Lord, Send a re-Bible - Nehemiah 8:1-18

See there are people who will be in church today in churches all across our land or of people even here, perhaps who come regularly. Who will go to a Bible study and maybe attend a conference or two at some point but nothing of their lives. Changes you see there's a vast difference, my friends, between biblical input and biblical insight.

A revival occurs in your life and mine, when there is insight when we hear what the word says and we understand what the word means and and were willing to limit what happens when they understood.

Penitent awareness of God's regularly in order to understand what it means and no how God wants us to think and live but Stephen just reminded us, consuming Bible content is not enough. We need to allow the power of God's word to change and impact the way we live our lives today on wisdom for the heart. Stephen Devi will challenge us with a couple of thoughts were going back to the biblical example of Nehemiah in a lesson Stevens calling Lord send Re: Bible and now here Stephen Devi with today's lesson from God and anonymous author penned these words, he wrote the paradox of our time in history is that we spend more, but have less we buy more but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences but less time, more medicine but less well-being.

We read to little watch TV too much and pray to sell them.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. These are times of tall men. In short, character steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce of fancier houses, but broken home.

We have added years to life not life two years we have cleaned up the air but polluted the soul we have learned how to make a living, but not a life. Another magazine article I read put it this way. There is much to celebrate.

In our day. We now have as average Americans doubled our incomes and what money buys.

We own, twice as many cars per person that eat out 2 1/2 times as often as our parents did we have espresso coffee.

The World Wide Web sport utility vehicles and caller ID new drugs are shrinking our tumors and lengthening our lives. Yet at the same time her divorce rate is double teen suicide is triple violent crime has quadrupled. We have increased by six times the number of babies born out of wedlock and cohabiting couples not married, have increased from 500,020 years ago to 4.2 million today are economic good time has become dwarfed by our moral recession.

One civic leader correctly stated the problem a few months ago and he said, quote the accumulation of material goods is at an all-time high but so is the number of people who feel an emptiness in their lives.

Pollster George Gallup Junior detected the same thing as you wrote, quote one of the two dominant trends in society today is the search for spiritual moorings.

Surveys have documented the movement of people who are searching for meaning in life with a new intensity probably illustrated best by a Chrissy Everett Lloyd and her husband John as they were being interviewed some time ago and she was very candid and open about their lies with the interviewer and she said you know John and I play a little tennis and we go to a movie in to a restaurant and I keep telling him. John there has to be more to life than this.

At the very time perhaps our generation is poised asking spiritual questions about the meaning of life. At the very moment when the church of Jesus Christ can step up to the microphone and announce that it has the answer in the person of Jesus Christ the Redeemer. It has instead lost its voice on author compiled a list of clippings from pastors who are very popular. These churches are attended by thousands of people and one of the pastors comment and I think this is a characterization of our church at large. Today he said there is no fire and brimstone here.

No Bible thumping just practical with the messages. Another said service at our church has an informal feeling you won't hear people referred to as sinners. The goal is to make them feel welcome and another leader said our answer is God. But we slid him in at the end, and even then we don't get heavy snow ranting and raving, no fire, no brimstone, we don't even use the H word we call it around here. The light gospel. It has the same salvation is the old time religion but with 1/3 less guilt and another said the sermons are relevant, upbeat, and best of all short no-name and their you won't hear a lot of preaching about sin preaching here. Doesn't sound like preaching it a sophisticated urbane, friendly talk. This is indeed a reflection I believe it is of the church of our generation the church of our generation is promising that the consumer will be satisfied rather than that God will be satisfied if that is true then God is no longer our audience. Our audience is God. And so for the sake of satisfying this God this new God which is our audience.

We, as churches feverishly try to make people comfortable and satisfied and happy. I recently heard of one church that has is their motto. The words it's all about you, my friends, I hope that this church. It is not all about you. It is not all about me. It is all about God and men are mandate from God is not selfishness. It is servant hood.

It is about selling ourselves to the mission of proclaiming and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. It is about becoming passionately committed to this gospel message that mankind is on its way to hell. Mankind is lost in the church has the answer and the answer is the gospel of Jesus Christ's life and death and burial and resurrection, and our mission is to proclaim to our world.

This gospel as if we were throwing life preservers to drowning people we do not warm the water to make them more comfortable. We do not give them lessons on how to float. We don't give them witty, how to use to manage their water.

We tell them they are going to drown unless they come to Jesus Christ as Savior churches lost the moral courage to communicate that message makes people uncomfortable. I personally believe that my job description is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable churches also lost its moral convictions so that in our generation.

The materialism of the believer mirrors the materialism of the world self-centeredness of the believer mirrors the world of promiscuity and unfaithfulness of the world is mirrored in the lives of the believer. The values and plans of the believer are the same as the world's ladies and gentlemen at the moment, perhaps of our greatest opportunity in our generation to have been declared the answer church has forgotten the answer and it is not delivering the church is in need of revival so were the people of Jerusalem. They finish the walls.

They were secure behind her gates and their gatekeepers, but there was a spiritual void in Jerusalem that everything but a right relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So I invite your attention to a revival meeting. It's found where we left off. The Nehemiah chapter 8 as we study our way through this chapter, I want to provide you with only six characteristics of true revival, that emanate from this passage and by the way, I do want to say this revival has nothing to do with unbelievers. According to Ephesians chapter 2 unbelievers are dead spiritually in trespasses and sins, that is, their spirits have not been brought to life by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, they are spiritually dead.

You do not revive the court.

You can you revive a living person who is unconscious. It was slipped into a coma who's been under the water. Or, perhaps, has been without oxygen for for too long the possibility of resuscitation is there that can be revived because they are not yet dead but revival has nothing to do with winning the unbeliever revival reviving has to do with warning, the believer who has begun to live like an unbeliever is revival hard for God to stop beating as it were to have grown cold in her affections for God they need resuscitating and reviving like David, they need to cry out and say, oh God revive me again, but it was a great revival in the MIs day. It began with the first ingredient to any true revival of revived appetite for the Scripture. Look at verse one at all the people gathered as one man at the square, which was in front of the Watergate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord given to Israel. Did you notice here, the reappearance of Ezra by now an old man he could come earlier and he'd lead in the restoration of the Temple and he was working with the sanctuary, as it were, with all the seats and no one cared. No one followed after God, but he was committed to his duty and now God will begin the work and he calls Ezra back who will now stand publicly and will become basically the preachers will see in a moment, he will simply read and explain the text. Any preacher or Bible teacher does not originate or create the message you simply communicate the message that has already been delivered.

In fact, I happen to occupy a position where it is a violation for me to come up with anything original. Bring us the block was there unified cry whenever a person or a group of people or a church or a family demand.

The book revival is close at hand native of India who is writing a friend telling them about a wonderful revival. They were having. He wrote in English as he pronounced it in his native tongue. He wrote we are having a great revival. What a perfect slip of the pen revival is indeed when people are re-Bible the hunger to hear and read and learn the word got levers to then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men, women, and all he could listen with understanding on the first day of the seven he read from it.

Before the square, which was in front of the Watergate from early morning until midday in the presence of men and women. Those who could understand all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood in the wooden podium, which they had made for the purpose, and beside him stood all these other priests whose names I could easily pronounce with time for six hours.

They listen to Ezra read the first five books of the Old Testament, the law, the Torah, verse five, Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people free was standing above all the people when he opened it, all the people stood up that lets us know that he not only rented for six hours they would explain it with the people listen.

Standing up, by the way, this will continue every day for an entire week.

Can you imagine that kind of hunger in the heart of a person that would cause understand for six hours and listened as the Scriptures are red second ingredient of revival is not only revived appetite for Scripture but a respectful attitude toward God.

Verse six then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God I love that phrase go to underline the words the great God, that is, he praised God for who God was the great and awesome sovereign God, my friends, there can be no revival in your life. If you have a little God of small God. It can be coerced and bride a petty God who will fulfill all of your wishes and understandable God it was not mysterious and transcendent.

Only God who can barely keep up with his creation. You want reviving.

You need a great God. Listen as I read where Isaiah described his great God and one of the chapters in his prophecy.

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket.

They are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales, behold, he lifts up islands like fine dust, to whom then will you liken God or one like this when you compare with him. As for the idol. A craftsman casts it a Goldsmith plated with gold and a silversmith fashions chains of do you not know have you not heard it is he who sits above the vault of the earth and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing. He makes the judges of the earth meaningless. To whom then will you liken me that I should be his equal, says the holy one, lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the one who leads forth their host by number, he calls them all by name because of the greatness of his mind and the strength of his power. Not one of them is missing. Do you not know have you not heard the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary and Ahimelech's might he increases power though youths grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles is describing revival, they will run not get tired they will walk and not become weary. No way. The second most of us run to that verse that we know full well the latter part of that chapter. Okay Lord, I need a Sharon string from your divine promotion. I'm ready. No, those who wait for the kind of Lord that Isaiah just describe those who have a perspective of his sovereignty, like Isaiah the believer who is given strength is the believer who has Isaiah's God. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God notice all the people answered. A man any man or Soviets snow is saying were with you, Ezra, be it unto us. As you have said that a man named man. Evidently there were Baptists in the book of Nehemiah.

The verse goes on to say while lifting up their hands. I guess they were back to costal.

Then they bowed low and worship the Lord with their faces to the ground on any denomination is a you she was and how they reveal their respect for God and will vary from culture to culture and from generation to generation. The point is the same for the people in France or Romania or Hungary or Africa as it was in Nehemiah's day they showed respect to God which ultimately for them like so many people who throughout the, the Old Testament and New Testament have an encounter with God. They ended up flat on their faces on the ground. If you want to say Madden raise your hands. Go ahead, but are you willing as well to lie flat on your face in the dirt so moved out of deep respect for your sovereign God that you dare not even whisper or look upward. Revival comes from a revived appetite for the Scripture in a deep reverential approach toward God. The third ingredient of revival is a radical application of biblical truth.

Verse eight and they read from the book from the law of God translating to give the sentence so that they understood the reading you will underline the word understood. It appeared in verse two.

It appears in verse three in here and will show up again in verse 12. They understood. I remember preaching in Kagoshima Japan after the sermon that built petite in the mission of the missionary. I had worked hard on to get the right phrases. A woman came up to me after the service and she and her customary politeness ballot and then she said to me, I understood and left. Bill told me that would be the highest compliment he could ever receive that culture.

They simply say not, I was entertained or that was interesting and that was good but I understood consider the fact that the time between Moses and the reading here of the law was 1000 years. Consider also the fact that the people here no longer spoke or understood Hebrew. They had Hebrew hearts in Hebrew blood, but they had Babylonian ears. So the words would have been a jumble to them they needed to know what the words meant, but that wasn't all he verse 13 then on the second day, the heads of fathers, households of all the people, the priests and Levites were gathered to Ezra the scribe that they might gain insight to good word into into the words of the law.

The word insight here is translated from the Hebrew verb that means to be wise, to be prudent in other words, they wanted to understand the word so that they could live wisely so they can understand and apply the word to their lives in Mark's gospel. One commentator illustrated passage there with this text in mind that I thought was absolutely wonderful. The Lord had broken the bread and the fish and you remember how we fed 5000+ people just a few hours later. The disciples ran about her going across a lake and Jesus is in with them, but the storm arises in the mentor terrified and they see Jesus walking toward them and their terrified at this manner, the walk on water eventually climbs into the boat and as he climbs into the boat, the wind season. In chapter 6, verse 51 says it all. And they were greatly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves they'd seen Jesus Christ power demonstrated over nature. He literally created bread and fish but somehow that is not made a difference to them when they were in the storm of their life. They had seen his power demonstrated that they had connected the dots see there are people who will be in church today in churches all across our land are people even here, perhaps who come regularly. Who will go to a Bible study and maybe attend the conference or two at some point during the year but nothing of their lives. Changes you see there's a vast difference, my friends, between biblical input and biblical insight. A revival occurs in your life and mine, when there is insight when we hear what the word says and we understand what the word means and and were willing to limit what happens when they understood what the word said. The fourth ingredient of revival took place of repentance, awareness of sin.

Verse nine. The Nehemiah who was the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe in the Levites who taught the people said to all the people. This day is holy to the Lord your God.

Do not mourn or weep for the people, for all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Lord. Imagine that they heard it, and they understood it, and they compared it to the standard of their own lives and they all began to cry.

Maybe that's why we avoid the word. Maybe that's why we set it aside and will go to it as we ought to because we know that will convict us to the very core of our being the word of God is as alive as a living document. It is powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and it has the ability to divide asunder joint and marrow thoughts and intentions of the heart are laid bare before at Hebrews 412. The Bible is a penetrating sword in Nehemiah eventually had to stand up until people stop morning now and begin rejoicing. Why was the it was the first day the feast of Tabernacles, a time of celebrating with verse 10 then he said to them, go you to the fact drink of the sweet, and send portions to him was nothing prepared for this day is holy to your Lord.

Do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites calmed all the people saying, be still for the day is holy. Do not be grieved, and all the people.

One way to eat and drink and send portions of the celebrate a great festival because they understood the words which had been made known to them see the final ingredient of revival in the believer's life is they will have an attitude of joy would you notice how the people of Jerusalem obeyed. Enjoy verse 14. They found written in the law of the Lord commanded Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month at his little shanties or lean to's out of sticks so they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all other cities in Jerusalem saying go out to the hills and bring olive branches and wild olive branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other leafy trees to make booths as it is written so the people went out and brought them and made goods for themselves, each on his roof were their courts are in the course of the house of God, or the square of the Watergate or in the square of the data be from another was outside in the elements. The entire assembly of those would return from the captivity, made booths and lived in that I noticed is the sons of Israel had indeed not done so. From the days of Joshua the son of nun to that day.

A thousand years had gone by before they had obeyed this particular law of God, the wonder and there was great rejoicing doesn't make any sense though. Think about it, they just finished their walls and start to build their homes were supposed to stop our building of our homes and God made little lean to's and the and live in them was to remember their wandering in the wilderness.

It doesn't make sense but God said, build a booth so we will build a booth and guess what, it was great rejoicing insight leads to obedience which leads to joy when we buy bowling occurs at least four things happen. We give them to quickly number one. Excuses are replaced with confession 1992, the Texas educational bureaucracy reviewed and approved a new set of textbooks for the public school system.

Group of parents concerned about the information. Their children were coming home with conducted a review themselves. They found 231 errors. The textbooks reported that Napoleon actually won the battle of Waterloo, Pres. Truman dropped the atom bomb on Korea Gen. Douglas MacArthur led the anti-Communist campaign in the 50s instead of Joe McCarthy when called to account for these errors. The Texas official study the texts again and found more than the 231 errors the parents first found in the parents found more until the tally stood at 5200 mistakes.

The publisher spokesman argued that quote except for the errors. These were the finest textbooks they had ever seen.

That is our nature. We go to God not to expose our hearts with dye them like our children do with us. God if they learn far those things over there, I'd be right on with you sure you don't mind my reason when revival comes. We are broken over our sin, we apply the standard of holy Scripture to our lives. In the spirit illumines our hearts with its truths and we set our excuses aside and it is well placed with confession number two.

Selfishness is replaced with servant hood. We will have time but they went out and they help to those who didn't have anything third compromise is replaced with commitment to I confessed and tried and failed and confessed and tried and failed revival doesn't last. Somebody asked evangelist Billy Sundays to preach mass rallies in the early 1900s of revivals lasted. He replied no, but neither does a bath it's good to have one occasion he wants friends you want to bathe regularly you want fellowship. You need revival you need revising regularly for its complacency is replaced with devotion sale. But my love for God comes and goes, my affections for him do grow cold. I sound like the apostle Paul wrote to the things that I want to do. I don't do the things that I don't want to do. I do a wretched man that I like the way someone put it, the only way to keep a broken pot filled with water is to keep the faucet on. We are broken people and we bring our brokenness under the faucet of God's word and keep it on and under the faucet of God's spirit and we keep it on and under the faucet of God's wisdom, repentance, and we repent and we repent even more and we ask of God, as David asked revive the that happens revival disc your community or family or your life is in need of revival.

It will only come through the power and authority of God's word. The lesson you just heard is called Lord send a read Bible and it comes from our series, through the book of Nehemiah Huron wisdom for the hearts are Bible teacher Stephen Devi has been taking us through this wonderfully practical book in a series called Nehemiah.

As Stephen takes us to the word each day to bring to life the truth that we find there. It's our hope and prayer that God encourages you and challenges you through the teaching. We also want to encourage you to be spending time personally in God's word. Each year we publish a Bible reading plan that takes you through the entire Bible in one calendar year were right now preparing the Bible reading plan for 2020 and it will be going out to everyone who receives our monthly newsletter. If you get that newsletter. There is nothing you need to do because it will automatically come.

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That's 866-482-4253 or you can also send your name, phone number and mailing address to info@wisdom online.I'm glad you joined us today our next lesson is tomorrow so join us for that Huron wisdom for the hearts