Four Reasons Why We Gather Together

Introduction: I want you to notice how verse 13, begins, "Now on the second day ... " (Look back at verse 2). Here we have these people gathering once again (in the previous chapter we looked at Worship). Why did these people gather? Why do we as Christians gather? What would possess us to get up early on Sunday morning to be here in this building, with these people, to hear a man preach? Well, I want to share with you Four Reasons Why We Gather Together. I also believe that these were the four reasons why the people in our text gathered together.

By the way, it is these four reasons that bring us back week after week. So then, why do we gather?

I. To Understand Scripture – 8:13

13 Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law.

On the second day of the Feasts of Tabernacle we find that three groups of people meet with Ezra. They are mentioned herein verse 13. We see,

· The heads of the father's houses.

· The priests.

· The Levites.

We know who the priests are. They are the ones that had the joy of representing the people before God - through prayers and sacrifices. We also know who the Levites were. They were the ones assigned to the priests to help serve in the Tabernacle and Temple. But who are the heads of the father's houses? These are the ones that I want us to focus in on. Evidently what we see here in our text is the leadership of Jerusalem gathering with Ezra for the specific purpose of seeking to understand the God's Law (the Scripture).

I believe that the heads of the father's houses, are none other than the heads of each home - the men (husbands and fathers). They gathered with the priests and the Levites so that they too would clearly understand what God required of them. They wanted to know God's Law.

Husbands and fathers, you can do nothing greater in your role as the leader of your home, then to seek to understand God's Law (in our case, we have both the Old and New Testaments- the 66 books of the Bible). Dr. Jerry Falwell once said, "The smartest man in all the world is not the man with the Ph.D. degree behind his name. It is the man or woman who knows this book the best." I couldn’t agree with him more. As men and women we have a sacred duty to our families, and that sacred duty is to KNOW this book.

How do we get to know this book? How do we get to know the Bible? I ran across this statement this past week, "Those who diligently search the Scriptures, find things written there which they have forgotten." We must like these three groups have a diligence about us. We must have a stick-to-it-ness when it comes to getting into God's Word. I have recently heard this statement, 'We must plan our work, and work our plan." We must take that statement and relate it to our personal understanding of the Word of God. What are we doing right now to better equip ourselves to understanding God's Word?

What can we do? Allow me to share a few steps with you:

Getting A Grasp on The Bible

1. Hear - Romans 10:13

· Attend Church faithfully (Repetition is a key to learning).

· Preaching services -exposition of God's Word.

· Sunday School - Dialogue.

· You Version Bible App – Have it read to you.

· Podcasts – Download some Bible teaching and listen to it.

2. Read - Revelation 1:3

· We must make the effort (Growth doesn't happen by chance).

· Make sure you read daily.

· Reading is a lost art, but so necessary.

3. Study - II Timothy 2:15

· Be involved in a Bible study (Interaction is important).

· Systematic approach to Bible reading (0Id and New

· Testaments). All of it is for our learning. Discipleship.

· Bible education through extension. We offer free Bible College courses and seminary courses on our web page.

4. Meditate - Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2; 119:15

· Think on these things – Philippians 4:8

· Let the Scripture revolve around in your mind.

· We are what we think on.

· God’s Word will keep you.

5. Memorize- Psalm 119:11

Some smart sage once said, “You will remember 100% what you commit to memory.”

Do you have any Bible verses memorized?

Please don't miss understand the purpose of understanding God's Word. It is not that we gain more head knowledge. I think we all have a lot of head knowledge when it comes to the Bible. The purpose of understanding God's Word is clearly seen in the word, “understand” as it is used here in verse 13. The Hebrew word is, sakal {saw-kal'}, and it means:

· to be prudent.

· Be circumspect – walk carefully.

· Wisely understand.

· Prosper.

· To have insight.

· Have comprehension.

This is the purpose of our gathering together. That we might understand with insight and comprehension the wonderful words of God. That we might act wisely and prosper in the way in which we live our lives.

A truly wise person will seek to understand the Word of God. I love being around people who like to talk about the Bible. I love to be around people who spend time in this sacred book. I learn so much from them. They are always wanting to share insights that they are learning from their Bible reading. To me this is true fellowship.

II. To Discover Commands – 8:14-15

14 And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”

Do you want to know a surprising thing? When you get into God's Word, and I mean really dig into the Word (inner-acting), you will in fact discover His commands for daily living. Take a look at verse 14. We read,

And they found written in the Law,

Every time we open God's Word, and enter onto its sacred page, we will find (discover) words (commands) to apply to our daily life. Here we see this in play in verse 14. The three groups mentioned in verse 13, were reading the Law, when they found a command that God had given to Moses concerning the children of Israel. God had told Moses that the children of Israel were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month (the Feast of Tabernacles).

Dr. W.A. Criswell writes, “In reading the Law, the people were reminded of the strict directions concerning the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:39-43). This Feast was ranked with Passover and Pentecost in importance (cf. Exodus 23:14-17; 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16), signifying both "ingathering" (Exodus 34:22) and God's care for Israel in the wilderness (Leviticus 23:43)."

The word, booth, as used here in verse 14, literally means, temporary shelter. It was during the Feast of Tabernacles, that the Jews were supposed to set up temporary shelters. This reminded them of what life was like in the wilderness (Book of Numbers). It also reminded that God took care of all their needs and brought them into the Promise Land.

I want to point something out. Please notice that it was while they were already into observing the Feasts of Tabernacle that they discovered the information about the booth, which was a part of the observance of the very Feast that they were observing. This is the way it is with God's Word. We often find the spiritual insight that we need at the very moment we need it.

These three groups mention in verse 13, also discovered that they were to publish their finding. They were to get the rest of the Israelites busy, and so in verse 15, we see the words, "announce and proclaim" used. They told the people about what they found in God's Law. They said that they were to go out into the mountain, and bring branches from trees (various trees mentioned- olive, myrtle, palm, leafy tree), and to use the branches to build their booths (temporary shelters).

We as Christians are to gather for the purpose of Understanding God's Word, but we also are to gather for the purpose of announcing and proclaiming our finding. This is what I am doing this morning. This is what we need to do when it comes to insights and truths that God teaches us both in our Bible studies, and in our devotional time. Let's face it - there is just some things that are just too important to keep to ourselves, and God's Word is one of them. We must declare it and pass it on to others!

III. To Promote Obedience – 8:16-17

16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. 17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

There is a third reason why we gather, and that is for the purpose of promoting obedience. Please look at verse 16. We read,

Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths,

They didn't question God's Word, they just obeyed it! They went out, and they made booths. They carried out God's instructions to them concerning the Feasts of Tabernacles. God said, "make booths", and they made booths. Look at verse 17...

I want us to focus on the two words, "went and made". These words define their obedience. They also define our obedience. Whenever God gives a specific command, we are being called to act upon it with instant obedience. We are not to question God's command (His Word) - we are just to do them. Allow me to pass along a few to you this morning:

A Few Commands

· "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understand."(Proverbs 3:5)

· 'You shall have no other god's before Me."(Exodus 20:3)

· "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations," (Matthew 28:19)

· "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

· "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." (Colossians 2:6).

· "Flee sexual immorality" (I Corinthians 6:18). This means to flee pornography.

I think that it is important that we understand that the Holy Bible is NOT a Little Book of Suggestions, it is a book of commands, and we as Christians are to carry out the commands that we read in the Scripture.

The Bible clearly states,

"But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22).

There is one last thought before we move on. There will be a great gladness on your part if you are obedient to the Word of God. This is exactly what we read here at the end of verse 17,

And there was very great gladness.

This is what I want for all of us every time we come together to spend time in God’s Word.

IV. To Worship God – 8:18

18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.

There is a fourth reason why we gather. We gather for the purpose of worship. The Jews here in our text gathered to worship God. As I read through this verse, I saw some specific ways in which we too can worship. After all this is one of the major reasons why we gather in the first place. (You might want to go back and look at the previous chapter).

Specific Ways to Worship

A. Day by day.

I want to-challenge you once again to look at the 168 hours that you have in your week. What are you doing with the time that God gives to you? If you don't set aside the time to worship God daily - you won't do it. Every day we ought to make sure that we come into the presence of our living God.

B. Read the Word.

Why do we need to get into the Bible daily? This is God's way of speaking directly to us. Most of us like to hear from our loved ones. We enjoy getting an email, text message, or something old fashion like a letter in the mail. Well, this book is God's letter to you, and each time you open it up God will talk with you. He will instruct you in the way that you are to live.

C. Keep the Holy days.

The Israelites in our text were keeping the Feasts of the Tabernacle. It reminded them how God cared for them. I believe that it is important that we make our sacred days sacred and special. There are holy days for the Christian. They are:

· The birthday of Jesus Christ – Christmas.

· Resurrection day – the day we celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead – Easter.

There are two other important holy days that I would add:

· Your spiritual birthday – the day you were born again.

· Your baptism – the day you publicly declared your faith.

I want to challenge you parents to make sure that these days do not become secular, but that you keep their true meaning in your home. Make these events a time of celebration in your home!

D. Gather on the eighth day (Sunday).

The Jews gathered on Saturday - eight days from Saturday is Saturday. We as Christians gather on Sunday (the Lord's Day). Eight days from today will be Sunday. I hope that you'll be back next week. I hope that you will make sure that you plan into your week to be here to worship the Lord with other believers.

E. Make it sacred.

Sunday ought to be a sacred day for us as Christians. As a pastor I am seeing more and more Christians working on Sunday and allowing their Christian walk to suffer. God ordained Sunday (the Lord's Day), so that we would take the needed time to "come aside and rest awhile". God knew that we needed to have a day - a sacred day, whereby we could come into His presence.

I challenge you to make Sunday's special in your home. Make it a day where you and your family truly WORSHIP Him!

Conclusion: There are four results of gathering. These four results ties in directly with the four reasons we gather. These will be the results of our gathering as the body of Jesus Christ.

1. We will have a clearer understanding of God's Word.

2. We will have learned about God's Commands.

3. We will have to make decisions in the area of obedience.

4. We will have worshipped our God.

It is the four reasons we gather, and the four results of our gathering that keep bringing us back Sunday after Sunday.