Powerful

Introduction

Well, good morning!

If you have a Bible and I hope that you do, open ‘em up with me to the book of Nehemiah…We’re gonna be in the eighth chapter this morning.

Listen, Nehemiah chapter 8, its one of my favorite passages. It’s actually the passage I based my dissertation off of.

This passage, its one of the biggest reasons I think it’s necessary we have multiple elders and multiple preachers in the church. It’s where the idea for our preaching team came from…This passage is one of the reasons I elevate the Word of God the way I do…why I believe it should be our foundation as a body of believers. It’s why we stand to read the Word before we dig into every Sunday.

The things we’re gonna see in this passage, it shows us…it gives us an example of how we should respond to the Word of God.

Listen, this our last sermon in our series looking at God’s Word…and if you’ve been following along with us, we’re looking at the power of God’s Word this morning. It’s not just some ordinary book filled with a bunch of useful information or interesting stories…these words, all of ‘em, they’re transformative…there’s power within these pages…they’re able to make us wise as we saw last week…they’re able to grow us and correct us…2 Timothy 3 and 4 showed us that.

We see its sharper than any two edged sword…it’s able to piece us at our very deepest core…Hebrews 4.

We see in Romans 10 that without the Word being read, being proclaimed, lives wouldn’t be changed…Meaning, the Word, there’s power in it to give new life.

I heard a pastor in our home group study, this past week, he pointed out something I had never realized about the power and inspiration of God’s Word…why we’re to approach it differently…Last week, we saw that these words, they’re breathed out by God, right? Well, there’s actually only 2 other times God breathed on something…Genesis 2, it says God breathed life into Adam’s nostrils…and John chapter 20, Jesus breathed on His disciples…which was just before the Holy Spirit came upon them.

I mean, the whole point with these other two accounts…the first was showing the image we were made in…we’re the very reflection of the Creator, the Creator of the Universe…We have His very breath in our lungs…The second, Jesus was giving power to His disciples, enabling them to go out and advance His kingdom…that’s why He says in Acts 1:8:

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

We’re able to witness and see fruit, because there’s real power inside us.

And so, if there’s real power in the previous two times we see this example…there must be real power in the Word of God. Amen? Because it’s God breathed.

The question is, “Do you believe that? Do you believe the Bible to have the kind of power it says it has?” Because again, what you believe about the Bible, it shapes everything else about your life.

And so, this morning…I don’t wanna give you a passage that shows you the power of God’s Word all over again. I think you believe that…I hope you affirm that at least…Instead, I wanna give you a passage that shows us how to respond to God’s Word in light of that belief. How should we respond to the Word if we believe it to have the kind of power it says it does?

I think Nehemiah chapter 8 gives us a great model to follow here.

And so, if you would, if you’re there with me in Nehemiah, let’s stand and read our passage together. It says this, starting in verse 1:

Nehemiah 8:1–12 ESV

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah (Mat-ta-thigh-a), Shema (She-ma), Anaiah (A-nie-a), Uriah (Ur-riah), Hilkiah (Hil-kiah) , and Maaseiah (Ma-a-si-ya) on his right hand, and Pedaiah (Pe-die-ya), Mishael (Me-shy-el), Malchijah (Mal-ki-ja), Hashum (Ha-shim), Hashbaddanah (Hash-ba-donah), Zechariah, and Meshullam (Me-shall-lum) on his left hand. 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. 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. Also Jeshua, Bani (Ba-nae), Sherebiah (Share-a-biah), Jamin (Ja-men), Akkub (A-Kuub), Shabbethai (Shab-ba-thigh), Hodiah (Ho-diah), Maaseiah (Ma-a-si-ya), Kelita (Ka-lee-da), Azariah (Aza-riah), Jozabad (Jo-za-bad), Hanan (Ha-nan), Pelaiah (Pe-lie-iah), the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

Thank you, you can be seated.

[Prayer]

If you’re taking notes, I have four points for us this morning in light of how we should respond to the power of God’s Word…number 1, Respond to God’s Word with Careful Listening…number 2, Respond to God’s Word with Reverence…number 3, Respond to God’s Word with Understanding…and then finally, number 4, Respond to God’s Word with Conviction.

And so, if you’d keep your places there in Nehemiah 8, let’s look at how the Israelites responded to the power of God’s Word.

I. Respond to God’s Word with Careful Listening (vv. 1-3)

The first point we see here, its that they responded to the Word with careful listening.

Now just a little context…Nehemiah, its often paired with Ezra. It’s believed that this was maybe one book. We don’t know the author, maybe it was Ezra…maybe it was Nehemiah…But both of the books, they record the events just after the Israelites’ captivity period in Babylon and Persia. Ezra covers the rebuilding of the temple while Nehemiah focuses on the rebuilding of the walls…We actually went through these books my first year here if you remember that. These are also the events just after what we’re looking at on Wednesday nights with the book of Daniel.

And so remember, Jerusalem’s been destroy…remember Nebuchadnezzar did that. And everything needs to be rebuilt, right? Also remember, Nebuchadnezzar, he destroyed the temple and took all its artifacts.

And so, as they come back…it’s almost like returning to a place after a hurricane or something. They’re assessing the damaging…they’re trying to see what’s usable, what they can recover from the rubble. And in this recovery effort, they uncover the Word of God. And listen, that’s where our story kind of picks up.

Look at the first three verses with me again. It says:

Nehemiah 8:1–3 ESV

And all the people gathered as one man…I want you to pay attention that phrase there, we’re gonna see it a couple of times. “They gathered together as one man.” The word “people,” its used thirteen times in our passage this morning. The author here, he really wanted to emphasize the “people” of this Israelite community. And listen, nine of those thirteen times, the phrase “all the people” is used. And to kind of drive his point home, this emphasize here, he describes “all the people” as what? As one man. There’s a theme of unity throughout this text. It says: And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. And so, according to the author here, what are the people unified in? They come together through a singular purpose to worship God. They were coming together to reestablish their union with God. And listen, what was their means to do those things? It was the Book of the Law of Moses! Listen, together, as one man, all the people of Israel…according to the author here…they sought revival and together they petitioned their religious leader to bring forth the means for the revival they knew they needed. The people’s request here, it showed that they believed the foundations of their faith, it was rooted in the Old Testament Scriptures…to which they were credited, here in our text, with full divine authority. This account also shows us, these people, they believed there was power in the Word of God. They petitioned Ezra to bring out the Law. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. And so listen, there’s a couple of things we see here…First, what’s Ezra do? He brings out the Law…before all the people, it says “both men and women and all who could understand.”…that phrase, “all who could understand,” it’s giving the notion that even children were involved in this gathering and they were counted among all the people which was rare for pieces of writing during this time period. Everyone, as one man, they were able to hear and listen and understand the Word of God being spoken. They were attentive…they were patient. And look at the length of time they stood there…from early morning until midday…Now we don’t know exactly how long this was but most scholars believe it was about 6 hours. Ezra read from the Law for 6 hours. (So listen, I don’t wanna hear anything about my 40-50 minute sermons). They stood there for 6 hours. But guys, again…men and women and children, they did that together. They listened attentively. I had someone, not too long ago, they asked me why we didn’t do children’s church during Sunday morning worship. And listen, before I give you my opinion, understand this is my opinion, not necessarily the stance of the church…I don’t think it’s healthy or it’s wise to remove our children from corporate worship. You’re teaching them that worship’s about them…you’re teaching them that the Bible’s too complicated for them to learn…you’re removing their opportunity to see mom or dad worship, you’re removing that opportunity for discipleship to happen. Pay attention to passage here, they all came together as ONE MAN! And they were ALL attentive to the Book of the Law.

And so, let me ask you this question…, “Do you believe God’s Word to have power?…Like do you believe it can do something that you and I can’t?”…Then guys, listen to the Word of God…let it transform your life…and guys, make those who are entrusted to you, listen to God’s Word…because it’s powerful.

Guys, we have three kids…they love the people here…they love God…they love the church…I’m not saying they’re perfect, I’m not saying they don’t struggle with each of these categories or that they don’t have problems with some of these things sometimes…but listen, you know why they love these things…because Brittany and I forced them.

I hear it all time…, “I don’t wanna force my kid to go to church…I want them to make their own decisions…I don’t wanna turn ‘em off to Jesus,” or whatever, right?

Guys, don’t you force ‘em to clean their room?

You don’t wanna force them to go to church but you forget, you don’t go to church, you are the church. If you’d be the church at home as Deuteronomy shows us…if we’d stop separating being God’s person and being a worldly person…if we start showing what the church really is…if we start forcing our kids to be the church, you’ll start to see things positively change in your life and their life…because Jesus is good!

And listen, as the church, look at this passage, we gather together for one reason, to worship God by listening to His words…words that are inspired…words that are authoritative…words that are powerful…Powerful enough to change everything about our lives. I force my kids to sit under the reading and instruction of God’s Word because outside the church there’s a demonic attack against ‘em…and these words that I force them to listen to, it has the power to protect them and save ‘em.

And so, how should we respond if we believe God’s Word to be powerful? We should respond by carefully listening to it…which moves us to the next point.

II. Respond to God’s Word with Reverence (vv. 4-6)

Point number 2…respond to God’s Word with Reverence.

Look at verses 4 through 6. It says:

Nehemiah 8:4–6 (ESV)

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

It was very much like the set up we have today…there was a stage, a podium. But notice here…what’s this elevation for? It wasn’t to elevate and lift up Ezra, right? Pay attention to the context…it involves all the people and their desire to do what? To hear God’s Word. This platform, it was to lift up the Word of God.

And notice, it says, the platform, it was built beforehand…prior to the assembly. Meaning, these people had spent time planning for this assembly.

But listen, pay attention here, see the details, why the author included it in the text, they were giving God’s Word the proper reverence it deserved. They were lifting it up as they all listened to it…Why? Because they believed it was inspired by God and they believed because of that, it had real power.

It goes on:

And beside him stood [13 men]. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people [there it is again], for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 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.

And so, they hear God’s Word and it causes them to worship. They hear it and it causes them to understand exactly who this God is…which leads to this reverence they show toward Him. We got people lifting up their hands, shouting, bowing down on their faces. It’s evident here that something external has happened that’s flowing from internal. And listen, its obvious people are responding to what Ezra’s saying. And so, there’s good things happening but there’s something underneath all those hands going up and all these people shouting out, “Amen!”. There’s something going on underneath that’s creating all that movement. Listen, what we see happening, its two things. We see a proclamation of God’s Word and we see the blessing of God’s name.

And so what’s causing this response from among the people of God? Namely, Ezra, from the Word of God, is blessing the name of the Lord. He reads the Scriptures, he blesses the name of the Lord, and the crowd goes nuts. “Amen! Praise God! So be it that we exalt Him! So be it that we praise His name!” And they begin to engage. And guys, this looks nothing like Anglo church. There’s people shouting, hands going up, falling down on their faces. There’s a reverence for God here…..How do we get there?

Having ears to hear…to listen. Right?

I can only speak from a man’s perspective, but it’s like being married. Your wife’s talking to you, you’re reading the mail, the paper, watching TV, your phone whatever it is. And listen, you have no idea what it is she just said.

Guys, in the same way, and I’m speaking to everyone now, is it possible to hear the Bible read or preached and not hear a thing? Is it possible that your mind’s not engaged?…That’s exactly why Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Guys, when we have this appetite for God’s Word…when we believe it to have the kind of power it claims to have…when we hear it or read it, it causes us to respond. These words are the very words God wanted you and I to hear. And they’re powerful.

Someone asked me a while back, “Why do always open the altar up and do all these invitation calls at the end of the service every week?” Because if you’ve just heard God’s Word, and if you’ve listened, the Spirit that indwells you, it will drive you to respond in some way every single time.

When you hear God’s Word, you have this reverence for Him and it motivates you to respond to Him in a way that’s pleasing to Him . And guys, when you finally revere Him in that way, you begin to apply that truth in your everyday life.

These Israelites, their reverence for the Word, it’s evident in their preparation…its evident in how they stand and listen…it’s evident in their response to God’s Word.

Do you have a reverence for God’s Word? How you answer that question, its telling in what you really think about it’s power.

III. Respond to God’s Word with Understanding (vv. 7-8)

Point number 3…respond to God’s Word with understanding.

Look at verse 7 and 8 with me again. It says there’s these 13 other men…men separate from the men standing beside Ezra on the platform and it says they…

Nehemiah 8:7–8 (ESV)

helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

And so, again…these men, they were different than the men we saw at the beginning of the passage…and their function, it was much different…they were free to move around among the people. The verse, it implies that the men here, they’re Levites…meaning, the previous men, standing beside Ezra, those were most likely just lay leaders within the community.

But listen, it’s what these 13 men do that I want you to pay attention to…it says, “They helped the people understand the Law.” I mean that’s part of the Levites responsibility to Israel…to make sure the people understand the Law so that they can follow it, right?

Now there’s a lot this passage could potentially mean but most likely…the Hebrew language, it was all but forgotten by most of the Israelite people because of their time in captivity…because they had been assimilated to the Babylonian culture. Most likely the people spoke Aramaic at this point…And so as Ezra’s reading it, the Levites, they’re giving the Hebrew language understanding. They’re translating it for them…they’re giving it a clearer meaning.

The word there for understanding, in the Hebrew, it means ‘to cause to understand…’to make distinct or make clear.’ They were translating and they were expounding the Word of God so that the people of God could understand it and ultimately be impacted by it.

This is why we still preach today…the preacher takes the Word of God and he expounds it for the people of God so that the Word can have power in their lives. And notice, because the Word is the thing with power here, it’s the only singular thing…the preachers and the teachers aren’t singular, right? It was Ezra and 13 other men on the platform…and he had 13 more men explaining it within the gathering.

Again, this is where we’ve rooted the idea for our preaching team…this is why I believe raising up lay elders to come alongside of me is so important…Because the Word of God should be the only singular thing in the church, because only it has power. Amen?

And so, what’s this showing about us? How we should respond to the Word if we believe it to be powerful?

The people’s understanding, that’s the main point in verses 7 and 8. It says the people, they clearly understood the law. They were in attendance, they allowed these teachers to teach them, and as we’ll see in a moment, this understanding, it powerfully impacted ‘em.

But guys, without understanding, the Word of God, it’ll remain a mystery to us. We gather together in corporate worship, we gather together in Sunday school or home groups or knot groups…we gather together for those things with the purpose of comprehending the Scriptures in a greater way so that we can make ‘em relevant in our lives. That’s why we study…that’s why we reflect…that’s why we dig…that’s why we devote ourselves to gaining clarity.

Now again, I’ve said this before…but if all you do is Sunday morning worship…that’s not gonna give you enough understanding of the Scriptures…and it’s also you not seeking to understand on your own. Meaning, you don’t actually believe in the power of Scripture…because if you did, you’d use every possible opportunity to gain a clearer understanding…And trust me when I say this, we have many opportunities for you to dig into the Word.

And so, does the way you seek to understand Scripture, does it demonstrate the power you believe God’s Word to have?

That’s the third point.

IV. Respond to God’s Word with Conviction (vv. 9-12)

And then finally, number 4…Respond to God’s Word with conviction.

Verses 9 through 12. It says:

Nehemiah 8:9–12 (ESV)

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

Listen, there’s a lot in this passage here, but for the sake of time…there’s two things I really want you to see.

The first, it’s how the Word of God impacted them…When they listened, when they gave the Word reverence, when they sought to understand it…look at what it did…it provokes weeping. They show an emotional response to the Word of God, which is the the right response. It’s the right response because the Word of God tells you about God…it tells you about His nature…His work in humanity…it talks about our separation and how He’s working to reconcile all things…When we hear the Word, just like the Israelites here, it should cause us to become emotional…It should cause to become poor in spirit, as Jesus says in Matthew 5…it should cause us to mourn for our sins…Isn’t that what we’re seeing here? Their weeping, its a sign of genuine repentance…which is the whole message of Jesus…(Repent and Believe!) Without repentance, you can’t see God because you can’t get past yourself. Repentance isn’t necessarily about forgiveness, it’s about turning from yourself, from the world…and turning toward Christ…seeing His nature…seeing His work…it’s about turning to Him and following Him because He’s good…That’s what’s happening…and if you were to keep reading into chapter 9, the people, they’re gonna deal with this conviction they have over their sin…But guys, it started with the Word of God.

The other thing I want you to see here, its what the leaders tell the people. “Don’t be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Well, shouldn’t they be grieving if they’re living in sin? Listen, we don’t know a ton about Israel during this time period but we do know there was somewhat of a separation between them and God…They had forgotten a lot of their traditions…a lot of these people, they had grown up in Babylon…some of ‘em were born there, they don’t remember what it looked like to actually follow God. They had most certainly practiced pagan things, just as they had probably learned in Babylon…These people didn’t exit captivity because they were good or deserving…Remember Daniel chapter 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they refused to bow down to the idol on the plains of Dura, right? Do you think they were the only Israelites in attendance there that day? No! There were probably hundreds, if not thousands. Those were just the three that refused…those were the faithful. The Israelites weren’t released from captivity because they were deserving, they were released because God’s faithful.

When they heard the Word of God, they were realizing for the first time, their separation and God’s faithfulness, and it drove them to weep and ultimately to repent.

But the leaders, they said, “Don’t grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” God wants His people to realize the problem that they’ve created, but He doesn’t want them to stay there.

That phrase, “the joy of the Lord,” it refers to Yahweh’s joy, its Yahweh’s pleasure. And what had Yahweh’s good pleasure been? It was in moving the heart of Cyrus to allow His people to return to the promised land…it was in His people rebuilding the temple…it was in bringing Ezra and Nehemiah back to the land to lead the people and rebuild the city. Yahweh’s good pleasure, its for His people. Yahweh took delight in restoring them to the land, He took delight in causing them to rebuild the temple, He took delight in them rebuilding the walls.

The leaders, they were saying, “Don’t stay in your grief because God’s joy, its your stronghold.” Root yourself there. Our stronghold, its God’s joy in saving, and restoring, and protecting His people…and if you never hear the Word of God spoken…if you never listen and if you never seek to understand it…if you believe there’s zero power in it, all you’re ever gonna hear is the worst parts of life. You’re gonna live in your fear…because you still realize you’re working toward your own death…you’re gonna live in your grief; because without God’s Word, you’re still made in the image of God, you have a standard of morality inside of you, and you’re gonna let your failures consume you. Without the power of God’s Word, the world is very clear of all the bad stuff you have to look forward to…there’s no joy and because of that, there’s no stronghold for you…you will always grieve.

God the Father, He takes almighty joy in those who put their faith and trust in Jesus. And listen, when we root ourselves in truth, understanding who we are…understanding who God is…would you believe me if I told that God is pleased with you?

Its not about you somehow paying for your sins, God did that through Jesus…it’s about you seeing your state and seeing God for everything He is and everything He’s done…That’s what’s going through the hearts of these Israelites as they hear the Word of God spoken to ‘em.

They realized they haven’t lived a life pleasing to God…but yet they see the work God still did for them…because they were simply His.

Only the Word of God can give you that understanding…only the Word of God can cause that kind of response in you…because only the Word of God is that powerful.

Closing

Would you bow your head and close your eyes with me?

Listen, you’ve heard the Word of God this morning. I’ve read it, I’ve explained it, we’ve given reverence to it. How are you gonna respond?

Maybe like the Israelites, you’re poor in spirit, you hear these words and it makes you wanna weep. I hope that every time you hear the Word, and every time you hear the gospel, it just gets you choked up. Guys, I can’t get enough of it. And even though I know the gospel, it impacts me every time I hear it…because again, I realize all over again, who I am and who God is.

And so listen, if you’ve turned to Jesus…is the Word still impacting you in that same way? Because its not any less powerful. Has your heart become cold toward it?…Listen, if that’s you, weep and turn back to the Lord, just like the Israelites…But if its not, If you feel you’re responding appropriately to the Word, then you take some time this morning, with grateful hearts, thanking the Lord for His work!

But listen, if you’re here and you haven’t turned to Jesus…let me just recap really quick what the Bible lays out for us…It starts with the bad news…God created us perfectly in the beginning, He created us good but we choose rebellion…and in that rebellion we separated ourselves from God’s provision and as a result we brought on death. And the worst parts of that, according to the Bible, it’s that no matter how hard we try to be good enough, we’ll always fail; and so, there’s nothing we can do about our problem on our own.

But the good news of the Bible, its that God loved us so much He gave us His Son, Jesus…Jesus who is God, He became flesh, he became like you and me, He lived a righteous life, all so that He could die a innocent death for you and I. Our sins were placed on Jesus and all of God’s wrath was poured out on Him. He died the death we deserve but the Bible says that He rose three days later. And it says that for those that simply believe in their heart and confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and that He raised from the dead, they too will be resurrected at their death and receive eternal life.

Guys, believe in the power of God’s Word…Turn to Jesus and watch Him change everything about your life for all eternity.

And so listen, would you just respond to the Word this morning? Whatever it is you need to do; just do it. Turn to Jesus and let Him begin perfecting you.

Listen, if you need me, you want me to pray with you or just talk with you, I’ll be in the back…but you take this time and I’ll close us in just a minute.

[Prayer]