When God’s Word Confronts You

Nehemiah 9

What: Response
Why: Confronted by God’s Word
How: Confronted by the Law, the Israelites responded in three ways
A. Confession
B. Worship
C. Confidence

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Testimony
-we’re used to hearing that the Bible is a unique book, supernatural, can transform lives we don’t understand
because we haven’t witnessed it ourselves or have not experienced it
-Kuya Armin’s experience with the Bible
-Marcos eraK Armin was active in movements to topple him from powerUS, lobbyingFeb 1986unexpected,
lost a sense of purposedepression (he did not know what to do now)1990, worked in government until
2001Law SchoolGideon’s Biblepromised to read but never did Discovery Meetings (apologetics ministry)
challenged to read the BibleMatthew, Mark, Luke (intellect)John (heart) drawn to Jesus by the written Word
of God Revolution to Revelation

B. Wider Context
-Why am I talking about God’s Word?
-Nehemiah context first half (rebuilding of the wall); 2 nd half, rebuilding of the people’s faith life
-Nehemiah 8 to 13 came about as a response to the reading of the Book of the Law (Gen-Deut) beginning in Neh 8:1-2
-all the things we’re seeing are evidence of the transforming power of the Word of God in the lives of the Israelites
-Confronted by God’s Word, they responded accordingly
-That’s our focus today. When you are confronted by the Word of God, there are at least three responses that will
happen
1.Confession
2.Celebration/Worship
3.Confidence

II. BODY
A. Confession (vv. 1-3a; 32-36)
POINT: when you are confronted by the Word of God, you witness His holiness and righteousness. These magnify
your sinfulness and corruption… leading you to confess and seek God’s forgiveness.
PROOF:
What is Confession?
-admitting to God that we are wrong and that He is right
-admission from the heart because we are convinced of our wrongdoing (conscience, God’s Word); so we
humble ourselves by admitting our faults to God
-closely related to repentance (change of mind that leads to a change of behavior) if confession is genuinely
from the heart, we will not be contented with lip service a fruit of transformation comes out
-Neh 8:1-8Ezra and several other leaders read and explained the Word of God to them
-Neh 8:9-11 people wept (convicted by God’s Word), preventedday of celebration (F.O.B) postpone
-Neh 9:1-3aafter FOB, fasting and sackcloth, earth on their heads (humility, confession, repentance, mourning)
separated: confess Israel’s sins and iniquities (they and their fathers)
read the Book of the Law—confronted (6 hours) response: confess (6 hours) confessed they
disobeyed God’s Word
PICTURE:
vv. 16-17: no food, no water, inconveniences Let’s just return to Egypt
v. 18: the golden calf
 PICTURE: You did something wrong and you justify it in your mind quiet time, Bible verse on FB, Bible reading,
sermon, counsel from church friends, lines from movies echoing God’s Word
PROBLEM: We witness Hebrews 4:12 (living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword) in action GOD’s
Word is like a scalpel in its ability to confront
-instinctively we know this (conscience; parts and parcels that we know of the Bible)how do we respond?
-distractiondrown these truth (distract themselves) temporary only
-denialthat’s not what it says; that’s not true; that’s not what it means; I’m not violating it; justify
themselves in their minds
-detachment withdraw yourself from God, Christian Community

PRACTICE: How do you respond when you’re confronted by God’s Word?

-pray for a tender and humble heart that readily admits wrong when confronted by God’s Word.
-pray for accountability, for a James 5:16 community
-pick up your Bible and read, meditate and study it… above all, live out its truths
RESTATE: When you are confronted by the Word of God, your respond in confession; you admit your wrong and
you seek God’s enabling to put it right, to live according to His Will

B. Worship/Celebration (3b-31)
POINT: Confronted by God’s Word, they witness God’s majesty and splendor and beauty and grace that they
cannot help but respond in praise and worship.
PROOF/PICTURE
What is Worship
-Pastor John Piper puts this simply: “worship is showing, displaying the worth of God.”
-“So true worship is based on a right understanding of God’s nature (cognitive) and it is a right valuing
(treasure, hold them as most important) of God’s worth (emotive).”
-we know that these exist when worship is not just in the lips but also in the hands and the life

How did these two things come out from our passage (truth and valuing)?
-When the Israelites read God’s Word, they recognized several truths about His Nature Worship

1. Cognitive: Great Creator (5b-6)

Affective: Psalmist (Psalm 8, 19)
2. Cognitive: Promise-Keeping God (7-8)
Affective: Abraham and His test to sacrifice Isaac
3. Cognitive: Miracle-working God (9-12)
Affective: Woman with a bleeding (Matthew 9:21)
4. Cognitive: God of Order (13-14)
Affective: Johannes Kepler
5. Cognitive: Provides (15; 19-21) –food/water, protection, guidance (pillar and Spirit)
Affective: George Muller’s experience
6. Cognitive: Conquering God (22-25)
Affective: Moses (Exodus 14:13-14)
7. Cognitive: Merciful, Just, Patient, Gracious God (16-18; 26-31)
Affective: very true for the returned exiles of the land

PROBLEM
-Worship not based on knowledge of God (equate worship with songs claiming benefits, feelings, we are not
diligent in His Word, we compartmentalize God—loving but not just)
-Plain intellectualism, no effect in the life (lecture topic, want to accumulate info, don’t live it out)
 PRACTICE
-you cannot properly worship God when you do not know Him and you do not value/trust the truths about Him
-Is the God you are worshipping the God of the Bible? Or is He a God you made out of your own mind?
-What do you do with the truths you learn about God? Do you actively seek how to apply them?
PICTURE: “When you sit down to read the Bible, read it as a book about God and not about you… We have to
train our minds to look for His attributes when we read His Word.” – MC
-I keep journals (keep a record of God’s faithfulness; I can return to them and be filled with awe by His goodness)

RESTATE: The Word of God will show you the LORD’s greatness and majesty. And when it does, you will respond in
true worship and praise!

C. Confidence (vv. 32-37)

POINT: knowing that the God they worship has all these attributes, they gained assurance and confidence to
approach him and again ask for help and grace despite their sinfulness (v. 34-35)
PROOF:
-v. 32 “let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us”
-v. 36-37 “Behold, we are slaves to this day…we are in great distress”
-Lord, we know You are righteous and we are sinners. Look not on our sins, but we appeal to your grace and
mercy… remember us, consider our plight, consider our hardships, help us
PICTURE: Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the Lord, do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.”
PRACTICE: -crucial here is sensitivity to God, to what He is saying to you through His Word
-emphasize regularity in meeting with God in prayer and quiet time because this is His way of speaking to us
-lay down your burdens and behold how God answers them in His Word
RESTATE: A confrontation with God’s Word also bring confidence in our hearts

III. CONCLUSION
-Israelites were confronted by God’s Word Confession, Celebration (Worship), Confidence
-When you open God’s Word, what is He confronting in your life?
a. Sin to confess (Him or accountability)
b. Attitude to change (work, academics, roommates, classmates, neighbors)
c. Spiritual growth know Him more (quiet time, Bible Studies, fellowship)
d. Reminder of God’s goodness, grace and love balm or oil for the wounded heart
e. Share my word that person you don’t like, he needs me

-I don’t know and I can’t see; but you and God know what these things are. But I pray for sensitivity to you to God’s
small still voice that you may hear it and not drown in distraction, denial, detachment. Open your Bibles.

105 
Your word is a lamp to my feet
    and a light to my path.
106 
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
    to keep your righteous rules.
107 
I am severely afflicted;
    give me life, O Lord, according to your word!
108 
Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord,
    and teach me your rules. (PSALM 119)

-Prepared by Paulo Tomacder

August 25, 2018