Pillar #2 Live Exposition

The reason we’re doing a series through the 6 DNA of the Pillar Network is because we truly believe that when adhered to faithfully, they make for healthy local church’s, and healthy Christians.

My task today is to talk to you today about Live Exposition of the Scriptures.

Let’s define the term fist, then we’ll take a look at the text in Nehemiah together.

The root word of the word, exposition, is the word, “expose”. This is already helpful. We believe that in order for our church, and any church, to be as healthy as it can be, the careful and regular work of exposing truth from God found in the pages of the Bible, should be our primary spiritual diet.

Some might say that teaching verse by verse is what expository preaching/teaching is. But that’s not necessarily the case. The goal is not verse by verse. The goal is exposing the intent of the author who penned it, and God who inspired it.

verse vs by verse teaching CAN miss the actually intent of a passage, or book, similar to the way that a topical message can miss the intended meaning.

Preaching and teaching like this takes work. We’re not saying it’s the only way to preach, and that topical or textual messages are never helpful or necessary. We’re saying that if a church body never hears expositional preaching, it will be weak, because expositional preaching is the method of preaching that, when done well, really wants to know what God has to say about things.

Ok, three helpful definitions.

Expository preaching: When a preacher studies through books of the Bible, looking at each text in light of its historical setting and its context within Scripture as a whole. The goal is to craft a sermon that exposes God’s objective intended meaning of the text. In expository preaching, the text IS the topic.

Topical Preaching: When a preacher chooses a topic first, and then searches for one or more texts that support his topic. In topical preaching the hearers may or may not learn God’s objective intended meaning in a passage. Topical messages can be very helpful, but run the risk of forcing the Bible to mean what we want it to mean.

Textual Preaching: This is closer to expositional preaching than topical is. In textual preaching a preacher chooses a smaller text from a larger body of text. This becomes a springboard for making the point or points he wants to make. This method often addresses helpful peripheral meanings found in a text, but not always the primary meaning.

So for today, you get all three. The topic is Expository Preaching. The text to Springboard us toward our goal is Nehemiah chapter 8…and I’ll see what I can do to get to the intended meaning of the text so that we’re not reading into the text meanings that Scripture would not support.

Turn to Nehemiah 8 if you’r not already there.

The broader context of this chapter is the people of Israel who had come back to Jerusalem from their 70 year captivity in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar. These were the survivors of the horrific siege that had taken place, which involved kidnapping, murder, destruction of the city and the temple.

From Chapter 1 and 2 of Nehemiah we know that Nehemiah was a cupbearer to Artexerxes, just a servant, but by Chapter 5 he is appointed the Governor of Judah. He was shown mercy when he expressed his deep sorrow of the news that the “walls of Jerusalem were destroyed and the gates destroyed by fire.” God moved upon Artexerxes to allow Nehemiah to travel to Jerusalem and carry out the rebuild and restoration.

In chapters 3, 4, and 5 the workers are gathered from the remnant, and the rebuilding begins, but not without opposition. Now, this is important for understanding our text today, because the disrepair was more than just physical. There was deep bitterness that remained against the returned captives, and you can see this from Chapter 5. Look at Chapter 5:1.

Nehemiah is working to restore peace, fellowship, the worship of God in their promised land. Nehemiah assembles the people and they begin to build, holding trowels in one hand, and a sword in the other to defend themselves.

They finished the wall in record time. Look at Chapter Nehemiah 6:15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God

In Chapter 7 Nehemiah assembles those found in the book of genealogy, a record of those who had come up out of captivity, all listed there in this chapter.

Around 50,000 in total. What an occasion, and celebration, and acknowledgment of God’s goodness. This was the congregation.

What did they now need?

Nehemiah was a great Governor and organizer, but in handling the law, Ezra the scribe was called in.

Let’s begin to notice a few things that will apply to our topic today.

How good and right it is to assemble together as children of God, to hear from Him through the expounding of His Word.

The congregation asked for Ezra, the scribe, to bring the book of the law.

The congregation desired to hear from the Lord

Before we understand the goodness of expositional preaching, we must first understand that when we gather, it is good to desire to hear from the Lord.

Why did they ask for Ezra to come...

He was a scribe, and priest of Israel.

God has placed Ezra in a trusted position of carefully copying the text of Scripture, a process that led Him to knowing, caring for, and understanding what it said. And as a priest, he was a representative of God to man, and man to God. The priest stood between the two.

Today, we have Christ, our high priest, who mediates between us an God, and who’s priestly offering of Himself as a sacrifice for sin has finalized our reconciliation to God. I don’t stand before you as a priest that you need in order to get to God, but as one who holds an office of shepherding. The elders of a church have a similarity to Ezra’s position in that we handle the Scriptures with care and reverence, to bring it before the congregation.

We we come together, is it your desire to hear from God through His Word?

v3. “and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law”

Couple things...

Ezra read the book of the law, and they were attentive to the book of the law by being attentive to the one reading it in that moment.

How often I’ve heard people say they hate church because it’s just one man speaking. If the man is simply speaking is own stories and opinions, I’m with you…but If he brings the Scriptures to the pulpit, we are to give attention.

2. The place they chose was conducive to assembling and listening to the Word

V2 tells us that men and women came together, and all who could understand what they heard. Presumably children too…how quickly parents can dismiss they child’s ability to understand.

How do 50 thousand people gather to hear the Word? You pick a place like the open square before the water gate. It was practical, and effective.

v4...And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose.

The birthplace of the soapbox? Or the pulpit. Certainly this was practical for hearing well, as well as recognizing the place that the Scriptures were to have in that assembly.

3. There is reverence given to the Scriptures by the preacher and congregation.

v5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood.

Where was their reverence directed? When they saw Ezra open the book, the people stood.

How long did he read? From morning till midday! And they were attentive to it the whole time.

I truly believe we are a culture of excuses. Ll on has to do is leave America for a few days to see that we are full of excuses for our apathy. The Nepali churches we visited often sit on the floor of a small room, with joy on their faces, with no AC, and reverence for the Word.

1 Timothy 4:13-16 “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

This has not ceased in the New Testament church. It is to be continued, and reverenced, and not neglected. Neither is it to be neglected that God calls qualified men to be pastor/elder/shepherd in order to read, teach, and exhort from the Scriptures publicly. What does this mean publicly? It means that private and personal reading, though good for out devotion to the Lord, is not sufficient for the church. The Church is to gather publicly for the reading and preaching of the Scriptures.

Let me say something about the platform...

What comes to mind when you think of those elevated platforms with staircases leading up to the pulpit? DO you think pride, pomp, and notoriety? Certainly those can be sins of the heart, but that’s not what those platforms were designed for. It was to be a visible picture to the congregation that in their gathering it is God’s word that is supreme and authoritative.

May this be the case for us when the Scriptures are opened, in the home, yes, but in this place where the minister of God is called upon to expound God’s Word to God’s people.

4. Preaching is humble, worshipful, and focused on God.

v6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

There are many responses that come as a result of a good sermon. Praise, conviction, humility, sorrow, encouragement, thankfulness, even repentance and salvation from sin…

Ezra stood before the people with the Scriptures opened, and other gifted men stood by him... 6 on his right and seven on his left..to help give a sense of what was being read, and Ezra blessed the the Lord, THE GREAT GOD!

As the Word of God was read publicly, how did the congregation participate and respond?

Lifted hands and bowed heads in worship of our great God!

Notice v8. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

My final point is this…

5. Faithful preaching involves clearly reading, and clearly giving the sense, so that the people understand.

What good is preaching that cannot be understood. More specifically, what good is preaching that does not lead God’s people to a greater understanding of Him?

This means that it is God’s design that the understanding of His word would come partially through those who teach, expound, and explain. The gift of teachers to the church. Aren’t you thankful for good teachers in your life?

We are to read the Scriptures on our own, and eat them like bread for the soul, but we are also to come together for meals that has been prepared by a teacher, so that the sense might be given, God would be magnified, the people humbled, corrected, edified and pointed to the Gospel of salvation.

So, we are committed to the live exposition of Scripture for the continual growth of this body.

Like the congregation of Israel returning from exile, come to church knowing who you once were and what Christ has rescued you from, so that your assembling is done with an expectant desire to hear from Him.

The leaders will continue to make our meeting spaces conducive to the exposition of Scripture, and learning the Word.

We will continue to give reverence to God’s Word by how we use our time together, how we handle His word, how we see His Word as authoritative, good, and necessary for life and godliness, and how we humble ourselves before His will.

May the preachers who occupy and steward the New City Pulpit, or the platform it whatever space we gather in, seek to be faithful to the Scriptures, reading clearly, and giving the sense of the meaning, so that we grow in understanding, increase in faith and wisdom, and that many more would be saved.

We will end with 2 Timothy 3:14 - 17 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.