Nehemiah 8:1-8

It's good to be with you. I'd like to take you back to the book of Nehemiah. Those of you that were with us yesterday evening, we started there and I want to go back and think of a little bit of the detail of what happened on that momentous occasion when the people of Judah and of Israel had returned to the land of Israel and to Jerusalem in particular.

Last night we just really thought about the fact that they most likely celebrated three feasts and we did that as a kind of springboard to remind ourselves of the value of meeting in a conference or to meeting for Bible teaching because in those three festivals they were reminded that God wants his people to gather together and that's what we've done today and God willing tomorrow and it is indeed a wonderful thing to gather in the presence of God and to listen to his voice and then we thought about the day of atonement which was in the middle of course all of these things that happen in Nehemiah chapter 8 take place on the seventh month of the year in which Israel had three festivals and the second of those festivals was the day of atonement and actually in this passage if you look down in Nehemiah chapter 8 and look at verse number 9 the people were weeping, the people wept. Why were they weeping? Well the day of atonement reminded them that they had sinned against God and this nation had sinned so badly that God had sent them into exile for 70 years and then when you go down to verse 15 they would have been thinking about another festival which is called the festival of tabernacles or the feast of booths. You read that down in verses 14, 15 and 16.

That was a time of rejoicing and our prayer is that over these meetings that we won't just gather, we're glad to do that, we won't just hear the word of God and we're going to think a bit about that as we go through some of these verses and we won't just maybe have moments when we recognize our sin, our need, our shortcomings but we'll have days and times of rejoicing. We're just going to read some of these verses from verse 1 of Nehemiah chapter 8 and all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate and they speak unto Ezra the scribe, notice this, to bring the book of the law of Moses. Verse 2, and Ezra the priest brought the law before all the congregation both of men and women and all that could hear with understanding upon the first day of the seventh month.

Verse 3, and he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from morning until midday before the men and the women and those that could understand and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law and Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood which they'd made for the purpose. Verse 5, and Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was above all the people and when he opened it all the people stood up and Ezra blessed the Lord the great God and all the people answered amen, amen with lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground and Yeshua and Bani and Sherabiah, Jamin, Akub, Shabathieh, Hodijah, Masaiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jehozabad, Hanan, Peleiah and the Levites caused the people to understand the law and the people stood in their place so they read in the book in the law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading. Then we see their weeping in verse 9. Look at verse 13, day two, hope you come back tomorrow.

There's two days in this event in Israel in Jerusalem and on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe even to understand the words of the law. Come down to verse 17 and all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths and sat under the booths for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so and there was very great gladness. Day by day from the first day into the last day he read in the book of the law of God and they kept the feast seven days and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly according unto the manner.

We trust God would bless his word. You'll notice the main feature of these people coming together was 50,000 of them. They come out of exile.

There was a lot of people involved in this by the way, it wasn't just Ezra. If you are interested you might want to go home after the weekend if you get time during the weekend but if you're like us you'll be talking too much to do it but if you like to go back and read through Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther you'll get a picture of what was going on. For 70 years God's people had been taken out of their land and they'd been transferred.

They had become refugees you might say. They'd gone into exile. Some of them had been in Assyria, Israel particularly.

Some of them had been in Babylon, Judah and God had told Jeremiah that they would go because they'd sinned. Sin has consequences you know. We shouldn't be surprised if we struggle in our Christian life if we're sinning.

We were talking about this last night and Stephen was reminding us that we could be in need of being honest with God and maybe this would be a weekend when there would be great repentance. Repentance is applicable to believers you know as well as unbelievers. When the Lord writes to the seven churches of Asia Minor through the apostle John, he calls the churches to repent.

I don't know the state of the assemblies in Iowa. It's not for me to make that judgment but you know. There might be a need for us to humble ourselves before God and to recognize that if God's going to use us, if we're going to see people saved in our communities, if we're going to prosper as assemblies and churches then we need to get before God.

We need to be honest. We don't play games. We're not just going through the routine of church gatherings.

We come because we want to please our God. We want to live in fellowship with him. I'd love to talk to you about some of these great characters.

Ezra, Zerubbabel, great names aren't they? There's another man. I think he probably is another name for Zerubbabel that's found in Ezra chapter one and his name is Shezbazar, another good name. I think that was probably the Persian name of Zerubbabel and there are various kings involved.

You see God was moving. God was moving mightily in the affairs of the world and he is today. I might God willing talk to you a little bit about that in the later session today.

God is still working out his purposes in our world and he brings them back and last night we thought about they come back first of all and they rebuild the temple. Then another man, Nehemiah, he's raised up to come back and to restore and build the walls of Jerusalem. Then Ezra the priest, he's raised up because he's going to bring the people back to God.

You see it was fine having the temple, that was good. It was wonderful replacing and reinstigating the practices of the law of Moses, the weekly routines, the daily routines, the sacrifices but God needed to bring the people back to himself. My brother, my sister today, it's good to do the right things in church assembly fellowship.

It's good that the sisters cover their head, that's biblical. It's good that we break bread every week. It's good that we practice the truth of scripture but listen you need to do what Ezra did and bring your heart back to God.

Being a good condition, a good relationship with God, it's not enough to do the right things. You've got to do them with the right heart. Let me take you to these early verses.

Look at verse one. All the people gathered themselves together as one man. It's an important principle that is re-emphasized in the New Testament.

God never intended believers to split themselves up into small groups and to have very little fellowship one with another. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's wrong for you to meet your friends and study the scriptures at home. That's great but don't let that ever replace church gatherings.

Paul writes to the people of God in Corinth and he says in first Corinthians 14, if therefore the whole church come together into one place. God wants his people to be gathered. Now this is an extraordinary gathering and as you've got believers from various places and various assemblies gathered together and that's wonderful.

It's great but the routine local church gatherings need your attendance. Now it's very likely that you're at this conference because you are quite committed. It's unlikely that you take the effort to come away to a conference if you're one of these people that is what traditionally were known in the United Kingdom as SMOs, Sunday morning only.

I wrote an article once and in my article I said this SMOs generally become NMEs. That doesn't mean New Musical Express. It means no meeting ever.

You know some people they think well the breaking of bread is quite important so I'll go to that but you know maybe the prayer meeting I'm busy. I've got work commitments. I've got family.

No, listen the whole church gathers together and of course the writer to the Hebrews said forsake not the gathering of yourselves together. There's a great importance and I guess I'm preaching to the converted but let me remind you because it's sometimes good to restate truths so that we never lose them. Why is it important to gather together all the people of God in every local assembly? Well when Paul writes in chapter one of his letter to the Corinthians he says this, I beseech you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing that there be no divisions among you.

God's people gathering together, spending time together, being united in what they teach and what they believe and serving God together is a great means of unity. God wants his people to be united. We were brought into that union at conversion.

You're brought into the body of Christ. That body wasn't created by you or by me. In fact, Paul writes to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians chapter four he says this, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Notice what he says, endeavoring to keep the unity. You don't create unity. The Spirit of God unites the people of God.

Every local church is a mirror image of the body of Christ, the whole church. Every local church is described as a body and that's very significant. Please, I hope you know why we gather the way we do.

I hope you understand that the reason we don't have a pastor or a senior executive running our church is not just a tradition that's happened to resurrect itself in the 18th century. It's because God teaches in scripture every local church is a body and every body is composed of various multiple parts and your physical body is the illustration. You have eyes and ears, mouth, a heart, pancreas, all the various parts.

Each is needful. Some are more seen than others. Some seem to be more vital than others even though they're not seen.

The unity of the church is maintained through the gathering of all of God's people. And it's really important that we serve together and strive together for the faith of the gospel. So they gathered.

But notice this, verse number two, Ezra brings the law. They had the five books of Moses. Have you ever stopped to think? About how incredibly privileged you are.

They had five books. You've 66. You have a whole bible.

You have the full revelation of God. And these people are going to rediscover the preciousness of the word of God. Please, my dear fellow saint today, do you value your bible? Do you read it this morning? Do you spend time listening to God's voice and speaking to him in prayer? You have the most incredible privilege.

There are believers across this world who would, I was going to say, give their right arm. I suppose that's what you would say. They would love to have a bible.

You've probably got so many bibles in the house you forgot what some of them are. As these people came together, Ezra the priest brings the bible. By the way, it's interesting.

Ezra's a priest, but he's not operating in the temple. He's come out of exile. I think about some of these characters in the bible often.

One that always jumps to my mind is Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a priest. I wonder if Ezekiel thought to himself, I'm wasted.

I mean, Ezekiel's one of the people who are in exile. You remember, he writes his massive prophecy with some really complex stuff in it. But here's a man, and he gets a vision of God.

He gets a vision of the majesty of God and how God operates. You see, God had prepared him so that he could relate to the people what God was telling him about himself and about a future temple that God will establish away in the future, even from now. What I'm trying to say to you is this.

Your experiences in life are never wasted. I worked in a bank for 30 years. Then God called me to serve him in preaching and teaching.

I kind of wondered why I spent 30 years in a bank. But today, I have to deal often with finances on behalf of believers in other countries, just because the way the world works, and you can't get money into countries because of persecution and those types of things. I can see how God has worked that out.

God has you where you are for a purpose. Your life is not just a random set of events, of choices, and Ezra the priest is prepared by God to be the right place in the right time, and to bring God's word to the people. For one of the functions of a priest was to teach the law of God, and Ezra is wonderful at it.

Mind you, he's not doing it on his own. You probably noticed in verse 7 that it says there's this whole list. I'm not reading it again.

I struggled the first time, and you can read it for yourself. But verse 7, there's a list of men, and it says they cause the people to understand the law. So Ezra's reading it, but there's a team of men causing the people to understand.

Now, there's 50,000 of them, so that's going to take a bit of work. You see, 70 plus years before, maybe significantly more than 70, because they'd gone into exile at the end of this period Stephen was talking about, the period of kings. Right back at the beginning of that period, the third king, not of Israel because it was divided by this stage, but of Judah was Rehoboam.

It says this about Rehoboam in 2 Chronicles 12, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. God said, I'll judge you. He sent a man called Shishak, who was ruling Egypt at the time, and Rehoboam repented.

God said, I will give you a temporary reprieve, but there's a day coming when your people will face the judgment of God. He says this in 1 Kings 14, the Lord shall smite Israel as a reed shaken in the water. He shall root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the river.

I love the Bible. I love that within the Bible I can see the fingerprint of God. I can see the promises and predictions of God fulfilled.

This is the Word of God. You can trust it. And all that has been written, a high percentage of it is fulfilled already.

And what has not yet been fulfilled, you can be sure of this. God will fulfill his Word. So there's a consequence to the rejection of the Word of God.

I want you to notice my second point in these few verses here. Notice, Ezra brings the law of the Lord, verse 2. Please look at the verses with me. And all that could hear with understanding, and he read before them in the street, 50,000 of them, and they were attentive.

I'm glad you look as if you're attentive this morning. And it says this, that all the men and the women and those that could understand. I'm glad that there are men and women here today.

And I agree with what Stephen has been telling us about the prayers of women. I remember hearing Robert McPhee many years ago say that a woman's prayer had no pride in it, which is exactly what Stephen has been teaching us today. But I want to emphasize this this morning, and I believe Stephen has been doing the same.

Much as there is a distinction in roles in church gatherings, as in men can do this, women don't, there are responsibilities for men that are different to women, much as there is a distinction in roles in church gatherings. There is no difference in men and women's relationship with God. A man is not nearer to God because he preaches.

A man is not nearer to God because he stands to pray. God wants men and women to walk with him, as Hannah did, as Mary did, as many of the great examples of Scripture. My dear sister today, I know it might be tough at times when you've got little ones.

Husbands, take the kids for a while. Let your wife read her Bible. Let your wife pray.

Don't just leave everything to be done by her, so that then they struggle. And my dad used to teach us this. When we were first married, my father said to Carol and I, you must take turns in going to the assembly gatherings.

If Stephen, if he goes to the meeting because the brethren say, oh, we need him at the Bible reading, don't be surprised if your wife loses interest in the church gatherings if she doesn't go. It is of equal importance that men and women develop a relationship with God. Sisters, it's not just men that study the Bible.

We don't study the Bible just to preach. If we do, of course, you study the Bible to preach. You need to.

But you don't just study to preach. You study to walk with God. You study to deepen your love of Christ.

You study to deepen that relationship. And men and women all need to do that. Please take that encouragement.

I'm sure you noticed that the word of God is central to this event in Jerusalem. It's repeatedly mentioned. But I wanted to suggest to you, it's not just technically the word of God.

It is of significance that one of the beautiful titles of the Lord Jesus is the word of God. We don't just gather technically around a book. Of course, the word of God, and I've told you how important it is, is central to our gatherings.

We base what we do on the word of God. But it's because the word of God brings us into a deeper relationship with the one who is the word. Listen to the words of the Lord Jesus in John 5, 39.

Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they which testify of me. Please, your Bible study, your assembly gatherings, your personal devotions are not just to have a brilliant knowledge of scripture.

Wonderful if you do. But to bring you into a deepening experience with God so that you know Christ. In fact, the scripture says Christ dwells in your heart through faith.

Whenever Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus and the church in Colossae, he says a lot of things in both letters that are similar. It's also very helpful sometimes to compare one book with the other. One passage that stood out for me was this.

In Ephesians, Paul writes, be filled with the Spirit. We've all got the Holy Spirit. I hope you believe that.

You receive the Holy Spirit the moment you are saved. You are sealed with the Spirit of promise. You belong to him.

But you need to be filled with the Spirit. And I asked myself the question, how does a believer become filled with the Holy Spirit? I mean, I've got the Holy Spirit. I think one of the best ways it was explained to me, and this isn't my explanation, but I thought it was very helpful, was this.

When you got saved, you received the Holy Spirit. But when you are filled with the Spirit, he gets all of you. So you got the Spirit.

Now the Spirit of God is a person. The Father is a person. The Son is a person.

The Spirit of God is a person. So you don't get part of a person. He comes as a person to indwell you.

But the question is this, and it's a great challenge. Does he have all of your life? To use the picture of a house, can he go in every room? You know, I'm staying with John and Esther. I don't just wander around the house and go into every room.

Let's see what's in there. See what it's, oh, that looks an interesting, no, no. I go where I'm allowed.

I go where I've been shown. I'm not telling you, I'm not saying he told me you can't go here. But I'm saying you just wouldn't, would you? That would be rude.

Spirit of God, by the way, he doesn't force himself into every avenue of your life. He wants to be there. But you need to be filled with the Spirit.

So I said to you, there's a parallel that helps me. So Ephesians says, be filled with the Spirit. Check it out.

Don't just believe what we say. Check it out in the Bible. The parallel section in Colossians says this, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

It is a specific description of the Bible when it says the word of Christ. So as you read the word of God, remember, it is also the word of Christ. It's also the word of the Spirit of God.

And as you read it, Christ through the Spirit of God dwells within you. There's a richness. There's a thrill through reading God's word.

And these people were going to experience that as they made the word of God central in their lives. Now notice the respect. I'm just towards the end of my message, so don't be worried.

I'm not going to try and go through all of this chapter. I've picked the points I really want to emphasize. But notice verse three, they're attentive.

It's a good thing to be. Notice that Ezra stands upon a pulpit of wood. Now, the Bible doesn't mean you have to have one, but it's very handy, especially for little guys like me.

You know, I wouldn't see you and you wouldn't see me if I was down there. So it's handy. He's elevated, not because he's any more important.

Why? Because he's handling the word of God. He's a work to do that's important. I want you to notice their reaction when he opens the book.

Verse five, Ezra opens the book. So they're standing there. It's most likely a scroll.

He stands up with it. He opens it. What do they do? The people stand up.

I've only been in one meeting where it happened. It's quite interesting. This particular conference I went to, when the man stood to read, the congregation stood with him.

Now, there's nothing in the Bible apart from this passage that indicates you should do that. But isn't that lovely? Just that symbolic respect for the word of God, for the presence of God, for the truth of God. Notice the first thing they do.

There's a bit of Bible teaching takes place in verse number seven, but before they do that, Ezra blesses the Lord, the great God. We did this today, didn't we? We've been asked each of us to pray before we speak. It's a good practice.

See, before Solomon inaugurated the temple, he's on his knees. He's worshiping. He's blessing God.

Before the Lord Jesus rose in a day to go out and serve the multitudes, he's up the Mount of Olives. He's before his father. Before Ezra's going to read the word of God, he's praising and blessing God.

Give God worship. It's not just for church gatherings, though it's great when we do it there, but worship should lift from our hearts as we come into the presence of God. The people, well, they kind of do what we don't do, and you don't need to all do it because it would be strange, but in their circles, you wouldn't lift your hands.

It's not normal, but they did. They lifted their hands. They said, amen.

They bowed their heads. It's almost, you can see a posture. Posture is quite important, you know.

I don't know how you pray. It would be good to kneel now and again. The Apostle Paul writes, for this cause I bow my knees to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Daniel, the great prophet, he's a high ranking official in Babylon. What does he do three times a day? He gets on his knees before God. See, getting on your knees is a great practice because it reminds you, I'm down here.

He's my Lord. I worship him. He's almighty.

The Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, he prostrated himself in an agony upon the ground. Please, remember your physical posture does have an impact. Don't be too casual in your approach to God.

Don't be just too offhand. Oh, I know. I pray when I'm walking.

I pray when I'm driving. Keep my eyes open, by the way, but I pray in all sorts of circumstances. But there are good times when you get before God, you get down.

Say, Lord, you are almighty. You're my Lord, my Savior. They bowed and they worshipped the Lord.

As I conclude, notice this, verse seven. They caused the people to understand. Now, I do hope that over these sessions that you understand.

If you don't, come and talk to us because we have not done our job if you don't understand what we're saying. There's no prizes for deep ministry that leaves you totally confused and you don't have a clue what the person was getting at. They not only read distinctly.

Notice that verse eight. They read distinctly. So, I like reading the Bible publicly.

I think the Bible makes it clear we should give attendance to reading and read it distinctly. Younger men, if you're reading and preaching, give time, read the Bible, read it clearly, read it distinctly. Ladies, if you're teaching children, read the Bible with them.

Don't just tell them the story, read it distinctly. But then they gave the sense and caused them to understand. That's the responsibility of a Bible teacher, to set out Scripture, to lay it out in order, to put it in its place, to give you context, to cause you to understand what it means because that has an impact.

Well, it worked, didn't it? Because these people are moved by the Word of God. These people are emotionally lifted. They weep.

Nothing wrong with emotion. Sometimes we need to weep. Sometimes God's Word should have such a deep effect upon our hearts.

It breaks our hearts. Jeremiah the prophet says, God's Word's in me. It's in me so strong.

He says that I, I've got it here. Let me just read it to you. He says, thy words were found.

I ate them. The Word was unto me joy and rejoicing in my heart. God's Word should have a real impact in your life, not just in meetings.

You should read it privately. You should read it as a family. As you read it as an assembly.

May God help us to give God's Word the first place. For the Lord said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. Job wrote this.

I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. I trust that as we spend time, we're going to have a feast, you know, over these days. Not because we're good preachers.

Forget that. Because we've a good God. And we've a book full of truth.

And we're able to relate that to you. And we'll feast on it. We'll go away satisfied.

Because He satisfies the hungry soul. He fills the darkest, deepest moments of life with His presence. And you will come away from these meetings, if you hear the voice of God, with joy in your soul.

And I trust that God will bless as a result of that. Thank you for listening.