According to Christian tradition, today is the last Sunday of Epiphany and the preparation Sunday for Lent. This Sunday is also designated to celebrate the transfiguration of Christ. Jesus showed God’s appearance in Him when Christ was with Peter, James and John on a high mountain (Matthew 17). That manifestation was what Jesus is as the Son of God. As Christ’s followers, we can be changed into a spiritual shining star through Jesus and live a transfigured life in God with the help of the Holy Spirit.

So far, we have learned that the broken walls and damaged gates in the temple of Jerusalem had been completed under the leadership of Nehemiah. That impossible mission had become possible through the united work of the people of Israel with God’s presence, protection, and provision. This morning we continue to look at the ongoing renovation ministry Nehemiah and the people of Israel had been doing. Chapters one through six in the book of Nehemiah describe the restoration of the tabernacle. The other part of the book, up to the last chapter thirteen, tells about the rebuilding of the people of Israel. Today in our Old Testament reading, we can observe some form of the dedication of the dwelling place of God. All the people of Israel gathered at the Water Gate and asked Ezra to “bring out the Book of the Law of Moses” to them. This morning I want us to explore that sacred assembly, learn lessons from the worship participants and apply these principles to our spiritual recovery adventure.

Firstly, the people of Israel read the Word of God. When they “came together as one,” Ezra, the priest as well as the teacher of the Law, read the Book of God’s Word “aloud from daybreak till noon” in the presence of the people (Nehemiah 8:3). Did we notice that this holy gathering was “made up of men and women and all who were able to understand?” (Nehemiah 8:2) The reading event would include children and be designed for the whole family. The Book of the Law, called the Torah or the First Five Books of the Hebrew Bible, contains Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Those accounts describe divine laws and instructions given to the people of Israel through Moses. Ezra recited the Word of God for almost six hours! All the people there “listened attentively” to the Word (Nehemiah 8:3). Think about the hunger for God’s Word the people of Israel had. They would not have been allowed to have the sacred text devotion when they had been in Babylonian captivity for seventy years. They were eager to hear the Word of God once they returned to their homeland, Jerusalem and rebuilt the house of God there. Once again, the physical building of the temple was done, but the spiritual construction of the people still needed to be completed. God’s chosen people had a mixture of mindsets since they had grown under the influence of Babylonian culture and lifestyle. They wanted to fill the Word of God fully in their hearts. That would be the first step of the holy restoration.

This morning I want us to ask ourselves, “Do I read the Word of God?” Unless we love or honour God’s Word, we may not spend time reading it. The Bible reading matters in our sacred walk with God. According to the Bible, the heart is the most deceitful item among all the other things in our faith journey (Jeremiah 17:9-10). Unfortunately, all evil thoughts come out of our spiritually damaged hearts (Matthew 15:19). As Reformed believers, we are encouraged to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” every day (Romans 12:2). Are we hungry for God and His word? This morning we compared ourselves to the deer that panted for streams of water while singing the hymn. Again, ask the following question: “Am I thirsty for God’s Word?” Sometimes we believe we are rich in spirit because we work harder for God. The more we know God, the more we realize how poorly we know Him. Placing the Word of God in our godly temple through reading the Bible is one way of changing our broken hearts into God-restored minds. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will increase our appetite for the Word of God and the ability for more of the Lord.

Secondly, the people of Israel respect the Word of God. They all stood up out of respect for the Word during the Scripture reading. (Nehemiah 8:5). When Ezra praised the Lord, they lifted their hands before the Great God. They responded to His Word by saying: “Amen! Amen!” (Nehemiah 8:6). The meaning of the word for Amen here is “let it be so,” or “I agree.” In other words, the Word of God they heard was genuinely true and correct. The people of Israel “bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground” (Nehemiah 8:6). Through those expressions, they revealed their awe of God and His Word since they could not look at God whose face would shine like the sun (Matthew 17:2). According to some Bible scholars, after that large group assembly, the congregation was divided into small parties. The Levities would have shared some explanation of the reading of Ezra while leading each group. That would be an excellent way for the people of Israel to understand what the Word of God meant clearly. Since the Word was being read and reflected, the people of Israel had also been weeping. When the people listened to God’s Word, they came to realize how their thoughts, attitudes, and behaviours were contrary to God’s perspective. They mourned over their sinfulness, turned away from those evil thoughts and acts, and turned to the godly paths the Word of God had shown them. That was the authentic holy restoration in the hearts of the people of Israel.

One of the problems we face today is a need for more seriousness concerning sin. In many places, even among believers, sin is not taken seriously anymore. When we turn on the TV or read the newspaper, we hear many people’s heartbroken stories. People hurt one another, do immoral things to others, lie to those who trust them, create harmful environments to earn money, and so on. But they do not feel they are doing anything wrong. They have no sense of the goodness of life. That is what the Word of God is given to “teach, rebuke, correct and train” us as the servants of God in doing “every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). To help us become righteous, God’s Word can “penetrate” us and even “divide” our souls and spirits and “judge” the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). Dealing with this process is very painful for us since we need to face who we are, in terms of our sinful nature. One more time, we need to distinguish between the symptoms we may have and/or we have observed from our loved ones and the ill or sick people in spirit. God hates sinfulness, but God loves us even though we may make mistakes, fail some or many things, and fall short of godly standards in our spiritual race. Whether we realize it or not, weeping over our wrongness is a positive sign. As I have repeatedly stated, the recovery plan starts with the awareness of the destructive thoughts and actions we have been doing, regardless of how big or small it appears. Again, no one in this world is exempted from this unrighteous life journey. With God’s presence, provision, and protection, everyone’s weaknesses can be strengthened if we evaluate our own condition through the spiritual mirror, the Divine Word and cry out to God for His guidance and help in repentance.

Thirdly, the people of Israel rejoice in the Word of God. Nehemiah, the governor of Jerusalem, Ezra, the priest and teacher of the Law, and their coworkers, the Levites said to the people of Israel, to be joyful instead of grieving. After that instruction, the people of Israel celebrated that day with great joy since “they had heard God’s words and understood them” (Nehemiah 8:12). The people of Israel discovered “the joy of the Lord” through the Word (Nehemiah 8:10). That divine gladness made them “happy and strong” (Nehemiah 8:10). Later, they rediscovered how God had led their ancestors out of Egypt into the wilderness while listening to God’s Word (Nehemiah 8:13-17). During that time, God provided manna and protected them daily with a pillar of cloud and fire. The people of Israel decided to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles again while reading “the Book of the Law of God” with Ezra from the first day to the last of the celebration (Nehemiah 8:18). Every day, they were passionate about God’s Word and meditated on it with joyfulness.

When we open the Word of God and read and respect the Word, we can rejoice in the book of God’s Word. “The joy of the Lord” is independent of all the situations we are in today. Someone said, “Genuine happiness is the result of righteousness, not circumstances.” Since the fall of Adam and Eve, as human beings, unfortunately, we have tried to find the real source of gladness or satisfaction in the wrong places. As the prophet Jeremiah described the spiritual emptiness since our heart might be a broken jar (Jeremiah 19:10). Imagine that there will be no filling despite how much time and effort and how many resources we have poured into a damaged sacred wall, in other words, our spiritual heart. When we return to God’s basic principles, we can recover the Lord’s strength from the Word of God.

While preparing this message, I came to realize again that we need to have more passion for God’s Word. We are not only made out of dirt but also created in the image of God. We need two types of satisfaction and are required to have physical and spiritual foods in our daily lives. We do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. That is why God wants us to have good nutrients for our physical bodies and daily devotions for our spiritual minds. I have recently been inspired by the two stories of people loving the Word of God. The first one was related to Pastor Lim’s testimony when he had been in a North Korean political prison for almost three years. He is a Retired Minister of Big Light Presbyterian Church in Toronto. His congregation has helped some people in North Korea in various ways over the past twenty years. Many of us have heard that Pastor Lim was falsely accused in the North Korean court system and sentenced to life in prison. He worked eight to ten hours of work at the labour camp. He was given a minor and malnourished portion of food. Eventually, political prisoners there usually give up on their lives due to a lack of stamina in the flesh and soul. One main reason he had survived under extraordinarily challenging circumstances for those extended periods was the strength and satisfaction he had received from the Bible. He read the entire Holy Scripture again and again while finding spiritually hidden treasures. Believe it or not, according to Pastor Lim, going to prison is not good in the general sense, but it was indeed a blessing to be in an isolated place since he met Christ again and had the most sacred happy journey while reading the Bible.

The other example I viewed a couple of days ago was taken from a documentary about a famous Korean comedian, Po In-Bong. In his fifties, or almost ten years ago, he got a call from the Lord and has lately become a minister. In the reality show, one day, his father brought a handwritten Bible copy to the comedian pastor and his family. The late mother copied word for word by hand and made the completed set of the holy manuscript for her son. Can we imagine how long it takes to copy the Bible by hand? It could not be measured by the amount of time she spent recording those scriptures in her own hand. The handwritten Bible is compiled in many thick notes. When In-Bong opened each of the notes, he was amazed not only at the tremendous work his mother did for that copying project but also at the enormous love his mother had for the Word of God. Viewing the many notes beginning with the Book of Genesis and ending with the Book of Revelation in the video was one of the most touching scenes I have ever seen. I ask myself what spiritual legacy my wife and I can pass on to our children and the following generations. Let us pray that we can make a similar confession as Nehemiah did, “The Word of God is the joy [and strength] of my heart” (Nehemiah 8:10; Psalm 119:111). May God help us feel that the Word is sweeter than honey in our mouth (Psalm 119:103). In other words, we can enjoy sacred joyfulness and power through God’s Word.

To conclude, I want to remind us of the wonderful blessing and warning we have heard from our Epistle for today. The Apostle Paul encouraged the Philippi congregation to “continue to work out” their salvation “with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). I’ve stated that there are three types of salvation in our faith journey. The first one is justification, which happens when we repent of our sins and put our trust in the Triune Lord alone. When we do that, we can be justified in Christ and become righteous before God with the help of the Holy Spirit. That is the initial stage of God’s salvation.

The second kind of salvation is sanctification, a continued process after receiving divine righteousness. That ongoing journey looks like having a renovation of the house. After we clean up our old broken temple inside us, we need to place new sacred items inside our God-made temple. This restoration task is critical for us to keep doing in our spiritual recovery project. Sometimes we may wonder why we should be bothered by the reforming of our soul every day. We have learned that spiritual opposition from our divine adversary to us as God’s children exists continuously. The devil never stops attacking God’s Kingdom. We need to remember that we have been encouraged to battle against evil spirits in a godly manner. It is a brutal holy war between God and Satan. We have to work on this spiritual fight with “fear and trembling” to be sanctified or to resemble more of Christ’s beautiful attributes in our faith journey. When we keep doing this sacred renovation business, eventually, we can experience a taste of glorification which is the last phase of God’s salvation. The full status of this type of righteousness will occur when Christ comes again, as the Bible promises. Whether we admit it or not, Jesus is coming soon. He will shortly complete our God-blessed restoration blueprint and reward us based on what we have done. It will be a time of glorification. Are we not excited to see this completed renovation fulfilled in the near future?

One more time, I want us to remember that all three of these spiritual steps need to be done by God’s grace, and Christ is the only One making these things possible. To begin with God’s justification, to be continued with God’s sanctification and to complete with God’s glorification, every step of salvation needs to work with the Word of God. God’s Word is the initiator, mediator, and finisher of our restoration journey. Let us read the Holy Bible, respect the Word and rejoice in the Book of God’s Word. Amen!

*In this sermon, I have used thoughts from various messages based on the texts: Nehemiah 8:1-12,18 & Philippians 2:12-18.