God’s People in a Day of Crisis II - Part 1 of 2

O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise! Thou the praise of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace!

This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr., welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. Praise thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not thy compassions, they fail not, as thou hast been, thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided, great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided, great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Pardon for sin and now peace that endureth, my only presence to cheer and to guide, strength for today and rifle for tomorrow, blessings all mine with ten thousand beside. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided, great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

I realize this is getting to be a rather lengthy series, but it is a subject that I think is valuable to us at this present time. We're still on the subject, God's People in a Day of Crisis. As we face so many challenges in this day, surely we recognize how weak and frail we really are, how desperately we need God's help. We need to be people of faith and prayer.

So I hope that the message today will be an encouragement to you. I would appreciate it if you would write to us. Our address is the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217.

Or you can make a donation by going to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. We've been talking about God's people in a day of crisis and looking at the book of Nehemiah to see how the people reacted in that day, considered first the crisis itself and how that relates to the various problems and trials that we encounter in our own lives. We've noted the cause of that crisis being their sinful behavior, neglect of the Word of God, and then talked about the cure, noting that they prayed, they worked, and they gave attention to the Word of God. You know, if we really desire to know God's will, we're going to spend time in God's book. It's mere lip service if we say, I want to please God, I want to obey God, I want to know God's will, but we don't spend time in His Word. You can't expect God to give you a message by writing it on the wall or putting it in the sky.

He's already given us His message here in His Word. And so if we really want to know God's will, we're going to demonstrate it by applying ourselves in the study of His Word. And we've come to this eighth chapter of the book of Nehemiah when we see the attention that is being given to the Word by the fact that the people are assembled, and Ezra the scribe is bringing the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded, and reading it before the congregation. We want to continue there, observing essentially three things as the people stood listening to the Word and it says that they were attentive unto the book of the law. There are some patterns to be observed in the Scriptures, whether you're looking at the Old Testament or the New Testament. There are some fundamental, basic principles, some patterns with regard to the lessons that we are to learn and to apply that may be seen throughout the Scripture. Not long ago, I spoke to you concerning the ministry of the church using the New Testament text that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, and we talked about how we must have a high view of God if we're going to function as a true New Testament church, doing what the church ought to do, being in that true place of service as a church, indeed functioning as the pillar and ground of the truth, a declarer of the truth of people who are truly worshiping God and serving Him. We must have a high view of God and a high view of His Word and that will bring us to the proper view of man. Now, essentially that pattern is seen right here in this lesson because as they gave attention to the Word, they were listening anew to the reading of the law, the book of the law. It wasn't just the Ten Commandments but the inspired record that was available to them at this time. It says in verse 5 that 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.

What's the first thing we find here then when they gave attention to the Word? They got the right view of God, a high view of God. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. It's so easy in this busy, busy life that people live today, this life that's so often distracted by worldly things, to forget about the greatness of God. Now I know that it seems to be such a basic thing that God is omnipotent, God is sovereign, God is the Creator.

We say all Bible believers know that and we embrace that. But how often do you really think about it, meditate about it? Do you just ponder how great God is?

There's something about being overwhelmed with His greatness that has a tremendously positive impact on us. Read the Psalms. Over and over again the people are singing about the Lord is great, He's great in mercy, He's a faithful God, He's a God of power, power belongeth unto God, our God is in the heavens, done whatsoever He hath pleased, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Over and over again singing about the greatness of God.

Just giving lip service to that truth is not enough. The psalmist said I want the meditations of my heart to be acceptable in thy sight. I want my thoughts to be consumed with God's greatness. How are we going to do that? I've got so many things to think about.

I've got problems to be solved, duties to perform, things that I have to get done. The only possible way is that we are spending adequate time in this book which presents to us this truth concerning how great God is. God's greatness can be seen all about us because Romans chapter 1 makes it clear that even His creation demonstrates His power. In God's handiwork can be seen the greatness and glory of God.

And I just marvel that anybody can look at this creation and question whether there is a creator. How can you look at the brilliance of the noonday sun, the beauty of a star filled sky such as we had last night. Bright brilliant stars. And I thought as I drove along the highway and looked at some of those bright stars. But you know the astronomers tell us that those stars are many many light years away. Well I can't fathom that. I'm thinking about something being light years away.

Distance is just as young folks would say awesome. It's just phenomenal. It's just more than you can possibly grasp. Well you think about the God who put the stars in their place, created this earth, created man, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it became a living soul. And then recall He is our God. He identifies with us, calls us His people.

Amazing isn't it? To think that we have the privilege of going directly into His presence and talking to Him. Well if you wanted to talk to the mayor of the city or the governor of the state or certainly the president you'd have difficulty getting an appointment.

Maybe never would get in. And yet through Jesus Christ our intercessor we can go directly to God today right now. Talk to Him. What a marvelous blessing how great God is. His providence, His watch care over us, His love, His mercy.

Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Man has always been very self absorbed, wanting to do his own thing. That we've pointed out was the problem in the garden. God says not to partake of this particular fruit and Adam and Eve said we're going to do it anyway. Man has always tried to elevate himself. He built that tower of Babel and God confused the language and scattered men. Man is always trying to rise up before God. Man is always trying to unite and make himself strong and powerful.

God so often frustrates that design because He's going to bring us to the point that we must recognize that He is God. He is the sovereign. He's the ruler.

He's the one that's in control. And so in our time as it has ever been, this isn't something new really. The outbreak of violence and some of the immoral activities that are so prevalent today are somewhat new as far as the degree of which these things are manifest today in this country. But ever since man fell in the garden, this corrupt sinful nature has displayed itself over and over again even in the most extreme form. Such as in the days of Noah when every imagination and thought of man's heart was only evil continually and God sent the flood. Such as Sodom and Gomorrah when the cities were destroyed by fire. So man is always prone to go his own way and when God just removes his restraints and lets him go, you see that he goes to the ultimate extreme.

He creates chaos, brings about such a corrupt violent situation that God must intervene by judgment to bring an end to it. But in this day when even people who are trying to live what might be termed respectable lives and even some who are religiously involved still tend to put so much focus on man. And man is the center of attention and it's what's good for me? What do I want? I'm going to make a choice about what I want to get out of religion. What do I want to get out of a church? What do I want to get out of life?

I'm going to make the decision about what I want. You see when that's the line of thinking, there still is a failure to see the Lord, the great God. That he as the creator, he as the God who rules over all, he who is holy and just and perfect in all of his ways is to be worshipped and adored, surrendered to and to be praised and served out of gratitude for his goodness and mercy. So whether we as individuals or we as a church try to move on in our life coming short in this area of seeing God as the great God, we're doomed to failure. We're not going to be able to have a clear view of what our purpose in life is. We're not going to have the proper response to the trials and afflictions that touch our lives. We're not going to be totally surrendered to be the obedient servants that we ought to be in honoring our Savior Jesus Christ. So we've got to start with this principle.

And what brings it about? Attention to the word. Not just that all of a sudden you say, well, yes, I'm going to really concentrate on trying to think higher thoughts of God. The things that are going to bring that about are what the word reveals about how great God is.

And so that's the first thing that happened. Now the people answered and said, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. People agree.

I have been places where audience response finally detracted from what the man was trying to say. But there can be a place for saying, Amen. People said, Amen, here.

And I don't mind hearing some of that once in a while along the way. And they went so far as to lift up their hands. Now I suppose if somebody said, Amen, here, nobody would have heart failure over that. It does happen occasionally. But if somebody lifted up their hands, some people probably panic.

What's wrong? Do they need help or what? But here, they lifted up their hands. Once again, I don't think that anything that distracts from the effort to preach the gospel and worship the Lord ought to become involved in an extreme direction. But the point I make is that we can become very narrow in our thoughts that everybody needs to always respond like we do. And generally, that's going to be no response at all.

And anybody that does respond differently, we have a little concern about it. But these people said, Amen, and they lifted up their heads and they bowed with their faces to the ground. Their focus was on the Lord. Now the second thing here is that it says in the latter part of the seventh verse that the Levites caused the people to understand the law and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading. Here then was not only an emphasis upon God, His greatness, God being the Lord, the great God, but an emphasis upon what the Word said, explicitly what the Word taught. They read the book distinctly. It wasn't just a matter to see how much could be read or to read it in a certain tone that made it difficult for people to understand it, but to read it distinctly.

That's where the benefit comes. To hear the words and to give the sense. That's really what preaching is. Preaching is to give the sense of what the Word says. Remember the seventeenth chapter of the book of Acts.

Paul opened up what the scripture said, alleging that these things spoken by the prophets were fulfilled in the coming of Christ who was the long awaited Messiah. What was preaching? Opening up the scriptures.

Declaring, alleging, saying this is the truth. Preaching that just throws out some ideas and said pick whatever is most comfortable for you is not really edifying. If it's true gospel preaching, if it's the declaration of the Word of God, it's opening up what the book says. It may be opened up by the use of an illustration, by the use of a personal experience, but it's all going to be directly connected to what the text says.

To open it up, here's what's in the text. And how many times have you read something and said, you know, I just don't quite get what's in that verse. And then you'd come to church, preach to get up in the stand, come over that verse, and it just opened up.

Well, that's what preaching is designed to accomplish. The Lord gives a man the gift to preach and he's to study to show himself to prove that workmen did not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, and if he's blessed to the Spirit of God to proclaim the message, he's going to be able to open it up to you. So you can see, this is what the Word of God says. And you see, if we are interested, if we're sincere, as I said in the opening, if we're sincere about this matter of knowing God's will, what would God have me to do?

What does God want in my life? We know the place to find that out is in his Word. Oh, people would much rather resort to other methods, trying to use, I've even known of some in the name of the Lord, to try to use psychological testing to come up. I listened on the radio going down the other day, somebody said, you want to know what your spiritual gift is? We have a questionnaire that you can send it in and after you go over this test, this list of questions, you will then know what your spiritual gift is. Now it made me wonder how on earth Christians for all those generations past had ever been able to discover what their gift was and ever utilized it until somebody came up with this formula as to how they're going to figure it out. People would a lot rather sit down and take a test, I suppose it won't be long, it will be computerized, you can do that right on the internet, find out what your spiritual gift is. People would rather focus on dreams and visions and other things, there's just something, you get into the Bible, sometimes the Bible can look like it's downright boring.

You know, I admit that there are some of these names right here in this very chapter that we're reading from, instead of me attempting to pronounce them, I'm just going to suggest that you read them. I know that there's a purpose in them being there, but you look at all those names and say, I just don't understand why that's here. But God has a purpose obviously for every name and every word that's in the Bible, every part of it that's there, in fact the warning is given in the book of Revelation against anybody adding to or taking away from.

We have no right to take away from the word of God, say I don't want that part of it, I don't see any purpose in that part, maybe you don't see it right now, but the time may come that you will see it and if you never see it, God still has a purpose for it and it all has to be respected as His word. But if you can start exploring dreams and visions and other types of experiences, you know, that kind of seems like it's exciting. I want to tell you, when you really get into reading the word and the Lord begins to bless you in your study of it, there is nothing more exciting than to see things start coming off the page at you right here in God's book. And you see some things that are so real and applicable in your own life and so meaningful in your own experience.

So they read it and they gave the sense of it and caused them to understand the reading. I'm glad you've been with us for the broadcast today, hope you'll come back at the same time as we continue each day on this station and that you will pray and help us if you can with the support of the program so we can continue. Our address is the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Until we greet you next time, this is LeSara Bradley Jr. bidding you goodbye and may God bless you. This is my song. This is my song.

This is my song. Perfect submission, all is at rest. I am my savior, I'm happy and blessed. Watching and waiting, looking above.

Filled with this goodness, lost in His love. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior, praising my Savior, praising my Savior. All the day long.