Text: Nehemiah 8:1-12, Title: Model for Corporate Worship 1, Date/Place: NRBC, 11/11/07, PM
A. Opening illustration: Talk about the different options opened to the church planter for worship service like the musical style, the dress, the orders of service, buildings, preaching styles, position of the offering, if any, etc.
B. Background to passage: Remember that Nehemiah and crew finished the walls in chapter six, and in chapter seven they began some reforms in the city to begin rebuilding the people of God. And the last thing that they did was take up a $5 million offering for worship at the temple. And so the obvious thing to do after an offering like that was to have a worship service, and that is what they did. And since so much detail is given about it, I think it is appropriate to consider it as a model for our worship. This was the pattern of the synagogue that developed in the immediate future from this point.
C. Main thought: Tonight’s message is the first of a two-part message on the model for corporate worship.
A. Gathering of those able to understand (v. 3)
1. Nehemiah says that they gathered together as one man, and that asked Ezra to bring the book of the law. All of Israel wanted to come. There was no begging, manipulating, bargaining about coming to church, they just got saved, and came to church. And everyone who could understand came.
2. Deut 31:10-13,
3. Illustration: sharing with membership class about the number of Southern Baptists on the rolls that don’t come, The Myth of Adolescence by David Black,
4. I don’t want to stand here tonight and gripe about people not coming to church. Because honestly, we don’t want believers coming that really don’t want to be here. It is not our job, nor our goal, to have every person here at every service. Our job and goal is to make disciples so that they fall in love with Jesus and want to be here whenever the saints gather. Don’t feel guilty about not coming to church Sunday night and Wednesday night, but be afraid because you don’t want to come! But I do think we should consider how often we gather. Maybe it is too much. Also as far as our model goes, I don’t see a separate meeting for adolescents. Why? Well in Israel, you were either a boy or a man. And they brought all that could understand to come and listen. Maybe we should ask whether or not we should have children’s church.
B. Reverence for the Word (v. 5)
1. The people did too things that showed their reverence and honor for the Word of God. First they listened attentively. They circumcised their ears and their minds to focus. They were willing to do the mental labor of fighting off the distractions and wanderings, and really processing what is being said. Secondly, they all stood up when it was read. They were acknowledging that this was not just another book. This book is the actual God-breathed instructive, powerful, effective, authoritative Word. They were reverencing the God who spoke it.
2. Ps 19:7-9, Heb 4:12, Luke 4:16
3. Illustration: historically Baptists are there, that is why the pulpit is in the center, that is why the sermon is the longest part of the service, that is why you all have a bible in hand or in the pew, When Luther became a priest and celebrated his first Mass, in 1507, he trembled so much he nearly dropped the bread and cup. He became so terrified of the presence of Christ in the sacrament that he tried to run from the altar. By the end of his life, Martin Luther wrote 60,000 pages, yet he hoped that "all my books would disappear and the Holy Scriptures alone be read."
4. To those of you who are believers, I believe that you are in sin when the word is being read, sung, or preached, and you are cutting up, talking, or even gazing off into space. This is God speaking to you. This is not some boring punishment that you endure to make your parents happy. God has an appointment to speak to you each week, and to treat it casually is a sin and a slap in the face to God Himself. You say, Pastor, I try, but I can’t. Get off the back rows! Sit with someone else! If you really want to make war on sin, fight like you mean it. Don’t be afraid to make you priority worship on Sunday. Get enough sleep at night! Eat your Wheaties in the morning. Don’t flood you mind with brain-numbing TV and soul-numbing secular, godless, man-centered music on your way to church, so that you might be ready to get in a spiritual zone. Pray that God will make the pastor interesting, and the music stimulating, and your mind ready to receive spiritual truth. Let God know that you actually want to be ready to receive it.
C. Submission affirmed (v. 6)
1. After everyone stood up in reverence and longing for the word, Ezra passed out from shock. But when he got up, he had a spell. He started praising the Lord and reading the Word. And the people got pumped up and starting shouting “Amen.” Church was on then! But they meant “as it was said.” Remember that Ezra is reading the law, and there are a lot of curses in the law. So, what they were doing is agreeing with God as to what He had said. They were affirming their submission to the Word even as it is being read. They were saying, “whatever it says, I believe, and I will adjust my life around it.”
2. 2 Tim 3:16, 2 Pet 1:16,
3. Illustration: writing the 40-page book report in seminary about Baptist and the Bible, and the surprise that I got about the third thing—authority, That evening he walked her to the dormitory & once again started to bid her "good night." But as he did, she grabbed him, pulled him toward her, & planted a 10-second kiss right on his lips. At the end of the kiss, the Seminary student gasped for air, & stammered, "Bible verse, Bible verse." The girl grabbed him a 2nd time, & just before kissing him again, said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
4. I don’t think this is necessarily a prescription that we should all say Amen after every verse that is read, but I do believe this is a pattern for us in worship. We should tell God on the front half of a worship service, that whatever He says, I’ll do, wherever He sends, I’ll go… As prisoners of Jesus Christ, we have been bought with a price and we are no longer our own. Therefore we have no right to make the final decision on anything in our lives. So every time we come to the table of God to eat of the written word, we affirm that it had authority over our lives. And when that word comes, we formulate a plan to submit to it, carry it out, and bring God glory in our very lives.
D. Expression of need for the Word (v. 6)
1. Nehemiah says that they were saying “Amen” and lifting up their hands. The expression of the day of neediness or poverty was translated into an expression of spiritual need by the lifting up of the hands with the palms up as if there were to receive a gift from God. And then they stood for six hours at least! They really knew that they needed the Word.
2. Matt 5:3, Ps 19:7-9, Deut 6:6-9, John 6:48,
3. Illustration: this is why we have begun to incorporate more scripture into the worship service, relay the conversation that Ronnie and I had about the necessity of the Word for the conversion of sinners, as we looked at the covenant yesterday and thought about our culture, we are reaping the results of a couple of generations that have not stressed with depth the way to live according to all that is written,
4. We have become very soft on ourselves and our need of anything. We must realize the power of the Word and also our desperate need of it. According to scripture we are begotten by the Word, convicted by the Word, we overcome by the Word, we make war with the Word, created by the Word, upheld by the Word, sanctified by the Word, encouraged by the Word, instructed by the Word, rebuked and corrected by the Word, trained by the Word, commended by the Word, washed by the Word, given faith by the hearing of the Word, delivered out of the paths of the destroyer by the Word, illumined by the Word, empowered by the Word, and strengthened by the Word. Every day our consciences need the Word, our families need the Word, our coworkers need the Word, our minds and hearts need the Word, our neighbors and friends need the Word, our grandchildren and their grandchildren need the Word. And we must get back to it in every way, not in some that are convenient to you, but in all things.
E. Attributing value to God (v. 6)
1. Then as the Word was read in their hearing they were moved at the immensity, power, love, and grace of their God, and the depth of their treason, and the reaches of His forgiveness. And they fell down upon their faces to the ground. With their posture and their life they were saying that God is the greatest, the highest, the most worthy of honor and praise and glory and power forever. This is the essence of worship.
2. Ps 47:1-2, Isa 12:4-6,
3. Illustration: tell about Matt Papa getting down on his knees before Sat night’s service in my office, read the words to Unto the One, speaking of God being the Fountain of Living Water he says, “the way to glorify a fountain like this is to enjoy the water, and praise the water, and keep coming back to the water, and point other people to the water, and get strength from the water, and never, never, never prefer any drink in the world over this water.” –Piper,
4. The primary purpose of our existence is worship. As a corporate body we are to come together and declare His matchless worth in our lives. We are to share His wonderful works and His praise the midst of the congregation to the edification of all. Through our words, our actions, our thoughts, our desires, declare Him worthy and valuable. In the singing, do you lavish Him with accolades? In the giving, do you give with a cheerful heart, demonstrating that the fountain is worth more that money? In the SS hour, do you engage your mind to learn of the greatest treasure in the world? During the preaching is the name and fame of Jesus Christ being exalted and magnified and praised?
A. Closing illustration: I was listening to John MacArthur do an interview this week on contemporary worship (I commend it to you) and he was talking about churches who use the worship service primarily as a way to do other things (fellowship, get contacts, evangelize, etc.) and his point was made that worship is not supposed to be an end to any other means, but a culmination of our existence, “And the final goal of the universe is the fullest possible display of the glory of God. That fullness comes to pass not only but mainly through the white-hot, joy-permeated worship of His people as they exult in the glory of His Son.”
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
