May 3, 2010

• May we gather as one man to hear Your Word (Nehemiah 8)

  I've previously written about my concern for Christians to be holy in doctrine and behavior and along with that our need to be united together in Christ (e.g. - please see here and here). The only true unity we have comes through the Holy Spirit, the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ; I've expressed my deep concern about our need to be rooted in and united in the Gospel.

  I've been chewing on the book of Nehemiah for a while now here as well as on my other blog (please see here for the links to those posts). I would like us to consider Nehemiah 8 and 9, specifically to focus on and reflect on the centrality of the Word of God we see there and pray God might give us a similar passion for His Word in our own lives, our congregations and the life of the Church as a whole. The purpose of this website is to be praying for revival in the Church. All the true revivals of religion have had associated with them a return to Biblical preaching. Some might say the preaching spurs the revival; others might say the revival spurs the preaching, but regardless, Biblical preaching is central to any true revival of Christian religion.

  I would ask you to read through Nehemiah 8 and 9 on your own and reflect on the emphasis on the Word of God we see there and ask yourself:

  How central is the Word of God in my own life?
  How central is the Word of God in the life of my congregation?
  How central is the Word of God in the Church as a whole?

  Today I would like us to look at just the first few verses of Nehemiah 8, and D.V., I hope to continue on with more from these chapters in coming days.

  
  Nehemiah 8:1  And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 2  So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3  And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand...
  
  Holy Father, Son and Spirit,

  We see your people gathering together as one man here. What were they doing?

  They were asking for the Word of God to be read! Their leaders read from the Word of God! They were listening to the Word of God! They listened to Your Word for hours on end. How wonderful! How often does that happen in our churches today?

  We confess how so many of our activities in our own lives and in the lives of our churches revolve around any and all things but the Word of God. We confess we will come together and gather for hours for so many other activities, not that they are all bad in and of themselves, but how pitifully little time do sit (stand) and listen to Your Word being read and taught...particularly when we come together in Your Name in our church meetings. How often do we ask to have the Word of God read? Really? How often do we do so?

  Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
  To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
  May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!
  
  We confess that we do not have a hunger for the Word of God like we should. We are Your children, born of and filled with Your Holy Spirit. We certainly ought to hunger and thirst for the sincere milk of Your Word. Forgive us, Lord God, for we hunger and thirst for so many other things but Your pure Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake. We ask for so many things to be taught in our churches, but very often they are not really meaty, they are not truly centered in the Word of God and on Jesus Christ and the Gospel and not seeking to bring You glory first and foremost. We know this is a supernatural hunger You alone can impart. Our sinful hearts are hungry and thirsty for all else but the true Bread from heaven and the living Water. We are too easily satisfied. We are too easily deceived. Make us hungry and thirsty for You and Your Word, O Bread of Life. Help us to be satisfied with nothing less than the pure preaching of Your Word in our pulpits and the teaching of Your Word in our Sunday School classes. Yes, we certainly may use resources from human teachers and preachers, but guide us so we are not deceived as we choose those tools. There are many teachers out there who are not really firmly rooted in Your Word. Please give us discernment. Help us not to settle for second best.

  Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
  To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
  May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

  We confess how many of our preaching and teaching services today revolve around any and all things but the Word of God. Forgive us, Lord God. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake. We have been deceived into thinking that we must attract the world and that the best way to do that is to minimize the Word of God or even jettison the Word of God altogether. Forgive us, O Lord. Your Word must be kept central at all times. You are only honored as Your Word is kept in its rightful place. Yes, we should be all things to all peoples in one sense; we should connect with the cultures in which we live, we can use technology as an aid and so on, but it is clear that You will never bless us if we try to cater to the world rather than lifting up Your Word and making Christ preeminent. Only through the clear preaching of the Word is Jesus Christ lifted up. Anytime we try to compromise with and yoke ourselves to the world and follow the world's ways You will never be lifted up and exalted and glorified as You ought. We do not wage war as the world does. We cannot allow the world to dictate to us what to preach or how to preach. We must always be led by Your Holy Spirit for He is our teacher and guide. He alone will lead us into all truth. He alone will help us to glorify the Lord Christ and You, our Father.

  Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
  To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
  May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

  Because we are not of the world, Your Gospel message will not be attractive to most. The cross is an offense. The Rock is a stumbling stone. We must trust that when Jesus Christ is lifted up faithfully, You will draw Your sheep to Yourself, Good Shepherd. Your Holy Spirit will work through the faithful preaching of Your Word to draw men and women and boys and girls to You. We are not to seek decisions but rather genuine conversions through Your Holy Spirit. All the efforts and works of men can never accomplish that work in the souls of men. Never!

  Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
  To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
  May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

  May we not be concerned about being like the world and imitating the world to increase our numbers or our esteem in the world. Strengthen us so we may we not grow weary in well doing, but continue to sow seed, to preach the Word, knowing that in due time we will reap. May we follow in the steps of our Savior Himself and the early Church who continued to preach Your Word, the Gospel of repentance and remission of sins, without reservation and with great joy no matter the cost to them. Keep us rooted and established in apostolic doctrine so we might not be carried about by every wind of doctrine but be equipped to preach the Word of God faithfully. May we put aside our concern for worldly reputation and remain faithful to Your calling to guard the Gospel and preach the Word in season and out of season, no matter how many may leave our churches because of that. The people of God, those born of the Spirit of God, will be satisfied with nothing less but the pure Word of God. Help us to trust You in that. Yes, we may see many leave and go to other places and feed there, but they will not truly be fed. We mourn for them, we will be sad, and we do pray for those other churches, but so be it. As for us, let us never compromise, let us never water down the pure milk of Your Word. Never! Send Your Spirit from on high to anoint and fill us so we might be steadfast to You and speak Your Word with boldness and assurance so we might be Your witnesses to the ends of the earth as You have commanded us. Send Your Spirit to continue to encourage us and stay faithful and true to the preaching of Your Word regardless of what we may see. Even if all leave us, let us never leave off preaching Your Word faithfully.

  Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
  To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
  May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

  If Your Church is not rightly rooted in the Your Word, what do we have? What hope do we have? What message do we have to a lost world? What power do we have? If we are Your people, we ought to be rooted in Your words. Forgive us, Lord God, that we make so many other things central to our lives and to our churches rather than Your Word. Forgive us for making other things a priority rather than Your Word. Give us a renewed hunger and thirst to preach and teach and hear Your Word once again. Give us an appetite and a love for You and Your Word so we might not be satisfied with lesser things.

  Forgive us, Lord God, for our attitude toward You and Your Word. Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake.
  To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of life!
  May we gather as one man to hear Your Word, O Lord God!

  Please add your prayers as the Holy Spirit leads you.

  • 12:04 PM
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