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Skip Heitzig: Now there's a group of men next to Ezra, right hand and left hand, and a group of Levites. So either they're taking turns, maybe Ezra started reading for a while, then another one took over and read for a while, then another, then another, etcetera.

Or Ezra read and there was a break and the Levites fanned out and these men fanned out into the audience and helped people apply the text of scripture. Like, did you understand the reading this morning? Did you have any questions about this for your own personal life? Something along those lines. They helped them to understand the reading, just like I have a team.

I have a strong team of teaching pastors who I can be gone and they can teach the word of God aptly, powerfully, distinctly. I have a group of counseling pastors. You can come in and you can have your situation in life hashed over and given direction for. I have ministry helpers in the Sunday school department that help your children understand the text. All of them, people in the decision team and prayer team, same thing.

All designed to help us understand the Book of God. So, they read distinctly from the book in the law of God. And notice the second part, and gave the sense. What does that mean? Made it clear. Made sure that people understood what was being read. Made sure that people could apply the scripture to their own personal lives.

This is what it says and this is what it means. That's what it means to give the sense. This is what it says and this is what it means. Now, if the first sense makes good sense, then seek no other sense, or else it's just nonsense. That is, the Bible can just be read plainly. There's no hidden secret meaning. Just find out what the original author wanted the original audience to understand and apply it to your lives. That's the idea of making or giving the sense.

And this is the reason that I am committed to through the Bible teaching, teaching through a book, teaching through the Old Testament, teaching through the New Testament, because what that does is bring balance. It prevents me from choosing my favorite hobby horses and favorite topics to teach about and lets me teach on every single topic that is important to God in its context.

And it brings spiritual health. So, they helped the people to understand what the Bible said. Understanding should be the first goal and priority of the preacher. Understanding should be the first goal and the priority of the preacher. If you don't understand what you read in the Bible, the preacher has failed.

If you walk away from church knowing just five helpful hints on having a better life, but you don't understand what the scripture means, the preacher has failed. If you walk away with clever anecdotes and humorous stories and you were entertained greatly, but you failed to understand what the scripture says, the preacher has failed. If you walk away saying, what an awesome preacher and not what an awesome book God has given us, the preacher has failed.

I mentioned a famine of the word of God. That comes from Amos chapter 8. In that little book of Amos, the prophet predicted a famine is coming to the land. A famine not of bread, not of water, but a famine in hearing the word of God. I believe those days are here. I believe we are living in a day and age where there is a famine of hearing the word of God. You could go to a thousand different churches across the United States of America, you would be hard pressed to find expository preaching.

Biblical expository preaching. Just giving you the sense of what the text of scripture says and what it means originally and how it is applied to your lives. And this is why, and I've been astonished by it every time I travel to another state and speak or to another country and speak, people are so grateful for the exposition that comes from this church, from this pulpit, that they get on YouTube or the different other outlets, especially our Wednesday night through the Bible.

They say, we've just never heard it verse by verse, chapter by chapter. We're being fed and they're grateful for it. And that's because when we started, I wanted to make sure, and I got this from my pastor, I wanted to make sure that you would be the best fed congregation in the world. I wanted you to be fed the truth of the scriptures.

So, every sermon hangs on three wires. Is it accurate? Is it clear? Is it practical? Is it accurate? Is the preacher saying what God said in his word? Is it clear? Do I understand the meaning of it? Is it practical? Can I leave this building and go to work tomorrow and with my family through the week and apply these truths to my life?

Is it accurate? Is it clear? Is it practical? So, they do this for six hours. And notice how the word of God has its effect. There is a response from the people. First of all, there's a verbal response. What is the word the people say back to Ezra? Amen. They say it twice. Amen. Amen. That means so be it, or right on, or I agree. Amen.

And that's in verse 6. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen. And I'm guessing they didn't do that on queue. They did it spontaneously. There's something about a responsive congregation. I don't mind hearing an amen or a verbal response. I know we're a little more subdued in our culture. But I got to tell you, I love preaching in Black churches.

You know what they are feeling. They are talking back to you the whole time. It's awesome. And also there's a physical response. In verse 5, as Ezra takes the scroll and unrolls it, it says, the people stood up. They stood up as it was being read. Why? Because they're saying, we honor the word of God. This is a practice done in synagogues.

And in many churches, people will rise for the reading of the text and then sit down for the sermon. So there's a verbal, physical, but also a spiritual response. They're lifting their hands, they're bowing their heads, and they're worshiping God. Raising hands indicates surrender. Bowing down indicates submission. This is their reaction to what is being read from the scriptures.

There has never been a genuine revival. You can study revivals through history. There has never been a genuine revival that does not include a return to the word of God. The scripture is central in every single revival in history. People want to know what the word of God has to say. You can just ask Josiah, or Hezekiah, or Martin Luther.

The Great Protestant Reformation began in the 16th century as the response to a recovery of Bible study. There was a man who in India, this took place, he was talking to his friend about a revival and he said to his friend, with a beautiful Indian accent, we are having a revibal. And he was saying revival, but the beautiful Indian accent came out revibal.

That's how you have a revibal by having a revibal. Get back to the Bible, you'll have a revival. So, realization, in second reading, the third step, interestingly, is remorse. Verse 9, and Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and the scribe, so the civic leader and the spiritual leader, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, this day is holy to the Lord your God.

Watch this. Do not mourn, nor weep, for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. What's going on? What is happening? They asked for a Bible study. The Bible is being read. They read it distinctly. They help people to understand and people are going, start crying. They're mourning. Why? Why are they crying? They're crying because they're guilty.

They're crying because they realize we went into captivity because of the sin of our forefathers. They're probably reading through Deuteronomy 28, 29, Deuteronomy 31 that talks about the blessings on obedience and disobedience and what would happen in the future when the generations turn away from God and God promised to take them into captivity and they said that's exactly what happened. So the people hear that.

And they're cut to the heart and they start mourning. The word of God is doing its work of convicting. It's convicting them of sin. It's searching their heart. Every day, friends like you help bring clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching to people searching for truth in a world that often feels confused, divided, and uncertain. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource designed for times like these. When you give, you'll receive City in Shambles, Pastor Skip's complete 18-message study through Nehemiah on CD plus digital download. In these messages, you'll discover how God works in seasons of spiritual and cultural collapse, how prayer and obedience become the starting point for renewal, and how ordinary believers can respond with faith instead of fear. We'll send this resource as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now, let's return to today's teaching.

Because the scriptures are the standard. And whenever you hold up the standard, only then can you see how far you have fallen from the standard. So the Bible is being read and the people are mourning. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, remember the first two beatitudes? He said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Number two, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Now those two beatitudes go hand in hand. When I realize that I am poor, poverty-stricken, spiritually before God, that I can do nothing to earn his favor, that I am bankrupt before God. When I realize how sinful I really am, I mourn over my condition.

That's called repentance. That's what the people are feeling. They're recognizing their spiritual poverty. This is like the tax collector in Luke 18 who beat his breast and said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. This is like the crowd in the book of Acts. When Peter shares the gospel with them and it says, the people were cut to the heart.

The writer of Hebrews says, the word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. A.W. Tozer said, "Until a man has gotten into trouble with his heart, he's not likely to get out of trouble with his God." By the way, this is why some people avoid the Bible altogether. This is why some people would rather go to a church that doesn't read through the Bible.

They don't want to be convicted of what they are doing. They don't want anybody messing with their lifestyle. They don't want to be convicted of their sin. I was in a bookstore years ago, it was a secular bookstore, but it was a Christian book that was on display by a very popular preacher with a big smile. And somebody, a girl was reading through the book, looking at it, and a man saw her, came up to her and said, oh, you should buy that book. This guy is very good. He won't make you feel bad. He'll just make you feel good about who you are.

And I thought, if your church doesn't teach the Bible, and you never feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit, get a new church. There was realization, there was reading, there was remorse. But now the pendulum swings to the other side. Now this next step, fourth step, rejoicing. Verse 10. Then he said to them, go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

So, the Levites quieted all the people, all the criers, all the mourners, quieted all the people, saying, be still for the day is holy. Do not be grieved. And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly because they understood the words that were declared to them.

You're going, okay, I'm confused now. Now they're being told not to mourn. You're saying mourning is a good thing and now they're saying stop it. Why? Here's why. If your mourning supersedes God's mercy, it's wrong. It's okay to mourn. It's okay to be to understand, I've fallen short. I failed. But then you have to quickly realize, but God is merciful.

And God loves to forgive, and God has forgiven me. I have missed the mark, but Jesus hit the mark because of what he did on Calvary. So, if you are only forlorn over your sin, but you don't see the forgiveness in Christ, that's when it's wrong. And it's possible to become so absorbed in our own failures that we forget God's forgiveness.

So, he says, rejoice. The joy of the Lord is your strength. John Newton, you know, John Newton was the guy who was a slave trader, who then got saved, stopped his slave trading, and wrote the song Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. When he was dying, he said this. "Although my memory is fading, I remember two things very clearly. I am a great sinner and Christ is a great savior." That's the balance. I'm a great sinner, mourning. Christ is a great savior, rejoicing.

That's the balance. So, they're told to rejoice. There's a swing of emotions from weeping to rejoicing. By the way, joy is always the byproduct of a life that is surrendered to God. Joy is always the byproduct. David said in Psalm 19, "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart."

Though sometimes the word of God hurts, the same word that brings hurting will bring healing, soothing, comforting. Billy Sunday said, "The trouble with too many people is they've had just enough religion to make them miserable." I hope you have more than that. I hope you have enough to make you joyful.

So, realization, reading, remorse, rejoicing. The fifth and final stage that indicates real revival, results. Results. They obeyed God's commands. Now, in verse 13 through 18, it's day number two. It's the second day. It's the day after the first. They go to bed, they wake up the next day, they meet again. And on this day, as they're reading through the scriptures, we'll just look at verse 14. They found written in the law which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the Feast of the Seventh Month. That's the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Feast of Tabernacles that happened on the seventh month was a seven-day festival, wherein Leviticus 23, God said, what I want the whole nation to do is for seven days, go camping with your family. Go camping with your family, but at your own house. Just build a booth outside out of sticks and leaves and branches and live in that booth and look up at the stars and tell your children at night that for 40 years the children of Israel camped out in the wilderness and God took care of us.

So, on day two, as Ezra is reading through the law, perhaps the section of Leviticus 23 is mentioned about this festival of Tabernacles and the people said, we should do that. So they read from the book of the law, now they're doing the book of the law. They're actually putting it into practice. And we're told in verse 17 that this has not occurred since the days of Joshua.

Isn't that wild? For a thousand years they had not kept the Feast of Tabernacles as a nation. What changed? Reading the scriptures changed. This is a really good case for tradition versus scripture. Well, you know, in our church the tradition has always been thus and so. Okay, fine, until you read the scripture and find out, do this instead of that. That's when you break from your tradition and do what the Bible says.

So, they're reading it and they have been hearers of the word, now they are doers of the word. They implement it, they put it into practice. So this is revival. Revival is when lives are changed. The results prove themselves. Lives are changed, thieves steal no more, liars become honest, adulterers mourn over their infidelity, covetous people lose their greediness.

There's true repentance. D.L. Moody said, "Every Bible should be bound in shoe leather." That is, we should read it, then we should put it on and walk in it. And then notice in verse 17, I love this, the end of verse 17, and there was very great gladness. I don't know if that's good English, but it's great theology. There was very great gladness.

A few quick takeaways. Just three little bullet points to walk away with. I've given you five points already, but let me just give you a few takeaways. Number one. No life is complete without a spiritual dimension. You can have walls built, you can have a good economy, you can have a good job, you can have good stability, everything's working out in your life, without a spiritual dimension, your life is not complete.

Second takeaway point. No spiritual dimension is complete without scripture. So you might say, well, I'm a spiritual person. I have a spiritual bent. I'm spiritually minded. I believe in God. You need to be informed by the scripture. And third, no scriptural input is complete without obedience.

No scriptural input is complete without obedience. Hearing what the Bible has to say is vastly different from now that I hear it, I'm going to do it. Obedience.