You’re listening to, “Nehemiah: building a city within the city,” a teaching series by Pastor Mark Driscoll.” The following is a presentation of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. For more audio and video content, visit marshillschurch.org.

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The hope of Mars Hill since the beginning is that Seattle is a great city and what it needs is a great city within that city, a city that loves Jesus, a city that believes Scripture, a city that lives for the good of the whole city, not just its own self‑interest. And so Mars Hill started off as an experiment to see if we could build a city within the city that would love the city and seek the transformation of the city as the city meets Jesus.

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Tell you what, we’re in Nehemiah 8. My name’s Mark, one of the pastors here at the church. If you’re new here, we like to go right through books of the Bible, and we’re taking the better part of the year to look at the great book of Nehemiah. So I will go ahead and pray and then we will get right to work. And pray for my voice. I yelled at the 9:00 so much, I blew my voice out. So I’ve been eating slippery elm all day, so I’m feeling a little better. And I’m sweating like Mike Tyson in a spelling bee. I wasn’t thinking. I put boots on, man. I’m just like, “Wow.” By the end, I’m gonna look like a supermodel. I’ll just be all trim. I’m up here sweating off the pounds, so it’ll be good.

I’ll go ahead and pray ’cause obviously we need it, and then we’ll get right to work in God’s Word. And I appreciate you all coming out on this nice, sunny day into this very dark room.

Lord God, we thank you for an opportunity to study the Scriptures together. We thank you that as we study, that, Lord God, we know you will meet us in your Word, because that is how you have chosen to speak to us. God, it is my prayer that personally we would experience your conviction and your salvation as our friends in this text do.

God, we pray as well for the kind of outpouring of your Spirit on our city as they saw in theirs. And for that to happen, we invite you, Holy Spirit, to inform us, to instruct us, to convict us, to regenerate, to save, to transform, to empower, to renew us. And for that to happen, Lord Jesus, we pray that everything we learn would be connected to you, who you are and what you’ve done so that we wouldn’t open the book just trying to figure out what we should do to please you, but that we would open the Scriptures to see what you have done because you have loved us.

May we find our hope and our joy and our strength in your. And we ask this in your good name. Amen.

Well, here’s what we’ll do. I’ll get you started. I’ll catch you up to speed on the great book of Nehemiah. It takes place in a city called Jerusalem. It was a city that had been destroyed and lay in ruins for 141 years. There had been a failed series of attempts to rebuild the city with no success whatsoever. Far away in a capital city called Susa, there’s a man named Nehemiah. He’s a politician, business leader, loves the Lord. And God burdens him, calls him to relocate to that city, to raise money for a rebuilding effort, to organize teams, to pray, to plan, and to make it his life’s mission to rebuild that great city, and then to plan a church as the city within that city so that the God of the Bible could be known, worshiped, and loved.

He locates there. He undergoes great opposition. People oppose him. There’s death threats against him. All kinds of injustice happens to him. But because of God’s grace and his love for God, he perseveres. And amazingly in just 52 short days, the walls which fortified the city were rebuilt. The city was then able to be reoccupied by people. And after 141 years, the city finally comes back to life. And we saw at the end of Chapter 7 that 50,000 relocated, moved into the great city of Jerusalem.

And this week, we are looking at the text in which they have their first church service. If this were a church plant, this would be their opening launch Sunday. Now they’ve only been in the city for one week, and there’s a lot left to do. There are businesses to open and schools to open, and there’s lots of work to be done. And what they decide is that their highest priority, their first priority is to gather together as the church and to learn the Scriptures and to spend time worshiping God because that is the highest priority.

In any city like ours, there are innumerable things that can and should and will be done by God’s people. But the first priority is for them to meet with God together corporately, to open his Word, to repent of sin, to grow in their understanding of who he is and what he has done, that being Jesus, and to spend some time as worshipers being renewed and encouraged and to have our hearts and minds focus so that then we could be about the things that God has appointed for us to do.

And so what you’ll see this week is two things we like to call at Mars Hill, the air war and the ground war. The air war is going to be the preaching of a six‑hour sermon. This is one of my favorite chapters of the whole Bible. It is a six‑hour sermon. I love that. I know you don’t, but I love that. And then you’re going to see this to a large group of 50,000 people. This is gonna be like a Billy Graham crusade in the Old Testament. In addition to that, then you’ll see a ground war, where one‑on‑one and in small groups, leaders meet with people and follow up with their questions.

Some churches are very good at the ground war. Everybody knows and loves everybody, but the preaching and worship and the Sunday service. Not so good. Other churches are really good at the air war, preaching and worship and such is really good, but not so good at the ground war. No Bible studies, community groups, grace groups, recovery groups, no chance to connect and really have meaningful community and relationship. Need to have both.

We see both as well in the early church where it says that the early Christians met at the temple courts, large group, air war, and from house‑to‑house ground war. So let me lay this out before we get in. In the air war, we’re dealing with masses. That’s what I do. That’s what the bands do. That’s what the media technology opportunities we have do. Sermon goes out to 4,000, 5,000, 6,000 on a Sunday, and then podcast, vodcasts, tens of thousands more. It’s masses of people. But then people invariably have questions concerns, don’t know how to apply it. Misunderstandings, not sure what to do with what we’ve been taught. So what do they need? They need to deal with on an individual and group level.

Meet with the pastor, another Christian, get in the community groups which is a home‑based Bible study opportunity for community. Take a class. Go through something like our gospel class to learn the basics of Christian theology, get into a grace group if they’ve been sexually abused, get into recovery group if they’re addicted to drugs or alcohol or pornography. So in addition to the masses, which the air war, there’s the ground war which is groups and individuals. And so the air war is built on events like this, and the ground war is built on relationships and the ground war is built on principles, basic principles for thousands and tens of thousands of people. And the ground war is about applying those biblical universal principles to actual people’s lives, to the college student and the mom and the grandmother and the 7‑year‑old son, and the 14‑year‑old daughter, and everyone figuring out how Scripture personally, practically applies to their own life.

Furthermore, in the air war what we see is that their air war leads. It goes first, and the ground war follows. And the air war is very visible. This is a very visible event. But most of what constitutes Mars Hill Church is the in or less visible ground war. There are a couple hundred groups between student ministries and community groups and grace groups and recovery groups and all these kinda things, to met in homes and condos and dorms throughout the whole city and region. You don’t see those, but there are people that are loving one another and praying for one another and encouraging one another and doing life and community together.

So don’t be under the myth that when you come here, you say, “Well, I went Mars Hill today.” Well, you saw a part of Mars Hill. You saw the most public and visible part, but there is an invisible aspect of Mars Hill that you can’t see al of because it’s too many people, too many places. And in every way, that is at least as important as what happens in our large gatherings. And in that way, the air war is the front door. It brings people in.

But in every way, the ground war is the living room where people are loved. You invite ’em into your home. You let them sit on your couch, open your fridge, eat your food. You be their friend. You pray for them, love them, encourage them, walk with them, and that’s how people take the basic principles that I preach and that we teach, they get to see them lived out relationally in community with others.

So that being said, we’ll start by looking at a great air war, and then we’re going to look at the corresponding ground war, beginning in Chapter 8, Verse 1. Deep breath, “And all the people” – how many people was that? About 50,000 people. Now this is a great first day for a church, right? If you’re a church planter – and I know a lot of church planters visit this service – this is a great kickoff. Say, “How was your lunch.” I got 50,000. “Really? That’s good.”

Fifty thousand people show up. All the people – now I want you to see this. If you were in that town on that day, the businesses are closed. The schools are closed. The homes are – they’re locked up, and there’s no one at – there’s no one out. Everything is shut down and everyone in the whole town has gathered together for a worship service for an opportunity to learn the Bible and to sing to God, 50,000.

Can you imagine that day in Seattle when you got up and said, “Oh, I’m gonna go get gas.” Closed. You go to the grocery store. Closed. You go to the mall. Closed. Where is everybody? Oh, there’s a six‑hour sermon. They shut the city down and everybody’s busy praying right now. So you can’t get gas or groceries, but you can get saved. That’s what happened on that day. Fifty thousand people gathered as one man, like‑minded, like‑hearted, unified, what I pray for us, into the square before the Water Gate, where Richard Nixon grew up back in the Old Testament – that’s where they all gather together at the Water Gate.

And here’s what the people do. Fifty thousand people are there. Now you gotta see this, too. They don’t have chairs. They’re standing in the heat in the Middle East, sweating, 50,000 people packed in because there’s no sound system. So when the guy gets up to preach you gotta get close enough to hear. This is an inconvenience. Imagine if you had to walk to church and stand up for six hours outside. Both you who joined us would be edified. But most would not make that trek. That’s exactly what’s happening here.

And here’s what they do. They tell the pastor, Ezra, they tell him to do something. They give him an order. Here’s what they say, “They told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel.” Here’s what they say, “Get the Bible. Get the Bible and open it.” Fifty thousand people doing the wave. “We love the Pentateuch, yes we do. We love the Pentateuch, how ’bout you?” It’s crazy, right. Hot dog vendors and guys with peanuts behind the back. I mean it’s going nuts.

And they’re screaming for the first five books of the Old Testament, the Law of Moses. The book in five parts, which is what Pentateuch means. And they’re saying, “Bring us Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, right now.” How many of you got up this morning, looked in the mirror and said, “I demand Leviticus”? You all laugh. It’s actually really a cool book if you read it. It’s to the left of this one. You could look it up later.

And these are people that God has burdened their heart for his Word. There is a desire to learn the Scriptures. There’s a desire to hear God’s Word. They’re crying out for it. “Give us the Bible.” Now there’s two reasons that I believe they do this. One is their view of Scripture. And, two, they trusted that if they all showed up, Ezra would actually teach the Bible. There’s a lotta churches you go to, you’re like, “Man, (Mumbling).” You wanna yell, “Hey, where’s the Bible? Nice drama. I like the skit. Somebody open the book. Where’s the Bible?”

They knew that Scripture is how God has chosen to speak, and so they wanted to hear from God. And they knew that Ezra had translated it from Hebrew to the Aramaic, this was the language of that day, that he had studied it, that he loved the Lord, that he had worked hard, that he was a good scholar, and that if he opened the Bible and taught, it would be accurate and consistent. I love this. I mean this is my whole life. I love this.

Now in that, they knew that the Scriptures were God’s Word. You will not be inconvenienced. You will not walk anywhere. You will not give up hours of your day or life. You’re not going to give up money. You’re not going to shut down your business for a day. You’re not gonna show up to a meeting. You’re not gonna stand there for six hours and sweat with 50,000 other people unless you are absolutely convinced that Scripture is the very words of God.

Let me tell you why these people were so excited. They knew that the Scriptures are different than any book that was, is, or will ever be written. They knew that Scripture was perfect and from God, inspired and authoritative in a way that nothing else was. They knew that God had chosen to speak to them through Scripture. That’s why they wanted to hear the Scriptures, because they wanted to hear from God/ the God who spoke creation into existence has chosen to speak to his people through Scripture.

Let me tell you about our view of Scripture. We are a Bible‑believing church. We absolutely are in every way. And one of the things I actually really appreciate is that that has not met resistance in history of Mars Hill Church, that I believe that the Spirit of God works in the hearts of the children of God so that they have a desire for the Word of God. I believe that.

Peter says, “I you have the Holy Spirit in you, you crave Scripture like a baby craves milk,” you just appreciate it, enjoy it, and would like some more. That’s how it works. And here’s what Scripture says about itself. Proverbs 30:5‑6 says that every Word of God proves true. The NIV says, “Every Word of God is flawless.” Psalm 1:19 says that the law of God, the Word of God is perfect and it’s trustworthy and it’s true, and this whole lengthy chapter is about the perfection and the authority and the helpfulness and the majesty of Scripture.

In Isaiah 55:11, God says, “The Word that I send forth does not return voice. It’s powerful and accomplishes exactly what I send it to do.” Hebrews 4:11‑12 says that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than double‑edged sword, able to penetrates to the joints and marrow, that it convicts us and it cuts out sin and folly and rebellion and stupidity and leaves room for God, the Holy Spirit, to reshape us, to be more like h.

We believe all of that. We believe 2 Timothy 3:16, that all Scripture is God‑breathed, that it inspired of God, and it is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, training in righteous, so that you and I might be thoroughly – great work ‘d equipped for whatever it is God would appoint us to do in our life. That means as parents, as friends, as family, as coworkers, when we win, when we lose, when we’re broke, when we’re rich, when we’re healthy, when we’re sick, when we’re living, when we’re dying, we go to Scripture because God will speak to us through his Word.

And we cry out for Scripture because we love it. Now the problem is that sometimes we can become so familiar with Scripture. In their day, there were no printing presses. Those weren’t invented until the 15th century with Johann Gutenberg. To hear the Scriptures they had to show up, and a guy like Ezra had to translate. You and I have Scripture in our own language, many, many copies. What a wonderful privilege and gift we’ve been given.

I long for the day when 50,000 spill out of Safeco Field for one church service. But even as wonderful as that would be, the thought of those 50,000 not just hearing a sermon once a week, but being able to reach Scripture and hear from God anytime they need, every day they have. These people showed up because they believe that the Scriptures were unlike any book that was available or would ever be. And they cried out for it. And Ezra, because he loved the Lord and the people, had devoted himself to study – that’s what Ezra 7:10 says. And as a result, he was ready to articulate the truth of Scripture.

So here’s what happens. They told Ezra the scribe, “Bring the books of the law.” So Ezra – now this is interesting, Verse 2 says – Ezra, who’s the book named after? Has the teaching been that unclear? What book are we in public school graduates? Thank you, okay. Now Nehemiah wrote the book, and now we’re talking a lot about Ezra. Well, what happened to Nehemiah?

Here’s the situation. Nehemiah had kingly gifts of administration, organization, fundraising, planning. Ezra’s got prophetic gifts of preaching and teaching and leading. You’re gonna see in a little bit, the Levites, the priests, they come along and love and serve the people. These are different kinds of gifts, different kinds of leaders. Ezra’s job was to build the plan, to raise the money, to deploy the teams, to finish the construction project, to put together the infrastructure, and then he humbly stepped aside. What he said was, “Ezra, you’re the pastor. You know the Bible. I’m good with money and systems and policies and procedures. I love God, too. But you’re really the Bible guy. You get up and preach.”

In this, you see men working together who both love God, are in it for God’s glory, work according to their gifted ness and specialization, and you see great humility with Nehemiah. Can you imaging how bad this would have been if Nehemiah would have said, “It was my idea. I moved here. I raised the money. I built the city. I want to preach now.” Nehemiah said, “We’re doing it all for God. You’re better at than me. You go preach. I’ll sit here and listen. Teach me, too.”

In the Hebrew Bible, the two books of Ezra and Nehemiah are actually joined together as one because these men work in such loving, harmony, relationship, and partnership. You know what? A church like ours really needs people with kingly gifts who understand business principle of leadership and management and architecture and structures and team building and real estate acquisition, and guys who are really good with the Bible and could preach and teach and interpret Scripture and write books and make sure the God of the Bible, the Lord Jesus is known by all.

You see this humility working together so Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, brings the Bible out. Both and women and all who could understand what they heard on the first day of the seventh month. So the women come out. The men come out and the kids come out. We do kids ministry up to about age nine‑ish. If you’ve got kids, get ’em in church as soon as you can.

My older three, five, seven, and nine, they go to services. Bring your kids. We don’t do children’s ministry forever ’cause what can happen is you say, “Well, I went through elementary school and then I went to Sunday School for junior high, and then high school. And then I went to college,” and at some point, you gotta put the flannel graph down and pick up a Bible and join the rest of us. Otherwise, you’re in college going, “Do we get a lollipop if we get the question right?” No, no. That’s your job now. You drove yourself here. Just sit down.

Verse 3. “And he read it. He read rather from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday.” How many hours is that? That’s five or six hours sermon. That’s preaching – five or six hours. Now I do that on a Sunday, but not in a row. But this has me praying about it. This sounds awesome, five or six hours. There’s certain churches you can only preach for 25 minutes. I preached at a church one time, they said – right before you get up, they say, “Okay. You’ve got 25 minutes.” I said, “That’s no problem. I can totally do an introduction in 25 minutes. That’s not gonna be a problem at all.” They said, “No, that’s the sermon.” I said, “The sermon, 25 minutes? No way.” They said, “If you go over that, people are gonna start leaving.” I said, “Then I’m gonna start pointing at ’em and yelling at ’em and making ’em an example.”

[Applause]

Twenty‑five minutes. What people are thinking is, “Hey, hey, hey, hurry up. I have important things to do. I gotta cut my grass. I gotta download porn. I gotta gossip about my friends. Hurry up.” “No, you need to be preached at some more.” Because what is important? I mean truly, truly your favorite television show gets more time than I do. You say, “Well, that’s better.” I know, but I have the Bible. So I’m trying to help.”

“And the ears of the people were” – what? Attentive. They were listening. They weren’t text-messaging, blogging. “She’s cute. I gotta get in her communion line.” They were paying attention to the Scriptures. They were attentive to the book of the law. And Ezra, the scribe, stood on a wooden platform, a pulpit they had made for that purpose, a pulpit. Today I hear all this dumb talk. People say, “Preaching doesn’t work.” Others will say, “Oh, the pastor shouldn’t be up on a platform.” I have a verse. He needs to be, especially if he’s my height. It has to be. Right? Another would say, “Oh, people wanna have dialogue, not monologue. They want you to talk to ’em, not preach at ’em.” Dialogue gets done in the groups. Monologue gets done in the service. It’s both-and.

Nehemiah gets a big old pulpit, climbs up into it, opens the book, and preaches, really preaches. Paul says in the New Testament, “Preach the Word.” Man alive, this is my heart, my life, my joy. I like to open the Bible and preach God’s Word. And I absolutely believe with all of my heart that the revival you will see spark in this chapter, is the result of many prayers that led up to Chapter 8, and the preaching of God’s Word in Chapter 8. Those two things together are what God historically uses to change people’s heart, minds, lives, to transform cities and nations and to bring about revival is the prayer of people and the proclamation of his Word.

And Ezra, the scribe, stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose him. And beside him stood a bunch of dudes. “Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Masseiah on his right. And Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left.” Why are these guys there?

What he’s saying is this, “As Nehemiah was humble and sharing leadership with me, so I am acknowledging that I am not the only spiritual leader or authority here either.” There’s humility in both men. I will tell you this. We have 24 pastors. We also call them elders. We have upwards of a dozen that are also in training. I am one of those pastors. My great privilege is to be the primary preaching pastor, but I’m not the only authority in the church and not the only leader in the church.

That’s what he is demonstrating. Humility all the way around. Nehemiah said, “It’s not about me.” Ezra says, “It’s not about me.” These men say, “It’s not about us. We’re all just doing our part so that people could learn the Bible and know God. That’s all that matters.” I’m gonna get some water ’cause I feel like I’m gonna start yelling again. It’s gonna be in Verse 5, through, you can read ahead for a second. This is really good.

And Ezra – read it with me. What does it say? “Open the book.” I was at the 9:00 and I missed this in my studies this week. And I swear it just came off the text and it was right here. “Open the book.” I was like, “We gotta talk about that.” Here’s what Nehemiah does. First he’s raised above the people. ’Cause he’s proud and arrogant and self‑righteous. No. Because it’s his job to open the book. And where should the book be? Above the people in authority. This is a visible way of saying, “Scripture is in authority over me and us, and everything we believe gets tested in this metaphorical supreme court of highest authority.”

Nehemiah is visibly showing the people, “God speaks to us if we open the book, and God speaking to us is our highest authority.” Practically – let me show you what that means here at Mars Hill Church. It doesn’t mean that we view Scripture like this. I don’t interpret the Scripture. I don’t argue with the Scripture. I don’t suppress the Scripture. We’re not supposed to disagree with the Scripture. We’re not supposed to edit the Scripture. We’re not supposed to say, “Well, Wittgenstein has language theory that says that perhaps we can’t know truth, and Drayage follows up and says that there is no point in pursuing objectivity. And the feminists say that it’s written by men, so why read it. And the chauvinists say it’s says to be a gentleman. We don’t like it either.”

We don’t stand over Scripture and say, “Well, that was a long time ago. They were primitive. I’m sure God’s changed his mind. That was true then. It’s not true now. That’s true for them, but not for me,” or, ‘I know what it says. I just don’t like it. I went to college and I have my own opinions.” We don’t view Scripture like that. Here’s how we do view Scripture. We view it like this. It interprets me. It tells me to be quiet and listen. It tells me to stop arguing and repent. It tells me that I am not in charge, and God is. It tells me that there is truth, but it doesn’t emanate from me. It tells me that I am a sinner and God is good. And it tells me I am not God. It tells me that my three‑pound fallen brain is not capable of knowing God apart from God making himself known. And if God in his humility and kindness should decide to speak to me, I’m an utter fool to argue with him, to disagree, to ignore, or disobey.

At the end of the day, we could have epistemological and hermeneutical and exegetical arguments, and I actually know what all the big words mean. But to me, this is the bottom line. You and I living lives under Scripture, believing that God in Heaven speaks to us on earth through the Scriptures. But the same Holy Spirit who inspired the writing of Scripture also illuminates its understanding to his people. So this is a miraculous divine way that God has chosen to speak to us. And if we with humility and repentance, and we prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us, he knows exactly what the Scriptures mean he’s able to teach s.

Jesus promised in John 4 and 16 that he would send the Holy Spirit to be our teacher to help us so that God would speak to us. Do you want to hear from God? Open the book. Open the book. Open the book. I love this. It’s so simple. “Ezra, open the book.” Do you open the book? The Bible is, according to many, the most widely published and least known book we have. Some people pick up every book other than the Bible. Some people rely on authors. I love books. I write books. I wrote a whole book this last week. I’m not against books. But nothing is like this book.

Friends, when is the last time that you opened the book? Do you open the book other than on Sunday? Do you open the book during the day? I’m such a freak. I’ll tell you how this works for me. I have a copy of the Bible in every single room of my house ,and every pocket in the vehicles of my cars ’cause I’m a freak. I’m like an Old Testament gunslinger. I gotta always be packing. I never know when I’m gonna need it.

You never know. So I’ve got a copy in every room in my house ’cause I may be talking to one of my kids and I could say, “Hey, open to Philippians. It’s right there.” I always the scriptures there, and I want it for friends and family and guests and people always to be able to say, “Hey, there’s a Bible within arm’s reach. I even have one in my car so that I need to preach at someone while we’re driving, “Go to Leviticus, let’s get it on.” You just never know. It’s good to have lots of copies of the Bible around, and do what? Open the book.

See, that’s why – I’ll be honest with you. That’s why when I come out to preach, I bring a copy of the Bible and I do this a lot, right? I’m like – it’s like, “What’s he doing?” He seems” – it’s a good book. It’s a good book. It’s a good book. It’s a good book. And look, it opens. Look at that. Look at that. It’s got words in it. Woo hoo. No pictures, but a lotta words. It’s my way of saying it’s a good book open book. Woulda open the book? Let’s just do this. I didn’t do this today and I’m getting a little headed. Who brought a Bible? I know dark and you can’t read it. Just hold it up. Look at that.

The rest of you, there’s freebies. Take one. You’re not stealing. They’re a gift. And if you have friends, take a bunch and hand ’em out. And have you even told your friends – your friends come to you, “I’m struggling. My friends drive me nuts. Our marriage is struggling.” Have you told ’em, “You know what? Here’s a copy of the book. Open the book. You don’t know about Jesus? Read John. Your marriage is a wreck? Read Ephesians 5. Your marriage is a little dull? Read Song of Solomon.” Open the book.

“In the sight of the people” – he didn’t go home and say, “Uh‑oh. I don’t wanna offend anybody. I’ll read it here in quiet secret private. I close the blinds.” He opened it publicly. He wasn’t ashamed. “Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people for he was above the people.” Again, now the Bible is high up. It’s shown as visible authority. It’s raised up in a position of prominence. The highest authority in Mars Hill Church is not me. It’s Scripture. I don’t intend to, but if I make a mistake and one of you could show it in Scripture, I will change my mind ’cause this is the final authority.

“And as he opened it, the people stood.” This is respect and reverence. Gentlemen, what do we do when a lady walks into a room? We stand because we honor that woman. We honor that woman. This is respect. We live in this disrespectful culture. Parents aren’t respected by children. Leaders aren’t respected by followers. God isn’t oftentimes respected by people who say they’re Christians. There is oftentimes not even a respect for Scripture.

I don’t mean to get too negative, and I know this’ll get podcasted, but I don’t care. But this week – I participated in a book, debating theology with a bunch of other pastors. We got together. It was a nice cordial time. NPR hosted it. We debated theology for seven hours over two days, four pastors, and no one brought a Bible. I brought a Bible and I opened it at one point and kinda got in trouble. Now I don’t mean to be negative – I guess I do – but you know what I’m saying? It’s like we’re Christians, we’re pastors. We’re talking about God and we don’t open the book. We’re not treating it with any respect or authority. We’re not even going to it for answers. We’re not respecting it to arbitrate differences and to mediate conflicts and differences of opinion and perspective.

There is to be a deep reverence and respect. I was convicted of this by a Muslim friend some years ago. He had a copy of the Quran. We came into his house. I think he had a desk or a table and it had papers and books and was a little disorganized. And he stacked things up, and then put the Quran very neatly on top of the stack. I said, “What are you doing? That’s a little” – I mean it was very sort of intentional. He said, “I never put anything on top of the Quran. The Quran is sacred and it is wonderful and it is holy and it is good and it sits on top of things, but nothing sits on top of the Quran. I would never dishonor the Quran like that.”

I thought, “That’s a book written by a guy who’s inspired of demons that sends people to Hell. We should at least do that with the Scriptures that tell us about the real Jesus.” “Did he say that? Did he say that?” “Yeah, I think he did.” “So he is he not a Muslim?” “I don’t think so. I think he’s a Christian.” “Is there really a difference?” “Yeah. There’s a huge difference.” “Isn’t somebody gonna get mad?” “Oh, yeah, definitely.”

[Applause]

“Does he do this all the time?” “Yeah.” “Will the real pastor be back next week?” “He’s the real pastor.” “Does that scare you?” “A little bit.” Just trying to put the fun back in fundamentalism.

Verse 6. “And Ezra blessed the Lord. Ezra says, ‘God is a good God. We’re here to meet with God. We’re here to learn from God. We’re here to listen to God. We’re here to made like God.’ And he blesses God.” That’s awesome. “And all the people answer” – alright. Here we go. This has gotta be fixed. You guys are like lighting a fire with wet wood. And I know a lot of you are like, “We’re Seattleites. We’re laid back. We went to college. We drink decaf. We love the Lord with all of our mind.” Heart, soul, mind, strength. Let’s go for the whole package.

It’s okay to say, “Amen.’

Response: Amen.

Now we go. Now we’re rockin’ like Dokken. That’s good right there. Now when we’re talking about amen, what we’re saying is, “Yes, Lord. I agree. That’s truth. That’s right. You speak to me. You convict me. You transform me. That makes sense..” Jesus says, “My sheep, hear my voice,” and you says that Scripture is from God. I hear it. It’s right. It echoes in my soul. My spirit confirms with the Holy Spirit that this is God speaking to me. It’s okay if you say amen. It’s okay if you respond. And I know some of you were raised in traditions where you were told, “We believe the Bible. We just don’t get very excited ’cause we don’t want people to think we’re charismatic.” Repent. I love charismatic. They pray like something might happen. When they sing, you actually think Jesus might be alive somewhere. It’s okay. Repent of Seattle.

So if in the middle, you wanna say amen, say amen. Some of you say, “But people will think I’m weird.” You are, but you’re no weirder than me. We’re together. We’re fine. The people said amen and they lifted their hands.

Response: Hands.

What are these? Hands. Who made the hands? God. To be raised in praise to him. Gentlemen, not to touch your girlfriend, but to praise him. Now the Lord did give you two hands so that if you get a wife, you get to do both. Thank you, Jesus. That’s what you get to do. Blog all you want. I’m serious. And the women said.

Response: Amen.

There you go. That’s what every woman wants.

So, the Bible’s preached five or six hours. God is revealed. His people are humble, they’re receptive. They’re attentive. They’re hungry to know him. And here’s how they respond. And what you see in this is that when God speaks to us through his Word, it can’t just be this passionless, emotionless, distant, exclusive, intellectual, logical assent – I’m making up words. That’s how fired up I am. It has to be this passion that emanates from your heart and your center. And here it is.

“And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces” where? On the ground. How many people? Fifty‑thousand. I want you to see it. Here it is right here. This is it. Fifty‑thousand people, right, Mariners game. Face on the ground. You’re God. I am not God. You made the heavens and you made this earth. You made me from this earth. You made me to worship you. I have pursued idols. I have worshiped created things rather than you, creator God. God, I repent. I’m broken. I am contrite. Lord God, I look forward to the day when the Lord Jesus comes on this earth and he makes it and me new.

Lord God, I look forward to the day when I shall be raised from this earth to be with you forever, to be like you forever. Fifty‑thousand people. I mean can you see that? Can you see 50,000 people faces on the ground worshiping. We call this a revival. Revival is not where God does something that he’s not normally doing. It’s where he does what he’s always doing to a greater number of people to a greater depth of intensity than is normal. God’s always loving, saving, forgiving people, compelling them to prayer and worship and repentance, and good works.

And revival is when it goes from dozens to tens and hundreds of thousands. And it goes from a shallow place in the soul, to the absolute depth and core of the identity. And this is the affect of the teaching and preaching of God’s Word, that God’s Word is living and active and powerful. It accomplishes what God intends for it to do. It is the way in which God penetrates the hearts and minds of his people. The result is then they follow up with a ground war. Verse 7.

“So Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the law while the people remained in their places. They read from the book from the Law of God clearly, and they gave sense so that the people understood the reading.” The air war preach – some of you are here today and you say, “I don’t know. I don’t know what that white guy’s yelling at me about. And he – it seems important. All these people are here. But I don’t know what they’re talking about.” Here’s what you need, somebody to talk to you.

So after the service, we have people to pray with you and talk with you. You should take the gospel class. We’ll introduce to the basics of Christianity. You could e‑mail your questions and we’ll answer them. You could join a community group. You can join a group and get together with people who love Jesus and would love to answer your questions and walk with you. You can meet with a pastor and they’ll sit down and help you.

That’s what the Levites are doing. The air war deals with the masses. The ground war singles in groups, helps answer people questions. If your here today and you have questions or resistance or maybe you even agree with the Scriptures and you love Jesus and you’re like, “But there’s stuff in my life I don’t know what to do about,” then get connected. Take the initiative to both open the book and open your life so that we and God could be connected to you in the most effective way.

That being said, the picture here is 50,000 people, faces on the ground, weeping wailing and mourning. It’s utter silence in the whole city. It’s just this eerie still quiet. And here’s what you hear, 50,000 people crying asking God for forgiveness. Their voices muffled because their face is in the dirt. And what started out as dry sod is now becoming mud from the tears of people. They’re absolutely devastated and broken.

The question is what do you say and do at that moment? What do you tell people in that state of grief and repentance and brokenness and sorrow? And Nehemiah, he shows up again. He was the governor, political leader, and Ezra, the priest and scribe, the religious leader, and the Levites, all the other pastors and shepherds who cared for people, who taught the people, said to all the people, “This day is holy, set apart, sacred, special, different.

“To the Lord your God, do not mourn or weep.” Does that seem a bit cruel and harsh to you? How many of you in a moment of brokenness sorrow, sadness, conviction of your own sin, awareness of your own depravity would be offended if someone came up and said, “You’ve mourned enough. You’ve cried enough. It’s time to move on now”? They’re not saying that it is not okay to mourn and weep and repent in sorrow, but that that is for a season, and at some point, you must move on.

The question is how is that possible. “For all the people wept as they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, ‘Go your way. Leave. Get outta here. We’re done.’” “Eat the fat.” This is a biblical command to barbeque. And all the men said.

Response: Amen.

Amen. Say, “I’m a vegetarian.” We still love you. You could read it, “Go grill your garden burger or repent and get some ribs.” “Eat the fat and drink the sweet wine, and send portions to someone 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.” Okay. Let me unpack this. Some Christians mistake this and say, “We should never be sad. God is a good God. We should think positive thoughts and we should always be happy.” Say, “Have you read Lamentations? Did you know that most of the Psalms are Psalms of Lament? Do you know that Jesus was a man of sorrows familiar with suffering? Do you know that it’s okay to be broken and downhearted and to shed your tears, particularly when you’re made aware of your own sin and the Holy Spirit does his kind work of convicting?” Say, “But it says to not be grieved because we are to have joy which will make us strong.” So the Levites calmed all the people. Lotta pastoral counseling happening saying, “Be quiet. For this day is holy. Do not be grieved.

“And all the people went their way to eat and drink and send portions and to make great rejoicing,” huge parties. All of a sudden, it went from being a town of silence filled with nothing but sorrow and weeping and tears to being a town filled with music and parties and barbecues and good times and people enjoying one another’s company because here’s the key, they had understood the words that were declared to them. Here’s the key.

The only way to have joy is to open the book, and joy is not just for those who open the book. It is for those who understand it. Lots of cults and bad teachers open the book, but they don’t help people understand it. Let me tell you what the Bible is all about, and that will be the source of your joy. First thing, who is the Bible about? Jesus Christ. I know that seems simple, but it’s absolutely essential. Jesus himself said in John 5:38‑39, a bunch of Old Testament neatniks came to him to argue about theology. And Jesus said, “You study the Scriptures thinking that in them you will find eternal life, yet these Scriptures testify about me.” The whole testament including Nehemiah 8, is about Jesus.

Matthew 5:17‑18, Jesus said, “I have not come to abolish the Old Testament, but to fulfill everything because it’s all about me. At the end of this life in Luke 24 after his resurrection and his ascension, right nearing his final days on the earth, the Lord Jesus on two occasions opened up , according to Luke 24, the Old Testament  walked through the whole thing. That would include Nehemiah saying, “It’s all about I all points to me. It’s all fulfilled in the Bible is all about Jesus.

The first thing is, if you open the Bible and you don’t get to Jesus, you can’t, will not have joy. The results is, you will be weak. If you want to have joy and strength, it requires Jesus. Now, they were reading from the first five books of the Old Testament, the Law of Moses, the books of the law, the Pentateuch, whatever you wanna call it. That section of Scripture is primary laws, depending up on which scholar you believe, between 611 and 613 laws. “Do this. Don’t do that.” I was a guy who thought he believed in the Bible. I was the guy growing up who never opened the book. We had one at my house. We were Catholic. We had one of those huge bullet‑stopper bibles. I mean enormous, huge. You drop it on your foot, you’re in the hospital. It’s that big. And it sat on the coffee table, and not my parents’ fault, my fault. I never once opened that book.

I treated it like a lucky rabbit’s foot. “Op, slept with my girlfriend, rub the magic book. I’m sure we’re fine now.” That’s how I treated the Bible. Superstitious, used it like a lucky rabbit’s foot. I never opened the book so I thought, “I’m a pretty good guy. God loves me. Me and God, we’re cool. Everything’s fine.” And then in college, I opened the book and I started where Nehemiah, in Genesis. And I kept reading of all these things that I was supposed to do and not do. And here’s what I decided. “I am jacked.” That’s what I decided.

How many of you have read the Bible and wanted to kill yourself? If so, you read with this Holy Spirit leading and guiding you. You are a good Bible scholar. Don’t lust. “Oh, man.” Don’t steal. “Oh, man.” Don’t lie. “That’s what I was gonna do to fix the first two.” (Laughs) Don’t covet. “What?” Then you read Jesus, “And if you thought it in your heart, you’re guilty.” “Oh. How good do I need to be to go to Heaven?” Perfect. “Oh. This is not good right here. I’m a dead man. I’m a dead man.”

How many of you have read the Bible, and the more you read it, the worse you feel ’cause the more you realize how bad you are? You know why you feel bad? You’re bad. It’s not that complicated. So if you read the Bible, and it says 600 things, “Do this. Do this. Do this. Do this. Do this. Do this. Do this. Don’t do this. Don’t do this. Don’t do this. Don’t do this. Don’t do this,” and you realize I don’t do these, and I do do these. You can’t just go, “And now I’m happy. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Thank you, Lord, for Hell and wrath and condemnation and punishment and eternal separation and the flames of Hell for me. Yeah. I’m going to Hell. Woo hoo. Happy am I.”

The law exists for this purpose. Romans 3:20. The law exists to convict us of sin. You’re supposed to read the law and realize how sinful you are. Okay. Now many of you have heard. This you say, “Ah, I know this.” That’s religion. The guy gets up, yells, tells us how bad we are, tells us what we’re supposed to do, and tells, “Try harder. Be disciplined. Pray without ceasing. Memorize verses.” Notice I got the long finger. “Make a list. Check it twice. He’s gonna find out who’s naughty and nice. Do your job.” How many of you have heard that religion? And it leads to absolute despair. You end up like these people, crying. “I tried. I can’t do it. I already did it. It’s too late. I don’t think there’s any hope for me.”

But how do you get to joy? Religion, morality cannot get you to joy. It just can’t, but the gospel can. The gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ because Jesus is the good news. I’m not the good news. Jesus is the good guy. I’m not the good guy.

1 Corinthians 15: 3‑4. Paul says, “What I received from the Old Testament, including from Nehemiah, I passed onto you first importance. Most important thing. Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” Here’s the bad news. You’re a terrible person. You are horrible. You, especially, not to mention her. You guys are terrible. Now some of you are thinking, “Well, what about you?” I’m worse. I’m a sinner. You’re a sinner. Thoughts, words, deeds, motives, since of commission. We did the wrong thing. Sins of omission. We didn’t do the right thing. We’re terrible people.

Here’s the good news. God, in his great love, infinite mercy, tremendous, unparalleled patience, chose to come into human history as Jesus Christ. He chose to live the life we didn’t live, the life without sin. He chose to die the death we should have died, the death that pays the penalty for sin. Three days later, he rose to conquer Satan, sin, and death. He ascended into Heaven. He’s alive and well today. He’s king, Lord, and God. He is over all peoples, times, places, religions, philosophies, nationalities, cultures, opinions, perspectives. Jesus has taken care of all of your sin, past, present, and future.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says that God made him who knew no sin to become sin so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God, that on the cross, the Lord Jesus took our place. Martin Luther calls it the great exchange. Everything you have or will ever do, everything that you are by sin was put on Jesus and he suffered, died, and was punished in your place to pay your penalty for your sins. In addition to that, not only does he take your sin from you, he gives his righteousness to you. You are now declared perfect and righteous in the sight of God.

You were regenerated, made a new person. You were given a new heart. You were given a new mind and a new will. You were given a new identity, a new father. The church becomes a new sort of second family. You have new purpose and meaning in your life. You’re ruled now by a new authority. You’re led now by the Holy Spirit. Your name is written in God’s book. You spend forever with him, that Jesus Christ has taken away sin, reconciled you to God, renewed you and remade you from the inside out. There is nothing in that to boast or brag about. But there is everything to sing and celebrate about.

And that’s where our joy is found. And here is how it works. The law convicts you of sin, and it is the gospel which brings you your joy. It is the law which tells you where you have fallen short. And it is the gospel that tells you that Jesus Christ has not fallen short, that he is lived in died in your place. It is the law that says you should die. It is the gospel that says you will live. It is the law that says that you have no relationship with God because you are unholy and not good. And it is the gospel which says that Jesus has given to you his righteousness and he has brought you into reconciled living, eternal, loving , renewing relationship with the God of the Bible forever.

[Applause]

And so when it says here that the joy of the Lord is your strength, which Lord is that? That’s Jesus, the Lord Jesus. And what he says is, “The law has stung you. You know how bad you are. Feel free to cry and weep and wail and repent and mourn for a while. But at some point the gospel must result in joy.” It can’t be an ongoing pattern of cyclical narcissism, looking at my sin, being depressed, hating myself, being discouraged, having no hope. I must at some point, fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of my faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and now sits at the right hand of the Father so that I will not grow weary and lose heart, that Jesus is my joy.

It doesn’t have to be my wife, my kids, my job, my ministry, my health, my wealth. Your joy is in Jesus Christ. And that joy from Jesus will give you strength to be a good spouse, a good friend, a good worker, a good student, a good minister of the gospel. Because you won’t take good things and make them into God things. You won’t go to people and things to make you strong and happy. You’ll go to Jesus and he’ll give you joy and he’ll give you strength so that then you can be a blessing to others and you don’t go to them in a sense of making them a false functional God to satisfy all your needs, continually disappointing you, and bringing you right back to that pattern of despair. Jesus Christ is the source of strength and joy. And he says, “Once the people understood it they went and threw parties.” They were done crying. And here is the bottom line of the gospel.

You are worse than you ever feared, and you are more loved than you ever dreamed. That’s the good news. And if you’re here today and you’re not a Christian, you need Jesus. You are going to Hell. You are bad, evil, and separated from God. And some of you say, “I’m a good person.” That’s pride. That’s the worse sin of all. You’re at the front of the line to Hell. And if I were here today and to tell you the building’s on fire, run, you would run. I’m telling you today that the flames of Hell are a real as that. And when I tell you to run, I’m imploring you to run to Jesus right now. This is an urgent matter.

[Applause]

This is an urgent matter. We don’t want you to spend one more minute separated from God and his love and his life and his joy and his hope and his peace and his Son. You could pray to Jesus right now and he will forgive you and make you a Christian. And when you’re ready, all who are or become Christians today, partake of communion remembering Jesus’ body and blood. That’s where the joy is. I’m a sinner. That makes me sad. Jesus is my savior. That makes me glad.

And then what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna stand. We’re gonna sing. We’re gonna raise our voices. We’re gonna raise our hands and we’re gonna celebrate the Lord Jesus. “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep. Go your way. Eat the fat. Drink the sweet wine. 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.” And God’s people said.

Response: Amen.

Amen. I’ll pray.

Father God, thank you. Thank you for Scripture. We accept it as truth. We believe the words of Jesus who said in John 17:17 that we could be sanctified by the Scriptures because they are the truth. Lord Jesus, we open your Word today to be made new, to be saved from lesser gods and things, to realize that in you is our joy and in you is our strength. Lord Jesus, it is my prayer for each of us that we would be certain before we leave this place that our sins are forgiven, that our relationship is reconciled, that our eternal life is secured.

Holy Spirit, I ask you right now to regenerate, to make new the lost people who hear these words, to compel them to run to the Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus, we pray for revival in our own life, in our own church, and our city. We pray it would happen when the book is opened. We pray it would happen when it is understood. We pray it would happen when the Spirit convicts people through the law that they are guilty sinners, and we pray it would happen when they realize the wonderful grace that has been lavished upon them by the Lord Jesus Christ whom we love and in whose name we pray. Amen.