Go with me now to the book of
Nehemiah chapter 8. Nehemiah 8 is before Psalms and
Job. Nehemiah 8. I've always loved this chapter
ever since the first time I heard it, this wonderful story. But there is a story inside the
story. There's a message inside the
message. We know that every word in the
scripture is significant, don't we? Every single one. every word. We're going to look
at a few words in particular this morning. All right, let's
begin by reading the first nine verses here in Nehemiah eight. Verse one says, and all the people
gathered themselves together as one man into the street that
was before the water gate. And they spake unto Ezra the
scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had
commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the
law before the congregation both of men and women and all that
could hear with understanding upon the first day of the seventh
month. And he read therein before the
street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday,
six hours, before the men and women and those that could understand
and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book
of the law. They were hanging on every word,
every word. knowing that their souls depended
on it, knowing that it was life and death. Verse 4 says, And
Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made
for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattathiah,
and Shema, and Ananiah, and Uriah, and Hilkiah, and Maasaiah on
his right hand, and on his left hand, Paddaiah, and Mashael,
and Malkiah, and Hashem, and Hashbodana, Zechariah, and Meshulam. And Ezra opened the book in the
sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the
people stood up. God's people have fear and reverence
for God's Word, don't they? They have fear and reverence.
We may not physically stand up when we open this book, but we
do in heart, don't we? We do in heart. We're reverencing
and fearing the Holy Word of God. Verse 5, Ezra opened the
book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all
the people. And when he opened it, all the
people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the
great God. And all the people answered,
Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads
and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. He is high. We are low, aren't we? We're
low. He must be glorified. We must
be abased. He must increase, John said. I must decrease. I must. Holy
and reverent is His name. Verse 6, Ezra blessed the Lord,
the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting
up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshiped the
Lord with their faces to the ground. Also, Yeshua, and Bani,
and Sherabiah, Jamin, Acob, Shabbatai, Hodiah, Messiah, Kalita, Azariah,
Josabad, Hanan, Peliah, and the Levites caused the people to
understand the law, and the people stood in their place. It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. A very
fearful thing. What is God going to do with
me? This is why they stood in their place. They were listening
to God's holy law being read, wondering in their souls, what
is God going to do with me? The more men and women learn
of God's law, this law, The more they understand, the more they
see what God requires, the more they stand still. They start
to not talk. Job said, I think I'll put my
hand over my mouth now. I'm a sinner standing on holy
ground. One man said it like this. He
said, we are sinners hanging over the mouth of hell by a spider's
web. It's a fearful thing, a fearful
thing. The end of verse 7 says, And
the people stood in their place, so they read in the book and
the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them
to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, which is the Tershithah,
that means the governor, And Ezra the priest, the scribe,
and the Levites that taught the people said unto all the people,
this day is holy unto the Lord your God. Mourn not, nor weep,
for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. The words of God's law cannot
be heard with these ears. They cannot be heard, heard with
these ears. They're only truly heard with
this heart only. Now they do hear them. It goes
out and men do hear them, but it's not heard unless it's with
the heart. And if God ever calls us a sinner
to hear with this heart, The words of His law, that sinner
will cry over his sins. He will cry. God will confront
a man or a woman with their own sin every time. They live this
life, they go through this entire life not thinking about it, not
dwelling on it, not worried about it. But when God comes, the first
thing He's going to show them is their sin. First thing. He's going to confront them with
it. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And
all those people, they listened attentively. And all those people,
they were caused to understand it. And all those people wept
when they heard the words of the law. Go with me over to Romans
chapter 3. Romans chapter 3 verse 19 says, Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty. You have a margin in your Bible?
subject to the judgment of God, guilty before God. Every soul
on this earth has broken God's law. Every soul. Verse 20 says,
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. That's how we learn about our
own sin. If a man wants to understand
something of his sin, all he needs to do is look at God's
law. That's all he needs to do. Look at God's law. Go over to
Romans 7 with me. Romans 7 verse 12 says, Wherefore the law is holy and
the commandment holy and just and good. Verse 14 says, for
we know that the law is spiritual, but here's my problem. I am carnal. sold under sin. That's what God's law proves,
absolutely proves to every man and woman who hears it, hears
it. I am sold to sin. Sold to sin. The law does not
have one drop of good news for a sinner. Not one drop. The law shocks sinners. It breaks sinners. It crushes
sinners. The law does nothing but cause
sinners to weep. That's all it does. It causes
sinners to weep. But Ezra and those men, they
made them a pulpit of wood. And they stood up on this pulpit
of wood and they said something. They told those people something
that caused a great change to come over them. They're all standing
there weeping and they said something that made a great change. Go
with me back to Nehemiah. Nehemiah 8. Nehemiah 8 verse 9 says, And
Nehemiah, which is the Tershithah, and Ezra, the priest, the scribe,
and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people,
This day is holy unto the Lord your God. Mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept when
they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your
way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet. and send portions unto
them for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy unto our
Lord. Neither be ye sorry, for the
joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the
people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy, neither
be ye grieved. And all the people went their
way, to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make
great mirth because they had understood the words that were
declared unto them. Now what could they have possibly
heard that would cause them to go from absolute crushing sorrow
to indescribable joy? Something was good news to them.
Something gave them strength. And it caused great mirth, great
gladness and joy. What did they hear? Every name
in this text is significant. Every single one. And the names
of these men that preached, we went through all these men that
preached. The names of the men that preached
tell us what they preached. Just like we did with John. They
tell us what they preached. Now the names in verse 4, you
see all those names right there in verse 4? They are glorious. They're glorious. The meanings
of those names are wonderful. But this morning we're going
to look at verse 7. I preached from this once before
and I looked at all the names in verse 4 and I didn't look
at verse 7. And this morning we're going to look at verse
7. And the definition of these names
is going to tell us what brought these people out of this miry
clay, all this sadness, all this sorrow. If God will cause us
to hear this, if He'll open our heart this morning and cause
us to hear this, we'll have some great mirth in here. We truly
will. This is so wonderful and joyful. After this crushing reality,
here in God's law, the first name in verse 7 is Jeshua. And it means Jehovah will save. That's what it means. He will
save. There is no hope under God's
law. That's the truth. I mean, we
tell God's law. I cannot make it into the presence
of God Almighty by obeying one thing on any page in this book. Now, I want to. And I am commanded
to, but I'm a sinner. And I just can't. I am damned. I'm damned. There is no hope
under God's law. They told them, you're literally
running as fast as you can into the grave. And that's what everybody's
doing. They're running as fast as they
can into the grave. But this is what they said, Jehovah
will save you. Jehovah will save you." And I
could picture those people. I thought about this great number
of people all standing in the street together. One man, serious,
standing there with husbands, wives, children. Everybody was
silent. They didn't have microphones
back then. Everybody was silent, listening to the words as they
go forth, thinking, what is God going to do with me? And all
of a sudden, the man says, Jehovah is going to save you from all
this. What? What did he say? What did he
just say? Did you hear what he said? What did you say? I said, Jehovah will save you. Immediately, hearts were turned
from mourning to joy, laughter. I thought you just said though
that we were going to die in our sins. I thought you said
we were all sinners and this law condemned us and we only
had one option, the grave. We thought this was our end.
Verse 7, Bani stood up. His name means to cause to continue. It means built. It means established. He said Jehovah is going to cause
you to continue. Yes, in yourself you're in a
bad state. If it were not for Jehovah, you
have no hope. You are not going to die though,
because Jehovah will save and He'll cause you to continue.
How? How? Does He just lift up the
rug and we'll just sweep your sins under that rug? No, God
is holy. That's what they get three times.
They said He's holy in verse 9 and then in verse 10 they said
He's holy. Then in verse 11 they said He's holy, He's holy, He's
holy. How then with this law being
so against me, How? Verse 7, Sherebiah means Jehovah
has brought heat. It means Jehovah has scorched. Well, I thought that's what I
deserved. I thought that's what was coming
to me. If it's not me, then who? Verse 7, Jaman means his right
hand. Jehovah has scorched his right
hand. God will not rain down fire on
you because he rained down fire on his own son. That's why. His right hand hath gotten you
the victory. Death, where's thy sting? Yeah, but after seeing God's
law, seeing my sin, I just have such a hard time believing He
did this for me. I see where He has not done this
for everybody, so I have a hard time believing I'm one of the
us. I see how He could do it for
others, but I don't know about me. Not with what I am. Verse 7. Acob and Shabbatai,
they stood up together. Acob means trickery, to seize
by the heel, to restrain as if holding by the heel, to supplant. Who's that? That's Jacob. That's the sinner. Yeah, but
I'm the son of the sinner. Shabbatai means rest. It also means the Sabbath. Center. Rest. Rest. Christ our Sabbath has given
you rest. You mean that's it? I don't have
to go do some great thing? No. Rest. Here's the truth. You were in
a bad way. But God has saved you. He has plucked you as a brand
from the fire. You will not die. You're going
to continue forever. Yes, you sinner. I know what
you did. Rest. Rest. He's done every bit of this for
the unworthy and the ungodly. But I'm ungodly. He did this
for the ungodly. That's who He did it for. Rest.
Verse 7, Hodiah means the majesty of Jehovah. Just rest in the
majesty of Jehovah. It also means beauty, excellency,
glory, honor. Rest in that. Just rest. Messiah
means the work of Jehovah. Rest in that. Rest in everything
He has accomplished for us. Everything that He has taken
for us, everything He has given to us. Rest, pardon, freedom,
forgiveness. No, we didn't deserve it. No,
we didn't earn it. No, we're not worthy of it. But
He gave it to us. He gave it to us. Rest. The law
is horrible news. The law is the worst news I've
ever heard in my life. But the gospel of Jesus Christ
and His crucified, Him crucified, is the greatest news a sinner
will ever hear in his life. If a man or woman ever realizes,
I am a sinner, this is the greatest news he'll ever hear in his life.
Verse 7, kolita means crippled. Can't walk, can't come, completely
unable. Azariah means Jehovah has helped. Jehovah has helped. Who does
he help? Well, he helps those who help themselves. No, he helps
the crippled. That's who he helps. Those who
cannot help themselves. That's who this message is to.
My question is, has that holy law crippled me? and crippled
you? Are we crippled? Do we see according,
by this law, by what he's demanding, I can't move. Not only am I just
crippled, I'm dead. It cripples us. That's who Jehovah
has helped. Azariah, it also means to surround,
to protect, to aid. If God has caused you to bow
the knee to Christ, If God has caused you to fall in love with
Jesus Christ, your God, your King, if He's caused you to confess
that He's Lord of all, then you are so hedged about. You are
so hedged about. Not only will you not die and
be judged by Him, you are protected by Him. You are hedged about,
in His hand, kept. Verse 7, Josephad means Jehovah
has given. He's given. What did He give? He gave Himself. He gave Himself
and in Him are all things. Ezra and these men, they told
all of these weeping sinners, not only are you not going to
die, But you're going to inherit the Son of God. You're going
to inherit the Son of God. All things in Him, with Him,
all things. Verse 7, Hanun means favor. It means to stoop in kindness
to an inferior. It means He is merciful. That's grace and mercy. Grace
and mercy. What do we owe all this to? and
mercy. That is what this is. His name also means to dwell
with. Canaan is Canaan's land. Can you imagine living in the
place where God lives? It is going to happen. We are
going to dwell with Him. We are going to dwell with Him.
The reason is because the name Peliah means Jehovah has distinguished. Jehovah has done wonders. Jehovah
has made great. How did He make us crippled sinners
great? How did He make us great? The
name Levites means joined to. That's what it means. Ezra and
all these men, they told the people, they stood up and they
told these people, you have been joined to Jesus Christ. You were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved you, even when you were
dead in sins, hath quickened you together with Christ. By
grace you're saved." That's what they told them. That's why in
verse 9, Nehemiah, which is the Tershithah, and Ezra, the priest,
the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto
all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God. Mourn
not, nor weep." Don't cry, don't weep. That's why in verse 10,
he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet.
It's all so good. Send portions unto them for whom
nothing is prepared. Don't you hear this gospel and
think of people who have not eaten this and tasted this and
think, Oh, I want to bring a plate to them. I wish you could feast
on this. I wish you could taste this and
drink this. Verse 10, For this day is holy
unto our Lord, neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord
is your strength. That's why in verse 11, the Levites
stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day
is holy, neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their
way to eat and to drink and to send portions and to make great
mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared
unto them. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, we
understand. We understand. Yes, I understand
God's law, but I understand God's Son. I understand what He did. I understand why He did it. My mind can't fathom why He would
love me, but He did. And I'm going to live because
Christ loved me and gave Himself for me. And then they all went home and
they made great mirth. Let's all do the same thing.
Let's stand together.