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It's Not About the Wall
Nehemiah 8
It's not about the wall. It's about what's inside the wall. If Trump's wall is of value, then it's not about the value of the material. $5.7 billion is not its worth. Its worth is found in what it is protecting. Who we are is not found in the identification of any lines we draw, but in who we are.
We've spent 18 sermons on
the rebuilding of the wall. But
it's not about the wall, it's about the Word, and the worship.
In spite of all the dirty devil's efforts to prevent it from taking
form, the wall was completed. Nehemiah 6:15 Chapter 7 tells how the
people got organized, housed and fed, and they all got involved in a big
love offering, from the least to the greatest, to jump start their new
spiritual life in their The wall is finished, but
the real work has just begun.
And God's real purpose for the wall is just beginning.
Thank God His people in This week a new roof was
put right above our heads. It's
much better, and looks great, but it's what happens under it that counts! Once the wall was finished
the people began to worship and they had revival!
They had an old fashioned, heaven sent, sin erasing, devil chasing,
window shaking, soul saving revival!!
And it was all based on the Word!
It's not about the wall, it's about the Word and worship that went on
inside the wall.
5
elements of this worship:
1.
It was rooted in a Hunger for the Word. v. 1 "We want to
hear what God has said!" This
happened at the water gate, a symbol of the Word!
The people gathered there in great number because they were hungry
for the Word. Are you hungry for
the Word? Is that why you've
gathered here today? Are you
really hungry for it? Does that
mean you'll gather at the gate again tonite?
Wed. nite? Were you
gathered there at 9:30 this morning in s.s.?
Will you be hungry on a Monday or a Thursday too? A little boy brought his
father the family Bible from the coffee table.
"What is this daddy?"
"It's the Bible, it's God's book."
his dad replied. "Then
should we give it back to Him since we don't use it?"
How about your Bible?
Does it collect dust on a table or shelf?
Do you even need to take it home or could it just stay in your seat
all week? Another lady wanted to
impress the preacher when he dropped by for a visit.
She said to her daughter, "Honey, go get the blessed book mama loves
so much." She ran off and
returned w/ the Sears catalog! I hope you're hungry,
because we've got a feast set before us, and it would be a shame not to
clean our plates! Psalm 19:9-10 We're not gonna have
revival in Job 23:12 I'm addicted.
I'm addicted to food! So
are you!! Just fast from it for
24 hours and you'll know it. In
just a few hours you'll find yourself looking longingly at that fridge,
saying, remember what we used to have together?
Remember when I would throw open your door and indulge in anything I
wanted? Oh my love, we can have
it all again, you and me! We've got a love affair w/
our refrigerator and we cheat on it with many restaurants!
But abstinence is not the choice we make...at least not for long.
Most of us can't go 7 hours without eating, but we can go 7 days
without partaking from the Word of God!
Something is wrong. We
feed the flesh bountifully but we don't feed our Spirit properly.
No wonder our flesh grows and our Spirit shrinks up against our
spine! "These hath
God married and no man shall part, dust on the
Bible and drought in the heart." Psalm 119:162 That's hidden treasure!
David said, I go on a daily treasure hunt, and it's not hard to find
gold nuggets in this Book! We
may call it hidden treasure, but it's hidden right under our noses! Nehemiah's people were
hungry for the Word more than food, gold, or treasure.
Keep in mind they didn't all have copies of the Word.
They didn't have a Bible bookstore on the corner.
Most of them only heard the Word when someone would stand and read it
publicly. What a hunger they had.
They didn't have their own copies, but they longed to hear.
We have many copies, and seem content to go about our lives without
cracking it open on our own.
hunger...
2.
It was marked by a Hearing of the Word. v. 2-4a, 5
They were not time conscious, thinking about lunch.
They stood for 5 or 6 hours a day, day after day.
We won't have real revival until we get over our clock watching
[watch clocking?] Don't misunderstand, I
don't think the service should drag on unnecessarily, but we shouldn't rush
it or quench the Spirit of God.
We need to be sensitive to the Lord's leading as well as to the attention
span of the people ... the point is, the people need to GROW in their
attention span, especially when God offers us such a feast! I'm thankful for a church
that is attentive. It is a
common compliment you get from guest speakers who come here.
I never get a complaint even if I go long.
I take that back...there was one lady recently who said I was putting
her to sleep, but I cut her some slack since we share the same bed anyway! I try not to be long winded
or take advantage of your time.
I'd prefer to get finished before you get finished!
My goal is to leave you wanting more.
So when we do want more and the Lord leads us to continue we should
do so! They say if you can't
strike oil in 20 minutes you ought to stop BORING.
That's true, but it doesn't mean you have to stop at that either.
We don't answer to the clock but to God! ill.--a little boy went to
big church for the first time.
He was usually in junior church.
He had so many questions at everything he saw.
He would look at his father and ask, "What does that mean?"
[choir sung / 'what does that mean?' / ushers came forward / ditto /
preacher opened his Bible / ditto / took off his watch and set it in front
of him - 'what does that mean?' / "Son, that don't mean a thing!" 3b They were attentive.
Why waste your time in coming if not to listen?
And we're trying to teach our kids that when they are in big church
they are here to listen. Church
is a place not just to color and try to pass the time, but to show reverence
to God and His Word.
hunger, hearing...
3.
It was marked by an Honor for the Word. v. 5-6 There it is!
They said Amen! Do you?
When you say amen you honor the word of God, and you help me out too
because saying that to a preacher is like saying "sic 'em" to a dog!
They lifted up their hands!
Do you? Why not?
Is it because you don't want to be associated w/ some holy rollers?
I can understand that, but do you want to be associated with God in
the way the Bible says to? I
suggest if you want to differentiate yourself from those then you don't have
to do it the way they do it, but let's not let the devil steal this from us.
Don't quench the Spirit, if you feel it.
You say, "It's too easy for
people to get carried away."
Maybe. But it's easier to cool
down a zealot than to warm up a corpse!
We're Baptists. The
greatest danger we face is not becoming a bunch of fanatics it's being so
cold and indifferent that we can't get excited about the Word of God! The Bible says in many
places for us to lift up holy hands to Him.
Is He worth the effort of that?
Is He worth the effort of an Amen?
If you're not comfortable with that atmosphere you might not like
heaven! My Bible says there's
gonna be shouting and raising of hands in heaven.
Don't get me wrong. We
shouldn't come to church to put on a show.
In other words, don't intentionally tip your cup over, but if it runs
over...let it run over! If you're not comfortable
doing that then don't for my sake.
It's a principle we're trying to teach here.
I know things are to be done decently and in order, but the Bible is
pretty clear that God doesn't expect us to sit in church like cigar store
wooden Indians either, with faces of stone! Is He worth the effort of an
Amen or a holy grunt? Look at
the end of the verse... Is He worth the effort of
coming forward and bowing our faces to the ground at the old fashioned
altar?
4.
It was marked by their Handling of the Word. v. 7-8 It wasn't enough for them to just
read the Word, somebody had to explain it.
It's called preaching! We
don't just need people to stand and 'give a talk', we need the preaching of
the truth of the Word! It
doesn't matter how brilliant the oratory, how clever the outline, or
touching the poem is, if it's not rooted in the Bible...if it's not exposing
the power of the Word it's worthless! I'm not impressed by
'preachers' who stand and read one verse and then say 'look at me' and give
a talk w/out going back to the Word at all.
Do they think what they have to say is more important than what God
has to say? Bible preaching is taking
the Word, explaining it, illustrating it, and applying it to everyday life!
And there's a famine in the land for that kind of preaching.
That's the kind of preaching that builds great Christians, and I
believe great churches! And keep it simple, because
you shouldn't have to have a PhD to understand the preacher.
And the mysteries of the Word are revealed to babes and those who
come to Christ like a little child anyway.
The gospel really is simple...easy so anyone can understand it.
So when you hear one of these high talking professors preach don't
kid yourself, just because a river is muddy doesn't mean it's deep! ill.--John R. Rice said to
put the jelly on the bottom shelf where the smallest soul can reach it! v. 7b 'their place' = their s.s.
class, their small group. These 13 men in v. 7, and
the Levites, were leaders who explained the Word more, even one on one as
needed. That's real
discipleship! I'm glad we have pastors
and teachers and disciplers here who take very seriously the way they handle
the Word.
hunger, hearing, honoring, handling...
5.
It was marked by their Heeding of the Word. v. 9-12
Tirshatha in v. 9 = governor. The goal of Bible preaching
is life transformation. But it's
not hearing the Word that transforms lives.
And not just understanding it.
It's obeying the Word that transforms lives.
Giving heed. "Be ye doers
of the Word, not hearers only."
[James] It's not about the wall,
it's about the Word and the worship.
Their
transformation began with:
·
Weeping* 9b What were they weeping over?
Their sin! Their
separation from God!
·
Joy* 10b Nehemiah and Ezra had wisdom and stepped in to encourage the
weeping that there was hope and help in the Lord.
The devil wants to turn conviction into guilt, and there is a
difference between a broken spirit and a morose spirit.
The devil wants to bring
you down and keep you down. The
Spirit of God wants to bring you down in order to lift you higher than ever!
Preaching may at first make you mad, but then it makes you sad, so
the Lord can make you glad! There's nothing sweeter to
us than the joy of the Lord - and there's nothing more appealing to the
world than to enter a church where the joy of the Lord is evident!
I feel sorry for the sad sacks that sit in church and look at the
floor. They're determined not to
laugh, not to smile, and not to hint at enjoying the service.
They may not like it around here because we're gonna enjoy the Lord!
·
Obedience* v. 12-17a
What in the world is going on here?
It's a restoration of the feast of tabernacles or booths.
In Bible days God's people were commanded to have a festival once a
year and go out away from their home to a brush arbor and camp out in a
festive atmosphere. It was a
recognition of the fact that they once permanently were encamped in the days
of Moses. It was a memorial.
So here they are restoring
the feast of tabernacles and I can almost see them gathering their sticks to
build with and I can imagine the enemies like Sanballat saying, what are you
doing? Making booths.
Why? Because God said to!
That's revival!! Mourning leads to joy which
leads to obedience...which leads to revival! It's not about the wall,
it's about the Word and the worship. ill.--a man bought his wife
a nice new car, and he told his wife that if she was ever in an accident, he
put the insurance info. in the glove box.
Well she had an accident, and she was terrified to tell him she had
wrecked the new car he bought her.
She was shaking and so flustered.
She remembered to look in the glove box, and as she opened the
insurance binder a note fell out...it was from her husband.
It said, if you are reading this, it's probably because you wrecked
the car. I'm just glad you're
doing well enough to read. I
want you to remember, it's just a car, and you are all that is important. We've been doing a lot for
our building, but let's remember what's really important.
Let's pray for what goes on inside this building, and the effect we
are seeking to have outside of it as we go our way.
Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
NOTICE! Our sermons are free to download, copy and paste, edit and use as you see fit...but only our free subscribers get the newest messages, featured sermons, and some free gifts we shower on them from time to time! Help keep this service free by recommending it using the links above the sermon
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