You Can Get Close to God
November 26, 2017
Scripture: Nehemiah 8:9-12
I. When you get close to the holy God, you get joy.
A. When the people of Jerusalem came close to God by reading the Bible, they did not at first get joy. Instead, as we see in vs. 9, they were overwhelmed with sadness. The Jewish leaders had to stop reading the Bible in order to say to the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” They had sorrow over their sin.
B. The people of Jerusalem missed the fact that God is good. He can and does forgive sin. He Himself can close the gap between you and Him.” So the leaders told the people of Jerusalem to stop crying and to start rejoicing (vs. 10). Conviction over your sin is a means, not an end. The Holy Spirit convicts you of sin so that you can repent. And once you repent, once you turn away from your sin, God gives you what He wants you to have. He gives you joy.
II. When you get close to the holy God, you get strength.
A. Verse 10 says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” With joy comes strength. This verse is talking about God’s joy. It’s talking about God’s good pleasure. It was God’s joy to forgive the people and bring them back to a restored Jerusalem. We see what God is like in Psalm 115:3: “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” As we get close to God, His joy overflows into us. And His joy gives us strength.
B. One way that His joy strengthens us is by knowing that we are loved by God. It gives God joy to love us. He remembers all good His promises to us even though we had sinned. God’s joy in loving His people gives them strength for life. God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for you sin. He atoned for your sin so that He could be close to you. Knowing that the holy God loves you gives you strength to change and be like Him.
III. When you get close to the holy God, you get peace.
A. The issue for the people of Jerusalem was that they were afraid of this holy God that they were reading about in the Bible. But the Bible does not just reveal our sin. It also reveals our Savior. God saves us through a sacrifice. The people in Nehemiah’s day read about God’s sacrifices from the first five books of the Bible. Genesis 22:13-14: “And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, ‘The Lord will provide’; as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’” Exodus 12:21, 26-27: “Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb’… And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.” Leviticus 16:9: “And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering.”
Application:
You can get close to God because of the sacrifice of Christ. Closeness to God also brings joy, strength and peace.
Sources:
Commentaries on Nehemiah by Derek Thomas, James Hamilton Jr., and Nancy Guthrie.