​This coming Thursday evening, February 20th, our Men’s Ministry Bible Study group is inviting every man, husband, wife and teenager to participate in the KINGDOM MAN Bible study entitled, “The Home of a Kingdom Man.”
 
This study is a repeat of last month’s biblical encounter for men because our group thought it was so powerful every family within Grace should experience the spiritual wisdom that Tony Evans offers concerning the Kingdom Family. We need to fill up the worship center for this study on what God’s word has to say about the relationship between a Kingdom Husband and his Kingdom Wife. The purpose of this session explains, “How a successful husband and father, not only brings blessings to his own life but enables his wife and family to fulfill their divine destinies as well.” Every family at Grace should determine right now that being involved this coming Thursday evening at 7:00 pm is a priority.
 
Did you know that there is a holy trinity in your home that corresponds to the Holy Trinity of the Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
 
The holy trinity in your home is a father, a wife and a child/children. Psalm 128 says, “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house, your children like olive plants around your table. Behold, for thus shall a man be blessed who fears the Lord” (Psalm 128:3-4). The blessing of God rests on a home in which the holy trinity of the family – husband-wife-children – are fully in tune with the fear of the Lord.
 
Also, do you understand that your marriage is a covenant not only between you and your spouse, but  between you and God. It is a spiritually binding relationship ordained and nourished by God Himself. God created marriage. He nourishes marriage when it is obediently submitted to His eternal plan. Paul says, “Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children…Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord…Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:1,22, 25). You need to hear what Tony Evans has to say about a husband’s fear of the Lord making his wife more secure. He says, “A Kingdom Man who fears the Lord becomes a savior to his own wife.” Every husband and wife at Grace need hear what Tony Evans has to say about that. I know God is going to do great things as we come together to open His word and study what it means to build Kingdom Homes at Grace.

Ezra was the prophet and spokesman for God who was appointed and financed by king Artaxerxes to restore God’s people to their homeland following 70 years of captivity in Babylon. His main job was to reconstruct and refurnish the temple worship of Israel. In the process of putting the Temple back together, Ezra rekindled his devotion and Israel’s reliance on the word of God as a “…lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path.” (Psalm 119:105)
 
The people of Israel were so hungry for the Word of God that they asked Ezra to read it aloud to them in the city square, “And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel… He read from it before the square which was in front of the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand and all the people were attentive to the book of the Law” (Nehemiah 8:1,3). This reading took a total of 7 days to complete.
 
When Ezra completed the reading of the Bible in front of the people, a great worship service broke out, “Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God.  And all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen!’ while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” (Nehemiah 8:6)
 
Not only were the people of Israel worshiping and praising God with lifted hands, Ezra had to console their uncontrollable weeping as they listened, “The Nehemiah who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Law.” (Nehemiah 8:9)
 
What will it take to cause this kind of display in our church and community over the Word of God?
 
Are we so cold and hard-hearted that we can read the Word of God without any display of emotion?
 
I wanted you to hear about Ezra’s ministry of God’s Word before I preach today’s sermon. Since Ezra wrote Psalm 119, it is important for you to know the context what he said in Psalm 119:11, “Your word have I treasured in my heart. That I may not sin against God.”
 
Somehow, during this Year of the Bible at Grace we must get the Word of God out of the pages of the book and into our hearts. That’s what happened when Ezra read the Bible to the people of Israel for seven days. God took what was read off the pages of the scroll and put it into the hearts of His people. Israel really didn’t return from captivity in Babylon until this revival broke out at the reading of God’s word. They rebuilt the temple. They reoccupied their homes. They rebuilt the wall around the city. They put all the furniture, vestments and utensils back where they belonged, but they didn’t really come home until they opened the Bible and  put God’s word into their hearts.
 
Sometimes I feel like we are like that. We build, we work, we come together in many ways for many things, but we are really not at home with ourselves or with each other. We go in many directions all at one time without a cohesive element to bring us all together. I am praying that the Bible will do its work in our hearts like it did in Israel when Ezra read the Bible to his people for seven days. “God, today at Grace take the words off the page of Psalm 119:9-16 off the page and put it into our hearts like you did when Ezra read it to his people.” That’s my pray for you this morning.

The last part of the doctrine statement about the Bible in the Baptist Faith and Message Reads:
“Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried…”
 
The Bible is the center of our faith and the standard by which we should conduct our lives. That’s why we are putting important verses into our memory bank. Learning God’s word and repeating it again and again binds us together in Christian union. It also improves the way we act toward each other and perform in the world.
 
We learn a brand-new verse this month. Here it is:
 
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
 
Last month’s memory verse showed us why God sent Jesus to die on the cross. His great love for us was the reason behind everything Jesus did. Now, we see through February’s verse that Jesus is God’s only pathway to eternal life. Many people believe that Jesus is just one way among a multitude of ways to be saved.
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Since Jesus is God’s only Son (John 3:16), He is God’s only way to heaven. You don’t get saved by being a good person. You don’t get to heaven by donating to charities. You cannot be assured of salvation by knocking on doors every Saturday. You cannot cross the threshold of heaven’s pearly gates by your skin color, your IQ, your political party, your bank account or even your grocery list of prayer requests. Jesus said, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:22-23)
 
There is only one name that will get you to heaven, and it is the name

 
That’s why we are memorizing Acts 4:12 this month. As you memorize it, thank God that you believe in Jesus and through Him you have the assurance of your salvation. When you repeat this key verse over and over, pray for somebody who does not know Jesus. Ask God to give you strength and liberty to share Jesus with that person. As you think about this verse, recalling it into your memory, repeat it to somebody you do not know. Just say to them, “I’m learning a new verse from the Bible. Will you help me by letting me repeat it to you?” They will be happy to listen as you tell it to them and you will automatically become a living witness to the truth within the verse.
 

 
Repeat this verse to somebody you don’t know before next Sunday and see what God does. He will amaze you and bless you beyond measure. Here it is once more:
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“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)