Turn with me to the book of Nehemiah.
It's right before Esther and right after the book of Ezra.
We'll be in chapter 8, but start in chapter 1. Nehemiah. Let's kind of do an overview
of what's going on in this book. Let's read the first three verses
in Nehemiah chapter 1. Let's give an overview. We'll work our way to chapter
8. The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hathaliah, and it came
to pass in the month Shizlu in the twentieth year as I was in
Shushan, the palace. And he and I, one of my brethren,
came he and certain men of Judah, and I asked them concerning the
Jews that had escaped, which were left of captivity, concerning
Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant
that are left of the captivity there in the province are in
great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is
broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire." Verse
4, And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat
down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted and prayed before
the Lord God of heaven. So this chapter 1, the Lord brings
it to the mind of one of His chosen to his mind and his heart, to
rebuild the wall at Jerusalem. Nehemiah chapter 2, Nehemiah
petitions the king of Persia. Chapter 2 verse 1, And it came
to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxeres
the king, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and
gave it to the king. Now I had not been before time
sad in his presence. Wherefore, the king said unto
me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? Is
there nothing else but sorrow of heart? This is nothing else
but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid.
And I said unto the king, Let the king live forever. Why should
not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father's
sepulchers, lies waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with
fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dose you make request? And I like this, So I pray to
the God of heaven." Before he answers the king, he knows his
petition is going to be heard. For he has a high priest that
intercedes for him, as we do. And this is just daily living.
Before we answer, maybe ask the Lord what you should answer.
So he said in verse 5, And I said to the king, If it please the
king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that
thou wouldst send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's
sepulchre, that I may rebuild it. And the king said unto me,
and the queen also sitting by him, For how long shall your
journey be? And when will you return? So it pleased the king to send
me, and I set him a time. Moe over I, son of the king,
if it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors
beyond the river that they may convey me over till I come unto
Judas." So, not only is Nehemiah petitioning by the direction
of God, he's petitioning the king of Persia for aid and for
letters to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The next thing
we see is that Nehemiah begins, under the blessings of the Persian
king and supremely under the blessings of the Lord God over
all, to rebuild the wall and to help the remnant who is still
in Jerusalem, who were carried away captive to Persia, to help
him build the wall. Now look with me at chapter 6.
Well, not everybody's happy. Not everybody's happy that this
place is, if they know about this place, in Jackson that the
gospel is preached here. It's like, you know, you guys,
this is the reality. This is the truth of the matter.
The last post, Facebook post that I boosted in the 30-mile
radius, everybody gives a thumbs up, but there's always one or
two, and they just don't like it. They can't stand it. You
know, they're getting on to me. That's just the way, that's just
the nature of it. That's the nature of it. So we find here,
Nehemiah is progressing nicely. He's got letters. So when somebody
says, what are you doing? He shows them the leather of
the king. They back off. Now, in chapter 6, there's enemies
of Nehemiah, which is our enemies of God, and enemies of the grace
of God, and enemies of the free salvation of Christ. They try
to hamper the work. But as it proceeds, look at chapter
6, verses 1, 2, 3. Now it came to pass when Sanballat
and Tobiah and Geshem, the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies heard
that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left
therein, though at that time I had not set up the doors upon
the gates. at Santa Blad and Gishom sent unto me saying, Come,
let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain
of Ono. But they sought to do me mischief.
I sent messengers unto them saying, I am doing a great work so that
I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while
I leave it and come down to you?" Now this is for us in this place
right here. Let's keep faithful to His work
here in Jackson. Don't let the enemies of the
gospel, don't let the enemies of grace or our own flesh take
us away from the importance of what's going on here. No matter what or who tries to
dissuade us, family, friends, neighbors, things of this world, We are doing a great work. You
look at it, and people are like, what great work! The glory of God is being preached
here. We can't leave it. We won't leave
it. And we're not going to have people
say, and I've seen this happen, I've seen this happen numerous
times, when either Wednesdays or Sundays or whatever it may
be, It seems like, you know, this is years ago, there were
people who would say, well, can you come over Sunday morning?
No, can't do it. They would purposely try to persuade
the people who were members here to not be here. We cannot stop preaching, we
cannot stop teaching, we cannot stop attending the work of God
in Christ Jesus. It's simply put, remain faithful.
I know stuff happens. I know family situations happen.
I know sickness. I know this stuff. I understand
that. But, let us answer. These are detractors like Nehemiah. I'm doing a great work, so I
can't come down. I can't come down. Why should
the work cease? and while I leave it and come down to you. And
then there's some good conversations, but we'll just stop right there.
May this work not cease. And all I can do is be faithful
in my generation. I don't know about the future. But right now, by God's grace
helping us, may this work not cease. May it come storm, disease,
COVID-19, on and on, or famine, doesn't matter. Keep the doors
open. Keep the doors open. God's gospel
must be declared in simplicity, in truth, and in love. And in
love. Now let's go to our text. This
just blessed me no end. Chapter 8, verses 1 through 12. Look at verse 1 and 2 first.
We'll take it by sections. Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 1 and
2 so there the work is done. They've got the doors up and
There are all the people that the remnant there. I don't know
how many of them are there, but they're there And so they call
an assembly They call an assembly for all the people gathered themselves
together as one man Kind of sounds like a book an axe they had such
in common That's what we do we gathered they gathered together
That word means assembled. 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. So here's what we have. This
is what we're doing here. you know, first day of the week,
all the people are gathered together as we are this day. All things
in common, one Lord, one baptism, one gospel, all for the glory
of the Redeemer. Secondly, in verse 1, they brought
the book of the law to Moses to open and read. This holy,
pure, errorless scripture written by men as they were moved by
the Holy Spirit. We don't get here with one of
those, I can't think of what those study guides were when
I was going to college, those little yellow, yeah, cleft notes. I don't have cleft notes. I have
the Word of God. And if I don't preach it, at
least it's read. This is what we do. When I went
to church in the Methodist church, nobody brought their Bibles.
They just had responsive readings in the back of the hymn book.
Nobody brought their Bibles. This book is precious. So, Ezra
the scribe, they asked him to bring the book, speak to us,
in the place of God, as ambassadors for Christ. When you go to work,
when we go somewhere, you're an ambassador of Christ. Male
or female. Speak the truth. Speak the truth.
Secondly, it says it was on the first day of the seventh month.
Now, this is a glorious time of remembrance in Jewish history.
This hadn't been done in a long time. And it's significant. It's a holy convocation. It's
kind of like the year of jubilee, the year of redemption. When
we gather together, like these people here, we gather to speak
of the saving, redeeming work of the Lord of glory with no
aid on our part. It's all of grace. You can't
help yourself. He has to do it for you. Without the aid of man, it's
all of grace, the grace of God and the work of Christ for sinners
such as us. Third thing, verses 3-6, And
he read therein before the street that was before the water gate
from the morning until midday, before the men and the women
and those that could understand and the ears of all the people
were attentive unto the book of the law. A man stood up to
read. Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. A man stood
up to read verses 11-17. For the Scripture saith, whosoever
believes on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference
between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all them that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they call on
Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?
As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things."
A man stood up to read. And he read. And look at verse 4. And Ezra
the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood. A pulpit of wood which they had
made for that purpose. And verse 5, 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. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the
great God. And all the people answered,
Amen and Amen, with lifting up their hands. And they bowed their
heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Reverence. and worship. It goes
together. It goes together. This is what
we are desirous to do here in this place. Nothing fancy, nothing
sophisticated, nothing showy, or to be seen of men. We actually
want man removed from the equation. Except for man to believe and
repent unto life. That would be wonderful. But
this is what's going on. He read the Scriptures, and they
said, Amen. One heart and one mind, they
agreed with what was being preached. And the thing is, and I have
no question, that the people who go to these different churches,
their members there, they believe what that church preaches. But
it's not the Bible, it's not the Scriptures, it's not according
to the grace of God, it's according to the will of man, and the works
of man, and penances, and purgatory, and benedictions, and horses,
doesn't glorify the Lord. But oh, there's reverence and
worship. Look at verse 8, the true gospel declaration, verse
8. So they read, these men and Ezra,
they read in the book, in the law, distinctly. Gave the sense. Caused them to understand the
reading. Henry Mahan made a comment years ago. He said, if you don't
believe what I preach, at least you'll know what you heard. And that's my desire. Is to be
clear and distinct and give the sense. That is, man cannot save
himself. Man is born in sin. Christ is
our only righteousness. He's seated right now in the
heavenlies, seated at the right hand of God. The work is finished. The work is finished. So, He's
simply telling back all the words of God, grace, mercy, judgment
and peace. And this is only found in a substitute.
It's not found in the domination. It's not found in what you know,
or how much you know, or your theology. It's found in a person. The Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
look at verse 9. There's conviction of sin. Nehemiah,
which is the Tershathel, which means governor, and Ezra, the
priest and the scribe, and the Levites, taught the people and
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. They hadn't heard it in a long
time. It's like that message that I
preached about that arrow. You know, the guy shoots the
arrow and it hits his mark. And the king Ahab said, I'm wounded. That's what the gospel preacher
wants to hear. He wants to hear God glorified.
He wants to hear from our children or from us, I'm wounded. My flesh is wounded. That's good.
That's a good thing. So there's conviction of sin,
which is what the law can only do. It tears down, it breaks
up that fallow ground. Galatians, it's the schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ, yet also, rightly understood by the Holy
Spirit's enabling, the law shows us Christ. It shows us what we
can't do. and there's even hope in the
law. You will see that in a minute. This book is about the redemptive
work of Christ, our King, whether it's Old Testament or New Testament. Verse 10, the Gospel. Here's
the Gospel here. Then He said unto them, Nehemiah,
Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions
unto them 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."
There's the Gospel. This is Old Testament. This is
Nehemiah. There's the Gospel. Yes, the Gospel is seen in the
Old Testament, the Old Covenant. For all these pages, old and
new, are regarding Him. Look with me at verse 10. He
said, Go your way. Go your way. Not the way of man.
We did walk the way of man, but now we walk in God's ways, which
is our ways. He's put a new heart in us, a
new mind, a new thought to think about our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's the way of Christ. It's a way of peace, comfort,
and safety. Look at what he says, eat the
fat. Eat the fat. Reference to the sacrifice, the
fat of the sacrifice made for sinners by Christ. Eat of his
flesh, this is what we're gonna do after the service, eat of
his flesh, drink of his blood. Do this in remembrance of me. Eat the fat. Look, he says next,
drink the sweet. Was there ever any sweeter draught
than the complete satisfaction found in the Anointed One of
God? No. To the believer, He is altogether,
altogether lovely. And then look at this. Send portions. Not only send portions, but send
it to them whom have nothing prepared. That's what we do. We come in
here. We're not trying to come in and
make sure we, you know, We're not trying to please the Lord,
as far as that goes, or He's not benefited by us. Christ is
our portion. Send portions. What? Christ is
our portion. He's our bread, He's our water, He's our peace,
He's our hope, He's our life, He's our door, our shepherd,
our daysman. What more do we need? What more
do we need than the Lord to be our portion? And look for whom
He's sent. Look for whom. portions unto
them for whom nothing is prepared. In my hands, no price I bring. Turn with me to Isaiah 55. This
is those whom He brings. They haven't prepared anything. What a glorious day that would
be to come walking in that door. I didn't prepare a thing. Good.
You didn't come with your notions of former religion. Former goodness,
former works. Well, we do it this way at our
church. You didn't come with any of that. You just came and sat
and listened. And I hope like the Brians, take
the things that I say and go home and look them up. Isaiah
55, verses 1-3, Oh, everyone that thirsts, Come to the waters. If you don't
have any money, come and buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and
milk without money, without price. Why do you spend money for that
which is not bread and your labor for that which satisfies not?
Hearken diligently unto me and eat that which is good and let
your soul delight itself in fatness. Eat the fat. Incline your ear
and come unto me, here, and your soul shall live, and I will make
an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of
David." We carry nothing with us but
sin. Christ must provide all for us,
and He has, because He's completed the work. When He hung on the
cross, it said it's finished. It's finished. Look at more. Rejoice and have
joy. For this day is holy unto the
Lord. We're not saying when we come
in here we just do what we want to do. Holiness unto the Lord. There's respect and reverence.
Don't be sorry. For the joy of the Lord is your
strength. Be happy. The word happy is blessed. Blessed
is the man. Happy is the man, happy is the
woman, happy is the boy, happy is the girl. Rejoice in the portion
and provision of this glorious and great martyr lamb. That's
it. Rejoice. What do I have to rejoice?
Joy in the Lord. He's my portion. He's my provision. Listen to what Maurice said.
A man once said, the early Christians did not say in dismay, look at
what the world has come to. but rather in the light. They
said, look who has come into the world. Perhaps we need to
be more like those early Christians. While it is impossible for those
who walk in the light to ignore or be indifferent towards the
work of darkness, yet we should fix our hearts upon Zion's King,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoice with thanksgiving that such a
one came into this sinful world and performed Such amazing, effectual
work of love for those who were His natural enemies. And I'm
not the power of positive thinking. I'm not saying that. I'm saying
this is faith active. This is a holy day unto the Lord,
but don't be sorry. So I can't keep the law. Christ
has kept it. I know I'm going to leave here
and I'm going to sin. And you will and I will. But
confess your sins, He is faithful and just and forgiving. Every
answer, every term, Christ is the answer. Christ and Christ
alone. Revelation chapter 5, verses
6 through 10. Revelation 5, verses 6 through
10. I beheld, and lo, in the midst
of the throne and of the four beasts, in the midst of the elders,
stood a lamb that had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the
earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of
him that sat on the throne. And when he had taken the book,
the four beasts and four twenty elders fell down before the lamb,
having every one of them, golden vials of odors, which are the
prayers of the saints. And they sung. They had joy. A new song, saying, Thou art
worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof, for Thou was
slain, and hast, past tense, redeemed us to God by Thy blood,
out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation, and hast
made us unto our God kings and priests. and we shall reign on
the earth." Joy. Joy. Joy. Now, in closing, what is
the result of the gospel of grace of God when it's believed? Look
at how this is worded, verse 11 and 12. So the Levites stilled
all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy. Don't be grieved. You've already
grieved over sin, and you'll grieve over it tomorrow. But
look to the Lamb of God that was slain. Look to His righteousness. Have peace. There is nothing
in this world, in this country, in this time... Talk about this
and talk and talk and talk. I'm tired of talking about it.
Let's look to Christ. He's over everything anyway.
Come what may, He is over everything. But look at how this is word.
So they said, it's holy, neither be grieved. And all the people
went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions and
to make great mirth. Why? Why are you rejoicing Christ? How can you possibly rejoice
in Christ? Here you go. Because they, we, had have understood
the words that were declared unto them." That's what I'm doing. I'm declaring
unto you that which God has told me to declare and has told you
to declare. God is satisfied in and through
Christ because they understood the words. I don't know if you can remember
when you first believed or if it's, you know, I don't know.
Some people can, some people can't. Do you believe now? Do I, do we believe Christ? Do I, do we trust Christ? Do I, do we bow to Him alone? Do I, do we give Him all the
glory and salvation? Rejoice. Rejoice with joy unspeakable. Let us do so today and forever. To God be the glory. Nathan,
would you close us please?