You Need God's Word

Introduction

Teaching in China - response by church leaders - never have I seen that kind of response - an hour of weeping and praying. I didn’t teach them anything they did not know, but in awe of what Jesus had done as they reflected on His Word.

We suffer from Bible apathy - Go to Lifeway - unlimited choices of study Bibles, books on biblical subjects, etc. Yet, with all the options, how seriously do we take the Bible? How much do we study? How much transformation have we experienced because of the Bible? How often are we in awe of the God revealed in the Bible?

Great Awakening - seasons in our nation where people rediscovered the power of God through the Word of God. An awakening in Israel - and you can understand why - for the first time in 70 years - together in their land gathered around the Word of God.

Reformation - Rediscovery of the centrality of Scripture. Great Awakening - seasons in our nation where people rediscovered the power of God through the Word of God.

This morning - I want you to be in awe of God - not the God of your imagination - but the God revealed in the Word.

Israel - lost the privilege of knowing God’s Word in exile. Today’s text: powerful story of what happened when they heard the Word after 70 years of exile.

This morning - Three ways to grow in awe of God through His Word:

Have a desire to understand God’s Word.

God’s people failed Him. In Northern Kingdom, they continued to turn to idolatry and false gods. God raised up prophets to warn them, but to no avail. In 722 B.C., God allowed the Assyrians to come in and swallow up the Northern Kingdom.

While the Southern Kingdom fared a bit better, they were ultimately no different than the Northern Kingdom. 586 B.C. - God allowed Babylonians to conquer Judah and took God’s people into exile for 70 years.

God not finished - He told His people through the prophets exactly what would happen. He would bring the people back into the land and ultimately bring forth a Messiah who would make things right.

Babylonians defeated by Persians - a Persian King - Cyrus - allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. (See Ezra) - Great to go home, but everything in disarray. Rebuilt the temple - but nowhere near as glorious as it was before.

While temple was rebuilt, so much more needed to be done. City needed fortification. Nehemiah, a Jew who served in the royal court, got word of how bad it was.

Went to Jerusalem and led a massive rebuilding effort.

People know they need more than a city - gather at Water Gate - People know what they need - 70 years since together - “Give us Ezra… Bring the book...” Hard lesson for Jews - God’s Word primary - they had seen the consequences of disobeying God’s Word.

People know they need more than a city - gather at Water Gate - “Give us Ezra… Bring the book...” Hard lesson for Jews - God’s Word primary - It’s primary for us as well - because God’s Word forms - the world, Formed the people commands - ultimately forms us in Christ - makes us distinct.

Ezra - scribe - a preacher - gave life to teaching, copying, and interpreting Jewish law.  “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” ()

10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

Built a wooden platform - Ezra above all people (vs. 5) - God’s Word authoritative - Israelites under the Word (they hadn’t been). It’s authoritative for us as well. Our lives lived under the Word.

vs. 3 - Read from morning until noon - 6 hours! (Perhaps reading Deuteronomy) Reminding people of their story. People not falling asleep but attentive (vs. 3)

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Vs. 6 - humility before the Word. People worship - not the Bible - but Yahweh who was revealing Himself to His people through His Word.

Teaching team - walk into the crowd and help people understand what they are hearing. (Understand 6x in passage)

A scene much more powerful than what I experienced in China. People hungry to know and understand God’s Word. What about you? How do you grow in your desire to understand the Word? RIGHT EXPECTATIONS

Ill. - https://www.npr.org/2019/01/17/686424043/police-seek-volunteers-to-drink-to-excess - Not what the officers expected - I wonder if our expectations of God’s Word are skewed

Have the right expectation of the Bible - Not an ancient book with no relevance. Not a magic book where we open it up at random to find God’s Word to us. Not a science or history book to be proven. Not even God’s instruction book for life… It’s much more - the revelation of God’s redemptive plan that culminates in the death and resurrection of Christ.

Have the right expectation of the Bible - (For Israel - God would reveal Himself to them through His Word) Not an ancient book with no relevance. Not a magic book where we open it up at random to find God’s Word to us. Not a science or history book to be proven. Not even God’s instruction book for life… It’s much more - the revelation of God’s redemptive plan that culminates in the death and resurrection of Christ.

Have the right expectation of your church - Church is built on the truth of Christ as revealed in the Bible. Bible is primary and authoritative - we’re under the Word. We spend time in Bible because Spirit works through Bible to transform lives. Gather as church not saying, “Hope the music is good. Hope the coffee is hot. Hope my children have fun,” but… “Open the book.” Opening the book so we can understand more important than singing, getting together for dinners, organizational planning, talking about how church should handle politics, etc. Know what you will get from this church: commitment to know the Word - Not 5 ways to handle stress, manage money, etc. Higher goal - see your life transformed by God.

Have the right expectation of yourself - If a believer, you’re a disciple - a learner - to learn from Jesus and follow His way of life. You can’t learn if you’re not in the Bible. Are you attentive? Are you humble enough to know you need the Word? Understanding the Bible takes commitment, time, and investment because you know THIS matters. NOTHING matters more.

Have a heart that rejoices in God’s Word

Hudson and Hulk Hogan or Samson? or John the Baptist? - My son is going to grow up not knowing the greatness of WWF wrestling… Imagine - 70 years outside of Jerusalem and in captivity - children born not knowing the greatness of God - BUT all that was changing - and as God’s greatness was being made known - Conviction.

Response = Conviction. Conviction = a deep awareness of where you have wronged God. You can understand the conviction. As they heard the Law, they saw where they had fallen.

We want conviction because it’s the

Maybe the reason why you don’t seek to understand is because the last thing you want in in your life is conviction. But, you can’t have renewal without conviction.

God loves you enough to convict you, forgive you, and correct you. () For Israel, grief as they looked back, but joy as they looked forward. God not done with them!

BUT - Nehemiah - “Rejoice!” Not time to mourn. Why? Feast of Trumpets - First day of Seventh Month - A day of rejoicing over God’s provision as they looked forward to the Day of Atonement. (10th day of 7th month)

We rejoice not because we look forward to atonement, but because we have received atonement - a better sacrifice - once and for all! All of your sins are forgiven in Christ! How much more should we rejoice?

God loves you enough to convict you, forgive you, and correct you. For Israel, grief as they looked back, but joy as they looked forward. God not done with them!

For us - Conviction leads to sorrow over sin - but that sorrow ultimately leads to joy as we understand the work done for us in Christ and the future we have with Him.

Rejoice in God’s Word because it gives you what you need - conviction that leads to a renewed relationship with God.

In the Bible we find Good News! You cannot find Good News apart from God’s Word. Does your life demonstrate joy as a result of God’s grace?

Enjoy corporate worship.

Do you enjoy worship?

Enjoy corporate worship. (Go eat and drink)

Do you enjoy the Word?

Enjoy

Enjoy personal worship.

Do you enjoy relationships that encourage you in the Word?

Enjoy Christ-centered relationships

You’ll enjoy God far more when you have the right view of the Gospel: what’s been done for you vs. what I have to do to make God happy. For some, no rejoicing in the Word because we still see God’s Word as what we have to do rather than what’s been done for us in the Gospel.

Have a Life that Obeys God’s Word

This wasn’t a one time event - the second day they studied. Moved from large group, to small groups, to homes (vs. 13). Fathers wanting a better understanding of the Law so they could teach their families () - What if this is what happened in our church? What we talk about hear simply spilling over into our homes?

Vs. 14 - Live in booths? Weird - hadn’t done that in years. But, annual festival where Jews built temporary shelters to remember how God delivered them from Egypt. Reminder of God’s provision and protection.

15th of month - "Let’s do it. Get the word out.” It sounds weird. We’ve never done this, but it’s what the Law says. If God says it, let’s do it. Immediate obedience.

Is that your attitude? If God says it, do it. () Our attitude, “I’ll obey when nothing else works out for me.” Obedience = last resort to try to get God to work like we want instead of an immediate response to His grace.

Your obedience demonstrates:

You believe God loves you.

You believe God knows what’s best for you.

NOT - I have to get God on my side or off my back.

A beautiful picture of obedience but it doesn’t last. By chapter 13, Israel looks familiar - disobedient. You would think after exile Israel would have learned their lesson - BUT OT closes with longing for someone to do what we can’t do - OBEY!

Jesus - obeyed God fully - Temptation - He responds with the Word - - He came to fulfill the Law - Sermon on the Mt. - You can’t do this without me! And we can’t.

Jesus went to the cross as a perfect sacrifice - took our punishment — rose again - and took up residence with us so you and I can grow in obedience. We’ll never be sinless, but we can sin less. - for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. His joy is our strength.

What do you do? Look to Jesus for salvation.

Take God’s Word seriously - Renewed commitment to know God’s Word and live it.