“THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD” Neh. 8:1-12
FBCF – 7/12/20
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Cindy – VBS report
Why do we have VBS every year? When coronavirus wasn’t going on, lot of parents saw it as a great way to get some free childcare throughout the summer. Would line their kids up to go to a VBS at a different church every week!
In case you didn’t know, VBS stands for Vacation Bible School. The reason we do it every year for our kids is b/c of the word in the middle.
- Don’t do it b/c of the word “vacation”
- Don’t do it b/c of the word “school”
- We do it b/c of the word “Bible”
- We want our kids to be immersed in this book that we believe has the power to change the course of their lives.
How many of you have the YouVersion app on your phone?
- Craig Groeschel – Life Church – One of their missions is to eradicate biblical illiteracy.
- Launched app 10 yrs ago on a Friday.
- By that Sunday, just 2 days later, 81k people had downloaded it
- Now, over 1/3 of a billion people have it on their phone
- Why so many people? Not b/c Craig Groeschel is so popular, or Life Church is such a great church, even though it is.
- But b/c millions of people believe that the Word of God has the power to change the course of their lives.
That’s what we are going to talk about today as we continue REBUILD-RESTORE-REVIVE series in the book of Nehemiah. We are going to talk about the power of the Word of God today.
EXPLANATION – Open Bibles to Neh. 8:1-12.
First 6 chapters focus on the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. Chapters 7-13 focus on the rebuilding of God’s people. And it’s no wonder that right after a census tally in chapter 7, chapter 8 focuses on the public reading of the Word of God b/c there will NEVER be any rebuilding, restoring, & reviving of God’s people apart from the Word of God.
- Def. of revival: “The Spirit of God working through the Word of God, in the lives of the people of God.” (J. Edwin Orr)
The wall had been finished, & now the people gathered “as one man” to hear the Word. Ezra, the scribe & priest, who had been responsible for the rebuilding of the temple & helping the people get back to worshiping God as they should, brought out the Word of God & began to read from it. The “Book of the Law of Moses” (v. 1) that was read was the first 5 books of the Bible – Gen., Ex., Lev, Num, Deut. This was the people’s instruction manual on how to walk w/ God.
- Owner’s manual in vehicle – Tells you how to operate that vehicle to get the most effective us out of that vehicle, & so that it will accomplish the purpose for which it was made.
The Word of God is our Owner's manual. Tells us how to live our lives & accomplish the purpose for which we were created - to glorify & serve God.
So now that the walls were rebuilt, it’s time for the people’s lives to be rebuilt according to the way God wanted them to be rebuilt.
APPLICATION – THERE IS POWER TO REBUILD, RESTORE, & REVIVE OUR LIVES IN THE TRUE, TRUSTWORTHY WORD OF GOD!
3 actions we need to take as we understand the power of the Word of God:
HOLD IT UP – v. 1-5
THEY RESPECTED IT – It’s obvious that a strong emphasis on the Word of God is a key aspect of spiritual renewal & revival among God’s people. Can’t be flippant, or nonchalant, or indifferent to the importance of the Word if we expect God to move in our midst. And what we see among the people here is that they had a huge amount of respect for the Word of God. They stood in place for 6 hours as it was being read (v. 3).
- They respected the Author of the Word
- They respected the authority of the Word
B/c of that respect, they were willing to stand for 6 hours to hear it read & taught.
- When the Word of God is not respected, then we shouldn’t expect that God will rebuild, restore, & revive our lives & His Church.
- Neglect & lack of respect will always lead to decay & deterioration in our spiritual lives.
THEY REALIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF IT – Their minds weren’t wandering. They weren’t distracted. They weren’t checking their watches or slipping a glance at their Facebook or Instagram. Verse 3 says “the ears of all the people were attentive.” They realized the importance of what was being read to them.
- These were the words of life being read to them.
- These were words of hope.
- These were words that could give them direction & give them purpose.
Do you & I truly realize the importance of the words of this Book? Does the amount of time you spend in it each week show that you realize how important it is to your life?
THEY REVERED IT – Their respect of the Word led to their reverence toward the Word. They stood as it was being read (v. 5), as if they were in the presence of royalty. Then they lifted their hands to the Lord & then bowed down in worship (v. 6). What a powerful outward expression of the reverence they felt in their hearts at that moment! Why were they doing that? B/C GOD WAS SPEAKING TO THEM THROUGH HIS WORD!
- Understand this: They were not worshiping the Bible, the actual scroll that Ezra held in his hands. That would be a form of idolatry.
- Their response was one of reverence toward the Word of God, but more importantly, reverence for the God of the Word!
- This Bible that I hold in my hand is a VERY special book. It has God as its author, salvation as its message, & Jesus Christ as its focus. That in itself is worthy of reverence.
- But it’s not enough just to believe that this book is a special book. We have to let its message permeate our souls. We have to let the Holy Spirit impress it on our minds. We have to open up our ears & open up our hearts & let the life-changing message of this book change our lives. We have to believe that God can & will speak to us through it. And when that happens, our response will be the response of the people: WE WILL WORSHIP GOD!
o Our hands will go up!
o Our voices will cry out!
o Our knees will go down!
TAKE IT IN – v. 7-8
“Remember, it is not hasty reading, but serious meditating upon holy and heavenly truths, that make them prove sweet and profitable to the soul.
It is not the bee's touching of the flower that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time upon the flower that draws out the sweet.
It is not he who reads most, but he who meditates most--who will prove the choicest, sweetest, wisest and strongest Christian!” (Thomas Brooks)
Levites were there to help the people take the Word in & understand what was being read to them. They brought clarity & understanding to them.
- “they gave the sense” (v. 8) means that they brought insights & gave meaning to the Scriptures so that the hearers could understand it, comprehend it, & apply it to their lives in obedience.
These days, there’s not much excuse for a Christian to not take advantage of all the resources that are available to help us take in the Word & understand it.
- Churches everywhere in the US, especially Deep South
- Resources everywhere – technology, YouTube, apps on phones
- Study Bibles, commentaries, books
But none of that is worth anything if we don’t go to the last action:
LIVE IT OUT – v. 9-12
Look at what happened in response to the Word:
- God had shown them their sin through His Word.
- They had responded in brokenness & grief, confession & repentance
- God forgave them & revived them
- They went on their way full of joy b/c their lives were different
Pretty clear & simple: God spoke – The people listened & responded. And that’s what needs to happen here in our lives in this place today.
There’s not much brokenness in the Church these days. There’s a lot of other stuff:
- Fear
- Skepticism
- Lack of faith
- Self-centeredness
- Pride
We need brokenness that leads to confession & repentance, forgiveness, restoration, renewal, & revival. Our lives will be different b/c God, through the power of His Word, has changed us!
