INVINCIBLE CHURCH 10-6-24

Invincible Church Sermon Notes
10/6/2024
Rebuilding with God – Nehemiah 8:1-18
In our prior messages: We started the summer with how to handle relationships, then learned about the enemies of God, walking by faith, God’s revelation, true courage, and God’s government. Today is “Rebuilding with God” because everything a true follower of Jesus does should always start and stop with seeking God first.
There’s a continual cycle: God creates, God blesses, God allows free will, the enemy influences, man decides to sin and turns from God, God disciplines man because He loves us, man repents, man turns back to God, and God restores man through His grace and mercy. Rinse and repeat.
Along those lines, there is a time-tested principle that applies to the cycle, and it’s this: Hard times make strong men, strong men make good times, good times make weak men, and weak men make hard times. Rinse and repeat.
People have always had to deal with bad situations and tragedies in life. Whether it’s from their own bad choices (which is usually the case), or maybe it’s some kind of spiritual attack, it can be really difficult to overcome or defeat the consequences of these problems.
The answer is, and always will be, to seek God first. When a person or group of people in a nation decide to turn to God, or in the case of our nation, turn back to God, there’s a biblical process for getting it done.
One biblical example of how we are supposed to handle these situations is given to us in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. The biblical term for it is a "sacred gathering," and there is a process we need to follow if we want to see the principle become a reality.
The specific example we will look at today is what Nehemiah and Ezra did in Nehemiah 8. So, what was going on in Israel at the time? Israel had become divided into the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom because the people in the North kept rebelling against God’s commands.
So in 722 BC, as disciplinary action against His rebellious people, God allowed the Assyrians to invade and capture Northern Israel and their capital city of Samaria. The Southern Kingdom was called Judah, and they should have learned from the Northern Kingdom what happens when a nation rebels against God.
But, they didn’t. So about 135 years later, in 586 BC, God allowed the Babylonians to invade the Southern Kingdom and capture the leader and prophet Daniel and his people. But God didn’t allow the Northern capital city of Jerusalem to be completely occupied by the Babylonians. Now the Israelites are scattered all over the Middle East.
So, there’s a whole lot of chaos going on—all because of rebellion against God. Then God allowed the Medo-Persian Empire to come in and defeat the Babylonians and take over the divided Kingdom of Israel. It was under the rule of the Medo-Persian Empire that God started bringing His people back to the land that had been taken from them.
It took three separate and distinct trips for all of them to return. The first trip was led by Zerubbabel. The second trip was led by Ezra the priest, and the third trip was led by Nehemiah. During his captivity, Nehemiah had worked for the king of the Medo-Persian Empire.
God led Nehemiah to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. The wall was important because it “provided protection” and “restored the dignity” of God’s people. Nehemiah also led the rebuilding of the city, but God had him rebuild the wall first.
Ezra was the priest, so his job was to rebuild the temple. Nehemiah had God’s hand on him—we know because he rebuilt the walls in 52 days. These walls had been torn down for 150 years. Things had been in chaos for 150 years, and God turned the whole thing around in 52 days.
That’s a miracle! When the people saw how God moved in such a powerful way through the leadership of His servant Nehemiah, it started a revival, and they wanted to hear from God again. So they asked Ezra the priest to bring God’s word in the Book of the Law of Moses and preach, teach, and instruct them on how to know God better.
Somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 people gathered at one of the gates in the wall, called the Water Gate of all things, to hear the word of God preached by Ezra and the Levite priests. The people were so inspired that they bowed, wept, worshipped, and celebrated God for days.
Today, people are worried about our nation, saying that if certain people get elected, and we can’t get them out for another four years, the idea of America as “one nation under God” may be destroyed forever. Well, America has only been a nation for 248 years, and we can’t restore it on our own.
That’s why God’s people have to turn back to Him first. And that’s been happening in big ways, but we won’t see it in mainstream media—and we don’t need to. All we have to do is seek God first, and He’ll show us what He’s been up to and let us know what He wants us to do next.
And if He can restore all the destruction the Babylonians had done for 150 years in only 52 days through Nehemiah, then maybe He would take a couple of weeks and use some of us to restore what pagan politicians have done to America in just a few decades!
The passage says that God’s people “came together as one.” In other words, they were all on the same page. There was only one agenda: get the preacher out here with God’s word. They realized what they had been ignoring, and when they came together, it proved their unity. So…
Where there’s unity, God shows up. Where there’s disunity, God stays away. That’s why the enemy is continually trying to create division between us and uses the government to try and separate us. Satan’s goal is to tear us down and split us up so God won’t show up! Let’s look at the passage to see how to guard against being torn down or to be rebuilt if necessary.
Nehemiah 8: 1- 18 NIV 1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. 2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. 4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam. 5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. 7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear[a] and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. 9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. 10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.” 12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them. 13 On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law. 14 They found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month 15 and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”—as it is written. 16 So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great. 18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.
The main point of the passage is when people and nations have strayed from God, they can return to Him through the authority of His Word. When people respond to God’s Word, revival happens! The passage is continually referencing the Book of the Law of Moses, which is God’s Word.
When we skip His Word, we skip the God of the Word by default! We can’t have God without His Word because He is His Word! We can talk about God all day long, but if we don’t include His Word, then He’s not in it! That’s why they called for Ezra to bring out the Book of the Law.
They wanted to restore the Word of God because it had been pushed out and torn down by pagan society, gradually and methodically over time. It had also been ignored by God’s people, who became preoccupied with the ways of the world. So, the passage is giving us…
The 3 Part Process for Rebuilding with God
1] We have to take in God’s word intellectually!
In verse 1, the people called for Ezra the priest to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses. In verse 2, everybody who was able to understand it was there. Then verse 3 says, he preached from early morning till midday. So, this is a six-hour service!
The reason that these people could stay for six hours is because they weren’t just attending—they were engaged! They were looking at God’s word differently because of the chaotic condition of the nation. It wasn’t just a reading exercise—they realized the value of God’s word.
They understood that they were coming face-to-face with God through His word, so six hours didn’t seem too long! If a worship service seems too long for someone, it’s probably because they either feel like they’ve received all the benefit they need for the time being, or they’d rather be getting on to something else.
But when people start understanding that receiving God’s word is always a huge benefit, then a long message becomes really short! Verses 4 through 7 give us some details about the service—how it was conducted, and who was leading, speaking, teaching, and instructing.
Then verse 8 gives us an idea of what they were doing for six hours. Ezra and the Levite priests would read God’s word, then explain it so that it would make sense to the people. They needed to understand the deeper meaning so they could apply it to their lives.
The same is true today! If we’re true followers of Jesus, God’s word has to take priority over every area of our lives. It’s super important because we need to know where God stands on all things, so we know where and how to stand for Him as His ambassadors, warriors, servants, and saints!
So, we need to be seeking exactly what God wants us to do as His people and nation! True followers of Jesus depend on the Bible to guide our lives, strengthen our families, and structure our churches and communities. The Bible also needs to be the book that determines our politics.
Whether it’s immigration, taxation, education, abortion, economics, or whatever else—if we’re truly “one nation under God,” then we need to ignore the pagan double talk and discern God’s truth so we can make godly decisions in every area of life, including the election booth! But we have to be willing to always put God’s word above everything else, which means...
2] We should genuinely respond to God’s word emotionally!
In verse 9, we see the people had an emotional response to God’s word, which means the intellectual response led to an emotional response! We know because it says they were bowing and crying! So, it started in their minds, and they felt it in their hearts!
When they understood God’s word, they realized that 150 years had been wasted, and they wouldn’t have had to lose all that time if they had paid attention on the front end! It makes people emotional when they realize they didn’t have to stay defeated and depressed for so long. For some people, it can be happy and sad all at the same time!
We can’t help but have regrets when we look back at all the time, effort, and energy we’ve lost, all because we didn’t pay attention to God’s word early on! We go through all this loss, headache, heartache, pain, stress, struggle, and anxiety because we didn’t listen to God in the first place! That’s why they got emotional when they heard God’s word!
But even though we feel bad about all the time we’ve lost, and all the bad circumstances we’ve suffered through, and all the opportunities we’ve missed, if we get God’s true joy back, then we’ll get our strength back, and we’ll be productive and content! The last step is…
3] We have to decide to obey God’s word faithfully!
Verse 13 says this was a special meeting called by Ezra the priest for only the men, for the fathers. It was specifically for the fathers because it was understood that they were the heads of the household, and they needed to make the game plan for obeying the detailed instructions from God’s word.
Verses 14 through 16 record how they followed the instructions of God exactly the way Ezra preached them. And they were rejoicing because when they turned back to the truth of God’s word, they could feel His hand of favor rebuilding them again!
God had their back! The more they got back in alignment with God’s word, the more their desire to follow it grew. Then they took the action that God required, which is faithful obedience. They said, “Okay, God, we’re going to do this, even though it may not be our preference!”
Some of them probably didn’t even want to leave the house, but they did, because they were on board with God’s perfect plan! And they rejoiced for the lesson they were being taught, and how it equipped them to do God’s work at a higher level than they ever could before!
Then in verse 18, they went into the sacred gathering, and they worshipped God for an extended time with great concentration. This means they had to let something else go so they could have the extended time to focus long enough to take it all in!
So, to spiritually rebuild our selves, relationships, families, communities, cities, states, and nation, we have to take in God’s word intellectually, which inspires a genuine response to God’s word in us emotionally. Then we have to decide to obey God’s word faithfully!
There may not be an instantaneous improvement in our bad circumstances, so we have to trust God with patient endurance for His perfect timing. But we’ll definitely start feeling like there’s something different happening inside us, because God’s hand is at work!
We will know because there’ll be a situation that should have made us mad, but we stayed calm! It could be that someone realizes it wasn’t very long ago they thought they were losing their mind, but their emotions have stabilized, even though the bad situation hasn’t changed very much!
Maybe somebody loses their job, and in the past they would’ve freaked out, but now it’s okay because they have the peace and strength of God working inside them! When we start rebuilding our spiritual and physical systems with God, we will definitely be able to tell there’s something different going on inside of us!
It’s a new strength that’s drawn and filtered from the power of God’s word, and it gives us true courage, joy, and peace in Jesus, no matter what we’re facing! God’s word is the spiritual resource He uses to rebuild us when we decide to turn back to Him!
Let’s close with an analogy to help us remember this: It’s like smoking meat! You can cook it "fast and hot" and get it done. It’s safe to eat, but it’s not fit to eat! It’s tough, and there’s no flavor because the smoke from the high-quality wood, which is the source of the fire, didn’t have time to fully permeate the meat, so it’s not perfect.
So, meat turns out closer to perfect when it’s thoroughly smoked over low heat for a long time! Likewise, we can’t just open the Bible every "now and then" to get a little bit of fire for a quick fix! The Bible is the perfect source for building or rebuilding our lives, but...
We’re not perfect! The good news is, Jesus isn’t done "smoking us" yet! It’s a process! Once we’re saved through Jesus, our eternity in heaven is secure, but we’re not finished being "cooked"! If we want to get closer to God and get closer to being "done," we have to want to spend quality time with God and make Him the source for everything in our lives.
If for whatever reason, we’ve strayed away from God and damaged or destroyed our lives, He’ll graciously rebuild us—even better than before. But the rebuilding process starts with His word, and it’s up to us to respond intellectually, emotionally, and faithfully!