Nehemiah 9:1-38

All right, and as you're getting yourselves settled, let me add to your settling, take out your copy of God's Word, and turn to the Old Testament.

Throughout this summer, most of you would be probably a more fair assessment of that, but I'm going to work to catch you up and show you where we've been so that you can really grasp hold of where we are now in the book.

Just in brief, the nation of Israel was sent into captivity. This was a judgment brought on them by God, first with the Assyrians and then the Babylonians.

This was something that was promised to them by the prophets, and because they didn't turn from their wicked ways and turn back to God, God brought this judgment upon them.

And where we are now is post-exilic Israel. They've now been sent back.

The world power has shifted from the Babylonians to the Persians, and they have given them permission to go back to their homeland.

Some 90 years that starts the process before where we are now in Nehemiah.

Nehemiah serves here. We see him serving as the governor as he was appointed by the king of Persia.

Prior to that, he was serving as the cupbearer to the king, and it was Nehemiah that was brought this news that the wall had yet to be rebuilt around the city.

And that grieved him because it was evidence that the people of God were not in a good place.

The city, the capital, was still in ruins.

And as such, that was an affront to the majesty of God.

The state of God's people showed the world, the nations around them, how good God was, in fact, to them.

And so here we see God returning his goodness to the people and using the man, Nehemiah, to accomplish that work.

So we've been working through this. We've seen opposition to the work.

He goes back. He gets this opposition. They work in spite of that.

They complete the wall in 52 days.

And we can see now that there's this revival beginning to happen, a returning to, a rejuvenation of the people of God,

wanting to follow the goodness of God.

We've come now to chapter 8.

And this is where many would say that the real revival begins,

although I would argue that it's been happening all along,

but it certainly seems to kick into high gear at this point.

There's a fervency that picks up in it as they come together for a feast called the Feast of Trumpets.

Rosh Hashanah was taught in the Old Testament that they should do this thing.

And it was a celebration meant to celebrate the coming Day of Atonement,

which would happen nine days later.

I think it's actually eight days later.

I'd probably say eight days later on the ninth day of the month,

which was the great day that the high priest went to the Holy of Holies

and made sacrifice for the people of God.

The whole thing meant to foreshadow the coming of Christ

and the full and final sacrifice for the church.

This is what they were coming together to celebrate.

So all the Israelites were estimating 30,000 to 50,000 gather,

and they asked Ezra, the priest-scribed, to come and open up the Word of God,

and he reads from it for half of a day.

And we see a structure set out where it's explained.

This is where we've been spending our time the last two weeks.

I intended to do it in one,

but we talked about if revival is to come on God's people,

there will be some evidences of that,

and that they will be praying.

We can see that Nehemiah is a book of prayer.

Nehemiah was certainly a man of prayer,

beseeching God to work on behalf of His people.

And it will be continued in prayer.

We also saw that the people of God will reestablish the Word of God

as the ultimate authority in their lives.

And that's what we see happening in chapter 8.

They no longer make excuses.

They no longer try to justify their way.

But they say, God's way is the right way,

and His Word is the authority over our living.

The proper response to that is you see them mourn.

They recognize how far removed their lives are

from the holy standard that God has set up for them.

They see this and they begin to mourn.

You can see this beginning in verse 9 of chapter 8.

But because of the special nature of this day,

what this day was meant for in Jewish culture,

they're encouraged to rejoice.

And they do.

We see verse 17.

And there was very great rejoicing.

So the Word of God now has been established as the ultimate authority.

And we see now coming back into chapter 9,

a new season of repentance.

A new level of contrition on their part.

Before we get there though,

I want to say to you that the things I'm presenting to you

are not formulaic.

It's not that if we as the people of God

will get these four things I'm presenting

that we're going to observe here right,

then we will be in a state of revival.

Or God will bring revival to us,

a special close visit of His Spirit.

But certainly these are things that should be true

of the people of God.

Recall that Ezra has been here for 14 years,

faithfully teaching the Word of God,

calling the people back to His way.

Revival wasn't happening for him, was it?

But suddenly the Spirit comes,

sovereignly works in the hearts of men,

and things take off.

They take on a new fervency.

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones,

a man I would commend to you,

he died in 1981,

but for almost 30 years

he was a minister of Westminster Chapel in London.

A wonderful man to read.

Some of you may be familiar with his daughter,

Sally Lloyd-Jones,

who wrote the Jesus Storybook Bible.

Said this of revival,

you cannot revive something that has never had life.

So revival by definition

is first of all

an enlivening and quickening and awakening

of lethargic, sleepy church members.

Suddenly the power of the Spirit comes upon them.

They are humbled.

They are convicted of sin.

Then as a result of their quickening and enlivening,

they begin to pray.

New power comes into the preaching of the ministers,

and the result of this is large numbers are converted.

So a revival is not something we can put on a calendar.

It's not a thing to schedule

that belongs on a sign

out in front of a building.

It cannot be advertised in that way.

A revival is a visiting of the Spirit of God

in a new way,

in a freshening way,

in a way that causes us to return.

As religion seems to be on the decline,

I think that America is primed for this thing.

If you look at the history of revivals,

I believe we're primed for that to happen once again.

So keep in mind,

these are not formulaic,

but if revival is God sent,

God's people will be praying.

They will reestablish the Word of God

as the ultimate authority in their lives.

And we can observe from chapter 9,

the people of God will recognize

their defiance of God

and view His chastisement

or His punishment as just.

This is a particularly remarkable mark

of revival.

So, we see here,

and I'm going to give you a quick summary

at the beginning of chapter 9,

on the 24th day of the month,

so first day of the month,

Feast of Trumpets,

Ezra reads from the Law,

24th day of the month,

they come back together

and we can see that they've been driven

into a deep repentance for their sins.

There's three hours again

of reading of the Word of God

and three hours of confession

and of worshiping.

You can see in verse 1

that they come together

with fasting and sackcloth

and with earth on their heads,

which were all signs of this contrition.

The sackcloth would have been

cloth bags made of goat hair.

It would have been very, very coarse.

It was worn to remind them

of how terrible their sin was.

The earth on their heads

was more than likely,

typically done was ashes.

So it represented the sacrifice

that needed to be made

on their part.

So it's this visible outward,

we are sinners.

We have offended God.

And they were publicly

displaying this with one another.

They had come to realize

through reestablishing the Word of God

as the authority in their lives,

having it read and taught to them,

we see it again here

on the 24th day,

being read to them,

that God is infinitely holy,

and so His law is infinitely holy.

Therefore, any transgression,

any transgression,

from what in your mind

might be the greatest transgression

to what in your mind

might be the very littlest transgression,

right?

For God, they are all

an infinite offense.

This ought to cause us

to repent.

This ought to cause us

to mourn.

Because true repentance recognizes,

first and foremost,

that sin is primarily

vertical in its offense.

Our good God,

the Creator of heaven and earth,

the One that lavishes on us,

abounding love,

is the One who's primarily offended

by our sin.

We certainly sin against others.

There certainly is

a horizontal process of that.

And repentance ought to appropriately

make reparations for those types of things.

You've sinned against a brother,

you should go to him

and make those things right.

But firstly,

we should make ourselves right with God.

True repentance can be seen,

as Charles Spurgeon said,

and I quote,

when a person's repentance

becomes as notorious

as his sin.

Everybody knows of your sin,

everybody should know

of your repentance.

One person knows of your sin,

that person should know

of your repentance.

Your sin was a private matter,

there's no need for the repentance

to go beyond.

And here we see

the nation of Israel

publicly displaying

to everyone,

everyone should know

how very, very, very

offensive my sin is

to God,

clothing themselves

and sackcloths,

fasting,

putting ash or earth

on their heads.

That's what they're putting

on display.

We are a wretched,

sinful people.

We have offended

God.

if you don't feel this

for your sin,

your view of God

is too small.

You need to have your vision

expanded for God

and His holiness.

You need to see

that He has a standard

that we have all

failed to live up to.

Even as those

who have been delivered

by Christ,

who have the Spirit of God

working within us,

the ability now

to not transgress the law,

we have failed

at so many points.

Now, properly,

we see here,

there's a traditional

understanding

in Reformed communities.

We would all

probably agree to this.

It's an altogether

biblical

understanding

that confessions of faith

are necessarily

preceded

by deep contrition.

That people need

to recognize

their transgression

of the law.

That ought to be

a reality.

I have sinned

against the most holy God

and this grieves me.

My end is destruction.

Because of my status,

I am cut off from Him.

I worship the devil,

is what Jesus said.

And therefore,

we're broken by that,

but then we're turned

to joy

because of the work

of Christ.

And we've seen this

happen already

back in chapter 8.

We see the mourning

and then they're instructed

to don't mourn,

be joyful.

There's this

day of atonement

that's coming

on your behalf.

Be filled with joy

as a result.

But I think

what we often neglect

is that the Christian life

is going to run

in cycles

of contrition

and joy.

Repentance

and joy.

That is the

life

of the believer.

And here we see

the evidence of that.

Right?

It's now 24 days later.

They've been filled

with joy.

The record there

in verse 17

of chapter 8.

And there was

very great rejoicing.

And then it doesn't say

and then they went

about their merry way

and their life

and did their

American thing.

Right?

No.

They continue to study

the Word of God.

They continue to have

new revelation

of how very sinful

they were.

And they were moved

back into a cycle

of repentance.

So that cycle is

a cycle of deeper

repentance

and increasing joy.

Deeper repentance

and increasing joy.

And so on.

Have you ever

stopped to reflect

on what Jesus said

in Matthew 5.

4?

Blessed are they

that mourn.

Some have understood

this to mean

those who mourn

say over a lost person.

Right?

That we're so sad

of the sin of the world.

Or somebody who dies.

They mourn.

And this is a promise

of God

to come close

and comfort

in those times.

In fact,

it finishes

for they shall be

comforted.

But we've come

to understand

that what Jesus

is actually talking

right here

is the state

of a person.

Not a time

somebody dies

I mourn at that time.

But who they

actually are.

So catch that.

If you're a Christian

your life is going

to run

in these cycles.

What we mourn

over

is our sin.

That we still

carry around

the baggage

of our flesh.

That our flesh

has been spoiled

by this.

We have a new

nature.

That's what we're

going to talk about

with baptism.

We can walk

in that new nature

and yet

we still

fall back

into this sinful

state as Paul

laments in

chapter 7 of

Romans.

Oh, I do

the things I

don't want to

do.

But what does

he say here?

That we are

blessed.

We are

filled with

an abiding

joy even

as we

mourn.

This is coming

off the hip.

I don't remember

who said this.

You've heard me

and Wes quote

this before,

but a man

who I owe

credit to

and I can't

give it,

once said

that the gospel

all at once

both gladdens

and abases

the soul.

That's what it

ought to do

to you.

You ought to

feel pretty

crummy

about your

performance,

but you ought

to be overjoyed

that God is

working in you

to bring about

perfection.

This should be

the process

that goes on

in your life.

I want people

to leave

on Sunday

morning

so overjoyed,

but I want

them to leave

because they

know that

Christ is at

work in them

to accomplish

his goodwill,

not because I

give you some

kind of a pep

talk and make

you feel pretty

good about what

you accomplished

this week.

That the

particular sin

we addressed

that week,

you handled

well,

and so you

can walk out

and say,

good,

gold star

for me.

Gold star

for Jesus,

right?

He's the one

working in you

to accomplish

these things.

Man, I say

some weird stuff

off the hip.

So we're going

to read.

Here we go.

So remember,

if the Bible

is God sent,

God's people

will recognize

their defiance

of God

and view

his chastisement

as just.

We're going

to begin

in verse 5b.

So the gathering

has happened,

they've been

reading,

they've been

confessing,

and then we

see a group

of the Levites,

we've got a

couple of

different groups

of Levites

here,

say to them,

stand up

and bless

the Lord

your God

from everlasting

to everlasting.

Blessed be

your glorious

name which

is exalted

above all

blessing

and praise.

Then we

launch into

a prayer

together.

The

Septuagint,

the Greek

translation

of the Hebrew

Old Testament

adds at this

point,

and Ezra

said.

So,

possibly,

I don't know

where that

comes from,

but possibly

Ezra is

leading this

prayer.

I don't

think it

really

matters

at this

point

though.

So,

beginning

in verse

6,

you are

the Lord,

you alone.

You have

made heaven,

the heaven of

heavens,

with all

their hosts,

the earth

and all

that is on

it,

the seas

and all

that is

in them,

and you

preserve

all of

them,

and the

host of

heaven

worships

you.

They

praise

God

as the

God

of

creation.

Verse

7,

you are

the Lord,

the God

who chose

Abram,

and brought

him out

of Ur

of the

Chaldeans,

and gave

him the

name

Abraham.

You

found his

heart

faithful

before you

and made

with him

the covenant

to give

to his

offspring the

land of

the Canaanite,

the Hittite,

the Amorite,

the Perizzite,

the Jebusite,

and the

Girgashite.

And you

have kept

your promise,

for you

are righteous.

They

praise him

as the

God of

Abraham.

Verse

9,

And you

saw the

affliction

of our

fathers

in Egypt,

and you

heard their

cry at the

Red Sea,

and performed

signs and

wonders against

Pharaoh and

all his

servants,

and all the

people of

his land,

for you

knew that

they acted

arrogantly

against our

fathers.

And you

made a

name for

yourself,

as it is

to this

day.

And you

divided the

sea before

them,

so they

went through

the midst

of the

sea on

dry land,

and you

cast their

pursuers

into the

depths as

a stone

into mighty

waters.

By a

pillar of

cloud you

led them

in the

day,

and by

a pillar

of fire

in the

night,

to light

for them

the way

in which

they should

go.

You

came down

on Mount

Sinai,

and spoke

with them

from heaven,

and gave

them right

rules and

true laws,

good statutes

and commandments.

And you

made known

to them

your holy

Sabbath,

and commanded

them commandments

and statutes

and a law

by Moses

your servant.

You gave

them bread

from heaven

for their

hunger,

and brought

water for

them out

of the

rocks for

their thirst.

And you

told them

to go in

to possess

the land

you had

sworn to

give them.

They praised

him for

being the

God of

the Exodus,

the people

of Israel.

Verse 16,

But they

and our

fathers

acted

presumptuously

and stiffened

their neck

and did not

obey your

commandments.

They refused

to obey,

were not

mindful of

the wonders

that you

performed

among them,

but they

stiffened

their neck

and appointed

a leader

to return

to their

slavery

in Egypt.

But you

are a

God

ready to

forgive,

gracious

and merciful,

slow to

anger,

and abounding

in steadfast

love,

and did

not forsake

them.

Even when

they had

made for

themselves a

golden calf

and said,

This is

your God

who brought

you up

out of

Egypt,

and had

committed

great

blasphemies,

you and

your great

mercies did

not forsake

them in

the wilderness.

The pillar

of cloud

to lead

them in

the way

did not

depart

from them

by day,

nor the

pillar

of fire

by night

to light

for them

the way

by which

they should

go.

You gave

your good

spirit to

instruct

them,

and did

not withhold

your manna

from their

mouth,

and gave

them water

for their

thirst.

Forty

years you

sustained

them in

the wilderness,

and they

lacked

nothing.

Their

clothes did

not wear

out,

and their

feet did

not swell.

And you

gave them

kingdoms

and peoples,

and allotted

to them

every corner.

So they

took possession

of the land

of Sihon,

king of

Heshbon,

and the land

of Og,

king of

Bashan.

You

multiplied

their

children

as the

stars of

heaven,

and you

brought

them into

the land

that you

had told

their

fathers

to enter

and possess.

So the

descendants

went in

and possessed

the land,

and you

subdued before

them the

inhabitants

of the

land,

the

Canaanites,

and gave

them into

their hand

with their

kings and

the people

of the

land,

that they

might do

with them

as they

would.

And they

captured

fortified

cities and

a rich

land and

took possession

of houses

full of

all good

things,

cisterns

already

hewn,

vineyards,

olive orchards,

and fruit

trees in

abundance.

So they

ate and

were filled

and became

fat and

delighted

themselves in

your great

goodness.

Praise

him for

sustaining

them,

the God

of the

sustenance

in the

wilderness,

and the

conquering

of

Canaan.

Verse 26,

Nevertheless,

they were

disobedient,

and rebelled

against you,

and cast

your law

behind their

back,

and killed

your prophets,

who had

warned them

in order to

turn them

back to you,

and they

committed

great

blasphemies.

Therefore

you gave

them into

the hand

of their

enemies,

who made

them suffer.

And in

the time

of their

sufferings

they cried

out to

you,

and you

heard them

from

heaven.

And

according

to your

great

mercies

you gave

them

saviors

who

saved

them from

the hand

of their

enemies.

But after

they had

rest,

they did

evil again

before you,

and you

abandoned

them to

the hand

of their

enemies,

so that

they had

dominion

over them.

Yet when

they turned

and cried

to you,

you heard

from heaven,

and many

times you

delivered

them according

to your

mercies.

And you

warned

them in

order to

turn back

to your

law.

Yet they

acted

presumptuously

and did

not obey

your

commandments,

but sinned

against

your

rules,

which if

a person

does

them,

he shall

!

Praise

him as

the God

of the

judges

and of

the

prophets.

Now,

catch at

this point,

they're getting

fairly caught

up to speed.

Ezra,

if he's the

one praying

at this

point,

has covered

the Old

Testament

narrative.

Praise

God all

along the

way for

the great

things he

has done

for the

people of

Israel.

And I

want you

to hear

this

carefully.

This is

not a

history

that's

removed

for us.

This is

God's

special

people,

his called

ones,

which we

are now

that,

the church.

The gospel

has advanced

that out

beyond the

borders of

a nation,

of a

bloodline.

And this

now belongs

to us.

This is

our history.

These are

our people

that were

let out,

that acted

wickedly,

that God

was good

to just

the same.

The promises

here and

the praises

are ours

as well.

Now here's

the request

beginning in

verse 32.

Now

therefore,

our God,

the great,

the mighty,

and the

awesome God

who keeps

covenant and

steadfast love,

let not all

the hardship

seem little to

you that has

come upon us,

upon our

kings,

our princes,

our priests,

our prophets,

our fathers,

and all your

people since

the time of the

kings of Assyria

until this

day.

Yet you

have been

righteous in

all that

has come

upon us,

for you

have dealt

faithfully,

and we

have acted

wickedly.

Our kings,

our princes,

our priests,

and our fathers

have not kept

your law or

paid attention

to your

commandments and

your warnings

that you gave

them.

Even in

their own

kingdom and

amid your

great goodness

that you

gave them,

and in the

large and

rich land

that you

set before

them,

they did

not serve

you or

turn from

their wicked

works.

Behold,

we are

slaves this

day in

the land that

you gave to

our fathers

to enjoy

its fruit

and its

good gifts.

Behold,

we are

slaves,

and its

rich yield

goes to

the kings

who you

have set

over us

because of

our sins.

They rule

over our

bodies and

over our

livestock as

they please,

and we are

in great

distress.

Because of

all this,

we make a

firm covenant

in writing.

On the

sealed document

are the

names of

our princes,

our Levites,

and our

priests.

So see

the recognition

here on

their part.

They see

that they

have defied

God.

They have

stated that

now over

and over

and over

and over

again.

But they

also see

that God

is right

and just

and good.

Notice the

praises that

they give

Him all

throughout

this.

First in

verse 6,

you are

righteous.

Then in

verse 6,

you are

the Lord,

you alone.

Verse 8,

you are

righteous.

Verse 17,

but you are

a God

ready to

forgive,

gracious,

merciful,

slow to

anger,

abounding

in steadfast

love.

Verse 25,

they praise

Him for

His great

goodness.

Verse 32,

you are

God,

our God,

the great,

the mighty,

the awesome

God who

keeps covenant

and steadfast

love.

And I

think kind

of the

hinging

verse for

us here

that wraps

this up

for us

in such

a nice

little neat

package

is verse

33.

Yet you

have been

righteous

in all

that has

come upon

us,

for you

have dealt

faithfully

and we

have acted

wickedly.

In spite

of all

these good

things that

you have

done for

us,

look at

this great

history

that we

have as

the people

of God.

We look

back across

it and

we see

your

consistent

faithfulness.

You're

never

changing.

Your

loving

kindness

is

abounding

to us.

You just

keep on

being good

and we

keep on

rebelling

against you.

And we're

so quick

in our

arrogance

to look

at them

and say,

those foolish

Israelites,

what was

their problem?

I mean,

he records

here the

work of the

golden calf.

They were

not very

far out

of Egypt

having been

delivered.

An ocean

split in

front of

them.

They walked

through it.

It crashed

behind them

and destroyed

an army.

They were

being led

by a

pillar of

fire and

a pillar

of cloud

which existed

when they

cast the

golden calf.

Doesn't

that not

just in

some way

seem insane

to you

that they

were doing

this thing?

That they

were saying

this image

that we

created,

this is

what led

us out

of Egypt.

But we

are the

same way.

We are

equally

foolish

because we

have this

history and

we have

our own.

Study church

history.

Look at the

faithfulness of

God.

The very

fact that you

have sitting

in your lap

or opened

up on some

device the

words of

God translated

in your

language is

a mighty

work of

God.

This thing

has been

tried to

be killed

throughout

the ages

and yet

it perseveres.

Men have

died bringing

this book

to us

this morning.

We have

such a

rich,

rich history.

How about

your own

life?

If you're

truly a

believer,

you've

experienced

repentance.

You've

experienced

how very,

very ugly

your sin

is.

You've

felt the

depth of

that.

You've

seen God

in His

holiness

and you

know

there was

no way

you could

measure up

to that.

And yet

in Christ

you've

been

delivered.

You've

experienced

the kind

of joy

that comes

from that.

You've

been

!

You've

been

delivered.

Eternal

end was

destruction

and yet

someone

paid the

price fully

for you.

You just

believe in

that.

You place

faith in

them and

you've

been

delivered.

You've

been ushered

back into

the kingdom.

You are

now a

son of

the living

God.

Why does

that history

not come

into our

minds?

Right?

Look at

the amazing

things God

has done

on our

behalf and

yet here

we are

just like

the

Israelites

turning

back away

back to

our

sin.

Look at

these

important

words.

Verse 16

and 17.

There are

two rather

incredible

buts in

the text

and I

say it

that way

on purpose

because I

want you

to remember

it.

There's

some

incredible

buts

in this

text.

Two of

them.

Verse 16

but they

and then

verse 17

but you.

Those are

precious

precious

words.

God has

been good

to us

but we

but then

right back

we can

say but

you.

God is

God.

We don't

affect who

he is and

how he

operates.

He is

self-existent.

His very

title he gave

to Moses

to tell

the people

tell them

I am

has sent

you.

The very

thought of

that word

is that

he is

self-sufficient.

You've

heard me say

before that

everything plugs

into him

but he

plugs into

nothing.

This is

the but

you that

we get to

bank on

when the

but we

is playing

out in

our lives.

Two

incredible

buts.

We continue

to sin

against our

God even

though he's

shown us

so much

goodness

but he

continues to

be good

and faithful

to us.

This should

move us

to repentance

beloved.

This should

move us

to hate

our sin

and to

love him

more.

To not

be

complacent.

To not

make excuses

but to

see that

the word

of God

is the

authority.

It is

the authority

whether you

recognize it

or not.

But to

begin to

recognize it

in your

life.

And begin

to arrange

your life

accordingly.

because you

know your

God loves

you and

your

appropriate

response

is a

love for

him in

keeping

his

commands.

The

American

church

and ours

has much

room

for repentance.

We were

putting together

a preaching

schedule for

Thursday night

and this

year

October 31st

falls on a

Thursday night

and so

most of

you

immediately

think of

Halloween

but it's

also

Reformation

Day.

It's the

day that

Martin Luther

nailed the

95 theses

on the door

of the

Wittenberg

church.

And I

was just

thinking about

that like

how we

probably should

do something

that night

for that.

And the

thought that

came into

my head

was that I

probably

needed to

write my

own

thesis

and put

it on

our

door.

There

wasn't

another

church

that needs

what I

have to

say about

it but

there's

plenty of

work to

be done

here

amongst

we do

some things

really well.

I think we

have some

things right.

We try to

be faithful

in the way

we arrange

church.

Some of

you will

say this

is a

strange

church.

It's a

lot

different.

We

just try

to line

up with

what we

see the

Word of

God

telling us

we ought

to do.

Good

for us.

Right?

But boy

do we

fail at

so many

points as

a congregation.

This work

of revival,

this type

of repentance,

this level,

this depth

of contrition,

is going

to show

up when

God sends

it amongst

us.

And my

question is

do we

long for

that type

of thing?

Do we

want our

sin exposed?

If we

could put it

on the

screen,

use the

technology,

would you

want it

exposed up

on the

screen?

Everything

that you

thought,

every emotion

that you've

had,

played,

for all

of us

to see?

It's what

the Israelites

were doing.

They were

putting on

sackcloth.

They were

fasting,

ashes on

their head.

They knew

that the

people of

God needed

to see,

I'm a

sinner too.

I am in

desperate need

of God's

grace in

my life.

Would we

be willing

for this

type of

thing to

happen?

Jay turned

me on to a

book this

week by