| The Sword of the Spirit |
Pastor Steve Holt
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Mountain Springs Church
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| 06/10/07 |
The Sword of the Spirit
Nehemiah 8
Introduction:
- The wall has been completed after just 52 days, an amazing feat.
- You will do amazing exploits when your work is done in submission to God, His Word and Spirit.
- The first 7 chapters of Nehemiah have been autobiographical on Nehemiah’s leadership, but now we see Ezra, the Priest, entering into the picture.
- This is one of the most powerful chapters in all of the Bible concerning revival and the power of the Word of God.
- This is the beginning of great revival in Israel…genuine revival.
- The signature of revival is repentance.
- Revival happens to believers; something is revived.
- Deep conviction of sin is the precursor to revival and evangelism is the by product of revival.
- Revival in church history has always been centered in God’s Word.
- We will observe how a simple reading and presentation of the Scriptures under an anointed Spirit-filled preacher can convict hearts and bring forth a great revival.
- This chapter, even this whole book, should be required study for every man who feels called to be a pastor, teacher and leader.
Vs. 1
- The wall is completed but the people are still building their homes.
- And they take time out of their busy schedules to seek God as a people.
- This is the 7th month, the Feast of Trumpets, and they were to have a holy assembly (Leviticus 23 and Numbers 29).
- There are times in the life of a church where the whole congregation should come together and seek God as “one man,” in unity, to search out the heart of God.
- Notice that Ezra is responding to the people longing to hear God’s Word. They request the reading of the Word of God.
- They open the Law of Moses, the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of Moses, the first 5 books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
- They request Ezra because he is a man of the Word
Remember Ezra 7:10
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
- We need pastors and leaders in our pulpits who are preeminently men of God’s Word!!
- Passionately love the Word of God and the God of the Word.
2 Chronicles 16:9
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars."
- Diligently study God’s Word.
- Prepare their hearts to be His vessel for the Word.
- The preaching of the Word should exalt Jesus…for He is the Word of God.
- Submitting to God’s Word in their lives.
- If you desire to be a Word and Spirit pastor and leader, this is the first thing!
Malachi 2:7
"For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
And people should seek the law from his mouth;
For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Vs. 2
- At this time the Word of God was a scroll, as opposed to a text consisting of bound pages.
- In Deuteronomy 31 we see that such a reading was required every 7 years though it had been neglected since the Babylonian captivity (for over 100 years).
- Ex. “they could hear with understanding.” This is why we have a children’s ministry…we want children to be in a venue where they can understand God’s Word…where their conscious becomes understanding.
- This is adults who could understand the teaching on an adult level.
Vs. 3
- Wow, they hear the reading and teaching of God’s Word from daybreak to noon, a period of at least 6 hours.
- Calvin said of God’s work in preaching, “He deigns to consecrate the mouths and tongues of men to his service, making his own voice to be heard in them. Whenever God is pleased to bless their labor, he makes their doctrine efficacious by the power of his Spirit; and the voice, which is in itself mortal, is made an instrument to communicate eternal life.”
- Ex. The reason many of you struggle with guest speakers who have come to our church, is because many of them don’t ground their message in God’s powerful Word and that’s what we love around here!!
- We are not interested in men’s opinion, but God’s fresh anointed Word from the Scriptures!
Vs. 4
- This is a large platform, large enough to hold 14 people.
- The men are probably other priests who stand with Ezra, to show their agreement and unity.
- More than likely when Ezra becomes weary, the other priests will take over and assist him.
Vs. 5-6
- Out of reverence and expectation, the people stand when the scroll is opened.
- They bow down and say, “Amen”, meaning “so be it.” They are saying in their bodies and hearts, “We will obey; we are submitted to Your Word, O Lord.”
- The Jews are expectant! They have faith to not just hear, but fear the Word of God!
- Do you come with expectation? Faith that God is going to speak to your heart?
- You should make this your prayer every weekend: “God, you have a fresh revelation for me; speak, Lord, I am listening. I need fresh manna from heaven.”
- The Word of God is alive! It is moving! It is looking for certain kinds of prepared, expectant hearts that it might be planted and bring forth fruit in your lives.
Matthew 13:3-23
Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" 11 He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.'
16 "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
18 Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
- If you come with a prepared, expectant heart, God will meet your desires and implant His Word into your heart. That will then multiply and bless you 30x, 60x, and in some cases, 100x in fruitfulness.
Vs. 7-8
- God used this passage in my life powerfully 6 years ago, when He convicted my heart to begin teaching the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse.
- Before that I had preached topical sermons.
- If God had meant the Bible to be taught topically, he would have given us a topical Bible, rather He gave us books of the Bible.
- Roy Clements wrote, “If we constantly allow the preoccupations of our world to be the launching pad for our preaching, we will certainly miss many vital things God may want to say to us.”
- But the Holy Spirit led me to this chapter and I saw the Spirit’s power through a thorough teaching of God’s Word.
- We observe here the best and most clear definition of expository teaching in all of the Bible.
- In Vs. 8 we see 3 parts to the Exposition God’s Word:
- Read distinctly the passage.
- “gave the sense of it”, explain it, break it down in a way that people can understand.
- “helped them to understand the reading” meaning that Ezra and the other priests practically apply the Word of God.
- Ex. I hear people saying to me all the time: “for the first time I understand God’s Word; I now have a hunger for God’s Word!”
- Paul said to the Ephesian elders:
Acts 20:27
For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.
- I see new cliques, new church growth methods and new hypes, and they all fade away…the laughing will stop, the roaring will stop, but God’s Word stands forever.
- We always need more sensationalism, and it wears us out, and we need something more sensational.
- I think the Word of God is sensational enough…and I count it a privilege.
- I want to teach the Bible, not just from the Bible! Many pastors are chasing the issues instead of just teaching the Bible.
- Let the Bible teach itself.
- Whenever you are looking for a church, look for a church that teaches God’s Word book by book, chapter by chapter and verse by verse.
- Look for a teacher/pastor who can powerfully explain and apply God’s Word to your life.
Ephesians 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- Alistair Begg: “[Today, in our churches we have] a preoccupation with psychological theory [and it] has in many cases eroded confidence in the Scriptures. When the essence of the human predicament is redefined in terms of a lack of self-esteem, it is almost inevitable that people will be directed toward a couch but not a cross, a psychologist but not a Savior. The extent to which this has happened can be gauged by listening to various strange blends of psychology and theology, some of which are even offered as attempts at expository preaching!”
- So we now see the power of God’s Spirit...
Vs. 9
- The Spirit of God working through the Word of God changes the people of God.
- The world desensitizes us to God’s values and ways:
- Ex. If a German shepherd is running with a pack of wolves, will the pack of wolves become more like the German Shepherd, or will the German Shepherd become more like the wolves?
- The people are being convicted because they have been of the world up to now.
- The Word of the Lord moves the hearts of the Jews and they begin to mourn over their sins.
- The Word of God brings Conviction to our Hearts
- The Word of God should bring repentance and deep sorrow to our hearts for our disobedience to Him.
Vs. 10
- Under such conviction, Ezra instructs them not to stay in a place of repentance and mourning, but to know they are forgiven and to now let the joy of their relationship with God take over.
- The Word of God produces Joy and Strength
- True biblical holiness produces joy.
- Not legalism! That produces a “keeping score” mentality of “don’t do this…do that.” It’s not stars on the frig…that produces sour pusses!
- Obedience to God will produce joy.
- More and more we should be moving in that direction…nobody does it perfectly.
- Joy is strength to your bones and body!
- What makes God happy will make us happy!
Vs. 11
- Slow down and rest in the Lord.
- The Word of God produces Rest in our Lives
- We all need rest and peace in our hearts.
Hebrews 4:11-13
Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Vs. 12
- The Word of God understood and applied will Change our Lives
o They went from disobedience and sorrow to joy and vision.
o God’s Word will not produce joy until you apply it and obey it in your lives.
Vs. 13
- The Word of God studied produces a Hunger and Appetite for more
Vs. 14-18
- The Word of God understood gives Fresh Revelation
This sermon was produced at Mountain Springs Church in Colorado Springs, with Senior Pastor Steve Holt. www.mountainsprings.org
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