WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.559 Well, we are in the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:08.080 The people in Nehemiah, they're in Jerusalem at this point. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:09.679 They have rebuilt the temple. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:11.039 They've restored worship. 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:14.320 They've rebuilt the walls around the city of Jerusalem. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:17.600 In Nehemiah chapter 7, we get a list of people. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:18.879 It's just a count of people. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.359 It's almost like a censer of sorts. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:22.800 It's an inventory of people. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:30.879 And then today we're going to jump into Nehemiah chapter 8, where all the people are gathered at the water gate. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:34.880 And Ezra begins to read to them from the book of Law. 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:38.799 So the first five books of our Bibles, the book of Law. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:41.200 That's the scripture they had at the time. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:44.560 So let's read again Nehemiah 8, 5 and 6. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:49.840 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.280 And he opened it all. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:52.479 The people stood. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:01:02.640 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. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:09.120 Point number one is this God's wisdom meets us in our most needy places. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.040 God's wisdom meets us in our most needy places. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:18.159 So the people understood that they needed a wisdom beyond their own thinking. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:24.879 And then where they gathered to hear this word is actually what's interesting. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:32.959 Because the reading was not in the temple, the reading was at the water gate, and the water gate was the center of daily life. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:45.359 So this would be like us not hearing the word of God in the Redeemer Sanctuary, but hearing it at Costco or your high school or Publix or Health Place or wherever you work out. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:46.400 Right? 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:48.879 Hearing it in the most daily practical. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.959 They are saying we want to begin to be people of the book. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:02:00.959 People that have scripture apart, not just of Sunday, but part of our daily practical lives. 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:07.519 Many years ago, our entire 18-person extended family had a beach week. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.840 And our girls were little at the time. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:15.919 So we're sleep deprived, deathly concerned, these other people are going to wake up our babies. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:25.759 And my brother-in-law, my sweet, amazing brother-in-law and sister-in-law, they love to wake up early. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.360 Like it's dark out and we're on vacation early. 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:33.199 And so they would wake up around 5 a.m. 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:37.680 And we begin to hear them in the kitchen fixing their coffee. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:38.960 Wake us up. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:46.639 And we become deathly afraid that they're going to wake up our girls and that we're going to have to begin to parent at 5 a.m. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:49.840 And that they're going to be fussy all day. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:52.560 And if they're fussy, I'm fussy. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:03:00.000 And so I don't know, day three, I'm not sure what morning I lose it. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:05.520 I walked into the kitchen and I let my brother-in-law have it. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:12.560 And he doesn't like it because he's an alpha and I'm an alpha and he doesn't like how I'm talking to him, and then I don't like how he's talking to me. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:16.479 And then he actually sort of stayed calm through it all, which I didn't like that. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:19.520 So then I got even more, you know, angry about that. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:20.719 And I just let him have it. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:22.080 I let loose. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:28.719 Now later in the day we reconciled, but I sort of felt a wedge develop. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:32.000 I mean, we reconciled, I apologized, he apologized, we hugged it out. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:32.479 I love you. 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:36.319 But I just sort of felt like some wedge showed up. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:38.000 It didn't used to be there. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:40.479 It felt like that way for months. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:45.680 Fast forward to the next summer, again, 18 people, beach trip. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:48.800 I don't know if he felt the wedge or not, but I did. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:50.479 I knew something was off. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:59.120 And so one morning I go for a walk and I tell the Lord, I'm not going back to that house until I know what to do. 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:01.680 Like it's bothering me too much. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:06.800 I'm not going back to that house until I have a word from you about that. 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:15.439 And I'm remembering that passage, the verse about being reconciled to your brother before you worship. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:18.720 Like that's how important this stuff is. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:30.480 And then I remember the verse, Ephesians 4.32, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.000 And I realized we had forgiven each other, he forgave me and I forgave him. 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:39.360 But I had not been kind or tender toward him. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:44.639 I realized I needed to tell my brother-in-law how much he meant to me. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:47.439 So I'm like, all right, good time to go back to the house. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:51.120 So I go back to the house and I pull him to the side and I apologize again. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:53.920 I said, I don't know if you felt the wedge, but I felt the wedge. 00:04:55.040 --> 00:05:00.560 And then I just told him how much he has meant to me since I was 14 years old. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:03.519 And the wedge went away. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:12.399 See, in my very place of need, when I was unsure how to take the next step. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:20.000 Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:22.079 That's what the Bible gives us. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:25.199 The scripture gives us the next step. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:27.680 How do I handle this relationship? 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:29.439 What do I do here? 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:31.920 We look to the scriptures. 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:34.800 The word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:35.759 I can take the next step. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:37.040 Nehemiah 8:8. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:44.959 They read from the book, from the law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense that the people understood the reading. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:48.160 After Ezra read, the Levites come up. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:50.240 The Levites are assistant priests. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:55.759 And so these assistant priests help the people understand the thing that Ezra read. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.519 Because the Bible's not always easy to understand. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:02.720 Point number two is this the Bible can be difficult to understand. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:04.720 Sometimes we need help. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:08.879 Now the Bible's not always difficult, but it can be. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:11.120 It's written over thousands of years. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:16.000 It's written from different cultures, written by different people, written in different languages. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:23.680 There's narrative, there's poetry, there's letters, there's histories, there's parables, there's teaching, there's figurative language, and there's literal language. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:25.920 Sometimes we read it and we understand. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:28.079 Amazing, amazing. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.279 And sometimes we read it and we need some help. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:37.199 So here are a few resources I use all the time, pretty much every single week. 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:39.279 The first is a commentary series. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:40.879 Don't be intimidated by that. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:44.639 This is an incredibly accessible commentary series. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.959 It makes it easy to understand. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.519 The Bible Speaks Today commentary series. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:53.199 We use this series pretty much with every series that we go through. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:58.000 Ligoneer Ministries is RC Spruell's ministry, ligoneer.org. 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:01.040 Pretty much any question you have, you could Google that. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:06.079 And Ligoneer is going to pop up an answer for you: an article, a sermon. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:08.399 Same thing with gospel in life. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:10.240 That's Tim Keller's ministry. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:14.399 You're having a question about a passage of scripture, you can Google that. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:23.120 You can Google the passage, get to gospel in life, some sermon, some article to help you understand the thing that you don't understand. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:33.439 There are people way smarter than me, way smarter than you, that have given their lives, given their entire lives devoted to study some niche of a niche within the Bible. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:37.759 And when you hit it, all of a sudden, don't think that you should all of a sudden be able to understand. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:42.000 Why don't we rely on somebody who's given their whole life to it? 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:43.920 Nehemiah 8, 9 through 12. 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:53.600 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra, the priest and the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to the Lord your God. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:55.040 Do not mourn or weep. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:58.720 For all the people wept as they heard the words of the law. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:03.839 Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink sweet wine, amen. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:10.079 And send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:13.839 And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:20.399 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, Be quiet, for this day is holy. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:21.680 Do not be grieved. 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:32.320 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:40.879 Point number three is this hearing God's word empowers joy, obeying God's word increases joy. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.799 They hear the word, they're convicted of sin. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:47.679 They've realized they've screwed up. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:52.080 God's asked them to do something, live a certain way, they haven't done it, and they feel sorrow for that sin. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:57.039 They've caused destruction of the world, they've caused problems in relationships, they're mourning, they're weeping. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:02.960 But verse 10, we do not stay in the sorrow of our sin. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:13.120 The passage actually reveals a process to us that we hear the word, we understand what is true and good, and as soon as that happens, you realize you don't always live up to it. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:19.759 So you grow an awareness of your sin, your faults, your imperfections, and you're going to be sorrowful for that. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:21.840 There's going to be a certain amount of sorrow. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:23.600 But we don't live there. 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:25.039 We don't sit there. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:31.759 We experience that, but then we move into the freedom and the joy we have in Christ's finished work. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:45.759 That we have the full forgiveness, all the forgiveness we ever need for any of our mess ups and horrible mistakes, the tapes you replay of what you said and what you did, it's all forgiven in Jesus. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:48.720 A colleague of mine's a pastor at St. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.320 George's Episcopal Church in New York City. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.480 All over their church, they have these little signs. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:58.320 Here's a picture of the sign. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:00.159 Enjoy your forgiveness. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:04.159 All over the church, outside the church, inside the church, and all over. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:11.519 They want the people to hear the word of the full forgiveness they have in Jesus. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:15.519 But they want them to actually enjoy it. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:23.519 Not to abuse it, but to find joy in the fact that you are already forgiven from a work outside of yourself. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:25.600 And that it's given to you. 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:29.360 So you don't just hear that you're forgiven and stay in your sorrow. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:32.240 You actually enjoy your forgiveness. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:36.399 You actually find joy in Jesus' gift of forgiveness to you. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:39.120 Nehemiah 8:13 through eighteen. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:49.039 On the second day, the heads of the fathers' houses of all the people, with the priest and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the law. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:11:04.000 And they found it written in the law of the Lord that commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns in Jerusalem. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:14.960 So they were reading the Bible, they're reading the scriptures, scriptures at the time, they're reading the scriptures, and they read, Oh, there's this feast thing we're supposed to do, and we're not doing it. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.159 And they go, Oh, we're supposed to do it, we're not doing it. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:19.919 We should begin to do it. 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:31.120 So they go out to the towns in Jerusalem, go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:40.960 So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the water gate, and in the square at the gate of Ephraim. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:49.440 And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in booths, kind of like a tent, like a hut. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:56.720 For from the days of Jeshua the son of nun to the day of the people of Israel had not done so. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:00.240 And there was very great rejoicing. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:05.840 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the book of the law of God. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:11.440 They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly according to the rule. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:19.519 Point number four is this healthy obedience is joyful response to whatever God calls us. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:21.840 Did you see it at the end of verse 17? 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.279 They obey, and there was very great rejoicing. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:30.320 Healthy obedience is joyful response to whatever God calls us. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:39.360 Three years ago, I caught my first really good cutthroat trout on a dry fly. 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:41.679 I know that means nothing to most of you. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:44.000 To me, it means everything. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:48.639 So a cutthroat trout is, you see that little red marking under his jaw? 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.360 It almost looks like maybe I hooked him and cost some blood or something. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:53.440 No, that's actually a marking on the fish itself. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:55.440 That's why it's called a cutthroat trout. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:59.840 And so my fishing group, we're in the Bridger Teton National Forest in Wyoming. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:01.840 We're on this creek called Crystal Creek. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:03.200 We're working our way up the creek. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:04.799 I see this bend in the river. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:06.000 I see a seam. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:07.519 I see a little tree hanging over it. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:09.360 I'm like, oh, that looks fishy. 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:10.399 That is the spot. 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:11.759 That is perfect. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:14.559 So I drop my caddis fly in there once. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:16.559 I wasn't close enough to the shore second time, no. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:18.480 And then the third time, I'm like, oh, that's a good one. 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:18.879 Boom. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:19.600 He comes up. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:20.639 I see him come up. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:23.360 He comes over the water, comes down on the fly. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:24.399 I set it. 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:25.840 I get him in. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:31.679 Now, for the sake of an illustration, let's call this fish Fred. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:32.320 Okay? 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:34.080 Kids, you like this part? 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:35.039 Fred the fish. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:35.440 Okay? 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:37.279 We're gonna call him Fred. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:42.720 Now, Fred summers in Crystal Creek and he winters in the Snake River. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:44.639 This is actually what he does. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:46.480 All the cutthroat trout do this. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:47.440 This is his life. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:49.679 He was created for water. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:53.120 But imagine when Fred came up on that caddis fly. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:56.480 Imagine when he came out of the water, imagine he looked up. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:04.080 Imagine he saw a bird flying overhead, a free bird just flying through the sky. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:09.279 Imagine that he thought to himself, that's what I want. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:11.759 I want to be free from this water. 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.440 And so he decides he's gonna free himself. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:22.080 And so he goes over to the shoreline, Fred the Fish, and he flops himself out of the water onto the shore. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:27.279 And he thinks he freed himself onto dry ground. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:30.000 But he's actually killing himself. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:30.639 Right? 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:32.320 You're probably ahead of me on this one. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.759 The point, of course, is you were made for God. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:44.159 Flopping around somewhere else will never free you, and it won't bring lasting joy. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.279 Deuteronomy 10, 12 through 13. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:15:08.000 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:10.320 Don't you love how that ended? 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:11.120 Is that how that ends? 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:12.159 For your good? 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:17.600 Obey, keep the commandments, love God for your good. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:26.639 Somebody asked Pastor John Piper, how is my joy connected to my obedience? 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:28.879 Here's what he said. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:50.799 If we treat obedience as something we do first, and then all joy in Jesus follows, we will have turned obedience into a work of the law or a legal external performance that has in it no Christ-exalting worth, and therefore will not result in true enjoyment of Jesus. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:52.080 We can pause there. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:56.720 Some of us know that story, that way of Christianity. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.159 Obey enough and then God will really accept me. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:06.000 Obey enough, and then God will really, really like me or love me. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:19.840 All the affection, acceptance, forgiveness, love, all of it is given through Jesus fully because of Jesus' word, nothing to do with you. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:22.720 Piper goes on. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.159 The battle is to look to Jesus. 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:49.840 Look to all that God is for you in him and pray for eyes to see his all-satisfying beauty and worth, so that you rest in him and are so satisfied that your soul can be so satisfied in Jesus that the root of sin is severed and you walk in obedience. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:17:00.159 Piper is saying, we obey as we rest all the more in the all-satisfying worth and beauty of Jesus. 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:03.519 So that's joy. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:07.599 And then as we obey, we experience increased joy. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:08.960 Psalm 19:8. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:14.160 The precepts of the Lord all right, rejoicing the heart. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:21.359 There's nothing wrong with the law or the precepts or what we're called to do. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.160 They actually increase the joy of our heart. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:28.400 What's wrong is us, our inability to live up to it. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:30.000 So we need Jesus. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:35.039 And so that out of a heart, a godly desire could develop. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:38.799 That we actually want to follow this Jesus and his ways. 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:44.720 All the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:46.079 Now back to Nehemiah. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:47.920 They're reading the word. 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:52.640 They had to read through Leviticus 23 to learn about this feast of booths. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:57.039 We learned about the feast of booths back in Leviticus 23 when we study through Leviticus. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.599 It teaches us that God reminds. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.319 God is reminding them of something in this feast. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:07.039 Everyone moves into these temporary shelters, they build them, they live in them for like a week. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:15.039 It's like a wholesome burning man, just they're just living out there in the hut. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:24.480 The purpose was to remind the people of the hardship of the past and to remember that God is faithful to provide in the present and in the future. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:29.359 And Nehemiah and the people, these people, they've just forgotten it. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:30.720 They've forgotten it. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:32.079 They stop doing it. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:33.759 They let it go. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:35.920 And then they hear. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:38.640 And then they respond and they obey. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:41.200 Boy, doesn't that sound simple? 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:46.720 I mean, doesn't that what I just laid out for you just sound amazing? 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:52.079 You are going to be disobedient and not do something that God is asking you. 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:56.400 You are going to hear what you should do, and then you're going to respond and obey. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:01.039 The problem, of course, is you don't always do that. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:02.480 Sometimes you do. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.640 And hopefully you'll do it more. 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:06.160 But not always. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:12.720 And this is why we need a righteousness outside of ourselves, a record outside of ourselves. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:19.440 And so that full forgiveness we get in Jesus, we also get his full obedience. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:23.599 That is the imputation of the cross to us. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:25.440 Full forgiveness. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:30.240 The imputation of Christ's life for us, all of his obedience put on us. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:32.640 That is the grace of God to us. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.599 That's how Nehemiah points to Jesus. 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:42.240 Here's how Jesus relates to the Feast of Booths into this Nehemiah story. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:43.680 Last point, point number five. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:49.440 Jesus is our ultimate acceptance and our forever home. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:56.000 This side of Jesus, our obedience is never for love, it's because of love. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:06.319 We could say it this way: our obedience is out of, empowered by our secure love and acceptance in Jesus. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:15.759 The Feast of Booths is going on in John chapter 7, when Jesus stands and he tells the people something. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:21.759 And I close with this passage what Jesus says to these people living in these temporary huts. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:24.960 John 7, 37 and 38. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:33.680 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:41.759 Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:45.680 Any prayer for something? 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:47.200 We would love to pray for you. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:50.400 There'll be a pastor down front afterwards to pray with you. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:52.160 Let's pray together. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:21:04.160 Heavenly Father, we're so grateful that you call us to an obedient life, which would increase our joy even though we struggle with it. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:13.119 And thank you that you see us as righteous and lovely as Jesus Himself because of Christ's word for us. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:26.400 Help us to enjoy your forgiveness, help us to enjoy your righteousness, would our hearts all the more find a satisfaction, a wholeness in your love to us in Jesus. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:41.599 And out of such a place of all satisfying in you, would our hearts flow with worship, love, and obedience. 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:43.119 In Christ's name we pray. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:44.000 Amen.