Nehemiah 8:1-12 God's People Love God's Word

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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 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. 6 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. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

9 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. 10 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.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 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.

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

This Day Is Holy

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

Intro

How do you grow in your faith to worship God alone?

As we continue our study in we are going to see that in order for God’s people to engage their life in the work of God’s Kingdom and to worship him alone, they must make the Word of God central to their life and faith.

Allow me to remind you where we are in the story.

Now that the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt, Nehemiah was moving from his reconstruction efforts of brick and stone to rebuilding the people of God themselves.

And last week we talked about how Nehemiah was beginning to work to convice the people to move it

Because Nehemiah was sent to Jerusalem by God, not just to rebuild the walls, but to lead God’s people to once again take up their mantle to be a light to the nations of God’s salvation.

And for God’s people to once again be that light to the nations showing the world that God saves sinners, they had to recapture their identity as God’s holy people.

The question then is how? How are God’s people transformed to be this light? How are God’s people built up?

In other words, how are God’s people able to grow to actually be God’s people?

And we need to know this as a church because we are God’s people today and we exist to glorify the name of Jesus Christ in Northwest Arkansas and the World.

So how God’s people grow to actually be God’s people should be of first concern for us so that we can

And As we see the people of Jerusalem recapture their identity as God’s holy people, they show us that those that are truly God’s people love God’s Word.

And as we study this passage, Nehemiah is going to lay out a model for what it looks like for God’s people to Love God’s Word

As we continue our study in we are going to see that the central building block for God’s people to engage their life in the work of God’s Kingdom and to worship him alone is God’s Word.

As the people of Jerusalem recapture their identity as God’s holy people, the show us that those that are truly God’s people love God’s Word.

And it all starts in verses 1-2 with God’s people hungering for God’s Word.

1. God’s People Hunger For God’s Word

Now Nehemiah specifically tells us the day on which all of this takes place. this is on the first day of the seventh month. Why is that significant?

Well he said in that the wall was completed on the 25th day of the month of Elul which is the 6th month of the Hebrew calendar.

So just days later, on the first day of the 7th month, the people of Israel gather in the square of Jerusalem and ask Ezra to bring the Book of the Law of Moses , which you might have heard called the Torah, or what we know as the first five books of the OT.

And the reason they do this was to obey what God commanded in Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.

Now the words translated a holy convocation mean a gathering of the people of God for a religious purpose.

In other words, this command was for the people of Israel to hold a day of rest, and instead of working to have a worship service where they worshiped God together.

And here is why it is so significant that the people of God gather themselves and tell Ezra to go get the Book of Moses.

It wasn’t as if Ezra wasn’t doing his job as a priest and was unprepared for the celebration.

Ezra was a priest and a scribe, or an expert in God’s Law.

If Nehemiah was the political leader in Jerusalem, Ezra was the spiritual leader of the people.

He had returned to Jerusalem in 458BC about 13 years before Nehemiah in 445BC.

And during that time, he served the Lord and the people of Israel faithfully.

In fact, describing Ezra, the Bible says 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.

Ezra was a good pastor who loved the Lord and loved his people

And because he was a good pastor, Ezra taught the people of Israel the Torah for 13 years, and they knew that the Torah taught that the seventh month was full of religious festivals to worship God for what he had done for his people.

And now that the walls had been rebuilt and they were reclaiming their identity as the holy people of God, they wanted to establish the Law of God in the newly walled city.

In other words, upon the completion of the walls of Jerusalem they wanted God’s Word to be the foundation their new life as God’s holy people.

And this is why they chose to gather in the square next to the Water Gate.

One might assume that this being such an important religious ceremony that they would have held this worship service at the Temple.

But in the Temple precincts of the city, only men were allowed.

But look where the Water Gate is (MAP)

It is in the middle of the city. In the very midst of the houses where the people of Jerusalem lived.

And this shows us that God’s Word was never intended to be relegated to the “spiritual” parts of his people’s lives.

It was always meant to speak to every area of our life.

This is why verse 3 says

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

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.

All of God’s people were involved in hearing God’s Word. Men, women, children who were able to understand what was being said were invited to hear Ezra read from the Torah.

This is one of the reasons we have a family service once a month in this church and Little Metro teaches children the Bible on their terms every other week of the year.

We want to be faithful to God’s command to instruct our children in the Lord.

To teach them to love and value God’s Word as the very word of life.

The OT emphasizes time and again how important it is for God’s Word to be known and used by all the people in his covenant family, not just scribes and priests and religious leaders.

One example is Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Multiple times in the gospels, Jesus refers to verse five as the most important command in all of Scripture. To love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength.

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

Don’t you think it is curious that immediately after giving the most important command in all of the Bible, Moses says And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart?

Its almost as if Moses is shouting to us telling us, If you want to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul and strength, with all of you, then you must have his Word in your heart.

After all, Jesus himself said If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And tells us how we might keep Jesus’ commandments. It says How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.

10 With my whole heart I seek you;

let me not wander from your commandments!

The Bible is clear. Loving God with all of our heart is intimately tied to God’s people knowing and living out his Word.

11 I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.

This is why we are constantly encouraging you to read God’s Word for yourself.

Why the study of God’s Word is the foundational practice for a Christian’s discipleship and obedience to the Lord.

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

Without hungering for God’s Word like the people in Nehemiah, you will stunt your spiritual maturity and remain a spiritual infant when Christ’s call for every Christian is to grow to be more like Christ.

And hunger for it they did because Nehemiah tells us that Ezra read from early morning until midday.

This means that the people of God gathered together in the square around daybreak and listened to Ezra read the Law until early afternoon.

If your are keeping count, that is around six hours of preaching.

And even though God’s people were standing in the morning heat, Nehemiah tells us that the whole time they listened attentively .

This wasn’t passive listening.

They longed to hear God’s word so that they could obey God’s word.

God’s people longed to hear God’s Word so that they could obey God’s Word.

They sought to truly understand what God’s word says and take it to heart.

Do you come to worship with the intention of listening attentively to God speaking to you through the proclamation of his Word?

Do you sit and consider what is said in sermons or in your daily Bible reading or are they just words on the wind?

Words that float into one ear only to leave immediately out the other?

Friend to treat God’s Word as something as trivial as a radio advertisement does you no good and at worst can lead to your destruction.

In pronouncing judgement on his people Israel for their sin and idolatry, God said in My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Or to say it another way, my people have turned toward their sin and idolatry because they have rejected my Word that I gave them. They have refused to listen to me, to take my Word to heart, and instead opted to cut their own path.

If God’s Word is going to be effective for us, then we cannot allow our hearts to grow lazy and sluggish by ignoring what he says.

We must listen attentively when the God of the universe speaks to us through his Word so that we can love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength.

Mindless superstition is the distinguishing mark of paganism.

When people give no thought or concern to what or how they worship, they end up in idolatry serving a false god.

Do you know and use God’s word in your own life? Does it guide you? Do you hunger for it like the people of God in Nehemiah?

Or is it something that you can take it or leave it?

Something that is a nice thought like some kind of Hallmark Card written by God instead of the very Word of the Creator of the universe who created all things by speaking them into existence?

Friends, may we trust our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who himself said Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God, and may we hunger for our true bread, God’s Word.

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

2. God’s People Receive God’s Word

4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5 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.

This passage is where we get our biblical understanding for preaching.

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. 6 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. 7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

If you have ever asked, how did we start coming and listening to someone preach to us every week this is why.

What Ezra does here for the people is rooted in God’s command for the people of God to regularly and publically read from God’s Word which influenced how the Jews worshiped in synagogues during the intertestamental period between the Old Testament and the New.

And the practice stuck even through today.

You’ll recall one sabbath where Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah in a synagogue in .

And Christianity, which really started out as a Jewish religion, adopted practices of worship that they knew from God’s Word which included the preaching of God’s Word so that God’s people could receive it in order to live it out.

And Ezra stood on a wooden platform that was built for the purpose of reading God’s Word.

This is why many churches have raised pulpits.

Its not to say that the pastors are higher than the congregation.

Its so that whoever is teaching God’s Word to God’s people, like Ezra in this passage, is able to be seen and heard by everyone in the congregation.

And on this platform with Ezra are 13 men who assist him in reading God’s Word to the people.

Perhaps they helped unrolling and storing the scrolls Ezra was reading from or even helped with some of the reading themselves.

And Nehemiah tells us that Ezra opened the book, or more likely unrolled the scroll because books as we know them weren’t invented yet, and all the people stood.

This was a sign of the reverence that God’s people had for God’s Word.

In saying that, It is a description, not a prescription.

In other words, this verse describes how the people of God honored God’s Word, in this case they stood.

You will see some churches still stand at the reading of God’s Word. In fact, we do it here at the end of service.

But the point is less about the external action itself and more about having a heart attitude that recognizes the importance of the Bible and act accordingly.

Just the performing the action is not what matters. We can stand during the whole sermon, but if we don’t have hearts that honor God’s word by listening closely, repenting of sin, and obeying the Lord trusting him to save us, then it is a work of religion and not of faith.

The principle here is for us to honor God’s Word and sometimes external actions can help us focus on and engage more fully on internal realities.

Its not a bad thing to do “religious” activities. What matters is that those activities are an expression of our faith, not a means to our faith.

Because ultimately God is worthy of our honor and praise and we are called to express our worship in biblical ways.

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.

Note how the reverence the people give to the reading of God’s Word is not built upon the Bible itself but on the Lord.

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

The reason that God’s people love his Word, why they love the Bible, is not because we worship the Bible. It is because it is through the Bible that the Living God has revealed himself to us.

That is why the Bible is to be so precious to us. Why Christians must be people of the book. Because it is through this book that God makes himself known to us.

Have you ever considered how amazing it is that God made himself known to sinful people?

That God did not stand far off from us thinking how wicked, how gross, how sinful but but came near to us because he loves us.

God is what the Bible calls, transcendent.

In other words, he is higher than and separated from what he has created.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

What this passage teaches us is that God is so beyond us and our ability to comprehend him, that if he did not condescend to reveal himself to us, we would have never known him.

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

But God so desired to be known by his people that he wrote a book. 66 books to be exact that all together make up the Bible.

God wrote you this book so that you could know him and know his love that he has for you in Jesus Christ.

In this book are the Words of life that show us how you and I can have our sins forgiven in Jesus Christ and be saved.

We love the Bible because it reveals to us the God who loves us.

And when God’s people know God they give him praise and blessing which is exactly what Ezra does.

Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,”

When we say Amen after praying, that is not just a word that you would put at the end of a letter like “sincerely” or saying “thank you” on your email signature.

Literally, Amen means, “to be firm, steady or trustworthy.”

So when God’s people say Amen after Ezra blesses the Lord and extols his greatness, what they are saying is “Lord, your greatness is firm, steady and trustworthy. You surely are the Great and Only God.”

And when we pray and close with saying Amen we are saying “God let these requests and supplications be firm and steady, but nevertheless not our will but yours be done.”

And they say this while lifting up their hands.

This action is a way for God’s people to demonstrate their dependence upon God and to show that our worship is directed to the God of the Heavens.

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.

This is why some people will lift their hands while singing worship songs. Its not to put everyone around them on notice of their pious holiness. It is a sign of their worship to the Lord of all the earth.

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

Then God’s people bow their heads with their faces to the ground.

This is a normal posture for worship that shows our submission, awe, adoration, and reverence towards God.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

7 For he is our God,

This is why we bow our heads in prayer. It is a sign showing our submission to God as his holy people.

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

Notice the response of God’s people receiving God’s Word. It is worship. They are worshiping God because in his Word he reveals his glory and salvation for all his people.

This is why the Word of God must be central in the worship of the people of God. Without the Word revealing to us who God is, how can we know who we are worshiping or why we are worshiping him?

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

But its not enough to merely hear God’s Word for the people of God to respond in worship. They must understand it in order to hear it with faith.

Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8 They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

So what you have here while Ezra and his 13 assistants are on the raised platform, there are 13 Levites in the crowd helping the people to understand the Law.

They were going around and reading from the law clearly, now what does this mean?

The Hebrew root of “clearly” means to “break up or separate”

This means that the levites were among the people going through the law section by section in order to make sure people understood what they heard as clearly as possible.

In fact, since many of the people had lived in a foreign country for all their lives.

Some had lost their ability to understand so the Levites were helping them understand the context of the Scripture in order to bridge the cultural gap between this covenant community who had spent the last 70 years in exile with their cultural heritage found in Scripture.

This is what Nehemiah is talking about when he says the Levites gave the sense of the words.

Their job was to make sure the people clearly understood God’s Word so that they might receive it with faith and live it out in obedience.

This is why we, and other biblical churches believe that expositional preaching is the primary way that God has structured the church to preach God’s Word.

Expositional preaching is a process of laying open the Bible in such a way that the Holy Spirit’s intended meaning of the text is brought to bear on the lives of contemporary listeners.

Basically what this means is when we preach to you, we are trying to explain what the Bible meant to the original audience in its original context and the points and application we draw from the passage that we hope will affect your life are found in Scripture, not the preacher.

God’s people hunger for God’s Word, not a preacher’s opinions on life.

So a preacher’s goal and the church’s expectation of that preacher should be the same goal of the Levites in this passage. To break up the text and give the sense, so that God’s people may understand God’s Word and obey it.

And when God’s people receive God’s Word, it is met with repentance.

3. God’s People Repent at God’s Word

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.

The people of God, in hearing God’s Word are made aware of their sins and the faithfulness that God showed them despite their sin.

The people realize that the Babylonian captivity, the reason they were in exile, the reason they had to spend all that time and energy rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was a result of their disobedience.

And in seeing their sin, the people of God do the only thing they can when God’s people are convicted of their sin. They repent.

Repentance is a change in mind that leads to a change in life.

It is as if you are going one direction towards sin and death, and when confronted with the evil of sin, you literally turn around and go the opposite direction towards the Lord of life.

Repentance happens as we confess our sins to the Lord, agreeing with him that it is wrong and not good for us to give into that sin, and then actually live out that confession in obedience.

In other words, true repentance does not say, God I know this is wrong but I’m going to do it anyway because I know you will forgive me.

Or “God I’m sorry I did that but I have no intention to change.”

True repentance says, God, I hate that my heart is still so drawn towards evil and the sin of my flesh in light of what you have done for me in Christ. Will you please change my heart and help me to desire to worship you more than anything else?

True repentance is accompanied with weeping and sorrow because God’s people are sorry for the sin itself, not just the effects of sin.

True repentance isn’t motivated from a heart that just hates the hurt and negative consequences of sin while still delighting in the sin itself still wanting to hold onto it. That is what the Bible calls worldly sorrow.

True repentance is motivated from a heart that is overwhelmed with the grace of God’s faithfulness towards his people and hates sin because our love for sin says God is not as glorious as he says he is.

This is why Paul says that it is God’s kindness which leads us to repentance ().

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

On the other hand, I think many people will look at the weeping of the people in this passage think that in order to truly repent, they must punish themselves enough with self loathing and weeping that God deems them worthy enough and sorry enough to take them back.

This is a false gospel because it says that we can justify ourselves before God by paying for our sin ourselves, instead of trusting in Jesus’ sacrificial life, death, and resurrection on our behalf.

God is not a sadist who wants to punish you for your sin. He already did that in Jesus’ death on the cross where your sin was fully paid for.

Our weeping and sorrow over our sin is not meant to be some kind of sacrifice to appease God.

Our weeping and repentance is born out of our Love for the Lord where we hate our sin because of what Jesus had to do in order to pay for it to forgive us.

Weeping, or repentance is the right response of God’s people understanding God’s Word.

However, paradoxically, the right response of weeping opens the door for God’s people to then rejoice in freedom.

4. God’s People Rejoice in God’s Word

This is likely Ezra speaking here given the structure of verse 9 which says Nehemiah then Ezra then the Levites and verses 10-11 seem to follow that order.

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.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 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.

And so Ezra encourages the people after they repent to go and celebrate. After all, the first day of the seventh mont was to be a celebration that was sounded with the blasts of trumpets according to .

He says to Eat the fat which is a way of saying eat the choicest and best. Drink sweet wine.

In other words, go and have a feast and celebrate the Lord and what he has done.

And the people were instructed to share with those that had nothing ready.

This was a celebration for all of God’s people to partake in.

And Ezra proclaims the reason God’s people can go from mourning to rejoicing. He says, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

What does that phrase mean?

This phrase refers to God’s joy, God’s good pleasure to save his people.

To redeem the people of Israel out of exile and bring them back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple and the walls of the city.

God’s joy is in his glory which is revealed in being the God that saves sinners. He took delight in his people for their good because he loved them.

So what is the people’s strength? it is God’s joy in saving, restoring, and protecting them.

They can rejoice when confronted with their sin, because God has been faithful to redeem them and will continue to do so because he loves them.

Did you know that God is joyful over those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ? That God is pleased with you because he has purchased you with his own blood?

How do we know that God delights in us and has joy over us? He tells us in his Word.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

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

This is why God’s people can find their strength in the Lord when convicted over their sin so that they can put their sin to death and live a life of joyful worship.

Because God’s joy is to save them.

In what is probably the most famous verse in all the Bible For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Seeing the Joy of the Lord, or his salvation, as it is revealed in the Word of God shows us that God’s Word can change your life, 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.

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

Because God reveals our sin through his Word, and cuts straight to our heart, he shows us what our sin really is.

And in exposing our sin for what it really is, it loses all of its appeal when it is compared to the Love and Grace that God has freely given us in Christ.

And here’s how God’s people respond...

12 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.

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

They move from hearing God’s Word, being convicted of their sin and repenting, and then they celebrate with a feast. They rejoice and worship God.

Why? Because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

It was because they understood what God had said in his Word that made the occasion a celebration.

It was a step from blind religion to a relationship with the God of the universe who was speaking to his people.

And what is amazing is that there was a fuller blessing to come for God’s people in the new covenant.

Not only would God’s people understand God’s Word, each one of them would know and have a relationship with the God of all Creation themselves and have his Word written on their hearts.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

And this covenant was secured for God’s people in Jesus Christ.

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

When Christians put their faith in Christ through the Word of the gospel, they are given the Holy Spirit to live inside them and empower them to obey God’s Word as he brings it to bear on their hearts.

That means that God himself dwells within the Christian in the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit to write God’s law on our hearts so that we can live a life of worship before him and put sin to death in our life because he changes our hearts to love and worship him more than we love our sin through his Word.

And as Christians today love God’s Word by hungering for it, receiving it with faith, repenting at its truth, and rejoicing in God’s salvation, then they too join the people of God in the book of Nehemiah in loving God’s Word.

Application

So where do we go from here? If truly receiving God’s Word means we apply it to our lives by the power of the Spirit to live it out in obedience, how can we apply this passage today.

The big idea of today’s sermon is that God’s people love God’s Word.

That means I think we must make every effort to make the Word of God central to our life both individually and corporately, so that we can know worship him, and I think this happens two primary ways.

1. Read God’s Word

Now I know this is kind of a duh answer, but that doesn’t change the fact that most Christians never take the time to read God’s Word for themselves.

Sometimes its because they feel like they don’t know how to read it, and so they don’t even try to start.

And genuinely, if that is your situation, please ask another brother or sister or one of our elders to teach you how to read the Bible so that you can receive God’s Word and allow it to change your life.

Don’t be ashamed. No one is going to think your stupid or some kind of bad Christian because you don’t know how to read your bible.

We need one another to grow in our discipleship. Allow us to serve you.

Let me also encourage others.

Don’t cave into the pressure that you aren’t actually reading the Bible unless you are reading the whole thing in a year.

I think one of the worst things you can do when you have not built up the discipline to read God’s Word is to go from not reading to saying, “I’m going to read all of it in a year.”

It is a daunting task that takes many Christians out of the running before they even start.

I think a better plan is to start wherever you are. Start with one book. Start with the gospel of John or even 1 John which is one of the shortest books in the Bible.

Maybe even start a plan to read only the New Testament in a year so that you can see how Christ fulfills the Old Testament so that when you actually read through the OT you will be able to see how Jesus is the point of every word of Scripture.

To give you some real practical advice, if you have an iOS or apple device, download the Crossway ESV Bible App. In there are a ton of Bible Reading plans both long and short that will track where you are and pull up the Scriptures for you.

I think plans are really beneficial because they help guide you in your reading where you aren’t trying to figure it out everyday playing Bible bingo.

And the plan doesn’t have to be systematic like NT and Psalms twice and OT once.

It can be as simple as my plan is to read a chapter of the gospel of Mark a day.

My biggest encouragement to you is just start somewhere and if you don’t know how to read, ask! Ask a pastor, or a brother or sister in your CG.

I promise you no one will think you are stupid. It is a joy to teach people how to read God’s Word.

I think at the end of the day, if you are going to stake your whole eternal life on what this book says, don’t you think you should read it at least once?

And my hope is as you read it, you will see who God is through the revelation of his Word, and this Word will become your very life.

2. Listen to Sermons Well

In all honesty, how do sermons work?

I mean is it some kind of voodoo where you all come and listen for 40ish minutes and it just magically changes you by osmosis?

Many Christians might not put it in exactly those terms but they essentially practice the habit of passive listening.

Take a note from our passage in Nehemiah. Unless you understand God’s Word and take it to heart, it won’t make a difference in your life.

So let me share with you how I prepare to listen to sermons in order to hear and respond to the Word of God by following the model laid out for us in -12.

I. Prepare your heart to receive God’s word

Sunday is the Lord’s day.

A good habit is to come to church prepared. Spend some time praying to the Lord, confessing sin, asking God to convict you to repentance and to know him more.

It can be so easy to allow Sunday services to become just another thing we do, instead of actually participating in the worship of God with his people.

II. Listen Attentively

Consider what is taught in these sermons.

Apply what is said to yourself throughout the sermon. We try to make some application for you, but with such a wide audience, we could never in a million years hit on every particular issue that could be going on in every person’s life every Sunday.

Therefore, become skilled in asking yourself, what difference does this make in my life?

How can I apply this Scripture?

Where am I out of step with God’s Word in my life?

And Trust the Holy Spirit to reveal that to you and when he does...

III. Repent

Allow the Spirit to apply God’s Word to your heart and respond to conviction with repentance.

If and when God shows you aspects of your life where you are still living for your sin instead of Christ, confess your sins and put them to death by the grace of God.

Make every effort whenever we open God’s Word together to hear what he has to say to our church and bring every part of your life in submission to as much of God’s Word as you can as he empowers you to do so with the Holy Spirit.

IV. Worship

Praise God for revealing himself. Do not allow our time together to pass by as another weekly ritual.

See the glory of God speaking to his people in his Word.

Thank God for speaking to you through his Word and giving you repentance and encouragement to follow Christ.

Do not fall into the religious self-justification trap of allowing your Christianity to be one of sorrow and self abasement.

Of course respond to God’s Word with sorrow and repentance when we are convicted for our sin, but then rejoice that the very God who revealed your sin to you is the one who nailed it to the cross for you.

Praise God for drawing near to us in Christ and live a life of worship by obeying his Word.

Conclusion

God’s people love God’s Word.

Romans 2:4 ESV

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

After the people of Israel completed the walls of Jerusalem, they determined to organized their new life as God’s people centered on God’s Word.

As Ezra read the Bible and the Levites helped God’s people to understand what it said, the people were struck to the heart for their sin and repented.

And in their repentance, they were encouraged to rejoice and celebrate that despite their sin, because the Lord still loved them and was working his salvation on their behalf.

Christians today must center their lives on God’s Word both as individuals and as local churches

Because it is only in His Word that God reveals himself to his people, shows them how they have sinned against them, and tells them of the grace freely given them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and shows how they are to live a life of worship as God’s holy people..

Lets Pray

Scripture Reading: Something from Psalm 119

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