Sermon Tone Analysis
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Intro
What happens when we gather together
Since there has been a loss for authority
A new year but business as usual?
Began in
And with a loss of authority comes rebellion
Our time to gather together can be routine
Because of the loss of authority we continue to slowly decline in our morality and ethical behavior
Which has led to some great things but also has led to some not so great things
ILL: American Revolution vs. Civil War
Because of the loss of authority we continue to slowly decline in our morality and ethical behavior
In the post modern era following WW2 the census of our country began in this downward spiral from respecting authority to denouncing authority
In the
Never has then been more true than when it comes to the Word of God and the Truth of who God is
Somewhere along the way we have had a loss for the authority of the Word of God
Even as believers in Jesus Christ we can begin to believe the lie that this book is nothing more than mere suggestions for living instead of words to live by
And as people who desire to look more like Christ in 2018 our lives need to be shaped by this book!
Last Week: My Prayer for Us in 2018
Strive to reach the potential God has for you and you’ll make the most of your time
Begin to mature and lead others as you follow Christ more closely
Strive to be more generous with your resources (time, talent and money)
Grow more in the Word of God
And all of these can happen if we learn to grow in our knowledge of the Word of God
Because it is through God’s Word that true transformation begins to take place in our lives
It is the daily saturation of the Word of God that replaces the “old way” of thinking and Draws our attention to God’s way of thinking
One of the places that we can see this take place is in the OT book of Nehemiah
Nehemiah is a man broken over the fact that his people and his hometown have been laid waste and is in ruins
His people are enslaved
He is cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, King of Persia
And he is given permission to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
Facing all kinds of oppositions and difficulties, he completes the task in just 52 days
When the walls are complete, he gathers the people together and that’s where I want to pick up
Because what happens to the people of Jerusalem is what I pray happens to us
There is a revival and a reformation of God’s people upon really hearing the word of the Lord
Look with me at the passage.
And as you look with me I’m going to ask you to stand for the reading of God’s word.
This is not something that we ordinarily do and I’ll explain in a moment why I want you to stand with me.
You can be seated.
Two little old ladies were walking out of church one Sunday.
One said, “My, that preacher certainly preaches for a long time!”
Her friend replied, “No, he really doesn’t preach a long time, it just seems like a long time!” (J.
Vernon McGee, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther [Thru the Bible Books], pp.
139-140.)
I wonder what they would have thought about a service that had about six hours of Bible reading and preaching at the people’s request, during which the people stood the whole time!
And not only that, they came back the next day for more!
That's what is truly remarkable about the situation that we just read about in .
It would be accurate to call it a revival or a time of unusual spiritual renewal.
But at the center of this revival, was the exposition of Scripture.
In fact, Derek Kidner states, “This day was to prove a turning-point.
From now on, the Jews would be predominantly ‘a people of the book’”
Nothing like this had ever been seen for two hundred years.
Nothing like this had ever been seen for two hundred years.
Not since the days of Josiah, when the scribe Shaphan read from the scroll that they had discovered — perhaps the book of Deuteronomy.
Not since then, two hundred years in Nehemiah's past, had Israel ever known a day like this.
This is a day of revival.
This is a day of reformation.
This is a day when God steps in.
You cannot explain what takes place here by the standards and measurements of men.
This has nothing to do with Nehemiah; it has nothing to do with Ezra.
It has nothing to do with the Levites.
It has everything to do with God.
God has come down.
God has come down in blessing.
God has poured out His Spirit upon His people.
Not since the days of Josiah, (200 years before)when the scribe Shaphan read from the scroll that they had discovered and Josiah was overcome with grief and remorse over the sin of God’s people.
Since that time, Israel had never known a day like this.
This is a day of revival.
This is a day of reformation.
This is a day when God steps in.
And to us this doesn’t mean much but this is the moment that changed the lives of the men and women who were there that day and they heard the Word of the Lord proclaimed
And they were never the same
I want that - I’m envious
I want revival, I want the fire of God’s Holy Spirit to come on us and to radically change us?
Do you?
Or does that concern/scare you?
I want all that God has for us
But there is human responsibility
There are things that you and I must do if we’re going to see this kind of spiritual renewal/reformation in our lives
Things that we learn here from our passage
Approach God’s Word Expectantly - vs.1
If you notice there it says “the people gathered as one man”
Now if you read back through chapter 7 you would see that there are roughly 50,000 people gathered here
How do you get 50,000 people unified?
Even with 10 people you’d get ten different opinions!
The people of God had been united - one heart and one mind
They had just spent the past 2 months side by side rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem
They had to watch each others backs and they were working towards the same purpose and the same goal
This is a great picture of what God’s church looks like
And so as they gathered they said “bring the Book of the Law of Moses”
They didn’t have the luxury like we do with a bible for every occasion - 5 on my desk
More than likely they couldn’t even read
The Scriptures were handwritten and usually only one copy per city and so the people would have to go and have the Scriptures read to them
But they called for the Book (Scroll) to re read to them
And what takes place is that they are pierced by the word of the Lord
That’s because the Word of God is like what says:
That’s because the Word of God is like what says:
And so the reading of God’s word pierced their souls because they were finally ready to receive the word
They had come expecting to hear from the Lord and man, did they!
Could it be that we haven’t been pierced by the Word of the Lord is because we haven’t come prepared to hear from the Lord?
I’m thankful for everyone of you here but if you came here this morning to here what I have to say then I’m sorry because I’ve got nothing to say.
No our aim is not to hear from whoever stands on this platform but to hear what the God of the universe says from this book
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