On this episode, we discuss New Year’s resolutions and, in particular, resolving to prioritize Bible intake. We also share one of Bro. David Miller’s classic sermons entitled “Recovering Old Truths” from Nehemiah 8. Enjoy!
Bro. David Miller’s sermon: 🎥 👉 “Recovering Old Truths”, Nehemiah 8
Recommended Resources:
1) Spiritual Disciplines by Donald S. Whitney – https://amzn.to/4pzMXnK
2) How to Study the Bible by John MacArthur – https://amzn.to/4pEe2q2
Line Upon Line: www.lineuponlineministries.com
Email: lineuponlineministries@gmail.com
Social Media: @lineuponlineministries
Mark W. Williams: X @markwwill FB @markwilliamslive
Episode Transcript:
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Welcome to another episode of the Line Upon Line Ministries podcast. I’m your host, Mark Williams at Line Upon Line Ministries. We are committed to the expository ministry of the Word for the life of the local church.On today’s episode, we’re going to first of all, we’re going to talk about New Year’s resolutions and in particular, some spiritual disciplines of Bible intake.
And then we’re going to share another classic sermon by Brother David Miller From Nehemiah, Chapter 8, on Rediscovering Old truths.
So first of all, let’s just acknowledge the reality of New Year’s resolutions. There’s all kinds of data and studies out there that show that most people will abandon these new resolutions very early in the year.
Some won’t make it to February, but there’s actually a date called quitters Day on January 9th because it’s the one where most people quit the most. Often you get started, got some momentum, but then it fades away very quickly.
So why do so many resolutions with the New Year fail?
Well, most of New Year’s resolutions are based on self will, self discipline, trying to pick ourselves up and build new habits all on our own.
But Christian resolutions are different. Christian growth is different. Christian discipline is different because it’s not just about grinding. It’s not just about the grit that you have to get it done. It’s about the grace that we have of God.
In First Timothy, Chapter 4, Verse 7 and 8, Paul tells Timothy, his young protege, to train yourself for godliness. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. So when we talk about resolutions, typically we think of physical resolutions. But we want to talk about today some spiritual resolutions, and in particular we want to talk about spiritual disciplines because as Paul said says here, they are valuable in every way.
Now, the primary way that we train ourselves for the purpose of Godliness is through the Word of God.
As Second Timothy, Chapter 3, Verse 16:17 says, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
For the goal of as verse 17 says, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
So as we think about establishing some new spiritual disciplines in regards to Bible intake, the Word of God, we want to talk about three key practices to instill or grow in this year.
First, daily Bible reading. You got to start there. We need to be constantly and continually keep hearing God’s voice, Psalm Chapter one reminds us that blessed is the person who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night.
Regular daily reading keeps us rooted in God’s truth.
So let’s talk practically.
Commit to just reading one chapter a day or follow another reading plan. If you have a particular one in mind that you like, go with that. There’s all kinds of apps nowadays that can keep you on track for reading through the Bible and makes it super easy.
You can follow like what I’ve done and what we do at our church with our men’s group. Read through an entire short book of the Bible of the New Testament every day for a month. Do that at a time. Do large chunks of Scripture every day, again and again, because repetition is how you learn.
But you need to be in God’s Word if you’re going to know God’s Word. You need to be reading God’s Word. And as you read, read prayerfully, read expecting the Holy Spirit to illuminate His Word to you.
Be looking for what God wants you to learn.
Listen for his voice. Jesus tells us in John chapter 10 that that his sheep hear his voice, they know his voice. And his voice, as we know, is found in Scripture.
So we need to be number one, daily reading Scripture.
And number two is taking that a step further than just reading and doing in depth Bible study. We need to dig deeper for transformation. Reading is absolutely essential. If you’re not reading, you can’t study.
But study expository line upon line. Digging in helps you to grasp the context, to grasp the true meaning, and even to extrapolate the applications for your own Life.
James, chapter one, 22 verse urges us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. So we need to study and dig in so that we can get the meat and understand it properly, so that we can apply it properly to our lives.
So again, some tips here. Choose a book of the Bible, work through it slowly.
Ask yourself, what does it say?
Look at it, observe what are the words there? But then you have to go beyond just what does it say but does to look at, what does it mean? You have to interpret it properly within the context, within the historical context, literary context, where you find those verses that you’re studying and then finally again, ask the question, how can I apply this?
And even prayerfully asking the Holy Spirit, help me to have wisdom to live this out in your study. You want to use reliable study tools.
A basic study tool for anyone, if you’re just getting started, is a good Study Bible A good study Bible like the ESV Study Bible is one that I would recommend.
It has great notes, good commentary, extra features and resources in the study Bible and that can go a long way to help you in your study.
If you want to dig deeper, there are other commentaries, there are word studies.
All kinds of things are out there. You can get online and find some free websites that have free resources that you can use.
Of course you want to be careful because not all resources are the same.
If you have questions about that, be happy to answer those. You can email me lineuponlineministriesmail.com and I’d be happy to help. Hebrews chapter 4:12 reminds us the the Word of God is living and active.
Sharper than any two edged sword. We need to learn how to use God’s sword and so we have to dig in more than just read, we need to study.
We need to study God’s Word so that we can do this next step properly.
Number three is scripture memory.
Having read and and studied to understand what the scriptures say, we need to be memorizing it, hiding it in our heart.
Now if you’ve been a part of LineupOn Line Ministries or, or have been following us for any length of time, you know Brother David Miller, this was his thing. He had scripture memorized. He did it every day. But it, it, it wasn’t just something that came to him naturally. He had to work at it. It was a discipline.
Psalm 119, verse 11 says, I have stored up your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.
We need to hold these things in our hearts and so we need to be practicing. So let me give you some tips here Again, Brother David was, was passionate about memorization.
He shared some wise counsel regarding memory verses.
He it didn’t just come naturally to him, he had to work at it.
Here’s what he says. He says it’s easier to memorize contiguous passages rather than isolated verses because there’s often a storyline or a logical flow.
So if you want to start memorizing verses, start memorizing paragraphs or passages. Start at the beginning of the paragraph, start at the beginning of the chapter so that you, you’re memorizing something in a natural way. There’s a flow to the scripture. And then he also said, my pattern has been to start in chapter one, verse one, analyze that verse, break it down into its statements, memorize one complete thought at a time, say it out loud so that your ears hear it, and once you’ve got it, add the next, then Review from the beginning and you just keep adding.
And before long, David says you’ll have chapters or even books committed to memory.
It’s simple.
The difficulty comes in disciplining yourself to keep practicing these things. But David did add this bit of wisdom. Following these tips. He said the goal, the goal of Scripture memory is not to impress others, but personal sanctification, sanctify them in the truth. Your Word is truth. John 17:17.
And he said this one day in a trial, the Spirit will bring just the verse you need to mind.
And that’s the reason for scripture memorization. It’s not just so that we can show off how much Scripture we have memorized. It’s to hide it in our hearts so that we may not sin against God, so that the Holy Spirit can use His Word in our life to guide us, direct us, to help us overcome temptations and trials, to help us face suffering, to give us wisdom for everyday Life.
So in 2026, let’s commit ourselves to practicing these things, to digging in to God’s word deeper, reading it, studying it, memorizing it. Start small but stay consistent. That’s the key. Pray ultimately for the Spirit’s help. Without his help, none of this will happen.
And I would encourage you also find accountability. Do this with other men or women in your church, brothers and sisters in Christ who also need to be doing these same things and help one another to do it. If this is still new to you, or if you want to learn more about spiritual disciplines and habits, let me give you a couple of quick, excellent resources for you in this process.
Probably the most well known one regarding spiritual disciplines is Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney. This one’s a classic.
Highly recommend picking that up. That helps you in thinking, through, pursuing godliness through biblical practices.
And then the other one to help you in the study process is how to Study the Bible by John MacArthur.
It’s full of all kinds of practical guidance for studying in an expository type way.
And now let’s turn to another classic sermon, but by brother David Miller From Nehemiah chapter 8, called Rediscovering Old Truths.
[00:12:51] Speaker A: Nehemiah chapter 8, beginning at verse 13, Nehemiah chapter 8 and verse 13.I want to talk to you tonight about rediscovering old truths.
I want to take just a couple of minutes and set the historical context for our passage.
You are aware that the Israelites have recently spent 70 years in captivity.
Ezra and the boys have returned only to discover that their beloved city, Jerusalem, lay in ruins.
The Gates had been burned with fire.
Sanballat and Tobiah and Gesham had all arrayed their forces in opposition to the rebuilding of the wall and the re establishing of the worship.
You will recall that Nehemiah organized the workforce in such a way that with one hand they held a trowel and with the other a sword.
And when the project was completed, things still were not the same.
There was much rubbish and there was much opposition.
But the wall has been reestablished and the worship has been re established.
There is some new zeal.
There are some sparks of revival here and there.
In our chapter, the people gathered themselves together early in the morning and requested that Ezra the scribe bring the book of the law of God.
And from early in the morning until noon, Nehemiah and the boys, ezra and the 13 who were seated on either side of him, the Amen corner, would read the word of the law of God.
And they had expositors out in the congregation giving the sense, making the meaning clear and simple.
And the people responded by standing up and saying, amen.
Amen.
He has dismissed the crowd.
He has said, don’t fret and don’t worry.
Send portions to them who do not have any.
The joy of the Lord is your strength.
Now the larger crowd has been dismissed and the leaders remain.
Let’s pick it up there at verse 13.
And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the law of God.
And on the second day they found written in the law which the Lord commanded by Moses that the children of Israel were to dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month, and that they were to publish and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, go forth unto the mount and fetch olive branches and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches and branches of thick trees to make booze, as it is written.
So all the people went forth and brought them and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim, and all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booze and sat under the booths.
For from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun, unto that day had not the children of Israel done so.
And there was very great gladness also day by day, from the first day unto the last day.
Ezra read in the book of the Law of God.
And they kept the festival seven days.
And on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according unto the manner.
I have four items in my sermon.
First, I want you to see the in depth look.
Secondly, I want you to consider the incalculable laws.
Third, I want you to see the inescapable law.
And then we will finish up talking about this inspiring legacy of the festival of booze.
Are you interested?
All right, here we go.
I’m starting now.
I want you to see the in depth look.
Look at verse 13.
These leaders of the people have requested Ezra to bring the book of the law.
And they want to have an understanding of the law of God. They said. Yesterday we had a casual cursory exposure to the law.
Today we want a more careful and comprehensive look at the law.
Yesterday we saw chapters and paragraphs and sentences.
Today we are interested in clauses and phrases and words.
We want to get down to the meat of the word.
We don’t want to spend any more time skipping along the top.
Ezra, just to be frank with you, brother, we’re tired of these topical sermons.
This skyscraper preaching ain’t getting it.
We want some exposition, line by line, precept upon precept. Here a little, there a little.
And in depth.
Look, I’m telling you, beloved, I don’t know anything that would rejuvenate and reform the church any quicker than a return to old time expository preaching where you read a text and give a good faith effort to explain and expose and elucidate and elaborate upon the principles and the precepts and the promises contained in that portion of scripture.
$50,000 $75,000 a year is a lot for your church to pay to have you visit all the hospitals and the nursing homes and the shut ins and bore them to tears three times a week.
They get that done for a lot less money.
I tell you what, what we need are preachers who will give an explanation of the text.
Do you know it’s not enough to say what the text does not mean.
Sooner or later you got to get around to telling the folks what the text does mean.
Memorization, meditation, investigation, articulation of the principles and the precepts contained in that portion of scripture. You know what a topical sermon is, don’t you? That’s where you read a text and depart from it and never more return.
And skyscraper preaching is where you tell one story on top of another story ad infinitum.
That is not preaching. That’s storytelling.
The student said to the professor, I Sir, can Learn anything you can teach.
And the layman said to the pastor, I can understand anything you can explain.
We need to give the folks an in depth look.
Number two, I want you to see the incalculable loss.
Verse 14 says.
And they found written in the law.
They found it, they discovered had been there all along, but they found written the law that they should keep the festival of booze.
In the seventh month, since the days of Joshua the son of Nun, until that day, the children of Israel had not done so.
Probably that does not mean that they had not kept the feast period, but they had not kept it to such an extent, with such intensity, involving so many of the people.
Probably none of the people present had ever observed the feast of booze.
They’ve been in Babylon for 70 years.
They’ve been returned now for perhaps 10 years.
Three or four generations in Israel had known nothing of this festival.
Are you aware tonight, beloved, that it is possible for great biblical truths to be lost on an entire generation of Baptists?
Are you aware of this?
The Southern Baptist Convention was established in 1845.
We did not have a confessional document in those days. Now, the reason for that was simple.
In order to be a member of the national convention, you had to be a member in good standing with a local Baptist association.
All of the associations in those days had comprehensive confessional documents.
Perhaps the 1689 London Confession, perhaps the New Hampshire, perhaps the Philadelphia, perhaps the Charleston confession.
Are you aware?
Are Southern Baptists in our day aware that these are Reformed confessions?
These documents spell out the depravity of the human heart and the inability of man to repent or believe on his own.
These documents present unconditional election.
These documents say in unequivocal terms that Jesus Christ died for the elect.
These documents teach that when sovereign grace says arrest that man, that the Spirit of God then does exactly what John O. Sims preached about this afternoon.
And those depraved sinners whom God elects, for whom Christ dies, whom the Spirit regenerates, shall never be lost, not won.
That’s the heritage that Southern Baptists have.
In 1859, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was established.
They needed a confessional document that would guide the school.
Professors must teach consistent with and not contrary to these articles of faith. Basil Manley drew up 20 articles of faith known as the Abstract of Principles.
You want to know what Southern Baptists believed?
Long before 1925, long before the Baptist faith and message was ever written, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, was hiring and firing professors based upon their agreement with the reform document known as as the Abstractive Principles.
But along in the early 20th century, Southern Baptists began to inch away.
They didn’t get together in a college of Cardinals and officially vote on it and decide, we’re going to begin to move away from Reformed theology. No, it didn’t happen that way. It never does. It is insidious.
It is by stealth.
It is through neglect.
It is because that the saints did not keep the vigil.
It’s because leaders did not recognize that the torque is always to the left.
The torque on Baptist schools and Baptist seminaries and Baptist institutions is never to the right. It’s always to the left. You have to keep a vigil. You have to be persistent, you have to be bulldog tenacious about it.
And ere long there was a generation of people who knew nothing about the doctrines of grace.
It happened, strangely enough, about 70 to 80 years ago.
Interesting the parallel, isn’t it?
You want to know how bad it was?
Dale Moody taught apostasy for 40 years at Southern Seminary.
Dale Moody taught several generations of preachers that it was possible to be saved, to apostasize, turn away from the faith and ultimately be law and go to hell.
And you and I paid his salary.
Molly Marshall Green said God may very well be at work among the other major world religions bringing men to himself.
She taught post mortem opportunities for salvation.
Glenn Henson said Jesus made a mistake when he said to those disciples, you will not die until these prophecies come to pass.
His mistake was he Jesus.
He did not see the church age.
Are y’ all getting any of this yet?
Frank Tupper wrote a book called A Scandalous Providence.
In that book, he said, if he were counseling a young couple whose child had died in a miscarriage, God did everything that he could do to save your baby. But God does not control the intricacies and the complexities of human conception and fatal development.
Paul Simmons taught for 20 years in the ethics department at Southern Seminary and said, we are not aborting a person.
We’re aborting a glob of protoplasm.
Roy Honeycutt said of the burning bush experience, there are three possible interpretations. One, it could have been a burning bush.
What about that?
Two, it could have been the sun reflecting upon the orange foliage, giving the appearance of burning. And if you and I had been there, we would not have had this third interpretation, this inner experience, which only Moses had.
And he said, for the present writer, this latter seems more probable.
Regarding Elisha and those she bears destroying those mockers.
Roy Honeycutt said, I do not know of an interpreter who would justify the morality of this text.
That’s where Southern Baptists were beloved until just recently.
It’s only been about 21 or 2 years.
Most Southern Baptists wouldn’t have known a Calvinist if they had tripped over one.
What an incalculable loss this has been to Southern Baptist churches.
Think of the joy unspeakable and full of glory that was never experienced deep in the souls of Southern Baptists out here in in the Southern baptism, having never bent the knee and bowed the heart before the preaching of the sovereignty of God Almighty.
Think of the lonely nights of struggle and wrestling in the flesh wondering how can I ever overcome these obstacles when all the while they could have been singing.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do if with his love he befriend thee.
What an incalculable loss.
What a loss.
What a loss of impetus toward foreign missions.
What an incalculable loss there has been when in the lonely midnight hours of the soul men have been wondering what to do with their lives.
When had they been hearing about the sovereignty of God, an unconditional election, an irresistible grace and the call of the Spirit in regeneration, they might have given themselves up to hear the Macedonian call and go over into Macedonia knowing that God had assuredly called them.
Are y’ all getting any of this? An incalculable loss.
Did I mention earlier that there was opposition to the rebuilding of the wall and the reestablishing of the worship? Did I say that?
I thought I did.
We have some modern day Tobias and sand ballots and great gossiping Gishams.
Do you know what some state executives have done?
They’ve written it in the Baptist paper.
Beware of those Calvinists.
Do you know what some domes have done?
Doms, You know what they’ve done?
They’ve written pamphlets.
How to sniff out a Calvinist in the search process.
You know one of the things they tell them.
If they use phrases like true church church.
If they talk about doctrines of grace, beware.
I want to tell you how to respond to that. Don’t do like I do. That makes me hopping mad.
I get with them.
But here. Don’t do like I do. Do like I’m going to tell you to do.
If you’ve got a director of missions like that, you and your wife prepare the best meal.
Invite him over.
Tell him you’re a Calvinist, but tell him you love him anyway.
Tell him you love him unconditionally.
Tell him. Don’t be intimidated you have nothing to fear from me.
I’m going to be the best friend you’ve got.
I’m going to pray for you.
You need something done around here, you call me first.
And you coat him with honey.
You can catch more flies with honey than you can anything else.
I’d drown him with love.
Do you know what?
Those of us who preach grace ought to have some of it.
And the state execs, they don’t have any. They don’t have any influence much, anyway. Don’t worry about them.
They don’t.
I want you to see now the inescapable law.
When folks begin to look into the Bible with a more careful look, get down to the phrases and the clauses and the words, they’re going to discover these truths and they’re going to have an appetite for them.
And they’re going to expect the preacher to have an aptitude for them.
And here’s my advice.
Just wade on out and get your feet wet.
Because when these things begin to be talked about, that’s that sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry bush.
There are people talking about the grace of God nowadays and the sovereignty of God.
Never looked into these things before. Don’t be afraid of the controversy.
Get in on it, for heaven’s sake.
Engage the brethren. Enjoy the ride.
There are Calvinists out here behind every bush these days.
Look, I’ve been at it for 49 years.
For 30 of those years, you couldn’t hardly find a Calvinist. You had to really look hard to find them. But now they’re everywhere. They’re everywhere.
George Harris, the editor of the Georgia Index, said a couple of years ago in an editorial, the Calvinists are here.
I invited him out for breakfast. I was there in the area. I invited him over for breakfast.
I said, brother Harris, you should have titled your editorial. The Calvinists have been here all the while.
Do you know there’s a river flowing?
You cannot just get your feet into it. You can wade out up to your ankles.
You can wade out up to your knees.
You can wade up to your hips. I’m telling you, there’s a river of truth that you can swim in these days in Southern Baptist life. Get in on that.
Hallelujah.
Now, here’s the inspiring legacy.
You didn’t think I was going to neglect to expound the text regarding this festival, did you?
That would have been doing the very thing I charged some of the other brethren of doing.
I want you to see three things now about this festival.
First, I want you to See the mandate. For it the Lord commanded by Moses that in the seventh month they were to keep the festival of booze. That is, they were to take the branches of olive trees, pine trees, myrtle trees and palm trees, come to Jerusalem and make tents and camp out under those tents for seven days.
They didn’t vote on this.
They didn’t have a symposium.
They found it mandated in the scriptures.
And I tell you, beloved, thus saith the Lord ought to be the impetus for everything we do in church life.
Let me say something about the manner.
Notice the all of our texts and all of the people.
I suppose this was a family integrated ministry.
All of magnancy, small children dragging a branch.
What about this architecture?
I could have been involved in that.
Building a lean to a shanty.
What about the absurdity?
You see Sanballat and Tobi and geisha mouths under.
They’re thinking, what on earth are they doing?
This makes absolutely no sense.
What are they up to now?
And you know something, beloved? There ought to be just a little bit of absurdity regarding what goes on at the church.
It ought not to make sense.
Folks ought to think there’s something strange and unusual about those people.
Get over wanting to be respectable, Dear Lord. Baptists have longed for, they have yearned for it, they have sought it.
They want the evening news to mention them in some kind of kind and respectable way. Get over it. It’s not going to happen.
And if it does happen, it’ll be a castigation against us.
Let me say something to you about the motive for this festival.
Source for the future. Do you know why God gave this festival?
He did not want the people to forget who they were and where they came from.
He wanted them to remember that they came out of a waste howling wilderness.
And it was the Lord God omnipotent who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, out of hard bondage, through the wilderness and into the promised land.
And he wanted them to look around them and see where they were today and began to sing. Here I raise mine, Ebenezer hither By thy help I’m come and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.
He wanted it to be a resource as they looked into the future.
He wanted them to know that here we have no continuing city.
We are dual citizens. Our citizenship is in heaven. From whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ that does a body good to to remember who they were before the Lord saved them and what they are now since they’ve been redeemed.
That’s my story.
I was bruised and battered and broken.
I was carnal and corrupt.
I was debilitated, I was demoralized. I was depraved and I was destitute.
But I’ve been bought and I’ve been blessed and I’ve been born again.
I’ve been cleansed, I’ve been changed.
Hallelujah.
I’m just a sinner saved by grace.
When I stood condemned to death, he took my place.
I’m just a sinner saved by grace.
Hallelujah.
This world is not my home I’m just a passing through My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
Is that the case with you?
Then let us keep the festival.
It’s no wonder to me that so many of you come back here every year.
Sort of like the festival of Booze, isn’t it?
Where we hear the word of God and sing the praises of the Lord and are reminded of where we came from and where we are today and how the future is bright for the children of God.
Let us recover these truth.
Let’s bow and pray.
[00:52:50] Speaker B: Thank you so much for joining us today on the Line Upon Line Ministries podcast. If you have any ideas for future podcasts or if you have any questions or comments that you would like to discuss, feel free to email me at lineuponlineministriesmail.com or you can direct message me on social media or wherever you’re listening to or watching this podcast. One more thing on today’s podcast because it is coming out on January 15th of 2026.This is a special day for me, for our family because my oldest daughter is turning 18 today.
That’s right.
She’s becoming an adult.
So happy Birthday, Ella Joan, we’re so proud of the young woman you are and the woman God is transforming you into.
Hope you have an awesome day. Love you. Thanks again for joining us for this episode of Line Upon Line Ministries Podcast. God bless you as you continue to study and minister God’s word. Line Upon Line.