EZRA 7:8-10 BLESSED BECAUSE OF THE BIBLE2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezra 7:8-10 Blessed Because Of The Bible

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016.

We are here this evening in the book of Ezra, and this is where we're at in reading through the Bible in three years. And so it's a special message, and really it's the first thing that God spoke to me in 2016, because Ezra chapter 7 was the assigned reading for January 1st. And as I opened up the scriptures and began to read, the Lord really highlighted these things for me and put it upon my heart to share it with you. And so I'm going to read it to you.

I'd like to read for you Ezra 7, verses 8, 9, and 10, and then we'll spend some time looking at what these things mean. Ezra 7, verse 8 says, Verse 10 says,

For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

Here as we look at Ezra chapter 7 verses 8 through 10, we're looking at the importance that Ezra placed upon the Word of God and the relationship that he had with the Word of God. And so I've titled the message this evening, Blessed Because of the Bible. And we definitely see that here in this passage with Ezra. Ezra was blessed by the Lord because of the scriptures.

And it's something that I believe that God wants to do in our lives as well. Now, those of you who know me, of course, you know this message is not very surprising. This is something I share these types of things frequently, the importance and the value and the need of the Word of God. And yet, as familiar as I am with these things and as familiar as you might be with these things, there's this fresh word. There's these fresh things that the Lord wants to remind us and stir us up

because of the great need for us to be engaged in the Word of God. And so this evening, I want to encourage you to be a person, to be a student of the Word, and we'll talk about that in a few different ways. As we look at this passage, though, the context here of what's happening in the life of Ezra, Ezra is leading a group of people back to Jerusalem. It

It's after Israel has been conquered. Israel and Judah, they split. They walked away from the Lord. They went through all kinds of rebellions. God sent prophets to call them back, but they refused to the point that King Nebuchadnezzar came and conquered Jerusalem, took everybody captive, all the way back to Babylon. And so the land of Israel was left empty.

Jerusalem was left empty and desolate, the walls broken down, there was nobody living there. Until 70 years later, as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, there was a group of people that were allowed to return as King Cyrus, the Persian, as he gave the decree, he gave the opportunity for people to return and they went back and began to rebuild the temple.

Now Ezra is coming on the scenes about 60 years after the temple is completed. And so one group of people has gone back to Jerusalem. And now Ezra is going to lead the second group of people from Babylon back to Jerusalem in the land that God had given to them as the Jewish people. And so what we're seeing here in verses 8, 9, and 10 is this journey kind of summarized. He goes into some more detail in the next chapter.

But he gives the summary here and the timeline for when this happened. In verse 9, he says, And so here we learn that it was a four-month journey for Ezra to lead this group of people

from Babylon to Jerusalem. Now this was a four month journey because they had to travel 900 miles.

There in Babylon, it was quite a ways away from Jerusalem. And what they would do is they would travel up along with the Euphrates River and then go back down to Jerusalem because in between Babylon and Jerusalem was the Arabian Desert. And they didn't want to cross that. That was very difficult to cross. And so they would, that was the normal route. That was the route that Babylon went when they conquered Jerusalem. And this is the route that the people would go when they went back to Jerusalem.

So they would go up the Euphrates, down then to Jerusalem. It would be about a 900-mile journey. And if you want a little bit of perspective on that, that would be like starting out on foot tomorrow and heading out from Corona up to five and going up to Eugene, Oregon.

That's about 900 miles. And if you wanted to do that, I would imagine it would probably take you about four months as well. So it's a four-month journey, but that's not so much the big deal. It's not the time that was involved. But this was a very dangerous journey. Excuse me. It was a very dangerous journey because they would have to pass through lots of territory where there was not much control, where there was a lot of thieves, thieves.

And robbers, and excuse me, I told you I was almost better, not all the way better, right? Check out Ezra chapter 8 for a moment, and you'll see what I mean. In Ezra chapter 8, verse 21, it says,

Here, Ezra goes into a little bit more detail about the journey that they were going to go on. And so at the beginning of the journey in verse 21, Ezra says, I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him the right way for us and our little ones and our possessions.

So at the beginning of the journey, he says, all right, everybody, we need to fast. We need to pray to make sure that we go the right way. Why? Well, he goes on in verse 22 to say, for I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king saying, the hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek him, but his power and his wrath are against all those who forsake him.

So Ezra says, we bragged about God to the king. And so now when he's released us and given us the opportunity to go, he says, I was ashamed to ask for an escort of soldiers because I'd just been telling the king how great God is and how he helps those who are seeking him. And so he calls the people together and says, okay, guys, we're going to go on this journey through dangerous territory and

Without any armed escorts, without any protection from the king, we're going to go and be vulnerable on this trip. They were not soldiers. They were not warriors. And they didn't have soldiers or warriors to protect them. And so he says, we need to pray. We need to seek the Lord and make sure we go the right way. And then if you jump down to verse 31, he says,

It says, And so again, Ezra talks about this journey and says, all right, we left that river on this day and we got to Jerusalem safely.

We were delivered from the hand of the enemy. We weren't ambushed on the way. God protected us from any kind of attack, from any type of robbery or thievery or any type of problems that could have happened. God kept us from those things. He protected us. And again, jumping back to Ezra chapter 7 at verse 9 at the end, it says that they came to Jerusalem according to the good hand of his God upon him.

And so he recognizes this journey was successful. It was prosperous. It was smooth because of the good hand of his God upon him.

Who of us would want the good hand of God upon us? I think we would all say yes. Yes, I want the good hand of God upon me so that when I have dangerous journeys to take, when I have to brave the roads in this crazy weather, when I have things that I have to do in this life, it doesn't have to be specifically a journey, but I want to be able to do it.

But the things that I endeavor to do, the things that I'm involved in, in raising the children or engaged in this occupation or doing this or doing that, that the good hand of God would be upon me is something that I want. It's something that is good. It's something that is desirable.

But what I'd like you to notice, and the reason why I'm spending so much time in this, is there's a strong connection between verses 9 and 10. So here in verse 9, you see the good hand of God is upon Ezra. And then in verse 10, it says, for Ezra.

And notice that word for. That word is not just an added word. That is a specific word that is included in the passage. This is a direct correlation, a direct cause, or a direct result of verse 9. So the good hand of God is upon Ezra because, verse 10 says,

Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. Ezra experienced safe travels on this long, dangerous journey because of his relationship with the word of God. Because of his relationship and his commitment to the word of God, the good hand of God was upon him.

And so again, this evening, we're talking about being blessed because of the Bible. And this same relationship that Ezra has with the Bible is the relationship that you and I are called to have with the Bible. But the promise is also there that if we have this relationship with the word of God, there is the good hand of God that will be upon you. And so I would ask you to consider, do you want the good hand of God upon you?

Do you want to have victory in your life? Do you want to have success in your life? And I'm not talking about, you know, name it and claim it and you just get everything you want and never have problems. But you will have victory in the midst of problems. You will have victory in the journey. You will have the glory of God at work in your life.

if you will develop the same kind of relationship with the word of God that Ezra had. And that's consistently told throughout the scriptures, consistently promised throughout the scriptures. And so I want to look at three points here as we consider Ezra's relationship with the word of God. And we're going to spend the majority of the time in point number one, just looking at Ezra seeking the word of God. That's point number one. To have this blessed relationship

life, this blessed journey, these blessings from God, because of the scriptures, we need to first of all be those who seek the word of God. And again, notice verse 10. It says, We see here in verse 10 that Ezra had prepared his heart.

Now, a few Sundays back, we looked at the example of King Rehoboam in 2 Chronicles 12. And in 2 Chronicles 12, verse 14, it tells us that Rehoboam did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. And you can see the contrast here. Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of God.

And so he had victory. He had this successful journey. God protected him. And the good hand of God was upon him because he prepared his heart. In contrast to Rehoboam, who did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. And so the result was that he did evil. He turned away from God because he did not prepare his heart.

We looked at the word prepare at that time on that Sunday morning. And that word prepare, it's the same from 2 Chronicles 12 to Ezra chapter 7. The main idea of this word prepare is that it brings something into incontrovertible existence. That is, it brings it into existence in a way that it's undeniable. Rehoboam failed to make God an undeniable part of his life. God was still part of his life.

but he was, you know, in and out. He was not fully committed in his relationship to God. He did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. Ezra, on the other hand, brought this into an incontrovertible existence. There's no controversy. There's no room for controversy. It's undeniable. Ezra was fully committed to the word of God.

And it's something that is a good example for us. The only safety that we have in this life is really to have hearts that are prepared to seek the Lord and to seek the law of the Lord. There is so much of our lives. There's so much of our heart. There's so much of our spirit that is dependent upon how we train our own hearts.

Proverbs 4.23 tells us to keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life. You need to keep your heart with all diligence. You need to prepare your heart. And as we look at Ezra, we see that he prepared his heart. He trained himself to seek the Lord.

He made sure that the word of God had such a place in his life that there was no controversy, that it was undeniable. Everybody knew Ezra is committed to the word of God. And it's the same place that the word of God needs to have in our lives as well. Would there be any kind of controversy there?

regarding the word of God in your life? You know, would there be a discussion? Maybe, you know, Harvey and I are talking about Richard and we think, I don't know. I don't know if he's really committed to the word of God or not. And we have a controversy. Harvey says, no, he's committed. And I say, I don't know if he's really committed. And now there's this discussion. There's this, ah, we're not really sure. Now that's not actually the case. But would there be a controversy regarding the word of God in your life? Ezra didn't have that kind of controversy.

He was committed to the word of God in such a way that everybody knew. There was no controversy. It was a solid fact. He was committed to seeking the law of the Lord. Now, this word, to seek the law of the Lord, is what I want to kind of dissect a little bit and consider with you this evening. To seek, the word seek could mean a variety of things. I've kind of boiled it down to three.

The word seek can mean to frequent, it can mean to consult, and it can also mean to investigate. And all of these are extremely appropriate as we talk about our relationship with the Word of God and Ezra's relationship with the Word of God.

And I want to walk through these a little bit with you to talk about how the Word of God needs to have this type of role in our lives. And we need to be engaged with the Word of God in all three of these things. So first of all, to frequent, to seek the law of the Lord. One aspect of that, an important aspect of that, is to be engaged with the Word of God frequently.

The idea of to frequent, it means to go somewhere often, right? In the same way, to seek the law of the Lord, if that's going to be a part of your life, if you're going to be seeking the law of the Lord, it means you're going to be going into the word of God. You're going to be reading the word of God. You're going to be thinking about and engaging with the word of God frequently. It's going to be somewhere you go often, right?

Now, frequently as opposed to occasionally or rarely or, you know, any other frequency that you might think of, it's something that is often, that is regular, that is consistent. And that's an important part of the Word of God. Here's something that you need to understand about the Bible. The Bible is designed to be received frequently in small doses. God has designed, He's

put the word of God together in a particular way. And it's designed in such a way that you cannot just receive it in bulk. It doesn't work that way. In fact, for the word of God to be effective, it needs to be taken or received ongoing, frequently, in small doses. Many times the word of God is compared to food in the scriptures, and that paints a good picture for us.

Your body is designed to consume food frequently in small doses. Now, when I say small doses, you know, the size, of course, is relative. I'm not saying, you know, you just should have, you know, a tablespoon of food. That's not, of course, what I'm talking about. But think about it. Even if you go to all-you-can-eat sushi after service tonight, you're still going to have to eat tomorrow. You can't go to all-you-can-eat sushi tonight and then be set until next Wednesday, right?

It doesn't work that way. Your body is designed that you can, yeah, you can pack in a whole bunch, but you're still going to need to eat tomorrow. And then after you eat tomorrow, you're going to still have to eat the next day. And then you're still going to have to eat the next day. Your body is designed to consume food frequently in small doses, or all you can eat, whichever way you, but the frequency, you get the point. You can't do it all at once. And in a similar way, the word of God is designed to be received frequently.

Frequently. So you can't just, well, I'm going to read 10 chapters today, and then I don't need to spend time in the Word of God for the next week. It doesn't work that way. That's not how the Bible is designed, much like your body is not designed to receive food in that way. And to seek the Word of God, then, means that you frequent the Word of God, like you go often to the refrigerator to refill and to frequent the food and to consume some more food

In the same way, you need to go to the scriptures, to go to the word of God. To seek the word of God means you're going to be going back often, regularly, consistently. Consider what the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah chapter 28, verse 10. It says, for precept must be upon precept. Precept upon precept. Line upon line. Line upon line. Here a little, there a little. Now, this verse is an interesting verse because actually,

This is quoting scoffers, people who are mocking Isaiah, laughing at his ministry, saying that his ministry is so simple.

His words, the things that he would bring forth to the people of Israel were so simple. It was like precept upon precept and then notice precept upon precept. Why precept upon precept and then duplicated precept upon precept? They were saying it's elementary. It's so basic. Line upon line and then again line upon line. You're saying the same things over and over again.

And you're just bringing forth a little bit here and a little bit there. Here a little and there a little. They were mocking Isaiah and the ministry that he had. But then it's interesting because as you go on in Isaiah chapter 28, the Lord responds and says, yes, that is the ministry. And so they're scoffing, they're mocking at Isaiah. And God responds and says, that's exactly right. That is the proper way for the word of God to come forth.

Precept must be upon precept. So that is, you can't spend time in the word of God and just get all the precepts all at once. No, you spend time in the word of God and you get one precept. And then the next time you get into the word of God, you build upon that. And there's precept upon precept. And then you forget the first precept. And so then you get into the word of God another time and you remember that first precept. And you go, oh yeah, I remember that now.

And then you build upon that. And remember, and so it's precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. That is how the word of God is designed to be received. So that if you're going to seek the word of God, if you're going to have a relationship with the word of God, like Ezra did, in order to be blessed because of the Bible, you're going to need to be frequently engaged in the word of God.

and receiving here a little, and receiving there a little. Line upon line here, and line upon line there. Precept upon precept here, and precept upon precept there. Would you turn over with me to Psalm chapter 1 to consider this thought just a little bit more. Psalm chapter 1, for just a moment, we'll be back in Ezra in just a moment. But the psalmist here in Psalm chapter 1 gives us some great insight also into the Word of God. And

says essentially the same things that we've been talking about already this evening. In Psalm chapter 1, verse 1, it says, "'Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.'" Verse 2, "'But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.'"

Another way to say that is frequently. He meditates in the law of the Lord, in the word of God frequently, day and night. There's this constant going back to the scriptures. There's this constant putting yourself into the word of God and receiving the word of God. This is the way of a person who is blessed. You want to be blessed?

He says, don't stand in the counsel of the ungodly or the path of sinners. Don't sit in the seat of the scornful, but delight yourself in the word of God and go back to the word of God day and night. And then he says, the result will be in verse three. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper. Notice that.

The result of the person who is blessed. He's blessed because his delight is in the law of the Lord. And he meditates day and night. He goes back to the word of God frequently. And then what that produces in his life, he gives us here the picture of a tree planted by the rivers of water. A tree that is healthy, that is strong, that is fruitful, that is vibrant. But then notice the end of verse three. He says, whatever he does shall prosper.

You remember what Ezra did? He took a dangerous journey, leading people in dangerous territory without protection. The good hand of God was upon him. For Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord. He delighted in the law of the Lord. And in his law, Ezra meditated day and night. And so Ezra was like a tree planted by the rivers of water. And what he did in endeavoring this journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, he prospered.

It was successful because he delighted in the word of God. He frequented the word of God. And so I encourage you to have this same type of relationship with the word of God. You need to have in your life the discipline, the consistency of getting into the word of God frequently. And it doesn't mean you have to, you know, okay, make sure that you read 20 chapters every morning and then 25 chapters at night.

No, it's here a little and there a little. It doesn't have to be monumental. People don't have to be impressed at how many chapters you read every day. One of the things I love about the Bible in three years is it's a nice kind of pace where most people can join with us. It's not overwhelming. It's a chapter or two a day. That's great. It doesn't have to be impressive how much

You read in order to be able to frequent the Word of God. It just needs to be that you read on that ongoing basis. Now, here's what happens many times. We begin to read the Word of God, and we read it good for a couple days, and then we miss a couple days. And so then, you know, we try to catch up, and we go back and read the things that we were supposed to read a couple days ago. Now,

On the one hand, that's good. You're keeping the story consistent, understanding the context of what was going on. Catching up in the reading doesn't really catch you up with this understanding of the need to frequent the Word of God. And so reading every few days is not the same. Even if you read the same amount of chapters, it's not the same as reading every day. That's not the way the Word of God was designed to be received.

It was designed to be received frequently. And so whether it's a lot or a little, I would encourage you, I would challenge you, if you want to be blessed because of the Bible, blessed by the Word of God, make sure that you're in the Word every day. And maybe even like the psalmist says, day and night. Maybe a couple times throughout the day, getting into the Word of God.

And God will do a great work. You'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit. Your leaf will not wither and whatever you do shall prosper because God's going to be doing a work in your life as you are engaged in the word of God.

Well, going back to Ezra chapter 7 and continuing to consider what it means to seek the Word of God. First, again, we saw it means to frequent. And so there needs to be this relationship with the Word of God that we have where we go frequently. We're engaged often in the Word of God. Seeking the law of the Lord or seeking the Word of God, there's another understanding of the word to seek that also gives the understanding of to consult God.

And so that is, you know, like you would maybe talk about seeking counsel. You would talk about, you know, seeking advice. And there is those occasions in our lives as well. And there is the need for us to interact with the word of God in that way as well. And that's what Ezra did. It's what God calls us to do.

This is an important aspect also of our relationship with the Word of God. One aspect is we need to have that frequency, that daily, that time in the Word of God. But there's also other occasions in our lives where we need to consult the Word of God because we need to make a decision.

We have things that are set before us and we have to decide which way to go. We have to decide what we should do or how to handle certain situations. Maybe we need wisdom regarding different things. And so we need to look to the word of God to consult the word of God to help shape the decisions that we make, to help shape our

the choices that we make to help us formulate and understand what God wants in the situation that we face. And so we're not looking at the word of God just kind of generically, but looking at the word of God with our specific situation in mind and asking God, Lord, what do you have to say about this? I would ask you to consider what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3.

In verse 16 and 17, he says, I know this is a passage that's familiar to us, but I would ask you to consider these things individually for just a moment.

The scripture, he says, is inspired by God and it's profitable for doctrine. And so when it comes to matters of faith, matters of what should I believe, what is the truth? Now, there is a lot of things that the church is confronted with by the world in the days that we live.

So the whole idea of homosexuality, and there is an agenda, there's a definite push to make sure everybody agrees that it's OK and that God accepts it and it's approved. Homosexuality is just fine, and you should just accept it and be done with it. But what should we believe about that? That's doctrine. And when it comes to doctrine, it's the scripture that is inspired by God to be profitable, to help us understand why

what is right and what God wants us to believe, what God wants us to accept as the truth. And so we need to consult the word of God about the things that we believe. Now, not just about that issue, but about all issues.

about all matters of faith, about all things that are related to God, about all things that are related to our worldview and how we look at life and our perspective on things. It should be shaped by, we need to consult the word of God so that we can make good decisions about what to believe regarding the things that are going on around us. He says it's also profitable for reproof or for correction.

And there's slight differences in these ideas of reproof and correction. But just kind of summarizing it, hey, you're going to have problems in your life. And you need reproof and you need correction. But as you look at reproof and correction, it's not just the, hey, dummy, you're doing something wrong. It's the, here's how to correct the situation that's going on. And so there's opportunity for us to consult the Word of God as we look at things in our life and wonder,

I know this is wrong, but how do I fix it? How do I resolve this issue? How do I deal with this situation? And this is appropriate. It's applicable to situations at home or in the workplace, situations in our own heart, our attitudes, our mindsets. It applies across the board. There's things that you know are not good in your life. There are things that you know that are wrong, that you want to change, but

But how to change that? Well, you can consult lots of people. You could consult different types of media. You could consult different types of websites. You can consult all kinds of things. But if we're going to be a people who are blessed because of the Bible, if we're going to be those who seek the Word of God, it means that when we come to those things, when we have those issues, when we want to bring resolution in our lives, that we consult the Word of God.

And so this is more than just, you know, spending time in the word of God on that consistent regular basis, but that we go to the Lord and we present our issues before him and that we present them before him in a way that we say, Lord, I know this isn't right. I'd like to fix it. I'd like to set things straight. How do I fix this? Paul says that the scriptures are inspired by God and profitable to help you resolve issues of life.

to bring reproof and correction in your life, to help you deal with those situations. And then he also says, it's profitable for instruction in righteousness. Instruction in righteousness. Now, this is not, don't get this idea in your head that this is only instruction on spiritual things. Righteousness is, well, you could put it this way. What is the right thing to do? Have you ever wondered in situations that you face and things that you encounter what the right thing to do is?

You want to do the right thing. You just don't know what it is. If you knew what it was, you would do it. But you don't know what the right thing is. This is what the word of God is profitable for. It's inspired by God to teach you the right thing to do. And so we can consult the word of God.

As we wrestle with situations in life, as we wrestle with people that are around us and wondering how to relate to them, how to deal with them, how to handle things, as we make decisions, as we have those things that we need to go forward on, but we just don't know exactly what the right thing to do is, or we know it's wrong, but we don't know how to fix it, the word of God is profitable. It's inspired by God to be effective in your life, to help you in those things.

And so seek the Word of God. Consult the Word of God for all of those issues in your life. Well, also to seek the Word of God, it can also mean to investigate, to dig deeper into the Word of God. And this also is appropriate for us to consider and is an important element of our relationship with the Word of God.

There needs to be the frequency where you spend time with God and His Word on a regular basis. There needs to be the consulting where you have situations, you have issues, you have things that you need to hear from God about. And so you take those things to God and you examine the Word of God with those specific issues and those things in mind. But there also needs to be another aspect in your relationship with the Word of God where you investigate the Word of God.

where you dig deeper, where you study the word of God to a different degree, to a greater level. Consider what Paul says in 2 Timothy 2, verse 15. He says, He says, He says, But he would also put your name in there as well. Be diligent in

to present yourself approved to God. The King James Version said, study to show yourself approved to God. It's the same type of idea. It's being diligent, working hard, studying to make sure that you are approved to God. He says, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, but notice why, because you rightly divide the word of truth.

There needs to be this type of relationship with the word of God in your life, where you work hard to rightly divide the word, where you learn how to interpret the word of God.

where you learn how to dig a little bit deeper. This isn't just the kind of open up casually, read through frequently, have that type of relationship with the Word of God. It's not just the, well, consulting, here's the situation. I need to work on this. I need this dealt with in my life. I don't know how to do that. Those are all important things. But you also need to be able to spend time in the Word of God dealing with deeper issues of theology.

dealing with things that maybe you're not immediately facing, but the word of God deals with all situations of life and all kinds of doctrine and maybe areas of doctrine that are not so important to you or so meaningful to you at this moment, but it's dealt with there in the word of God. And you need to have a relationship with the word of God where you investigate the word of God, where you dig deeper, where you bring in the cross references, where you bring in and understand and learn how to

handle the word of God well. Let me just share with you a few things that I think should be true of every Christian. And I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, but just hitting a couple things that I think are really important, but that sometimes or many times Christians are lacking in these areas. I think this should be true of every believer. Every Christian should be able to share why they believe what they believe.

That you shouldn't have a system of faith where you believe in God because somebody told you this is what you should believe. And that's the limit. That's the extent. That's why you believe what you believe because somebody told you. Now, maybe you trust that somebody and maybe that somebody is telling the truth. However, the Christian faith is a reasonable faith. And God doesn't want you to believe things just because other people tell you them. He wants you to investigate things.

to check it out on your own, and to understand what he says about those different things that you believe. Why do you believe what you believe? Every Christian should be able to share why they believe what they believe about Jesus, about the word of God, about God, and about all the other issues of life that we believe, that we have stances on. Here's another thing I think every Christian should be able to tell the story of the Bible from beginning to end.

I think every Christian should be able to do this. Start with Adam and tell me the story. Tell me the history. And I'm not saying give me every detail and quote all the verses, but just give the whole overarching history of the Bible. Well, there is Adam and Eve and then Cain and Abel and take that down to Noah, take that down to Abraham and then his son Isaac and Jacob and Esau and then the 12 sons and

The journey to Egypt and then deliverance out of Egypt and then the journey into the promised land. The time of the judges. The time of kings with Saul and then David and then Solomon and then the denigration of the kingdoms as the kingdoms were split and the kings rebelled against God. These are not super complex. You know, you have to be a theologian to understand these things.

I think you need to have a good enough grasp upon the word of God that you can tell the story. You can give the history of the scriptures from beginning to end. I believe every Christian should be able to do that. Every Christian should know how to handle different types of passages in the word of God. You know, the Bible is an interesting book because it's really a variety of books. And in the variety of books, there's all kinds of different writings. Some of it is history, as I've just been talking about.

And so you have there the narrative type of passages where it's telling the story of what happened, giving the account of what took place. And so it's kind of like a narrator saying this happened and then this happened and then this guy went over here and here's what he said and here's what she said. But then there's other passages that are poetic. Now you don't deal with, you don't interpret the poetic passages in the same way that you deal with and interpret the narrative passages.

And then you have prophecies, and then you have different types of passages all throughout the scriptures. I think every Christian needs to know and recognize the different types of passages that there are in the scriptures, the different types of writings that you're going to encounter, how to deal with, how to handle those different types of passages. You need to have that kind of understanding, that deeper level, that recognizing things are not all the same in the scriptures.

Some things you are to recognize, hey, this is handled differently. I don't believe this in the same way that I believe other passages. Now, again, it's all the word of God. And I'm not saying that we should start dealing with things or saying things are not the word of God. But with the understanding that this is the word of God, we understand that there's different types of writings and those are dealt with differently. Another thing I think Christians should be able to do is to know how to determine the context of a passage.

how to figure out who is this talking to? Who does this apply to? What's going on in this situation? I think that it's necessary for every Christian, if I just handed you a verse, that you'd be able to figure out the context and understand what that verse is talking about and who it's talking to and what's going on in the passage. And then finally, I believe every Christian should be able to share highlights from every book of the New Testament.

I believe you should be familiar with the word of God in such a way, specifically the New Testament, because that's the era that we live in. You could just walk down the line and say, Matthew, there's some cool things there in Matthew. And then Mark, and oh yeah, there's some cool things in Mark, and the way Mark talks about the life of Jesus, and then Luke, and then John, and then Acts, and giving highlights, things that the Lord's ministered to you about, things that the Lord's shown you, things that are interesting, things that are unique to different books of the New Testament.

These are not things that should only be or are limited to, hey, if you're gonna teach the Bible, if you're gonna be a pastor. I really believe these are things that should be true of every Christian, that there should be this kind of relationship with the word of God in your life, that you investigate the word of God.

So you understand how to deal with different passages. You understand you can deal with, you can handle the word of God. You can rightly divide the word of truth in the way that you're called to. Now, investigating the word of God, this is not, you know, you don't quickly resolve this. I'm not saying, you know, next month you should have all these things handled. But I would suggest to you that you should have some type of thought process, some type of plan, some type of things in the works where in the next 10 years, you know,

You could be able to have this kind of grasp of the word of God, that you're developing your understanding of the word of God, your dealings with the word of God, that you're able to rightly divide the word of truth. And so we need to seek the word of God. Do you want to have the good hand of God upon you? Ezra had the good hand of God upon him because he sought the law of the Lord. He prepared his heart for

Now, again, that word prepare, it means to bring something into incontrovertible existence. And I keep sharing that definition because I just think it's so cool. I like that word, incontrovertible. It's undeniable. Do you have a commitment to the Word of God, a relationship with the Word of God that is undeniable so that you are frequent in the Word of God? And everybody knows when there's an issue, when there's a situation, when there's something that needs to be resolved, you're going to consult the Word of God.

and that you investigate the word of God, that you dig deep into the word of God, and you've got a good grasp of the scriptures. You know how to rightly divide the word of truth. Make sure it's not a controversial issue for you. Well, I wonder if they do spend time in the word of God. I wonder if they are committed. I wonder, you know, make sure it's not controversial. Make sure it's not questionable. Make sure that the word of God has such a place in your life. There's no doubt about it. Everybody knows that.

You seek the word of God. You frequent it, you consult it, and you investigate it. To frequent it, again, that's going to be daily. That's going to be ongoing. That's going to be regular. As Peter said in 1 Peter 2, 2, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. That ongoing, you're just being nourished by the pure milk of the word. But then you consult the word of God on those special occasions, those special needs. You're making decisions that you're not going to do.

And there, the psalmist says in Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. As you're seeking how to step, where to go, what to do, how to handle these things, the word of God will light your path. And then make sure you also investigate. You dig deep that you are a Bible student. I've always loved Acts chapter 17, verse 11, which talks about the Bereans. And it says that they were more noble than the Thessalonians.

Because they received the word of God that Paul preached, but then they searched the scriptures daily to find out if they were true. They heard what Paul preached. They heard what Paul said. And then they investigated themselves. Is this really the truth? And I would challenge you to do the same thing with anybody else. If they were noble for checking the Apostle Paul and the scriptures that he shared and the truths that he shared,

You're noble if you will investigate the things that are shared to make sure that it's really true that the Bible teaches these things. And so we need to seek the word of God, to frequent it, to consult it, and to investigate it. Now, that's not all that Ezra did. And we're not going to spend a lot of time. I told you we're going to spend the majority of the time in point number one, right? But point number two, Ezra also did the word of God. And that's a relationship with the word that we need to have.

that we need to be those who do the word of God. Again, verse 10 of Ezra 7, for Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. This is really important. Ezra studied the scriptures. He became an expert in the word of God so that he could do it, so that he could live it out. And this is really important because Ezra

In Jesus's day, the Pharisees could legitimately say that they were seeking the word of God. They were those who sought the law of the Lord, absolutely for sure, without question. They knew the scriptures well. They studied the scriptures thoroughly, but they missed the whole point of the scriptures because they didn't study in order to do them. They studied to know them.

And it ended there. In John chapter 5, verse 39, Jesus rebukes them and says, you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life. And these are they which testify of me. But then he says, but you are not willing to come to me that you may have life. So here's the problem. He says, you guys are real proud of how well you know the word of God. You seek the word of God. But what the word of God reveals is me, Jesus says, and you're not willing to come to me.

You're not willing to be subject to the word of God, to be obedient to the word of God, to let the word of God dictate what you do, how you live, what you believe. Instead, you think it's sufficient to just have an awesome grasp of the scriptures. And Jesus says, that doesn't cut it. That's not going to work. It's not enough to just search the scriptures.

You need to be willing to be submitted to what the scriptures reveal. And Ezra, as he approached the word of God, he had an intentional approach. He said, I'm going to seek the word of God so that I can live it out.

to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it. That was his intention. That was his relationship with the Word of God. He became an expert in the Word of God so that he could put it into practice. Would you turn with me to Luke chapter 6 for just a moment? In Luke chapter 6, Jesus challenges all of us with this same idea.

He tells us in Luke chapter 6, verse 46, but why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say? So you call me Lord, you say you're a Christian, but then you don't live out the life that I've called you to live. Jesus is calling out the inconsistency there, the contradiction that is there. Verse 47, he says, whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like.

And then he goes on to say,

And so Jesus gives this illustration of building a house, whether it's on the rock or on the sand. And the illustration of these two houses is to make the point of what your life is like dependent upon how you respond to hearing the word of God. Again, look at verse 47. He says, whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them.

So the one who builds his house on the sand is the one who hears the sayings of Jesus, who seeks the word of God, but then doesn't live accordingly. And that's building your house upon the sand. But if you seek the word of God in order to live it out, in order to put it into practice in your life, he says, that's like a man who builds a house upon the rock, who digs down deep. Now, either way, Jesus says, storms are guaranteed for you. Storms are guaranteed for everyone.

And great ruin is guaranteed to everyone who does not do what Jesus says. Are you interested in experiencing great ruin? Is that something that you want to sign up for? Well, there's an easy way to avoid that great ruin. And that is to hear the words of Jesus, to hear the word of God, and then do it. You want to be blessed because of the Bible? You want to have the good hand of God upon you? Seek the word of God. Frequently consult it, investigate it,

But make sure that you do so with the intention, with the objective of submitting your life to it and doing the word of God. Well, finally, the final point here from the example of Ezra is to teach the word of God.

So not only did he study and become an expert in the word of God in order to do it, but then he also studied and became an expert in order to teach it. Verse 10 of Ezra 7 says, Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord to do it and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. Now, just as the Bible was designed to be received frequently in small doses, it

The Bible was designed by God to be shared, to be delivered, to be given, not by a few select individuals, pastors, you know, those who have that specific call or function. But the Bible was designed to be taught by all Christians. And so as you seek the word of God and study it, as you consult it, as you frequent it,

With the intention of doing it, you also need to have the intention of teaching it. God wants you to have. The word teach, it means to instruct or to train. And so don't think of teaching as like a lecture classroom setting, but it's training others, showing them, teaching them how to obey the word of God. And this is what Jesus taught us in Matthew chapter 28 with the great commission. When he says, go therefore and make disciples, he

He says, "Teach them to observe all things that I've commanded you." Notice that. "Teach them to observe all things that I've commanded you." So here's the point. You study, you become an expert in the Word of God so that you can obey it, and then you turn around and your job is to teach someone else how they also can obey the Word of God. That's what it means to make disciples, and that's what you're called to do. Do you want the good hand of God upon you? Teach the Word of God.

It's not limited to a few select people. In Hebrews 5, verse 12, the author rebukes the people. This is not talking to pastors. It's talking to Christians. He says, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God and have come to need milk and not solid food. He says, look, you've been around long enough. You should be teaching others. You should be training others how to obey God and how to walk with God.

That is true for all believers. We're called to train others, to make disciples. And there are many who've been around long enough. They ought to be training others. They ought to be teaching others. But instead, they're in this perpetual infancy because they're not really seeking the word of God. I want to encourage you this year. Let's make this year a year of seeking the law of the Lord. Let's make this year a year

the year where we give God's Word the appropriate priority in our lives. And as we do, here's the great blessings of God. Here's the great promise of God. It takes work. I recognize, you know, not everybody is excited about doing studies, you know, and spending time reading. Hey, there's great audio resources, too, to listen to the Word of God, if that's helpful to you. But

Understand, yes, it takes work. It's going to require some investment on your part. But God's promise is you meditate day and night on the word of God and you'll become like a tree planted by the rivers of water and you'll be fruitful and you won't wither. And whatever you do will prosper because what you do will be influenced by and instructed by the word of God.

And you're going to have dangerous journeys ahead. You're going to have difficult decisions to make. You're going to have to have steps of faith like Ezra. You're going to have to go out in uncharted territory, perhaps, or do things without protection that you would normally want to have. But God's going to call you forward. You're going to have to go forward. And you're going to be victorious. And you're going to be blessed because you prepared your heart to seek the law of the Lord.

Seek the word of God frequently. Consult it for all those special occasions and investigate it. Learn to be a scholar, a student of the word of God, to be able to rightly divide the word of truth. But make sure you do so, not just to have the knowledge or information or to win debates, but make sure you do so to be able to live out the word of God and to teach others to be obedient to God as well. And you will be blessed.

Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you would place in each of us, Lord, a thirst and a desire for more of your word. And I pray, God, that you would help us to give the appropriate priority and place of importance in our lives, the word of God. Lord, that your words would speak to us, that your words would instruct us, and that you would teach us how to live and what to do. And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to be subject to, submitted to,

your scriptures, and that we would allow you to dictate what we do, what we believe, where we go, and how we do the things that we do. Lord, that as we are submitted to you, our lives will be blessed and we will experience great fruit because your word is right and it's true. It's effective and it's powerful. And so I invite you, Lord, I ask you, God, let your word have its effect on us.

You promised God that your word will not return void. And so help us, Lord, to invest the time, to invest the energy and attention in your word, trusting and knowing it will have its effect. It will accomplish what you sent it forth to do. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.