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Title: How to Experience God
Text: Ezra 7 (esp. vv. 6-10)
Author: Larry C. Brincefield
1. Since the dawn of history…
• Mankind has sought a relationship with God…
• Adam and Eve longed to walk thru the Garden of Eden with their Creator in the cool of the day…
• And throughout the long years of history people have sought a relationship with God…
• So called “holy men” have sat on the mountaintop…
• To try to draw closer to God…
• Once on television, I say a so-called “holy man” who decided to roll on the ground all the way to a mountaintop many, many miles away…
• This journey lasted months…
• He rolled and rolled and rolled…
• Until he completed his journey at the mountaintop…
• Just so he could “experience God”…
2. People have tried all kinds of things…
• All in an effort to draw closer to God…
• I found a book on amazon.com entitled:
• “The Heart of the Mind: How to Experience God Without Belief” by Jane katra and Russell Tarq.
• Here are some things that people have said about that book:
• As a very secular University of Chicago-trained economist… hearing the word "God" is like a red-flag. Uh oh... I just can’t take seriously "God," that Big Bearded Daddy in the Sky who’s going to love you or punish you or whatever, depending on whose "Bible" you want to consult. …it was a relief and a delight to read a book …without… having to believe in "god"
• Here’s another one: It expands on the incredible, ground breaking work started by the late, great L. Ron Hubbard. This book should be called DIANETICS 2. Quite simply one of the most profound reading experiences I have ever had. I know the authors are students of Hubbard, and they carry on his tradition with exquisite accuracy. They are not weird lunatics, they are gods, as are we. Praise them. Praise me. Praise you. We are not flakes, we just get it. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1577311566/qid=1121864566/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-5730329-1592669?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
3. Well, this morning, I want to let you know that I have found the secret!!!
• I have found the way for you to experience God…
• I have found the way for you to have a relationship with God…
• And you don’t have to climb to the top of a mountain and meditate for 30 years…
• You don’t have to roll on the ground for 1,000 miles…
• You don’t have to unleash the power of your mind and embrace yourself as a god…
• You don’t have to live on a diet of bread and water and poke yourself with needles to experience God…
• And to be honest, I didn’t come up with it myself…
• It is there for everyone to find the truth for themselves…
• And we will find the way to experience God it in the words of our text this morning.
Read Text: Ezra 7:6-10;
1. First, let me give you some background
A. Ezra chapters 1 through 6 detail the first return to Jerusalem from captivity…
• And the rebuilding of the Temple
• In Ezra chapters 7 through 10…
• It details a 2nd return to Jerusalem…
• The 1st return was led by Zerubbabel, a civic leader…
• And the 2nd return was led by Ezra, a spiritual leader.
B. There are many similarities between the 2 “returns”…
• In both returns, God used the secular leader of the Babylonians…
• The first was Cyrus…
• And the 2nd was Artaxerxes…
• Both times, the leaders were given articles that had been stolen from the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar to be returned to the Temple.
• The first return was mainly the Tribes of Benjamin and Judah…
• And 2nd return included some more Israelites from the captivity…
• Listed in detail in chapter 8…
• The first return under Zerubbabel details how the Temple BUILDING…
• And the city of Jerusalem itself were rebuilt…
• The 2nd return is more about rebuilding the SPIRITUAL Temple…
• In the 1st return, the rebuilding of the Temple took years…
• In the 2nd return, the spiritual revival was accomplished in a few short months. (Pulpit Commentary)
C. The time from the end of Ezra chapter 6 and beginning of chapter 7 is about 58 years…
• We don’t have a lot of record of what happened during these 58 years…(Beacon Bible Commentary)
• But, in Ezra chapter 9, we see what the atmosphere was like in Jerusalem…
• So we have a pretty good idea what had occurred during the intervening time…
• but I won’t go into that now…
• We will cover that in a few weeks.
D. Today, I want to focus on Ezra the person…
• To give you some background on why he was able to accomplish the things that he did…
• In the first 5 verses of Ezra chapter 7…
• We see that Ezra is a descendent of Aaron…
• He was in the priestly line…
• Verse 6 says that he was a teacher who knew the Law of Moses very well…
• We see that he had earned the respect of the Persian leaders, even though they themselves didn’t worship God…
• Commentators indicate that Ezra may have been the Chronicler who wrote 1 and 2 Chronicles…
• And he is seen as the author of this book which bears his name…
• Later on in the book of Ezra, we will see that Ezra was instrumental in ushering in a spiritual revival.
E. The secret to Ezra’s great impact upon his society…
• Both in captivity…
• And in Jerusalem after he makes the journey…
• Is found in his relationship with God.
• Throughout Ezra 7 and 8, we find that the Hand of God was upon Ezra…
• We will see in later chapters how God was able to work in Ezra’s life…
• And here, in Ezra chapter 7, we find the secret to Ezra’s ability to impact his society…
• Is found in his relationship with God…
• and that relationship with God…
• that many in the world finds so elusive…
• and they try so many other methods to finding God…
• here in Ezra 7 verse 10, we find the answer.
2. Beginning in verse 9, it says, “the gracious hand of his God was on him…(why?)…
A. Because, verse 10 says, Ezra had devoted himself to the study of the Law
• What is the Law?...
• Well, that is the Bible…
• The Word of God.
• In Ezra’s day, it would have consisted of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy…
• And perhaps some of the writings of the prophets.
• In our day, God has further inspired His Word…
• So that it contains the writing of all the prophets…
• Historical books, Including Ezra, Acts, and others…
• It contains the Gospels…written by men who actually walked with Jesus…
• And it contains the Writings of the early leaders of the church like Paul and James and John.
B. Ezra DEVOTED himself to the study of God’s Word.
• It was his consuming passion…
• People DEVOTE themselves to many different pursuits…
• And we often admire those kinds of people…
• Last Sunday, Tiger Woods won the British Open in commanding fashion…
• Tiger Woods has DEVOTED himself to the sport of golf…
• when Tiger was still in a high chair, only ten months old, his father would sit him in the garage
• His dad, Earl would hit golf balls into a net for hours at a time while tiger watched.
• when Tiger was barely old enough to stand up he could swing his fathers putter like a driver.
• Tiger began playing golf at public courses before he was four years old.
• One time he even shot a 48 on the back nine at the Navy Course in Cypress at age three.
• Earl once said, "When most kids are in those circular walkers, you give them a rattle.
• He had a putter."
• Tiger is DEVOTED to golf.
• Another person that is devoted is Lance Armstrong…
• He is poised to win his 7th Tour De France today!!
• It is an unheard of accomplishment.
• For Lance, everything he does is devoted to the Tour De France…
• His diet…his training…
• The clothes he wears…
• The bike he rides…
• Every last detail speaks to Lance’s devotion to win the Tour De France…
• And he has been very successful…
• At least in the eyes of the world.
C. Well Ezra DEVOTED himself to the study of God’s Word…
• If you want to experience God…
• You need to study His Words…
• If you want to get to know someone…
• Listen to what they say…
• Hang on their every word…
• Go over them again and again and again…
• Memorize them…
• If you want to know God…
• Devote yourself to the study of God’s Word!
• We find this concept throughout the Bible…
• In the earliest days of the church…
• The church grew at a phenomenal rate…
• Reading the book of Acts is just a miraculous journey through the birth of Christianity…
• What is the reason for the explosion of Christianity in the book of Acts?
• We find the answer in Acts 2:42…
• “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”
• They DEVOTED themselves to the apostles teaching…
• We find much of the apostle’s teaching in the words of our Bible.
• Their devotion to God’s Word was key to the explosive growth of the early church.
• The Psalms is fairly riddled with Scripture that points to devotion to God’s Word.
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psalms 1:1-2
• The Lord told Joshua in Joshua 1:8
• “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night”
• And there are many, many more that I would like to point to…
• But I must hurry on.
3. Ezra NOT ONLY devoted himself to the STUDY of God’s Word…Ezra had devoted himself to the OBSERVANCE of God’s Word
A. It is certain important to STUDY God’s Word…
• And in fact, I say to you this morning…
• That we should be DEVOTED to that study…
• But being devoted to STUDY is not enough…
• Ezra not only STUDIED God’s Word…
• But he devoted himself to the OBSERVANCE of God’s Word…
• He obeyed it…
• He followed it…
• He allowed it to guide and direct his life.
B. In 1 Samuel 13:14, we see where Saul had disobeyed God’s Word…
• He KNEW what God had said…
• But he decided to do what HE thought was best…
• Instead of God…
• And as a result, Samuel tells him what God’s judgment will be…
• He said, “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.",
• David was a man after God’s own heart…
• NOT because he was handsome…
• Although Scripture tells us he was…
• Not because he was talented…
• Although he see he was a gifted musician…
• And certainly a gifted writer…writing much of the Psalms…
• David was a man after God’s own heart..
• NOT because he was a strong warrior…
• Winning often in battle…
• Although he certainly was a gifted soldier…
• David was a man after God’s own heart…
• Because he not only KNEW the Lord’s Commands…
• But he FOLLOWED them.
C. Today, there are so many people that are like Saul…
• They know what the Bible says about many different things…
• They know much about Scripture…
• But they don’t apply what they know…
• They don’t observe Scriptural truth to their own lives…
• They don’t obey God’s Word.
• As a Preacher…
• One of my most important tasks…
• As I see it…
• Is to encourage you…the church…
• To take what is in the Bible…
• And apply to your lives…
• To live by it…
• To obey it.
D. Study without observance is the sin of the Pharisees…
• The hypocrites…
• Jesus Himself said, in reprimanding the Pharisees in John 5:39-40:
• “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life”
• The Pharisees knew the Bible inside and out…
• They had devoted themselves in studying God’s Word…
• But they refused to observe it with their lifestyle.
• Certainly a very strong condemnation from Jesus…
• But Jesus would condemn those people today who embark on the same futility…
• People who know the Bible…
• People who read the Bible and study it…
• People who understand what it says…
• But they refuse to obey it.
• They refuse to come to Jesus to have life!
4. Well, I must hurry one…
A. not only did Ezra devote himself to the STUDY of God’s Word…
• He took the next step and devoted himself to the OBSERVANCE of God’s Word.
• Certainly a very important and very crucial point that we all must come to if we are going to truly experience God for ourselves…
• However, it doesn’t end there…
• Ezra had also devoted himself to teaching God’s Word to others.
B. If we study God’s Word so that we know it…
• We know what God says about different things…
• Like loving others…
• Like not lieing or gossiping…
• And on and on and one…
• And then we put it into practice into our own lives…
• That is indeed very important…
• But if we do find it important to live by for our own lives…
• Then surely we would think that it is important to teach to others…
• We must always have God’s Word in our mouths…
• So that we can not only live by it ourselves…
• But so that we can tell it to others…
• So that they can find the desire to study God’s Word…
• So that they can find the desire to obey God’s Word for their own lives.
• There is a lot of false teaching out there…
• Just that one book I mentioned earlier about how to experience God without actually believing in God…
• And we Christians need to be vocally and accurately telling others about what God’s Word says.
• Paul tells Timothy to be sure to “correctly handle the Word of Truth”…2 Tim 2:15
Conclusion
1. People today are just as hungry to “experience” God as anyone down through history…
• They are hungering for a personal relationship with God…
• And many people are going about it all the wrong ways…
• I read something just this week that broke my heart…
• A man wrote in on a Nazarene discussion board that I follow…
• And he wrote this:
• If we were to follow, to it’s logical conclusion, the school of thought that the Gospels are not literal historical biography, and that the whole Jesus story is symbolic (or metaphor, or even ’myth’) one of the primary questions I’ve been faced with concerns "how are we saved"?...
• Is it possible to conform to the Nazarene ’essentials of the faith’
• without being able to categorically state that our faith is in a literal Jesus, historical as described in the Gospels?
• http://www.crivoice.org/cgi-bin/ceilidh.cgi/forums/general/?C3c35d1508HqZ-5679-421-30.htm
2. Many people make it so very difficult…
• When in fact, it is so very easy…
• Ezra was a godly man…
• And we see the secret to his spiritual success came from his…
• Study of God’s Word…
• His Observance of God’s Word…
• And his willingness to teach others about God’s Word.
• If you do these three things…
• You will find that the “gracious hand of God” will be upon you…
• Just like It was for Ezra…
• Rolling for 1,000 miles on the ground won’t do it…
• Sitting on the mountaintop meditating for 30 years won’t do it…
• Just be devoted…
• Devoted to studying, observing, and teaching God’s Word.
#690 “Father, Speak Your Word again”
