Showing Respect to God and His Word

1. Showing Respect to God and His Word Nehemiah 8

2. Nehemiah 8 & The People Had Just Finished Building The Wall And Hanging The Gate & The People Asked Ezra The Scribe To Bring The Book Of The Law Of Moses (V.1) & We See In The People Of Israel A Beautiful Example Of Respect For God And His Word & Lack Of Respect For God’s Word Is The Number 1 Problem Facing God’s People

3. Showing Respect to God and His Word I. They Had A Desire to Learn The Word

4. I. They Had A Desire to Learn The Word Nehemiah 8:1, 3 They Told Ezra The Scribe To Bring The Book Of The Law Their Ears Were Attentive To The Book Of The Law

5. I. They Had A Desire to Learn The Word Nehemiah 8:1 Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded Israel.

6. I. They Had A Desire to Learn The Word Nehemiah 8:3 Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

7. I. They Had A Desire to Learn The Word We Need To Have The Desire To Know God’s Word • Desire The Word As Babes Desire Milk 1 Peter 2:2

8. 1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.

9. I. They Had A Desire to Learn The Word We Demonstrate That Desire By Studying God’s Word 2 Timothy 2:15 1 Timothy 4:13

10. 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

11. 1 Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

12. Showing Respect to God and His Word I. They Had A Desire to Learn The Word II. They Stood Up (Actions Demonstrated Respect)

13. Nehemiah 8:5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.

14. II. They Stood (Actions Demonstrated Respect) We Stand When A Judge Or When The President Enters The Room They Believed God’s Word Was Important

15. II. They Stood (Actions Demonstrated Respect) Our Actions Show Whether We Respect God’s Word or Not Not Necessarily By Standing By turning OFF your phones! By Studying By Teaching It To Your Family Deuteronomy 6:6-8

16. Deuteronomy 6:6-8 And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

17. II. They Stood (Actions Demonstrated Respect) Our Actions Show Whether We Respect God’s Word or Not Not Necessarily By Standing By Studying By Teaching It To Your Family (Deuteronomy 6:6-8) By Teaching It To Others (2 Timothy 2:2)

18. 2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

19. Showing Respect to God and His Word I. They Had A Desire to Learn The Word II. They Stood (Actions Demonstrated Respect) III. It Produced An Emotional Response

20. III. It Produced An Emotional Response Nehemiah 8 They Wept (Vs. 9) 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.

21. III. It Produced An Emotional Response Nehemiah 8 They Rejoiced (Vs. 11-12) So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 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.

22. III. It Produced An Emotional Response If We Respect God’s Word – It Will Produce An Emotional Response In Us At Times We Might Even Be Brought To Tears… When We Know We Haven’t Been Doing What Is Right 2 Corinthians 7:8-10

23. 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. 9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

24. III. It Produced An Emotional Response If We Respect God’s Word – It Will Produce An Emotional Response At Times We Will Be Brought To Tears At Times We Will Rejoice When An Erring One Returns To The Lord – Luke 15:8-10

25. Luke 15:8-10 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

26. Showing Respect to God and His Word I. They Had A Desire to Learn The Word II. They Stood (Actions Demonstrated Respect) III. It Produced An Emotional Response IV. They Obeyed

27. Nehemiah 8:14-17 And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, 15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written…

28. Nehemiah 8:14-17, cont. …Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. 17So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

29. IV. They Obeyed Nehemiah 8:14-17 When We Respect God’s Word, We Will Obey God We Show Whether Or Not We Respect God By The Way We Dress, Talk, And Behave James 1:22-25 Psalm 119:167-168

30. James 1:22-25 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

31. Psalm 119:167-168 My soul keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly. 168 I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, For all my ways are before You.

32. You are invited to show your respect for the Word of God by becoming obedient to it today! “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:8-9)