gospel to people. And next door, just in the area, were the Algonquin Indians. The Algonquins had a spoken language, but no written language. And John Elliot and his church family wanted to reach those Indians. So they felt it was their duty to take that language of the Indians and to learn it, to put it in writing, and then to translate the word of God into that language, and then print a Bible so that those people could know the truth of the word of God. Isn't that amazing? Those are the kind of people who came and were at the heart, sort of the seedbed of the starting of the nation that you and I are privileged to live in. Well, while England was in charge when we had just colonies here, it was illegal to print English Bibles. Some were printed, but they were contraband, okay? They were illegally printed and illegally distributed. Some of them There were German Bibles and French Bibles and Dutch Bibles and other languages printed here in the States on US soil. But for a long time, there were no English Bibles not officially printed. Well, there's a gentleman named Robert Aitken, and he's pictured here on this display. And Aitken came from Scotland in 1769. Of course, our declaration of independence was in 1776, so just a few years before we declared our independence from Britain, Robert Aitken came over from Scotland, and when he came, he was already a convinced patriot. He wanted freedom, and he wanted liberty for America. In fact, he was already so identified as a patriot that when this guy came through New York Harbor, he just very narrowly escaped being caught by the British and placed on a a prisoner of war ship in New York Harbor. He very nearly got through. But he got through New York Harbor and he came to Philadelphia and he began connecting with the men that we know of as the founding fathers of our nation. And very early on, as our nation was being formed, Aitken understood that we needed to get the Bible to America. You couldn't have a free land, you couldn't have liberty without the word of God. You couldn't have a republic like these men were dreaming of and crafting over those years. You couldn't have that type of a nation without a moral people and a people who understood right living and righteousness and the kind of changed life that was produced by the word of God. And so Robert Aitken was known as the man who published and printed the very first English Bible in America. And we have a page of it. for you here. He attempted to print it and publish it in time to put in the hands of every soldier who was out there fighting in our war for independence. He didn't quite make the deadline, didn't quite get it out in time. And General George Washington is listed over here. There's an article that's listed. You can read it on your own time as you go through our Christian Heritage Center. But there's an article where Washington expresses his deepest regret that he did not get that Bible in time because Washington said, I would have loved nothing more than to place your Bible in the hands of every one of our soldiers. That's how this country was started. And after Aitken printed that first Bible, the Bible of the American Revolution, many others came behind him and they desired first and foremost to seed this nation with the word of God. In fact, in the early 1800s, one after another, Bible societies were formed. And if you look at the men who formed these societies in Philadelphia, in New York, and then finally state societies like the Massachusetts Bible Society, and the Connecticut Bible Society, and the Virginia Bible Society, and many, many others, one after the other, in every locale, in every city, in every state here in our nation, founding fathers, the men with the highest names that you read of again and again, were coming together and they were saying again and again, we have to concentrate our efforts on making sure there's a Bible for everybody in this country. We have to seed this nation with the Word of God or we will not last. We have a nation, we have freedom, we have liberty, but we're not going to keep it And they literally strategized and they put their money and their time and their energy and effort to say, we've got to get the Bible. In fact, one of the most dominant societies was started in 1816. It was the American Bible society, which still exists today. And the goal of the American Bible society was to place a Bible in every home in America. because they knew without the Bible in every home, this country will not stay what this country needs to be. The first president of the American Bible Society was a man named Elias Boudinot, French last name. He served with George Washington. He was a neighbor to Ben Franklin. He was the mentor of Alexander Hamilton. He served three terms in our Continental Congress and one term as president of our Continental Congress. In fact, he was one of the men who was there and who signed the peace treaty with Britain to end the war for independence. Elias Boudinot was one of our main founding fathers of this country. And when Boudinot took the presidency of the American Bible Society, here's what he said. He said, this is the greatest honor that could have been conferred to me on this side of the grave. This is a greater honor than signing the treaty between us and Britain to end the war. This is a greater honor than being the president of the Continental Congress or being the friend of George Washington or the mentor of Hamilton. This is a greater honor than anything I've ever done to be the president of a society and all we want to do is get the Word of God to every home in this land. Isn't that amazing? The second president of this society was the first and original chief justice of our Supreme Court, John Jay, who was also a member of the Continental Congress, and then chief justice, the second president and one of the founders of that society, John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, was one of the presidents, and then he later served in Congress, and on and on we can go. These Bible societies were established everywhere. And their goal was, we're going to put our resources together and our energy together, and we're going to do everything we can because these men believe with all their heart that we must have the Word of God saturating this land. They tell me that if you read our founding fathers' documents, That is, the documents that shape the laws of our land as they were being written and the documents that shape the beginnings of our nation as those journals of Congress were written out, they tell us that there are at least 15,000 times that you read quotations from the Word of God. In other words, the Bible so saturated their minds and it so saturated their hearts and they were so convinced of its necessity that it just permeated everything that was involved in the building of this country. You cannot explain America without reading your Bible. One very modern author said, if you want to better understand the Constitution, you must read your Bible. Because the principles of the Bible, the doctrine of the word of God, permeates everything that was used in establishing this great land. Can we appreciate a little more of what people did so that we have a Bible today? So that our homes had a Bible when we grew up? So that our granddaddies and grandpas had a Bible? And our great granddaddies and grandpas had a Bible? Can we appreciate a little more the fact that we have inherited something that's amazing? The heritage we have is not just a heritage of bravery. and patriotism and courage, and it is that. It's a heritage of belief in this book. And that's what founded this nation. And to whatever extent America is still put together today, that's what's kept it together to that extent today. It's the word of God. Not only did our early Americans want to produce the Bible and distribute the Bible and print the Bible, but they wanted to teach the Bible. Over in England in 1780, there was a man named Robert Rakes who started something that God touched and blessed in an amazing way. And we think of it as sort of a trite thing today, but Robert Rakes and Gloucester in 1780 started what we know of now as the Sunday School. He walked by some boys, that was his hometown, Gloucester, and he walked by some boys and they were gambling on the street and they were cursing and they were seemingly rough and filled with sin, seemingly from homes that were filled with sinful things and he thought something has to be done about this. The age of industrialization was coming on in England and then of course would come on in America, especially New England in the north. Industrialization, cities began to be larger and families were moving in, a lot of factory workers and that type of thing eventually in that era. And Raikes said, we have to do something because our country will not remain the same if people don't know the Bible. And he started seeing it slip and he saw it falling away and he said, I gotta do something about it. Before long, Raikes had 400 in his Sunday school there. Maybe at some point in time he thought or someone thought, well, that's the mighty blessing of God. And that would have been considered a mighty blessing of God to have 400 children and families. Sometimes parents came as well and they were learning the word of God and they were hearing the gospel. They were learning how to live according to the Bible. That was an amazing thing. But did you know in England in 70 years time, from 1780 to 1850, Rake's Sunday School went from just a few hundred to two million in just really one generation. Two million children were registered in Sunday schools. Well, that was going on across the pond. And over here in America, as that was being seen across the way, America followed suit in many things with Britain. And when Americans saw that in the later 1700s, Sunday schools began to be formed in America because America did not just need the Bible distributed, but we needed to know the Bible. We needed to learn how to live according to the Bible. And so Sunday schools began to be established in America. In fact, Sunday school unions and associations began by 1824, the very large and famous American Sunday school union was established. In four years time, they had reached to 28 different states in America and they had started Sunday school movements in 28 different states in America. And whereas, perhaps even as an analogy to our text way back in Jehoshaphat's day, maybe whereas other structures were not strong and other structures were failing or other structures didn't have the equipping they needed, they were providing resources and training and motivation and stirring up churches and believers everywhere in 28 different states to start Sunday schools. Some of them went to areas that needed to be evangelized, and they thought, the way we're gonna evangelize is we're gonna take the Bible, but we're gonna teach the Bible. We're gonna start Sunday schools. There was a man whose name is not very well known, but I look at him as one of our great men in our Christian heritage. His name was Stephen Paxson. And the American Sunday School Union sent him out as a missionary to the Mississippi River Valley. How many of you live somewhere in the Mississippi River Valley? And you come to us from there. A few of you do. I know where you come from. Well, he went into the Mississippi River Valley because there seemed to be a great need for the Bible to be taught. And do you know Stephen Paxson rode around on horseback for many years and Stephen Paxson himself started 1,300 Sunday schools. You say, what did Stephen Paxson do? Let me tell you what he did. Stephen Paxson was a huge part of America being America. Stephen Paxson was a huge part of America having God's blessing, of America having God's peace, of America having the security and the safety that God gives when a nation gets the Word of God and a nation is taught the Word of God and a nation begins to live and receive the Word of God, that brings on God's reward and that brings on God's blessing. And a man that most people have never heard of may be more responsible for America, staying America than any of the famous names that we read about among our founding fathers. Because you know what he did? He went from little town to little town and city to city and rural place to other rural places. And he rode in on a horse and he took a Bible and he did what those guys did in Jehoshaphat's day. He said, I'm here to teach you the word of God. And he called the people together and he worked with children and families 1,300 times he said, I've established something here and he handed it off to others who knew the Lord and it continued to shape and build and secure our nation. The Bible in America, you know, we have an amazing past. But we don't live in the past, do we? God let us live today. And what God wants us to do today is not just talk about how far the past has been left behind. He doesn't want us just to talk about, you know, how far removed we are from days gone by. Look, how many of you have a Bible again? That's all of you, right? How many of you know something in the Bible? That's all of you sitting here today. How many of you could teach someone something from the Word of God? That's all of you sitting here today. Do you know, it's not just about the past. It's not just about what amazing people did in the past. It's about you. It's about me. What are we gonna do with America right now? Could America be reseated once again with the Word of God? Could America know once again not just what it means to have a Bible, not just looking at the Word of God as a token thing that everybody has in their home. I mean, 94% of us do. Could America have a change and have a reviving where she comes back not just to acknowledging the existence of the Bible or acknowledging the need for the Bible? Many Americans today still say, we need the Word of God. But could America come back to actually knowing the Word of God and believing the Word of God and adhering to the truths of the Word of God? You say, how's that gonna happen? Listen, the only way that's gonna happen is one life at a time. You know, there could be a Steven Paxson somewhere in this audience this morning. And by the way, it may not be a Steven, it may be one of you young ladies, I don't know. But there could be someone today who would say, you know, I don't know what all I can do, but I could get on my horse and I could ride to somebody and I could show up somewhere with the Word of God in my hand, I have it, and I could try to encourage them and teach them and help them to believe the same Bible that's brought blessing after blessing after blessing to this country for all these years. I could try to help them believe that same Bible. You know, churches today, it's such a sad state that churches in America are in. Churches today have given up on the Word of God. It's no surprise that lost people have, but it's such a shame that churches have given up on the Word of God. Someone called me just the other day and they said, we have, we have a Christian school and they named a certain place. They said, but there's a problem at this Christian school. I said, well, what's going on? They said, well, they have a class called Bible, but we've been in the class and they never even opened the Bible for the Bible class. And you know, that's a Christian school, but that's happened in churches all across America. Churches have become religious entertainment. But they've lost the Word of God and they lost the teaching of the Word of God, line upon line and precept upon precept. They've lost the application of the Word of God as if this is what you build your life upon. And pastor's given us this theme, build your life on the Bible. And I love the theme and I hope we do repeat it many, many, many times. But the truth is he didn't discover that theme in and of himself. He just, that's what the word of God's all about. You build your life on God's word. and you're gonna know God's blessing on your life like Jehoshaphat did, on your nation like Jehoshaphat saw. You build your life on the Word of God and you're gonna see that God can bless and God can provide and God can secure and God can do what only God can do, but we must first come to submission to the Word of God. You may not know this, but, and I'm not saying this in any prideful way, And I think all of us who are here know that this is not prideful because we know there's so much more that can be done. But every week at the Temple Baptist Church, under pastor's leadership, every week there are at least 200 Bible teaching sessions that are going on just in a seven day period, at least that many. For example, there are over 75,000 Bible teaching classes that happen just on the Lord's Day on a Sunday morning. That's 75 different groups of people who are somewhere and some of them come in with a family, some of them ride in on a Sunday school bus, some of them are brought in by moms and dads or grandparents, They come in at different ways and some are older, our senior friends, some all the way down to preschool age, but somewhere 75 different times just on the Lord's day, there are people who are gathering others together and they're holding a Bible in their hand and they're reading from the scriptures and they're explaining the scriptures and they're giving the application of the scriptures and saying, this is how we can live according to this truth that God's given us. And then throughout the week, about 125 times throughout every week at middle schools in our county, at high schools in our county and some in other counties, at assisted living centers where people are there and they can't get about and get out to be with others like they want to, they're really confined to that facility, at detention centers and jails and juvenile detention centers and many, many other places at the university campus. in public buildings there on that campus, in sorority and fraternity houses on that campus. There are people from this local church who are standing up with the Word of God and you say, well, I don't know what I could do for America. Yeah, but I know what you could start with. You could take the Word of God and you go to somebody in this community, somebody right in our shadow, somebody right under our nose, and say, let me get the Word of God to that person. Let me be used of God. If God would let me, let me be one of these who have an assignment to go out and take the Word of God and just simply give it to others and give it to others and let the Word of God do the work that only the Word of God can do. You see, we can all do that. I have a class that some of you have taken, and the name of the class is Methods of Bible Teaching. And the first question I ever asked when I walk in that class, I asked it the other day because we have a new group in that class for this semester. But the first question I asked is I walk in the room and I say, how many of you are Bible teachers? It's always interesting to me. Normally, just a few people raise their hands. Maybe those few people think, well, I have a Sunday school class that I teach every week, or I have a certain other Bible study that I teach every week, something like that. But I asked the question, how many of you are Bible teachers? And I think when I asked that this semester, maybe four or five people raised their hand. And then I said, well, we've got to get that straight first. Okay. Here's the correct answer. All of you are Bible teachers. All of you are Bible teachers. Do you know the Lord? How many of you know the Lord is your savior? All right. Do you have a Bible? How many of you have a Bible again? We're surveying again. Well, these are fast surveys and they don't cost me a lot of money. That's great, isn't it? Guess what? You know the Lord, you have the Bible. How many know something, at least one thing in the word of God, one truth, one principle to live by, one example to follow, anything like that? Would you raise your hand? All right, guess what? You're a Bible teacher. Now, whether you're doing it or not, that's the next question, right? But you're a Bible teacher because I know this, God never gives us. What He gives us, He never gives us to keep. He gives us to give to others. He gives us to use. He gives us to multiply. In fact, I've even learned in my life, as simple as it is, that the more that I come to the Lord and say, Lord, if you'll show me, if you'll teach me, if you'll give me light, if you'll give me help, I'll give it to others. The more willing I am to give it to others, the more willing God is to give it to me. Isn't that an amazing thing? And so, who are the Bible teachers? Listen, all of you are Bible teachers. We just gotta get out the doors and we gotta do it. We gotta get out into America and start doing it. Say, I don't know if we can change all of America. Listen, I'll go ahead and tell you the answer to that. You can't. The answer is no, we can't. But God can. Our job is just simply to be obedient. I want you to turn with me. to the 119th Psalm, and I want you to write down just a few applications, very simply, from the 119th Psalm. Would you look with me, please, in verse one through three? Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, that seek him with a whole heart. They also do no iniquity. They walk in his ways. Would you note the word walk in verse one and keep in verse two and walk in verse number three? I'd like for you to write this down somewhere. Number one, live by the book. You say, how can I make a difference? Why don't you start living by the book yourself? You see, the book is not something we just salute to. I believe it. I'll sign my name to it. Oh yeah, I've got it. No, the word of God is what we live by. We walk in it. It gets all the way down into our shoe leather. It is what is controlling our life and our habits, our decisions, our priorities. It literally inundates all of our lives. It's our walk. It's what we keep. It's what we do. And the first step among all the things that you could ever do before you even go out and teach it, before you even give it, go out and give it to somebody else is you got to obey it yourself. You see, we talk about revival in America, but we can't have revival in America unless we have revival. And the revival is always a revival of living by the book. I'm just gonna obey it, I'm gonna keep it, I'm gonna walk in it. Would you write this down, number two? Not only live by the book, would you write this down? Learn the book. In verse number seven, just a few verses down, the psalmist wrote, I will praise thee with uprightness of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. Number two, learn the book. The word learn that God chose to use there is a very interesting word. It has the idea of training. It has the idea really of a goad that would be used maybe out in the field to train an animal, training a horse or training a mule or training an ox to do what it needs to do, to complete the tasks that need to be completed. And with some prompting and with some poking and with some guidance and some authority from the one who knew what needed to be done, then the animal was trained in the right way, and that's what God's saying here. Look, let the Bible train your life. Let the Bible be your prod. Let the Bible be what keeps you in the will of God and in the way of God. Learn it, not just in your head, but let it discipline your life. Look across the page at verse 33. He says, teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding. and I shall keep thy law, yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. You see, God is the great teacher. If you need to learn the Bible, the teacher that you need, if you are saved by the grace of God, the teacher that you need is already inside of you. It's the Holy Spirit of God. And when you ask him to teach you and you ask him to give you understanding and you have a yielded heart, Lord, whatever you teach me, whatever you give me understanding of, whatever you help me to learn, I'm already committed to obey. That's how it works. God will teach you and God will give you light. Live the book. But maybe some today need to say, I need a renewed interest in just learning the book. Getting interested once again in what God has to train my life. Then number three, would you write this down? Love the book. In verse number 47 of the same Psalm, it says, and I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved, and I will meditate in thy statutes. I love, he says, your commandments, I love I delight myself in this word of God, which I love. Can I tell you what we need to get back to? We need to get back in love with the word of God. Oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day. You know, whatever you love, you think about. If some of you are young and you're falling in love, I got news for you. You're thinking about her all the time, aren't you guys, right? If some young lady's falling in love with this guy, you're thinking about him all the time. Where's he at? Am I gonna cross his path? Is he gonna be in the hallway? Is this person gonna be in the room today? Maybe some of you came into this auditorium and you looked over because you're in love and you're thinking. Whatever you love, you meditate on. It doesn't leave you. And the Bible says of itself, we ought to love it. We ought to get the heart back for it, not just the head for it, we ought to have a heart for the Word of God. We need this insatiable love for the Word of God. We live it, we learn it, we love it. And then number four, would you write this down? Let's lift up the book. Let's proclaim it. Let's give it to others. In verse 46, the Bible says, I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings and will not be ashamed. I don't know that we who are a little older, who are speaking to younger people always give all the right advice. We're imperfect sometimes. But I know this, I can tell you without any shadow of a doubt that if you'll live this book and you'll learn it and you'll love it, you never have to be ashamed of it. You can give it to anybody. He said in that verse, I will speak thy testimonies to kings. You can give it to the highest man in the land and you don't have to be ashamed of it. You can give it to your friends. You can give it to your peers. You can give it to young people. You can give it to old people. You can give it to anybody. You can lift up the word of God. You can speak the word of God and what you're giving, you never ever have to back down on. You never ever have to be ashamed of. We need a generation again, like in Jehoshaphat's day, like in the early days of our country, we need a generation again that will just simply lift up the Word of God and give it and then see the results that God will give and the blessing that God will give when the Word of God goes forth.