Devoted

Introduction

SNP; Collection; Help for the Hurting

In the month of December and into the month of January, we are going to do some visioneering. Some engineering on a vision. For our guests, we have a vision for this church. We are disciples of Jesus.

Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 to make disciples of all nations.

We have taken that mandate and through much prayer and fasting, we’ve been asking God to use us in such a way that we can be a spark that ignites a movement that will produces 3.5M disciples by 2040.

That’s our God shaped vision. Important to have a vision - God’s vision. A vision so big that if it happens you can’t take any credit for it. It has to be God.

But with any vision, you may need to get some conditions right for it to be a reality. Writing a book, starting a business, family, retiring - conditions.

We’ve been led to look at 2021 as a time to prepare some conditions. We are going to prepare by restoring some things within the life of the church to their biblical glory.

We are looking at 2021 as a year of restoration. Theme for the year. What needs to be restored so that we can at least invite the Lord to move in such a way? What needs to be restored in your life?

The first thing that we must work on restoring is the magnitude of our identity as the people of God. Not for pride’s sake or to produce dogmatists, but for purpose sake. If you don’t embrace who you are and whose you are, why would someone else want to follow after that? Why would someone else want to embrace it?

Own it like never before.

Part of being the people of God, is being people of the Word of God.

But what I want to talk to you about today is restoring your devotion to the Word of God. Restoring the devotion to the sacredness of the Word. Restoring devotion to a high view of Scripture.

We’ll call this lesson: Devoted.

We are living in a day and time where we can have the Word of God with us wherever we go. At a time when we are exposed to websites, study aides, podcasts, videos about the Word of God, and you can hear preachers all over the place - speak about the Word of God.

We have access to more information about the Word than at any time in history, yet we are at the lowest ebb of history. The statistics.

Having access to the Word is not the same as being devoted to it. Having information about the Word is not the same as being devoted to it. Watching a video on it is not the same as being devoted to it. Having a Bible app is not the same as being devoted to the Bible. Even though you can listen to the preacher of your choice, that isn’t the same as being devoted to the Word.

These things are good, but by themselves, don’t shape us, they don’t change us, they don’t necessarily make the church look like the people of God. What does is devotion to the Word.

There must be a restoration of the devotion to the Word by the church.

This might bring up in your mind a time of Bible thumping dogmatists who were quick to tell you everything the Bible was against, without ever speaking about what it was for. Might have left a bad taste in your mouth. You might have left the church because of that.

Not harkening a return to that yesteryear, but a calling for a return to holding the Bible as the sacred Word of God, by the people of God. For a restoration of devotion to the Word of God by the people of God.

Today I want to show you what that actually looks like.

Historical Background

Let me take you back to Nehemiah. It is a book of restoration. A restoration of ancient Judah, returning to their homeland after 70 years of Babylonian exile and captivity.

Throughout this book, you see Judah devote themselves to restoring the magnitude of their identity as the people of God. Working to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem; working to restore patterns and practices from the Word of God, seen through the Law of Moses.

Part of having the identity of the people of God, meant that they needed to be devoted to the Word of God. How could one say that they are of God and not be devoted to His Word.

Through ancient Judah’s pattern of restoration, we are going to see that to be devoted to the Word, asks four things of us.

Dwell in the Word

To be devoted to the Word, you must dwell in the Word.

v.1-3

Before the assembly (the congregation).

Men, women, and likely children who could understand.

The details of the day

First day of the seventh month. This would be the Hebrew month Tishri. This would have been the Feast of Trumpets. It commemorated the end of the agricultural year. It involved the blowing of trumpets which heralded a solemn time for the upcoming Day of Atonement, which would be held in 10 days. This was the day when the sins of the people would be atoned for. The days leading up to this were called, “Ten Days of Repentance”

Their attention would have been on what they had done against God. This repentant state likely made them attentive to what He had to say to them. So they asked Ezra the priest, who according to Ezra 7:6, was skilled in the Law of Moses, for the hand of God was upon him to read from the Law.

Ezra was reading the Word of God to them from early morning to midday. For four, five, six hours, men and women, were dwelling in the Word, for in their state, they knew they needed to hear from God.

When you know you’ve done some stuff…you know you need to hear from God. You know you’ve had those Saturday night encounters where you knew you needed a Sunday morning moment.

Last I checked, we all were imperfect. Last I checked our humanity still gets the best of us. Last I checked our lust still dominates our will. Last I checked, our desires are sometimes unholy. Last I checked, Romans 3:23 was still in the Bible which says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Paul wrote that to the church! The church is full of folk who have sinned. Imperfect folks. Some get upset with the church when they get hurt or someone says something rude or something to them and then they leave because they had a different expectation. I didn’t know church people acted like that. Yes! We do.. Sometimes. We just strive not to continuously act like that.

But we know we are prone to, thus we know we need Jesus.We need the Word. Truthfully, we need the Word in us, the only way it gets in Judah is to dwell in it.

Colossians 3:16 - let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

You know you are dwelling in the Word when your actions are shaped by the Word.

If you still act the way you used to act, you know you are not dwelling in it. You might be reading it, you might be around it, might be aware of it, but you are not living in it and it isn’t living in you.

From daybreak until midday, their ears were attentive.

Dwelling in the Word requires your time and attention.

It’s not just about the time, but the attention. Not just about the attention, but the time. A relationship that gives one without the other is not going to develop like it needs.

Without time and attention you are dangerous, but not devoted.

To make 3.5M disciples, we have to up our time and attention.

Acts 6:1-7 - watch out for the word devoted.

Revere the Word

To be devoted to the Word, you must revere the Word.

v.4-6

As soon as he opened the scroll, the people stood. They weren’t standing out of ceremony, but out of reverence. Not from habit, but because they recognized the authority of the Word of God.

When Ezra read from it and praised the Lord, all they could do is say, “Amen” and then fall to the ground to worship.

The Word makes you stand up and fall down.

I don’t know how you approach Scripture, but I hope that you approach it with a high view; that it is the Word of God.

I am afraid that even as the church we approach the Bible too casually. And that we don’t approach it the way it deserves to be handled.

If Scripture is what it claims to be - the inspired breath of God - then we can’t handle it like we do any book of history, for though it is in book form, it is not any book.

He demands His word be revered.

Uzzah - 2 Samuel 6:5 -

Possible for your praise to be jumpin’ and totally be ignoring the Word of God.

And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.

Isaiah 66:5 Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His Word.

Hebrews 4:12 -

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

John 6:63 -Jesus said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

The Word gives life. The coronavirus vaccine.

Restore the reverence for the Word.

Convicted by the Word

To be devoted to the Word, you must allow yourself to be convicted by the Word.

You have to hold on to the Word even when you don’t like what the Word says.

Just because you don’t like what it says, you don’t dismiss it.

The Word has a way a saying some things that we don’t like. I love the Bible, but there is a lot that my flesh doesn’t like. It lets me know about myself. To continue to be devoted to a book that often shows me that I am wrong, I have to be open to being convicted by it.

We don’t like to be convicted. We resist conviction.

I can’t say that I am devoted to it and not be willing to let the Word do what it is meant to do. It is meant to do that.

Love letter? You have 66 books about how man messes stuff up and needs God desperately.

It points out the will of God for our lives and the will of God is that we live holy lives. It describes over the course of 16 centuries what that looks like and the mercy and grace available as we struggle to do it.

But as we struggle, the Bible tells us about ourselves and we don’t like to come face to face with ourselves, but only by doing so, can we change.

Judah is during these, “Days of Repentance” where they are focusing on their sin and they are being convicted by the Word. Which is necessary if they are going to restore their identity as the people of God. 2 Corinthians 7:10- godly sorrow leads to repentance.

v.9

They all wept as they heard the Word of God. There is power in the Word to convict us, but there is also power in the Word to set us free.

John 16:8 - the Holy Spirit convicts, but He also reveals and guides one to the path to freedom, which is the gospel - Romans 1:16.

Understand, the Bible is going to stir some stuff up.

Obedience to the Word

To be devoted to the Word, you must be obedient to it.

v.13-17

This was describing another festival called the Feast of Tabernacles was to help the ancient Jews remember the wilderness wanderings of their ancestors. As part of the commemoration, God called them to live in booths/tents for seven days, because He made the people of Israel dwell in similar structures when He brought them out of Egypt.

Show picture of booth.

This, they discovered, because they were dwelling in the Word, Revered the Word, and were Convicted by the Word, that they better Obey the Word. They heard what God wanted them to do, and then they obeyed it.

God’s Word must be obeyed. It isn’t something just to be studied. It isn’t anything just to be learned. It must be obeyed.

We want more information. The information age.

Go deep in knowledge. Being a disciple is not about knowing more, it is about obeying what you do know.

A disciple is a learner, but the emphasis is learning to obey Jesus.

Knowledge without obedience can get you into trouble.

Moses struck the rock. Numbers 20:2-12

James 1:22-25 -

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

v.17 - there was very great rejoicing. There is great blessing and can be great rejoicing in the obedience of God’s word.

Conclusion

The church is a group of people who are devoted to the written Word, because we are devoted to the living Word, who is Jesus.

Hebrews 1:1-3 -

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

This beautiful word which calls mankind to holiness and to walk away from their own will. This beautiful word which speaks of the love and grace of the Lord who knew we couldn’t make it by ourselves. This wonderful word which speaks of Jesus delivering us from our sins, guilt, and shame. This wonderful word which speaks about the power of Jesus’ sacrifice and the power of His resurrection. This wonderful word which tells us who we are at our core, but compares it to who God is at His and that He is willing to save us anyway.

A word that we must be devoted to, for we must restore our devotion to the Word.

Challenge: Call to Action:

Increase your time and attention in the Word by 30 minutes each quarter of the year.

Get an accountability parter, who will hold you accountable to obeying what you see in Scripture.

Ask the Lord to help you increase your reverence to the Word.