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

Bethlehem Bible Church

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April 15, 2007

00:00: Well, I want you to know I love to be loved, okay, so Let me be on record for saying that and it
00:07: I have been joyfully wrangled In coming here. What a wonderful time.
00:12: Thank you for that beautiful solo. I loved Hearing you sing that in such a
00:17: God honoring way Well, I want to encourage you this morning. What God is doing in this church and in this
00:25: Congregation, I do not believe that the world has yet seen the repercussions or felt the grace that will come from this place
00:34: God is so obviously Establishing a lighthouse here and you should be greatly encouraged
00:41: You are doing it the right way built upon the Word of God You have one of the great pastors
00:49: Bible preaching pastors in the world and Mike Avendroth and he is becoming such a friend to me and Every question
00:58: I've asked him about anything. He more than knows the answer to that and so He's a legend in his own mind.
01:06: I Want you to know that he is the answer man He said
01:13: I resemble that remark so he thou art the man What can
01:21: 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
01:31: Lord for Dan Rathbun and Scott Brown and the way they have just personally cared for me and my family and you have showered
01:40: 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
01:51: Word of God to you and to those who are a part of the Congregation and you have been so receptive and so attentive
01:59: 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
02:12: Congregation will be so strategic. It already is strategic. But what
02:18: God will do to Really raise the flag for the
02:23: 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
02:34: That you will have a an influence like no other church in this entire area
02:41: 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
02:52: I think a great harvest To come your labor and the Lord is not in vain be greatly encouraged
03:02: Well, there's so much more I want to say to encourage you but for every second I encourage you
03:08: I lose time in the sermon all right, so I want you to take
03:13: 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
03:33: The title the message today is bring the book and there is an exclamation point after the word book
03:42: 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
03:59: Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses Which the
04:04: 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
04:17: He Ezra Read from it the word Before the square which was in front of the water gate from early morning until midday
04:29: In the presence of men and women those who could understand and all the people were attentive to the book of the law
04:38: 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
04:50: For he was standing above all the people and when he opened it the people stood up Then Ezra blessed the
05:03: Lord the great God And all the people answered amen
05:10: Amen while lifting up their hands then they bowed low and worshiped the
05:21: Lord with their faces to the ground and In verse 7 all of these
05:29: 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
05:54: 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
06:13: It was Meryl Dubonnet the noted historian of the Reformation in Geneva and Europe who has written quote
06:21: The only true Reformation is that which emanates from the
06:27: Word of God unquote Such was certainly the case in the
06:32: 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
06:48: 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
07:04: English monarchy Such was the case of the
07:09: 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
07:20: New England by storm and electrified the colonies every great
07:27: Reformation and every Great Awakening and Every true revival there are no exceptions
07:36: Has been ushered in by a recovery of true Biblical preaching it
07:44: Was the noted church historian Philip Schaaf Who writes in volume 7 of his history of the
07:51: Christian Church in the introduction to the German Reformation? quote Every true progress in church history is
08:02: 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
08:15: 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?
08:39: Schaaf writes every true progress in church history is
08:48: Conditioned by a new and deeper study of the scripture
08:56: There is no other Explanation for the Reformation than sola scriptura
09:05: Describing that time James Montgomery Boyce writes quote Calvin had no weapon but the
09:12: Bible From the very first his emphasis was upon biblical teaching
09:21: 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.
09:37: 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
09:50: This is what is so desperately needed in this hour
09:55: There must be not merely a recovery of the Word of God But a recovery of the
10:02: Word of God preached heralded taught proclaimed announced
10:08: This is what has always launched seasons of true progress in Christianity it is thus says the
10:18: Lord rumbles through the church again This is what makes
10:23: 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
10:43: Denomination, but a revival that is heaven sent by a sovereign God from his throne of grace
10:51: Here is the biblical mandate for reformation Here is the setting
10:59: The year is 4 4 5 BC The place is Jerusalem It is less than one week after Nehemiah has led
11:08: God's people in completing the building of the wall around the ancient city Jerusalem It is a time in which the whole nation
11:18: Was called to celebrate the feast of tabernacles in Jerusalem The city walls are now rebuilt the temple has been restored
11:28: 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.
11:41: 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
11:57: They need the Word of God to be preached to them and to be brought to them by God's messenger
12:06: 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
12:17: I believe that what we see here is something that is happening Before your very eyes in this church
12:26: God is doing this work in this church family and your heart should be
12:33: 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
12:43: That will be sent out from here. Not only in this region in this area, but to the uttermost parts of the world
12:51: Now as we look at this text today in Nehemiah chapter 8, this is the real deal
12:57: This is what a true work of God looks like smells like feels like This is what it looks like when
13:06: God sends a real Reformation and a real revival
13:13: 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
13:19: 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
13:30: That brings revival the call for biblical preaching then second beginning in verse 2
13:36: I want you to see the character of biblical preaching because it's not just more preaching that we need in fact
13:44: We've had too much of bad preaching We need a new kind of preaching
13:51: We need the old kind of preaching and I want you to note the character of biblical preaching.
13:58: What is true? expository preaching and Then finally beginning in verse 9,
14:04: I want you to see the consequence of Biblical preaching how God chose to bless the endeavors that were taking place here at the
14:14: Watergate God will honor the church. God will honor the ministry that honors his word
14:25: They may have faults and they may have weaknesses They will have faults and they will have weaknesses
14:32: But the church that honors the Word of God God will honor that church.
14:40: I Want you to see first in verse 1 the call for biblical preaching this text begins where every reformation where every
14:48: 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
15:03: Which was in front of the Watergate. This was a Sizable crowd that gathered this day.
15:11: It has been calculated that there were more than 42 ,000 people who gathered together that day
15:19: 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
15:30: That means they were intent on one purpose and they were all there for the right reason
15:37: And as they have come together They have come to call for the preaching of the
15:42: Word of God and they gathered at the Watergate on the east side of Jerusalem near the
15:47: Gaihan spring and They asked Ezra the scribe
15:54: To bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel.
16:01: 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
16:21: Feast of Tabernacles that there was to be a public reading of the
16:27: 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
16:37: For the public reading of the Word of God and this has been neglected for over 70 years
16:44: In fact, it went way back before that and the people now realized that we've got to come back to the
16:50: Word of God We've come back to the book. And so they now call out to Ezra to bring the book
16:58: Nothing will be in right place until the book is read and the book is held and until the book is embraced
17:06: 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
17:16: Word of God Put in the midst of the people and until that chief cornerstone is laid
17:24: It cannot be in place and so the key figure here is
17:29: Ezra the scribe Ezra had come to Jerusalem 14 years earlier
17:36: Ezra has been on the scene here for 14 years Nehemiah has only been here but a few weeks and there has been this
17:46: Extraordinary building of the wall in these few weeks that has arisen but Ezra precedes the coming of Nehemiah and Even earlier
17:57: Ezra had ministered the Word of God in such a way there in Jerusalem that there had been an earlier spiritual
18:06: Reformation and They knew that Ezra knew the
18:11: Word of God and for such a time as this They called for Ezra the scribe who knew the
18:19: 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
18:35: Ezra who wrote Psalm 119. We do not know but he was that prolific in the
18:43: Word of God and So Ezra was just the man to bring the book.
18:49: 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
19:14: Ezra 7 verse 10 and as you're turning back you are turning back to that time when
19:20: Ezra himself returned to Jerusalem and In reality, this is when the
19:27: Reformation began This is when the seed for this
19:34: 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
19:59: That means he was resolved He was determined. He was a man with singular purpose
20:09: The word set his heart means to be fixed to be established Ezra was whole hearted about notice to study the law of the
20:21: Lord and to practice it and to teach his statutes and Ordinances in Israel.
20:28: He was firmly committed to a full orbed ministry of the
20:34: Word of God Now in the Holy Land note the three disciplines the three spiritual disciplines
20:42: Do you see it to study the law to practice the law and to teach the law? And by the way, that is the right order
20:48: You cannot impart what you do not possess. You cannot take someone where you have not already been
20:55: Ezra had to first study it and own it within his own heart and soul and then he had to live it
21:02: First he learned it then he lived it then he let it out To study it means to seek with careful inquiry
21:12: Ezra was digging and digging and deep digging deeper into the Word of God.
21:17: It was not a superficial on the surface just massaging of the biblical text
21:23: But he was excavating his way into the exegesis of the text
21:30: This is where any meaningful ministry begins It always begins with the teacher the preacher the elder whoever it is digging into the
21:43: Word of God, that's where the gold is and Ezra now digging into the
21:50: Word of God John Piper has said at the heart of every pastor's work is book work
21:59: Call it reading Call it meditation Call it reflection call it study call it exegesis or whatever you will
22:10: But a large and central part of our work is to wrestle
22:15: God's meaning from a book That's exactly what
22:21: Ezra is doing he is alone with God before the open scrolls of the
22:26: 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
22:42: And second note to practice it it's one thing to have it in the head
22:47: 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.
22:54: He is a doer of the word Ezra becomes the Incarnation of the mess of the truth that he is learning
23:03: He lives the word put it into practice This word for to practice.
23:09: 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
23:21: It's pouring his life into the the obedience of the
23:28: 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
23:39: Ezra is building the Word of God into his life plank by plank
23:45: By plank the reality is within his soul Now third, do you see it in Ezra 7 verse 10?
23:54: he set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it and to teach it
24:04: 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
24:16: 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
24:32: Charles Charles Hodge down at Princeton back in the 19th century on the 50th anniversary of Him being the editor of the
24:42: Princeton Review Charles Hodge this towering theological giant said this
24:50: I Have never had an original thought in my mind
24:59: Unquote you want a preacher who has never had an original thought in his mind
25:12: 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.
25:39: And this is what Ezra was doing When it was a very small situation
25:47: At times he was by himself At times he was unnoticed, but he is faithfully studying
25:54: 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.
26:07: You know what this makes me think right now As we were on the front Row just a second ago.
26:13: I said Mike when did you graduate from the master's seminary? He said 1996
26:22: Said when'd you start? He said well part -time 1991 so in other words 14 years ago
26:29: You were by yourself in the basement of the library the master's seminary
26:36: Pouring over the Word of God and no one knew you and no one knew your name
26:43: And you began to have ministry and you began to have small outreach and Small teaching of the
26:52: Word of God and that whole time God was preparing the man for the moment and the moment for the man to be here
27:02: Whatever God is doing in this church and whatever God will do in future years
27:08: It began 14 years ago when the man of God was with the Word of God And he was preparing to bring the
27:16: Word of God to you This is where the revival at the
27:22: Watergate began 14 years earlier Ezra alone with God with scrolls of Scripture unraveled before him
27:32: Studying the word digging into the text grasping its meaning capturing its thunder
27:39: Incorporating it into his soul applying it into his own life Practicing it in his own walk teaching it faithfully for all these years
27:47: Quietly out of the spotlight becoming immersed in the Word of God Becoming literally a walking living breathing preaching teaching
27:57: 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
28:11: 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
28:26: And now at this moment in time God has prepared their hearts for the
28:33: Word of God They have brought them to this place and God has been at work and God has been preparing his
28:39: 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
29:08: Word of God Which their hearts have now been cultivated and prepared to receive
29:14: I Want you to know that down within the heart of every true born -again
29:21: Regenerate believer there is this heart cry to bring the book if you know
29:31: 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
29:51: Word of God and for the truth of the Word of God and how sad it is with churches and pastors all
29:59: Across this nation as the people sit there and deep within the soul those who are born again
30:07: 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
30:23: Entertainment and instead they bring skits and instead they bring drama and instead they bring concerts and instead they bring
30:30: Video clips and the people should rise up and say where's the beef? That was not intended listen,
30:45: I Want you to know if you are a saved blood -bought believer
30:52: Not merely a churchgoer Not merely a church attender If you have surrendered to the
31:01: Lord Jesus Christ There is a hunger and there is a yearning down in the depths of your soul that will never be satisfied
31:12: With Anything else but the Word of God brought and delivered to your soul hot off the altar
31:21: 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
31:39: Spiritually dead has no clue what his real needs are. I was talking to John MacArthur about this.
31:47: 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
31:58: If they want up give them down they want East give them West Because they the lost man
32:05: Does not understand listen to 1st Corinthians 2 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the
32:13: 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
32:28: It's like describing Mozart to a deaf person. Oh how you need to call
32:38: For biblical preaching in this place How you need to demand?
32:44: biblical preaching in this place How you need to rise up and stand as one person at the
32:52: Watergate and to call out? To this man and to the elders and to the pastors of this church and every way every week
33:00: Cry out to them and say bring the book bring the book bring the book because it is the true need
33:09: Of your soul now, I want you to know second the character of biblical preaching
33:18: 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
33:31: It's not just more preaching that we need We need more preaching of a certain kind Listen to the doctor
33:39: Martin Lloyd -Jones what Lloyd -Jones had to say quote What is it that always?
33:47: heralds the dawn of a reformation or of a revival question mark It is renewed preaching not only a new interest in preaching
33:58: Lloyd -Jones says but a new kind of preaching a revival of true preaching
34:05: That has always heralded these great movements in the history of the church so What is this new kind of preaching?
34:15: Well, it's the old kind of preaching. It's the kind of preaching that's never gone out of fad
34:22: But unfortunately, it's so old it is now new in this day. Imagine this preach the
34:29: Bible Would that thought have ever occurred Preach the
34:35: Bible Get out of the way Let God work look at verse 2 then
34:44: Ezra the priest Brought the law before the assembly of men women and all who could listen with understanding
34:51: 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
35:01: Ezra was ready for this moment. He has studied all of his life for this moment
35:08: 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.
35:21: He said all of my life Has been but a preparation
35:28: For this one moment in time. He thought his life was over His life was only now just beginning now
35:40: Winston Churchill What's to become Winston Churchill? And all of his life was to but prepare him for this hour of conflict in this gathering storm
35:55: 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
36:12: There are a lot of people who talk about biblical preaching There are a lot of people who talk about expository preaching
36:19: Listen, there's is more suppository preaching. It's not expository
36:29: Let me give you the five marks of biblical preaching rooted and grounded in this text number one a biblical reading make it verse 3
36:44: He Ezra read from it the law Before the square which is in front of the
36:50: Watergate Ezra began this Exposition of the word with the reading of the word.
36:56: He simply read the law of the Lord Unless you think this was a monotone mumbling of the word the bland leading the bland
37:11: 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
37:28: 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
37:39: Verse 4 Jonah went to go through the city and he cried out 40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed
37:51: It was a Proclamation it was an announcement thus says the
37:58: Lord This is the word kara
38:04: There's passion. There's fervency. There's fire in the bones Because the
38:11: Word of God burns within the soul Ezra read from it and as he did there was a declaration of the word
38:24: 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
38:38: Word of God He's given more forethought To the announcements about the church picnic.
38:47: He's certainly more excited about it than in the reading of the
38:54: Word of God This is where the exposition begins It is a message that is rooted and grounded in the
39:03: 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
39:24: It will originate in this text of Scripture and he will not leave this text of Scripture He will explain the
39:31: Scripture and he will bring this Scripture home to your heart It's where it begins with the reading of the
39:39: Word of God When he steps into the pulpit he begins by announcing the word how foreign this is
39:54: Turn on Christian television, you'll hear someone step into a pulpit and tell a stupid joke some grade
40:05: B Comedian off the set of hee -haw Trivializing as he stands on holy ground slapstick read the
40:26: Word of God Churches today have lost so much confidence in even the reading of the
40:35: Word of God They say it'll put people to sleep. Hey, they're already asleep if that puts them to sleep.
40:42: Let's not kid ourselves This isn't romper room for adults. That's why they have skits.
40:49: That's why they have drama That's why they have video clips. That's why they have all of this stuff
40:57: Like VBS for adults the children's sermon is beyond where they are
41:05: No when God establishes a place Where the truth is honored
41:13: It begins by the reading of the Word of God Second there is a lengthy treatment of the word
41:25: Look, if you will again in verse 3 and he read from it before the square
41:31: Which was in front of the water gate note this From early morning until midday.
41:38: Shall we do the math on this? That would be from 6 a .m.
41:44: To sunrise until 12 noon So you have no idea how good you have it here in this church
41:53: 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
42:05: They take the Word of God and read it once every seven years But there is a timeless principle that is woven through this.
42:11: This is not sermonettes for Christian nets. All right This is a
42:17: 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
42:27: Somebody has to walk forward so we can go to lunch the preacher really means that we're gonna keep singing till somebody comes
42:36: 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
42:53: Now this is a lengthy treatment of the Word of God.
42:59: 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
43:09: Bringing up the people to the standard it is a lengthy treatment and let me tell you careful
43:16: Bible exposition requires time in the pulpit
43:23: And I'll tell you this in Reformation in Great Awakenings and in revivals. It is a fact of history
43:31: That the sermon went from being a 15 to 20 minute little ditty To an hour -long exposition of scripture it takes time
43:45: 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
43:56: 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
44:04: 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
44:13: Transitions homiletical headings Explanation exegesis word studies cross references historical background thematic context authorial intent application illustration exhortation persuasion
44:32: Conclusion all of this takes time I'll sometimes go to a seminary sometimes some really outstanding seminaries and they'll
44:42: Say we want you to model for the student body Bible exposition Tremendous. How long do
44:47: I have? 28 minutes I Said I can only model
44:56: Topical stuff that you don't want your students to do How can I model this what you want them to do?
45:04: I'm not a helicopter. Just take it straight up It takes time it took
45:10: Ezra time to unpack all that is in the suitcase of this text Delay 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
45:30: Ezra the scribe Stood at a wooden podium which had been made for this purpose verse 5
45:37: He opened the book. Listen, this is an authoritative posture. He's not sitting on a stool sharing
45:48: 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
46:07: But it also served to illustrate. This is a transcendent message. This is coming down from God You're gonna have to look up to hear this message.
46:17: It is coming down from God verse 5
46:22: Ezra opened the book He stood before an open
46:29: Bible The preacher should always stand behind an open
46:35: Bible You're gonna walk around on the platform. Please take your Bible with you
46:41: Because I'm not listening till you come back to the Bible I heard
46:47: Walt Kaiser one time say to graduation service The preacher should always have his finger pointing at the text
46:55: They should never preach without his finger pointing in the text. And then when this hand gets tired, you know what you do
47:02: You then take this hand and you point at the same text and you rest this hand
47:08: But you should always be pointing yourself and the people back to the text of Scripture Look at the next verse.
47:16: Look what this says here what God has to say Look at the text. That's what
47:21: 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
47:33: Transcendent nature about his authoritative posture that he is
47:39: Assuming here and note and when he opened it all the people
47:47: Stood up Instinctively you see when the preacher gets serious about the
47:56: 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
48:13: Exposition of the Word of God and the reason is as Augustine said and as Calvin said when the
48:19: Bible speaks God speaks and They knew they would be hearing the authoritative
48:26: Word of the Living God Written in pages of inspired scripture and there would be nothing more
48:32: Important in their life than the hearing of the Word of God For he speaks as with the sound of many waters which drowns out every other op -ed piece
48:51: Martin Luther said the pulpit is the throne For the
48:57: Word of God and God rules and reigns in his church
49:06: Through an open Bible that is enthroned Titus 2 verse 15
49:14: Paul told Titus. This is how you preach You are to assume an authoritative posture
49:24: These things speak and exhort and approve with all authority
49:33: Let no one disregard you out of the pulpit.
49:40: You're a normal person Out of the pulpit. You're a meek and humble soul
49:47: In the pulpit you are to be meek and gentle as well But there is a commanding nature about true biblical preaching
49:59: It's not merely giving you facts and letting you wade through it Preaching goes further
50:09: Preaching actually has the audacity to tell you what to do. It is not the preacher
50:21: It is God through his word That commands you
50:29: How to live and what to do This is how
50:34: Jesus preached Why do you think he got crucified Matthew 7 28 after Jesus preached the greatest sermon
50:44: I believe ever preached on planet earth the great sermon a sermon on the mount
50:50: It says that after he preached that text or that sermon it says
50:59: He was teaching them as one Having Authority acts 2 verse 14
51:13: Peter on the day of Pentecost Men of Judea all who live in Jerusalem.
51:18: Let this be known to you give heed to my words That's the kind of preacher you want
51:27: That's the kind of preacher you hang on to The one who loves you enough to tell you the truth
51:36: Modern -day preaching has been described as a mild -mannered man standing before a mild -mannered congregation and Urging them to be more mild -mannered
51:51: Instead the preacher must assume an authoritative posture He is like a lawyer calling for the verdict in the heart of the listener
51:59: He stands as a fork in the road with an open Bible Daring you this day whom shall you serve?
52:12: I must hasten There's a fourth mark that I want you to note Not only an authoritative
52:19: Posture and that's what preaching is and I just another footnote on this one of the enemies of this that is deluding this is just Talk show radio and these
52:32: Christian TV things where people are sitting behind booths and everybody's just gabbing and everyone is just Sharing and in you tune in and you listen to it and it's just inane
52:46: It's just benign How rare it is today for someone to preach
52:59: The Word of God in an authoritative posture
53:07: I don't care what anyone else has to say
53:13: This is what the Word of God says. I want you to note forth in verse 6 a
53:25: God exalting thrust number for a God exalting Thrust this is like John Piper says we are to be
53:38: Exaltational expositors We are to be magnifying the glory of God look at verse 6 that this describes the tone of the exposition of Ezra as he is reading the text and explaining the text as he is doing so then
54:03: Ezra blessed the Lord the great God his sermon was the
54:09: Magnification of the person and the greatness and the glory of God. This was not a man -centered message
54:16: He is not massaging egos. He is not tickling ears. This is not politically, correct
54:22: This is not necessarily even intended to be culturally relevant It is a pronouncement of God It is a
54:33: Magnification of God as he blesses the Lord the great God I was reading not long ago
54:44: Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield The great theologian from Princeton in the 19th century who really held anchored
54:53: Orthodoxy for as long as it could be held at the bastion of reformed teaching
54:59: At Princeton until it caved in In the 1920s
55:07: Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield I have a portrait of him that hangs in the stairwell leading up to my study and I pass this portrait of Warfield and full academic regalia
55:21: As I walk up into the study to remind me To set my heart to study the
55:28: Word of God and to hold fast to sound doctrine Benjamin Warfield Sought to put his finger on the genius of John Calvin a great expositor of the
55:46: Reformation Who wrote the magnum opus of the Reformation the
55:51: Institute's of the Christian religion? Listen to these two sentences As Warfield seeks to put his finger on the greatness of John Calvin here we have the secret of Calvin's greatness and the source of strength unveiled to us second sentence
56:17: No one ever had a profounder sense of God than he
56:29: That's what we see demonstrated in Ezra's preaching a Profound sense of God notice how the people responded
56:43: And all the people answered amen amen, which means it is true it is true it is so In a revival the amen returns to the hearts of God's people
56:57: And there is an inner Certainty and an inner witness. This is true.
57:02: This is true While lifting up their hands unless you think this was some
57:11: Charismatic deal they are lifting up their hands to receive the exposition and the preaching of the
57:19: Word of God And then they bowed low and worshiped their
57:25: Lord the Lord with their faces to the ground understand this
57:32: The higher that the preacher Will lift up the lower the people
57:42: Will humble themselves before God and if you present a
57:48: God who's just everybody's buddy There will be no humility in the church.
57:59: Every man will do what is right in his own eyes There will be arrogance
58:06: And pride on Display it will be a congregation of peacocks strutting around but when
58:17: God is lifted up in his holiness and his sovereignty in his righteousness as Ezra is doing here blessing the
58:26: Lord the great God the people fall like like cut trees before the throne of grace
58:37: And they magnify the name of God This is the proper effect of true expository preaching
58:46: Listen to this. It is to honor God and humble man It is to lift up God and to lower man
58:57: And the higher we magnify the greatness of God the more the people will shout
59:02: Amen amen, and the more the people will bow low George Whitfield said all
59:10: Doctrines from God lead the people back to God. There's a fifth and final mark of true expository
59:23: Preaching and it is found in verses 7 and 8 a Precise explanation a
59:32: Precise explanation of the biblical Text John MacArthur has said the meaning of the text is the text and until you have the meaning of the text
59:43: You do not have the text You've got to understand the authorial intent of the text of Scripture Or all you have is black print on white paper
01:00:04: So look at the end of verse 7 all of these Levites Standing here with with Ezra and serving to relay the message to the 42 ,000 people who are gathered here together and they join in with Ezra and note they explained the law to the people
01:00:28: This is the heart and soul of expository preaching. It is to explain the text of Scripture Please notice the emphasis upon the mind that is functioning properly towards the
01:00:39: Word of God the emphasis upon the mind This is not a feeling driven
01:00:45: Congregation the emphasis on the mind may
01:00:50: I draw this to your attention verse 2 the word Understanding verse 3 the word
01:00:56: Understanding verse 7 the word explained verse 8 the word understood verse 12 the word
01:01:03: Understood verse 13 the word insight all true Exposition gives a precise explanation of the biblical text so that the people understand what
01:01:15: God is saying John MacArthur says quote authentic Christianity is concerned first and foremost with the truth
01:01:24: The Christian faith is not primarily about feelings Although deep feelings will surely result from the impact of truth on our hearts.
01:01:34: It is not about human relationships Even though relationships are the main focus in many of today's evangelical pulpits.
01:01:40: It is not about success It is not about earthly blessings No matter how much one might get that impression from watching the programs that dominate religious television these days
01:01:51: Biblical Christianity is all about the truth God's objective revelation in the
01:01:59: Bible interpreted Rationally yields divine truth in perfectly sufficient measure
01:02:06: God wrote only one book the Bible It contains all the truth by which he intended us to order our spiritual lives
01:02:18: Scripture is not only holy truth It is also the highest standard of all truth the rule by which all truth claims must be measured unquote
01:02:30: You can't get there Apart from the truth You just can't get there
01:02:38: Not to heaven not to Christ Not to maturity not to abundant life
01:02:47: The only place you can go without the truth is to hell the only place
01:02:54: You can't get there without the truth Truth is your friend. The truth is your guide.
01:02:59: The truth is your helper That's what you so desperately need is the truth
01:03:10: So first say they read from the book from the law of God Translating to give the sense that means to break down the parts and To break down the text into its parts so that the people could understand it so that they understood
01:03:29: The reading I praise
01:03:34: God for this pulpit that is marked by your pastor and By the men in this church who stand behind this sacred desk
01:03:49: That they are committed to you and love you so much to open this book and to read the text and to explain it and to assume an authoritative posture and To give you a
01:04:08: God exalting thrust How you need to rise up and call them blessed and Embrace them with your prayers and embrace them with your love
01:04:23: You are in a very rare place in this church
01:04:29: Trust me Finally verse 9 very quickly the consequence of biblical preaching.
01:04:41: So does God honor this? So simple This is the ultimate less is more approach to ministry no bells no whistles no dog and pony show
01:04:56: Just the man of God the Word of God in the Spirit of God to the people of God Here's what it yields verse 9.
01:05:04: It yields repentance verses 10 through 12 yields rejoicing. That's what you want repentance and rejoicing
01:05:11: People are taken down with conviction. They're built up with encouragement. They're taken down to repentance
01:05:18: They are then lifted up to rejoice We see the repentance at the end of verse 9
01:05:25: Do not mourn or weep, why would they say that because the people are mourning and weeping
01:05:32: For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law
01:05:37: They began to weep and they began to mourn and their hearts were broken Jesus said blessed are those who mourn
01:05:45: James 4 verse 9 said be Miserable, there's a verse to put on your refrigerator smile
01:05:55: Be miserable and Mourn and weep let your laughter be turned into weeping and your joy to gloom.
01:06:04: That means you're silly frivolous superficial giddy Laughter with no
01:06:13: Awareness of the profoundness of truth let that kind of laughter be gone come to the cross come to the word come to the empty tomb and weep and repent and Then you will know blessedness and then you will know happiness for the weight of sin will be rolled off your shoulders
01:06:34: And so at the end of verse 10, we see this rejoicing do not be grieved for the joy of the
01:06:40: Lord Is your strength verse 11 the leave Levites calmed all the people saying be still for the day is holy
01:06:48: Do not be grieved in verse 12 all the people went away to eat to drink to send portions and to Celebrate a great festival.
01:06:59: How could such true joy come? How could such repentance come the end of verse 12 tells it all?
01:07:07: Because there's a cause and effect here all of what is preceded has been caused by because they
01:07:16: Understood the words which had been made known to them
01:07:26: You need to kiss your Sunday school teacher on the lips You need to kiss this man on that bald forehead
01:07:44: Whatever that thing is. It's this caterpillar.
01:07:51: That's Anyway, we actually shoot those things in Alabama Oh I'm sorry.
01:07:59: Don't move. Let me get it for you The elders the gifted men there are gifted men in this church
01:08:12: Who model even in waves? beyond Mike this kind of commitment
01:08:22: You need to embrace them and love them as they love you as they care for your soul
01:08:31: This is a place where the truth is honored
01:08:37: This is who we are at this church. If you could allow me to include myself in the we This is who we are.
01:08:44: This is what we're about This is what defines us
01:08:50: We're a people of the book We were a Bible Church not merely in name
01:08:57: We are a Bible Church in reality God is beginning to bless in Unmistakable ways
01:09:08: This church it was at the end of his life
01:09:16: Martin Luther was approached after having seen the continent of Europe in Convulsions Upheaval in the church
01:09:30: Upheaval in society Europe was turned on its head
01:09:38: Reformation was coming Awakening was occurring and they came to Luther at the end of his life and said explain the
01:09:50: Reformation How did this? Happen do you want to hear
01:09:58: Luther's answer? I simply taught
01:10:05: Preached Wrote God's Word Otherwise it did nothing and when and while I slept the word never so greatly weakened the papacy
01:10:25: That never a prince or emperor inflicted such damage
01:10:32: I Did nothing
01:10:38: Luther said The word did it all may the word do it all here
01:10:48: Sully deo gloria For the glory father we rise up and bless your name this day
01:11:04: For what you are doing in this church. I Thank you for the
01:11:11: Ezra who is in this place Who 14 years ago?
01:11:17: Set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it and to teach it
01:11:23: I Thank you for this congregation That has come together today to this
01:11:31: Watergate who stand as one man who speak with one voice and Who have so uniquely called out bring the book bring the book
01:11:46: I thank you for the repentance and I thank you for the rejoicing that has resulted and We know that no man has done anything
01:11:58: The word has done it all may you give this church an open door a far -reaching influence in this region and to the ends of the earth for The proclamation and the heralding of the only book that you have ever written the sacred scripture and May you bless your people this day?