Reverence For God's Word

In today's church we get sermons that are 23-60 minutes long and people complain and murmur about the length. I was in one congregation that actually yelled out jokes at the preacher because he would go longer than the senior pastor did. And people laughed. The pastor laughed. Read this passage from Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 8:1-3
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. 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. 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. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

Nehemiah didn't even preach. He read God's Word for about 5 hours straight. No one complained. No one left. No one sat down. No one got bored or fell asleep. This how much they revered God's Word. Look at what this did to their hearts.

Nehemiah 8:5-6
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

When is the last time you saw this happen in church?

Look at how the day ends.

Nehemiah 8:9-12
And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and 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 or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

This is what church ought to look like. we ought to come in and be overwhelmed by the power of God's Word and it ought to penetrate our hearts causing us to weep and worship. Then we should rise up and go celebrate the day in view of the greatness of our God and the power of His Word and then share what we have in honor of what we have been given.

 What To Do With Anxiety

Philippians 4:6–9

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

We all struggle with worry and anxiety. Yet Paul gives us a command here to not be anxious. This is not a new command; Jesus gave the same imperative in Matthew 6:25: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Yes, this is an imperative. To worry is to lack trust in God and to not believe His promises. Romans 8:28 tells us that “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

If we believe that God is sovereign—which the Bible fully teaches—then we can trust that what He says, He not only can do, but He will do. He promises that all things are being worked out for good for His people.

Yet we all wrestle with anxiety and worry. So Paul gives us the solution: “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Pray to God and tell Him your worries and concerns—and then believe His promises. Once we give it to God, we must let Him have it. We cannot hold on to what we just gave to Him.

When we do this, His peace—which is incomprehensible—will guard our hearts and minds.

There is one more thing that Paul adds to this equation: this is all conditional.

Philippians 4:8–9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

The conditions for the God of peace to be with us are that we think about the things that are true, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. This is a pretty good description of Jesus.

Paul commands us to practice the things that we have learned, received, heard, and seen in him. In other words, read your Bible and do what it says. Then the God of peace will be with you. Then your faith will grow. Then you will believe God.

This is the disconnect many of us have: we believe in God, but we don’t believe God. We don’t read His Word, and we don’t make it what drives our thoughts. Instead, we fill our minds with the things of the world, and we let the world dictate how and what we think.

We do not need to be anxious or worried. But we must saturate ourselves with His Word and spend our time in prayer, always thinking of Christ. We must surround ourselves with other believers who will encourage us in this. We must sit under sound, biblical teaching. We must be in Christian community more than we are in worldly community.

There is peace to be found—but only in Christ.