Nehemiah chapter 8. And I'll
speak for myself and probably every preacher that has, every
person that has stood up here to preach that I don't think
I could hear it enough, even though it's repeated every time
Matt asks and prays that whoever stands here preaches not what
that person wants to say, but what we need to hear. I'll hear
that all the time. I'll hear it on repeat. We'll
be in Nehemiah 8, starting in verse 7. And I'll try to get through these
Hebrew names here. It says, also, Jeshua, Bani,
Cherubiah, Jamin, Aqub, Shabbathai, Hodiah, Messiah, Kalita, Azariah,
Josabath, Hanan, and Peliah, and the Levites helped the people,
here's the key, helped the people to understand the law. And the
people stood in their place. So they read distinctly from
the book in the law of God, and they gave the sense, and helped
them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor,
Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people,
said to all the people, this day is holy to the Lord your
God. Do not mourn nor weep, for all
the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he
said to them, go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and
send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this
day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of
the Lord is your strength. So the Levites quieted all the
people, saying, be still, for the day is holy. Do not be grieved. And all the people went their
way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly,
because they understood the words that were declared to them."
Now firstly, I'm going to get right into it. I'm going to get
right into it. What we can truthfully say and
tell to others, because it's right here in this passage, the
gospel can be found in the law. Now don't misunderstand that.
I didn't say salvation can be found in the law. but the gospel
can. Our salvation isn't found in
that law. Now false Christianity, it likes
to remind people of the law nearly every Sunday so that they feel
guilty, they feel ashamed, or so that they can be controlled. They who worship in false Christianity,
they use the law like as a club. They'll keep the congregation
in line. Do this, don't do that. And of course they teach one
must follow the law to stay in the good graces of the church.
That's important too, almost as being in the good graces of
God, but mostly in the good graces of the church. And many of the
kids I know growing up, they became disillusioned with whatever
denomination they were in, whatever religion it was. And it was because
of this. It was because of this. They
were constantly reminded of the do's and don'ts. There was no
grace, there was no mercy, and there was Christ at Christmas
and Easter. And I can't blame them for being disillusioned.
Who would want to hear that? Who would want to be told that
they just better watch out because God will strike them down any
minute. They could fall out of the good graces of God. So it probably drove them to
despair. And yet we can find good news
in the law as it directs us to the Lord. Turn to Leviticus chapter
21. And we'll read a little bit about
what the law has to say about the high priest. Leviticus 21
and starting in verse 10. It says, he who is the high priest
among his brethren. on whose head the anointing oil
was poured, and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not
uncover his head, nor tear his clothes, nor shall he go near
any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother,
nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of
his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God
is upon him. I am the Lord. And he shall take
a wife in her virginity, a widow, or a divorced woman, or a defiled
woman, or a harlot. These he shall not marry, but
he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife, nor shall
he profane his posterity among his people, for I the Lord sanctify
him. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying,
speak to Aaron saying, no man of your descendants in succeeding
generations who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread
of his God. For any man who has a defect
shall not approach. A man blind or lame, who has
a marred face or any limb too long, a man who has a broken
foot or a broken hand, or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a
man who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scab or is a eunuch,
no man of the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect
shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the
Lord. He has a defect, he shall not
come near to offer the bread of his God. He may eat the bread
of his God, both the most holy and the holy, only he shall not
go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect,
lest, this is the important part, lest he profane my sanctuaries,
for I the Lord sanctify them. It is far more difficult in human
terms to attain the post of high priest
than it is to be a simple follower in the assembly. These rules
don't apply to just being an Israelite, but it does to the
high priest. And just look over some of these
requirements. Some are easier to keep than others, such as
not marrying a harlot. But I would think it would be
impossible, nearly impossible at least, to avoid a dead body.
I'm not saying they fall from the sky, but they might be around
the corner, you just don't know. Or someone dies in your presence,
I don't know. Or how about this one, to profane
the sanctuary in a fit of anger. Something's not going your way.
You're inside and you profane the sanctuary. Not only that,
but the one chosen to be high priest must not have any defect,
which includes, to me, the vague prognosis of limbs that are too
long. You could be entirely perfect
otherwise for the post of high priest, and I don't mean that
in God's terms. He set up the rules for high
priests, but what would I say by human terms? You could have a great mind for
it, a great attitude for it, and all that, but if an arm is
longer than the other, you're not worthy. But here's where. we see the gospel. This wasn't
a problem for Christ. Turn to Hebrews 5 and let's read about the great
high priest. Hebrews 5 and we'll start in
verse 1 and then we'll read a bit and jump ahead. It says, for
every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men
in things pertaining to God. that he may offer both gifts
and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those
who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject
to weakness. Because of this, he is required
as for the people. So also for himself to offer
sacrifices for sins. Now jump ahead to verse six.
It says, as he also says in another place, you are a priest, speaking
of Christ, forever, according to the order of Melchizedek,
who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers
and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him who was
able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly
fear, though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things
which he suffered. And having been perfected, he
became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
called by God as High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek."
Now, when you read about how Jesus lived, and basically what
he said, what he taught, how he acted in the presence of everybody,
there wasn't anything done in secret. You are reading about
a man who followed the law perfectly, who followed the restrictions
of being a high priest perfectly. Do you know or do you want to
know what God meant when he told Moses all those things on Mount
Sinai? Do you want to know what he meant?
Just look to Christ. That's what he meant. Christ himself said that the
very scripture which the scribes and teachers of the law were
studying testified of him. Testified of him. And they were
the supposed experts of the day when it came to matters of the
law. So in other words, they were studying the gospel and
they didn't know it. They were studying the gospel.
Every part of the law is perfected in Christ Jesus. Now secondly,
the gospel is sent by God through men who preach it and reveal
it to his people. It's just the method God chose. And it's a method that does not
appeal to the flesh. Human nature wants to be told
that it's not all bad, that it's not all sinful, not all defiled. give us a little percentage of
goodness. But that's not gospel preaching,
nor is it revealing God's Word to anybody. It does nobody any
good. It's a lie to say that we can
choose when God saves us, or that Jesus needs our help to
save us, or that we just need to get a boost, a leg up into
heaven. We can't even see it. We don't
need a boost. We need to be taken all the way.
But that lie tells of a small God who helps with small problems. That's all he can do. It's popular
to say these things, but it doesn't make it the truth. Bottom line. And that kind of doctrine points
to us, inward, to man. to what we can do and what we
think, but it doesn't point to Christ. But here's the thing,
the law and the prophets, they point to Christ. You could be
studying this, point to yourself. Or it could be revealed to you
and it points to Christ. And what a blessing was bestowed
on this generation of the Israelites in the book of Nehemiah. That
God granted them some men who could truthfully explain the
gospel. That's a blessing. Take note, not every generation
has this blessing. Not every city or even community
has this. Has someone blessed of God to
preach the salvation found only in Christ Jesus? A gospel preacher
is scarcer than gold, but infinitely more valuable. Remember that
God once chose not to send a prophet to Israel for 400 years. 400 years of a famine. No prophet. Now yet, compare
that to today. We live in a country where there's
dozens. I don't know how many. I'm going
to say dozens. I think I should be safe with
that, but we're so blessed. We're so blessed to have this
and we've got, we've got, you know, recordings and, and, and
the sermon audio and all that stuff. We've got CDs. We can
hear it anytime we want to. We are blessed, but they were
also blessed. Now, thirdly, the gospel will
cause a new believer to weep. because of the anguish in heart,
in soul. It says in verse 9 in Nehemiah,
it says, all the people wept when they heard the words of
the law. And I just assume that they cried out like David. I
have sinned against the Lord. That's why they were weeping.
I have sinned against the Lord. It's not a weeping caused by
fear, but a weeping caused by the knowledge that they broke
God's law. It matters because it is God who made that law,
not a government, not a king. People don't feel, I mean, you
know this, people don't feel very bad when they speed or cheat
on taxes. Some people revel in it. They
enjoy breaking the law. But they will weep when they
have wronged somebody. Because that hurts you and your
soul. And they will weep when God reveals to them how much
they have broken His holy law. False Christianity would have
you believe that God is keeping a checklist of all the things
you've done wrong. All the swear words, all the
bad things you've ever said. you know, a list, a checklist
would kind of be convenient because they also think that he's keeping
a record of all the good things. So that as he writes a good thing,
he can cross off a bad thing. Take that off the list. You know,
it's like, it says here that you once tortured a frog when
you were 11, but you did join the church, or join the church
youth basketball team and made the game winning score. So we'll
just call it even. That's the checklist of today's Christianity. But let me simplify it down for
you. There is none righteous. No, not one. There is none who
understands. There is none who seeks God.
They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good.
No, not one. That's everybody down here. Way
down here. There's no checklist. Now, if
you can read those words without weeping, you need to examine
your heart. It is universally true that it
is impossible to do good. It is impossible to do good in
our nature. And therefore, it is impossible
to please God because God is righteous, he is good, And so when you're brought to
that understanding, you weep, just like these Israelites did.
But your weeping will soon turn to weeping for joy. The gospel
also causes the believer to rejoice, and this is most evident in Isaiah
6. Turn there and we'll read verses
1 through 5. Isaiah 6, starting in verse 1. It says, in the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted
up. And the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood
Seraphim. Each one had six wings. With
two, he covered his face. With two, he covered his feet.
And with two, he flew. And one cried to another and
said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. and the posts of the door were
shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was
filled with smoke. So I said," this is Isaiah, "'Woe
is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and
I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips, for my eyes
have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.'" In this vision, Isaiah
understands himself rightly. He is in the presence of the
Holy God, He is a man of unclean lips, and He lives among people
who are the same as He is. There is none righteous, woe
is me, there is none righteous. Now, read verses 6 and 7. Then one of the seraphim flew
to me, having in his hand a live coal, which he had taken with
the tongs from the altar, and he touched my mouth with it,
and said, behold, this has touched your lips, your unclean lips,
your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged." Just like
that, just like that. No more will Isaiah say, woe
is me, but blessed am I. He went from the spiritual equivalent
of polar opposites. It was like in a moment. It was
from the South Pole to the North Pole. The moment after he knew
that he could not stand in the presence of God Most High or
he would die, that moment after he realized that was the moment
that God said to him, I have forgiven your iniquity and I
will remember your sin no more. That's from the book of Jeremiah.
Now that's cause for rejoicing. And that cause lives in the heart
of every believer. We know this to be true. We rejoice to go to church because
we understand it as another chance to hear of our Savior's love
for us. Another chance to hear how completely
hopeless we were when He called us. and then showed us and held
us in His everlasting arms. We have joy when another one
of His people are called. We have a joy there because they
are a sister or brother in Christ who was lost but is now found. All of this joy. All of this
joy. We are glad even when a sister
or brother is in Christ is called home, even though we're sad at
the time. But we know this, he or she will
see him truly. We don't get that yet. They see
him truly, not in type, but face to face with the Savior. Now finally, this is not the
end, but finally, when the true gospel is preached, it causes
the believer to confess the following things. I think I have six here. Now these things are found back
in the book of Nehemiah, but in chapter 9. Nehemiah chapter
9. Give me a second here to find it. Nehemiah 9 starting in verse
5. We'll read them through. says in the Levites, Jeshua,
Kadmiel, Bani, Heshabnai, Sherabiah, Hodiah, Shabaniah, and Pethaniah
said, stand up and bless the Lord your God forever and ever. Blessed be your glorious name,
which is exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the
Lord. You have made heaven. the heaven
of heavens with all their host, the earth and everything on it,
the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all, the
host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord God who chose
Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave
him the name Abraham. You found his heart faithful
before you and made a covenant with him to give him the land
of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites,
the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it to his descendants.
You have performed your words, for you are righteous." Those
are all confessions. So first, this is what we confess.
The gospel is first revealed to us. We confess that God's name is
glorious. It's there in verse five. Blessed
be your glorious name. When Jesus passed through the
Mount of Olives on his way to Jerusalem, the crowd started
to shout a word that isn't used anywhere else that I could find. Just this situation, the word
was hosanna, hosanna. Now that Greek word is made up
of two Hebrew words, yashah, which means to save and to deliver, and nah, which means now and
I beseech. So in our wording today, it would
be the equivalent to saying, I beg you, save me now. Hosanna. Now that name is glorious. That
wasn't said to anybody else but one person. In another place,
God is referred to as Jehovah, which means self-existent and
eternal. Whenever you see in your Bible
the word Lord in all capital letters, that's the Hebrew Jehovah.
Do you know what else? Or, sorry, not what else, but
who else has that name? No one, just Him. It's a glorious
name. The second confession we have
is that God alone is Lord. That's in verse 6. You alone
are the Lord. God was not created, for there's
no one higher than Him. He is the King of kings and Lord
of lords. There's not anyone beside Him
either who can match His glory, His righteousness, and power,
when Satan stood up to God, God cast him out of heaven because
God is more powerful than even Satan. When Job's friends thought
that they could comfort Job with their wisdom, remember, they
thought they had wisdom, God spoke real wisdom to them, real
wisdom, and they could not answer. God alone is Lord. And when certain
writers, in the Old Testament especially, and even John, when
they were given visions of God on His throne, no one was described
as being arrayed as God was. He had the most, I mean, we just
saw it here, I forget what it was called, whatever it was that
came off Him. No one else is described as having
these things. And God was always alone on the
throne. He didn't say, God and someone
else. It's just God. He doesn't share
His glory with anyone. The third thing we confess is
that He is Creator of all things. That's also in verse 6. You made
heaven. You made the heaven of heavens
with all their hosts, the earth and everything in it, the seas
and all that is in them. You made it all. We can read in Job of many of
the awesome creatures that God has made or the depths of the
ocean that he knows. No one's been down there, but
we don't need to. We can look outside and we can
see the earth and the horizon stretch beyond our ability to
even see. It just, we can't see that far
even. And we know that the creator
is mighty and that that creator must be God. The fourth thing
we confess is that God is the one who chooses a sinner and
it is not the sinner who chooses God. That's in verse seven, you
are the Lord God who chose Abram, who chose Abram. We find this
doctrine of particular redemption repeated in many books of the
Bible, notably Ephesians, but there are still many who believe
that Jesus died for anyone and everyone, who was ever born. All people need to do is just
tell God that they're ready to be saved, and they'll be saved.
He will do it right away. A belief that you need saving
isn't even a requirement. You just gotta say the words.
It's like, hit a button, get saved. But the troubling thing is that
that's not recorded anywhere in the Bible. It's not recorded
that Abraham ever asked God to save him before he did. In fact, Abram was living in
Canaan when God first appeared to him and God told him to get
out of his or Abram's country without even asking Abram's permission. The Gaul God did not say to Abram, I will
make you a great nation, if that's okay with you, and I will bless
those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you. Just
let me know if you first agree, Abram. I want to make sure you're
on board. God would sound utterly ridiculous
if he had to ask permission before he decided to intervene in the
lives of anyone. Think of this, is it rude that
God simply thrust visions and answers to dreams unbidden into
Daniel's head without asking Daniel first? That's a violation
of Daniel's free will, isn't it? He just put those visions
in there. And I don't recall Jonah stating
that he wanted to be swallowed by a whale, but God did it anyway. Or do you suppose God consulted
with Naaman first before he used Elisha to heal him of leprosy?
Naaman didn't say anything about that. But what lies the hearts of men
concoct when they try to save some glory
for themselves? You can't make this book work
and free will at the same time. The truth is that God calls the
sinner and not the other way around. So that was the fourth
thing. The fifth, we confess that He performs His
words. That's verse eight. He performs
His words. It says at the bottom, you have
performed your words. It wasn't my words He performed,
it was His words He performed. There is no sure being in all
creation than God. If he says, die, then the thing
dies. If he says, live, then a thing
lives. If he says, I will avenge, then
he will have and show his vengeance. And if God says, I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion, then he will not be gracious to some.
And He will not be compassionate to some as well. It says, to
whom I will be gracious, to whom. Lastly, we must confess that
He is righteous. That's in the last part of verse
eight. All of these things that they are praising Him for, sums
up right here, for you are righteous. Not only is God righteous by
right of being the creator of all things, but also by the confessions
of others. It's not just His witness, so
to speak, it's other witnesses too. The writer of Psalm 71 in
verse 19 said, also your righteousness, O God, is very high. Not average,
not adequate, but high. Deborah and Barak in Judges 5.11,
there they shall recount the righteous acts of the Lord. David in Psalm 103 verse 17,
but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear Him and His righteousness to children's children
all the way down. Daniel in Daniel 9 verse 7, when
he's making a confession in prayer, he says, oh Lord, righteousness
belongs to you. Belongs to you. And Jesus, what better witness? The son of God in Matthew 6,
33, it says, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. and all these things shall be
added to you." Anything that is ever called righteous comes
from God. Full stop. Because there is none
righteous, no not one, except Him. He is not called Jehovah's
Echidna for nothing. We must confess that He is and
always will be the Lord our righteousness. Bruce, will you close us in prayer?