Bring The Book! - [Nehemiah 8:1-12]

Well, I want you to know I love to be loved, okay, so Let me be on record for saying that and it I have been joyfully wrangled In coming here. What a wonderful time. Thank you for that beautiful solo.

I loved Hearing you sing that in such a God honoring way. Well, I want to encourage you this morning. What God is doing in this church and in this Congregation, I do not believe that the world has yet seen the repercussions or felt the grace that will come from this place.

God is so obviously Establishing a lighthouse here and you should be greatly encouraged. You are doing it the right way built upon the Word of God. You have one of the great pastors Bible preaching pastors in the world and Mike Avendroth and he is becoming such a friend to me and Every question I've asked him about anything.

He more than knows the answer to that and so He's a legend in his own mind. I Want you to know that he is the answer man. He said I resemble that remark so he thou art the man. What can I say so but he so graciously has invited me to be here with you and I have just loved my time and Thank the Lord for Dan Rathbun and Scott Brown and the way they have just personally cared for me and my family and you have showered Hospitality upon us and so it has been such a a joy to be with you.

But all of that is really secondary to what's primary and primary about my visit is to come and to bring the Word of God to you and to Those who are a part of the congregation and you have been so receptive and so attentive That I believe that my time has been well spent and coming to be in this wonderful church and I believe that in the years to come in the months to come the impact and the outreach from this Congregation will be so strategic.

It already is strategic. But what God will do to Really raise the flag for the Word of God the greatness of God the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the gospel in this part of the world who is to say but in the years ahead That you will have a an influence like no other church in this entire area.

And so God has planted seed here and it's germinated and it is growing and it is bearing fruit already and There will be I think a great harvest To come your labor and the Lord is not in vain. Be greatly encouraged.

Well, there's so much more I want to say to encourage you but for every second I encourage you I lose time in the sermon all right, so I want you to take God's Word and turn with me to the book of Nehemiah and I am so grateful that Mike has asked me to preach this message which has come to mean a great deal to me personally and I trust it will be an encouragement to you.

The title the message today is bring the book and there is an exclamation point after the word book Bring the book Nehemiah chapter 8. I want to begin by reading the heart of this passage and all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the water gate and They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses Which the Lord had given to Israel.

Then Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men women and all who could listen with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. He Ezra Read from it the word Before the square which was in front of the water gate from early morning until midday In the presence of men and women those who could understand and all the people were attentive to the book of the law.

And Ezra the scribe stood at a wooden podium, which they had made for the purpose verse 5 and Ezra Opened the book in the sight of all the people. For he was standing above all the people and when he opened it the people stood up.

Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered amen amen while lifting up their hands. Then they bowed low and Worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. And in verse 7 all of these Levites Explained the law to the people while the people remained in their place and They read from the book from the law of God Translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

The Power of Biblical Preaching in Reformation and Revival

Every great season of Reformation in the history of the church and every great hour of spiritual awakening has always been a time that has been ushered in by a recovery of biblical preaching. It was Meryl Dubonnet the noted historian of the Reformation in Geneva and Europe who has written quote.

The only true Reformation is that which emanates from the Word of God. Unquote. Such was certainly the case in the Reformation of the 16th century. Which uniquely witnessed the recovery of? biblical expository preaching by men like Martin Luther and John Calvin and John Knox.

Such was the case of the Golden Puritan era of the 17th century. Which witnessed the recovery of biblical preaching by men like John Owen and Jeremiah Burroughs and Samuel Rutherford and Thomas? Watson that literally shook the English monarchy.

Such was the case of the Great Awakening in the very soil of this land where you now live with the biblical preaching of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield and the tenants that took New England by storm and electrified the colonies.

Every great Reformation and every Great Awakening and Every true revival there are no exceptions Has been ushered in by a recovery of true Biblical preaching. It was the noted church historian Philip Schaaf Who writes in volume 7 of his history of the Christian Church in the introduction to the German Reformation?

Quote. Every true progress in church history is Conditioned by a new and deeper study of the scriptures. While the humanists went back to the ancient classics and revived the spirit of Greek and Roman paganism the Reformers went back to the sacred scriptures in the original languages and revived the spirit of Apostolic Christianity.

They were fired by an enthusiasm for the gospel such as has never been known since the days of Paul. Did you hear that? Schaaf writes. Every true progress in church history is Conditioned by a new and deeper study of the scripture.

There is no other Explanation for the Reformation than Sola Scriptura. Describing that time James Montgomery Boyce writes. Quote. Calvin had no weapon but the Bible. From the very first his emphasis was upon biblical teaching.

Calvin preached from the Bible every day and under the power of that preaching the city began to be transformed as the people of Geneva acquired knowledge of God's Word and They were changed by it. The city became as John Knox called it later a new Jerusalem.

From which the gospel spread to the rest of Europe England and this new world. Unquote. This is what is so desperately needed in this hour. There must be not merely a recovery of the Word of God. But a recovery of the Word of God preached heralded taught proclaimed announced.

This is what has always launched seasons of true progress in Christianity. It is thus says the Lord rumbles through the church again. This is what makes Nehemiah so appealing to me. It was a time in redemptive history Recorded in pages of inspired scripture in which a genuine authentic revival occurred.

Not a revival contrived by man not a revival planned by a committee not a revival announced by a denomination. But a revival that is heaven sent by a sovereign God from his throne of grace. Here is the biblical mandate for reformation.

Here is the setting. The year is 4 4 5 BC. The place is Jerusalem. It is less than one week after Nehemiah has led God's people in completing the building of the wall around the ancient city Jerusalem.

It is a time in which the whole nation Was called to celebrate the feast of tabernacles in Jerusalem. The city walls are now rebuilt. The temple has been restored. The people are back in the land after seven long agonizing years of captivity and the evil empire of Babylon.

They are now back in the promised land. They are now back in the holy city. They have now begun rebuilding the temple they have now completed building the wall around the city, but They need more than a building program and they need more than a large crowd.

They Need the Word of God to be preached to them and to be brought to them by God's messenger. And so today I want us to look at this text. I want us to look at this passage and I believe that what we see here is more than something that happened So long ago.

I Believe that what we see here is something that is happening before your very eyes in This church. God is doing this work in this church family and your heart should be Encouraged that God is doing a work of restoring His ministry in this place and who is to say the ramifications and the ripple effects That will be sent out from here.

Not only in this region in this area, but to the uttermost parts of the world. Now as we look at this text today in Nehemiah chapter 8, this is the real deal. This is what a true work of God looks like smells like feels like.

This is what it looks like when God sends a real Reformation and a real revival. Now as we look at this, I want you to know three main headings with me. I want to lay it out. I want you to see where we're headed.

I want you to see in verse 1 The call for biblical preaching the call for biblical preaching because that is always the forerunner. That leads the way that brings revival the call for biblical preaching then second beginning in verse 2 I want you to see the character of biblical preaching because it's not just more preaching that we need in fact.

We've had too much of bad preaching. We need a new kind of preaching. We need the old kind of preaching and I want you to note the character of biblical preaching what is true expository preaching and Then finally beginning in verse 9.

I want you to see the consequence of Biblical preaching how God chose to bless the endeavors that were taking place here at the Watergate. God will honor the church. God will honor the ministry that honors his word.

They may have faults and they may have weaknesses. They will have faults and they will have weaknesses. But the church that honors the Word of God. God will honor that church. I Want you to see first in verse 1 the call for biblical preaching this text begins where every Reformation where every Awakening and where every revival must begin there is a cry and a hunger for the proclamation of The Word of God note in verse 1 and all the people gathered as one man at the square.

Which was in front of the Watergate? This was a sizable crowd that gathered this day. It has been calculated that there are more than 42 Thousand people who gathered together that day. It was an enormous crowd.

Verse 2 tells us there were men and women and all who could listen with understanding and they gathered as one man. That means they were intent on one purpose and they were all there for the right reason.

And as they have come together They have come to call for the preaching of the Word of God and they gathered at the Watergate on the east side of Jerusalem near the Gaihan spring and They asked Ezra the scribe To bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel.

This is remarkable. The people cried out for it the people Demanded it the people rose up and with one voice they cried out bring the book bring the book and the law of Moses required that every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles that there was to be a public reading of the Word of God the entire Mosaic law and it was to re-anchor them in the plumb line and the Standard and all the people were to come together for the public reading of the Word of God and this has been neglected for Over 70 years.

In fact, it went way back before that and the people now realized that we've got to come back To the Word of God we've come back to the book and so they now call out to Ezra to bring the book. Nothing will be in right place until the book is read and the book is held.

And until the book is embraced It will only be a building. It will only be a wall. It will only be a crowd. It will only be a gathering until there is the centrality of the Word of God Put in the midst of the people and until that chief cornerstone is laid It cannot be in place and so the key figure here is Ezra the scribe.

Ezra had come to Jerusalem 14 years earlier. Ezra has been on the scene here for 14 years. Nehemiah has only been here but a few weeks and there has been this extraordinary building of the wall in these few weeks that has arisen but Ezra precedes the coming of Nehemiah and Even earlier Ezra had ministered the Word of God in such a way there in Jerusalem that there had been an earlier spiritual Reformation and They knew that Ezra knew the Word of God and for such a time as this They called for Ezra the scribe who knew the Word of God better than any other man in Jerusalem to bring the book and to minister the word to them.

Some have speculated that the anonymous author of Psalm 119 those 176 verses that he was asked actually Ezra who wrote Psalm 119 we do not know but he was that prolific in the Word of God and So Ezra was just the man to bring the book.

It's not a time for a novice to bring the book. Ezra had set his heart to study it and to practice it and to teach it and I want you to turn back with me 14 years to Ezra chapter 7 and there is one verse in particular that I want to draw your attention to Ezra chapter 7 the previous book Ezra 7 verse 10 and as you're turning back you are turning back to that time when Ezra himself returned to Jerusalem and in reality, this is when the Reformation began.

This is when the seed for this awakening and revival was being planted in the soil within the heart of Ezra. It always begins somewhere and It begins in the heart of Ezra. 14 years earlier note for Ezra had set his heart.

That means he was resolved. He was determined. He was a man with singular purpose. The word set his heart means to be fixed to be established. Ezra was whole hearted About notice to study the law of the Lord and to practice it and to teach his statutes and Ordinances in Israel.

He was firmly committed to a full orbed ministry of the Word of God. Now in the Holy Land note the three Disciplines the three spiritual disciplines. To study the law to practice the law and to teach the law and by the way, that is the right order.

You cannot impart what you do not possess. You cannot take someone where you have not already been. Ezra had to first study it and own it within his own heart and soul and then he had to live it. First he learned it then he lived it then he let it out.

To study it means to seek with careful inquiry. Ezra was digging and digging and deep digging deeper into the Word of God. It was not a superficial on the surface just massaging of the biblical text. But he was excavating his way into the exegesis of the text.

This is where any meaningful ministry begins. It always begins with the teacher the preacher the elder whoever it is. Digging into the Word of God. That's where the gold is and Ezra now digging into the Word of God.

John Piper has said at the heart of every pastor's work is bookwork. Call it reading. Call it meditation. Call it reflection call it study call it exegesis or whatever you will. But a large and central part of our work is to wrestle God's meaning from a book.

That's exactly what Ezra is doing. He is alone with God before the open scrolls of the Word of God and he is pouring over it and he is Penetrating into the depths of its meaning and he is coming to understand it and he is meditating upon it and he is Embracing the truth as his very own.

And second note to practice it. It's one thing to have it in the head. It's something else to have it in the life. Ezra is not merely a Hearer of the word or a reader of the word. He is a doer of the word.

Ezra becomes the Incarnation of the mess of the truth that he is learning. He lived the word put it into practice at this word for to practice do you see it and to practice it? It's a Hebrew word that carries the idea of expending great energy in the pursuit of something is pouring his life into the the obedience of the Word of God by grace.

It's the very same word that's used in in the Genesis chapter 6 of Noah's strenuous efforts in building the ark. Ezra is building the Word of God into his life plank by plank. By plank the reality is within his soul.

Now third, do you see it in Ezra 7 verse 10? He set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it and to teach it. Ezra stood before the Word of God and before the people of God and he simply was the pipeline in between.

He was the messenger who stood between the Word of God and the people of God and the Word of God simply was flowing through him even in these early years as he has first come back to Jerusalem, I think of Charles Hodge the great theologian Charles Charles Hodge down at Princeton back in the 19th century on the 50th anniversary of Him being the editor of the Princeton Review.

Charles Hodge this howling theological giant said this. I Have never had an original thought in my mind. Unquote. You want a preacher who has never had an original thought in his mind. He is nothing more Than the waiter delivering the meal to you and he didn't cook it up.

He is nothing more than the delivery boy and he is not the editor. And he is bringing the message to you that has been written by God. To deliver it upon the front doorstep of your heart. And this is what Ezra was doing.

When it was a very small situation. At times he was by himself. At times he was unnoticed, but he is faithfully studying. He is faithfully living and he's beginning to faithfully to distribute the Word of God and there were even some initial seasons of Awakening and revival early in this ministry.

You know what this makes me think right now. As we were on the front Row just a second ago. I said Mike when did you graduate from the Master's Seminary? He said 1996. Said when'd you start? He said well part-time 1991 so in other words 14 years ago.

You were by yourself in the basement of the library the Master's Seminary. Pouring over the Word of God and no one knew you and no one knew your name. And you began to have ministry and you began to have small outreach and small teaching of the Word of God and that whole time God was preparing the man for the moment and the moment for the man to be here.

Whatever God is doing in this church and whatever God will do in future years. It began 14 years ago when the man of God was with the Word of God and He was preparing to bring the Word of God to you. And this is where the revival at the Watergate began 14 years earlier.

Ezra alone with God with scrolls of Scripture unraveled before him. Studying the Word digging into the text grasping its meaning capturing its thunder. Incorporating it into his soul applying it into his own life.

Practicing it in his own walk teaching it faithfully for all these years quietly out of the spotlight. Becoming immersed in the Word of God becoming literally a walking living breathing preaching teaching Bible.

This revival at the Watergate began in Ezra's heart 14 years ago. And now we fast forward to Nehemiah chapter 8 as I said God has made the man for the moment and he has made the moment for the man. God is the orchestrator of this the invisible hand of God.

Stands behind this as all the people gathered together. And now at this moment in time God has prepared their hearts for the Word of God. They have brought them to this place and God has been at work and God has been preparing his Messenger and he brings the messenger now with the multitude.

He brings the preacher together with the people and they all come together for this moment and the people Down within their soul. They all cry out now bring the book bring the book and there is a sense of destiny about this moment as Ezra now steps forward.

To bring the message and to bring the Word of God which their hearts have now been cultivated and prepared to receive. I Want you to know that down within the heart of every true born-again regenerate believer.

There is this heart cry to bring the book if you know Jesus Christ, and if you have Denied yourself and taken up a cross and follow our following after Christ there is down within your heart a flame that is burning and it is a yearning and it is a desire and it is a hungering for the Word of God and for the truth of The Word of God and how sad it is with churches and pastors all Across this nation as the people sit there and deep within the soul those who are born again.

And who know God there is this hunger for the Word of God. But instead sad to say they have pastors and they have Ministers who deny their people the very desires and delights of their heart and instead they bring Entertainment and instead they bring skits and instead they bring drama and instead they bring concerts and instead they bring Video clips and the people should rise up and say where's the beef?

That was not intended. Listen, I Want you to know if you are a saved blood-bought believer. Not merely a churchgoer. Not merely a church attender. If you have surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ There is a hunger and there is a yearning down in the depths of your soul that will never be satisfied With anything else but the Word of God brought and delivered to your soul hot off the altar.

And that's exactly where these people are. These churches that go out and survey the neighborhoods and ask them what they want in a church and Then just hand it over to them. Listen a Man who is spiritually dead has no clue what his real needs are.

I was talking to John MacArthur about this. He said here's what you do. You go out and survey the neighborhood and ask them what they want in a local church and you do the very opposite. That's what you do.

If they want up give them down they want East give them West. Because they the lost man Does not understand listen to 1st Corinthians 2 14. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit. Listen, they don't want exposition.

They want entertainment. For they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised like describing Mozart to a deaf person. Oh how you need to call for biblical preaching in this place.

How you need to demand? biblical preaching in this place. How you need to rise up and stand as one person at the Watergate and to call out to This man and to the elders and to the pastors of this church in every way every week.

Cry out to them and say bring the book bring the book bring the book. Because it is the true need of your soul. Now I want you to know second the character of biblical preaching. Please note the kind of preaching that Ezra stepped forward to deliver.

It is the kind of biblical preaching that brings revival among God's people as I just said earlier. It's not just more preaching that we need. We need more preaching of a certain kind. Listen to the doctor Martin Lloyd-Jones what Lloyd-Jones had to say quote.

What is it that always? Heralds the dawn of a reformation or of a revival question mark. It is renewed preaching not only a new interest in preaching Lloyd-Jones says but a new kind of preaching a revival of true preaching.

That has always heralded these great movements in the history of the church so What is this new kind of preaching? Well, it's the old kind of preaching. It's the kind of preaching that's never gone out of fad.

But unfortunately, it's so old it is now new in this day. Imagine this. Preach the Bible. Would that thought have ever occurred? Preach the Bible get out of the way. Let God work. Look at verse 2 then Ezra the priest Brought the law before the assembly of men women and all who could listen with understanding.

Listen, if he hadn't brought the law that day, I think they would have fired him on the first day of the seventh month. Ezra was ready for this moment. He has studied all of his life for this moment. It's like Winston Churchill when he became prime minister at age 69 in the midst of the conflict with Germany as he assumed the position of prime minister.

He said all of my life Has been but a preparation For this one moment in time. He thought his life was over. His life was only now just beginning now. Winston Churchill Was to become Winston Churchill.

And all of his life was to but prepare him for this hour of conflict in this gathering storm. Ezra now Has been prepared all of his life. And I want to draw to your attention now five non-negotiables of biblical preaching.

These are the five pillars that uphold biblical preaching. There are a lot of people who talk about biblical preaching. There are a lot of people who talk about expository preaching. Listen, there's is more suppository preaching.

It's not expository. Let me give you the five marks of biblical preaching rooted and grounded in this text number one a biblical reading make it verse three. He Ezra read from it the law. Before the square which is in front of the water gate Ezra began this Exposition of the word with the reading of the word.

He simply read the law of the Lord. Unless you think this was a monotone mumbling of the word the bland leading the bland. This word you see read in the Hebrew. It's kara, which means to cry out to call aloud to roar like a lion to proclaim.

The word that's used in Jonah chapter 3 verse 2 when God said arise and go to Nineveh the great city and kara and proclaim. Verse 4 Jonah went to go through the city and he cried out 40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed.

It was a proclamation. It was an announcement. Thus says the Lord. This is the word kara. There's passion. There's fervency. There's fire in the bones. Because the Word of God burns within the soul. Ezra read from it and as he did there was a declaration of the word.

Listen when I go around the country and preach in different places. Sometimes the pastor is more enthusiastic about reading the announcements Than he is in the reading of the Word of God. He's given more forethought.

To the announcements about the church picnic certainly more excited about it Than in the reading of the Word of God. This is where the exposition begins. It is a message that is rooted and grounded in the Word of God.

Everything that the preacher has to say will come from this text of Scripture. It is a statement to the listener that the preacher has nothing to say apart from this text of Scripture. All that will be made known and all that will be unfolded.

It will originate in this text of Scripture and he will not leave this text of Scripture. He will explain this Scripture and he will bring this Scripture home to your heart. It's where it begins with the reading of the Word of God.

When he steps into the pulpit he begins by announcing the Word. How foreign this is. Turn on Christian television. You'll hear someone step into a pulpit and tell a stupid joke. Some grade B Comedian off the set of hee-haw.

Trivializing as he stands on holy ground slapstick read the Word of God. Churches today have lost so much confidence in even the reading of the Word of God. They say it'll put people to sleep. Hey, they're already asleep if that puts them to sleep.

Let's not kid ourselves. This isn't romper room for adults. That's why they have skits. That's why they have drama. That's why they have video clips. That's why they have all of this stuff. Like VBS for adults the children's sermon is beyond where they are.

No when God establishes a place Where the truth is honored. It begins by the reading of the Word of God. Second there is a lengthy treatment of the word. Look, if you will again in verse 3 and he read from it before the square.

Which was in front of the water gate note this. From early morning until midday. Shall we do the math on this? That would be from 6 a .m sunrise until 12 noon. So you have no idea how good you have it here in this church.

It's a six-hour reading of the Word of God the people wanted it bring it on. Now I realize this is unique for this for this situation as according to Deuteronomy 31 They take the Word of God and read it once every seven years.

But there is a timeless principle that is woven through this. This is not sermon. That's for Christian nets. All right. This is a Lengthy treatment of the Word of God. This is not like the average Baptist Church down in the south where there's a 20-minute sermon and a 20-minute invitation.

Somebody has to walk forward so we can go to lunch. The preacher really means that we're gonna keep singing till somebody comes. He's got his own kids coming forward just so they can go eat lunch. This is not like the average seeker sensitive church just a whole hour of syrupy sloppy choruses in a 20-minute little pep talk.

Now this is a lengthy treatment of the Word of God. This is an adult Handling of the scripture. This is setting the bar where the bar needs to be established and by God's grace Bringing up the people to the standard.

It is a lengthy treatment and let me tell you careful Bible exposition requires time in the pulpit. And I'll tell you this in Reformation in Great Awakenings and in revivals. It is a fact of history That the sermon went from being a 15 to 20 minute little ditty to an hour-long Exposition of scripture it takes time.

To get a 747 off the runway. Now if you've got a little crop duster of a message. You can just get out in your driveway and get it up in the air. Landed on your neighbor's rooftop. But if you've really got something to say.

It's gonna take a little time to taxi down the runway. It's gonna take a little time to get this jet up and it's gonna take a little time to land it. There's to be an introduction transitions homiletical headings explanation exegesis word studies cross references historical background thematic context authorial intent application illustration exhortation persuasion.

Conclusion all of this takes time. I'll sometimes go to a seminary sometimes some really outstanding seminaries and they'll Say we want you to model for the student body Bible exposition. I got tremendous.

How long do I have? 28 minutes. I Said I can only model Topical stuff that you don't want your students to do. How can I model this what you want them to do? I'm not a helicopter. Just take it straight up.

It takes time. It took Ezra time to unpack all that is in the suitcase of this text. And to lay it before the people there's a third mark number one a biblical reading number two a lengthy treatment number three an authoritative posture.

An authoritative posture look at verse 4. Ezra the scribe Stood at a wooden podium which had been made for this purpose. Verse 5 He opened the book. Listen, this is an authoritative posture. He's not sitting on a stool sharing.

He's not walking around all over the platform. Gabbing they had built a wooden podium for this occasion large enough to hold 14 people and Ezra Mounted the platform and it was lifted up one so he could be seen and so he could be heard.

But it also served to illustrate. This is a transcended message. This is coming down from God. You're gonna have to look up to hear this message. It is coming down from God in verse 5 Ezra opened the book.

He stood before an open Bible. The preacher should always stand behind an open Bible. You're gonna walk around on the platform. Please take your Bible with you. Because I'm not listening till you come back to the Bible.

I heard Walt Kaiser one time say to graduation service the preacher should always have his finger. Pointing at the text. They should never preach without his finger pointing in the text. And then when this hand gets tired, you know what you do.

You then take this hand and You point at the same text and you rest this hand. But you should always be pointing yourself and the people back to the text of Scripture. Look at the next verse. Look what this says here what God has to say.

Look at the text. That's what Ezra is doing. Ezra opened the book in the sight of all of the people for he was verse 5 standing above the people there there was this transcendent nature about his Authoritative posture that he is assuming here and note and when he opened it all the people Stood up Instinctively you see when the preacher gets serious about the Word of God it becomes contagious and other people catch fire from his fire and Because Ezra Assumes this stance the people now stand for the reading in the Exposition of the Word of God and the reason is as Augustine said and as Calvin said when the Bible speaks God speaks.

And they knew they would be hearing the authoritative Word of the Living God. Written in pages of inspired scripture and there would be nothing more Important in their life than the hearing of the Word of God.