Are You Committed? Series

Introduction

- Nehemiah is great study of leadership, but also challenges us on Godly obedience

-- Obedience to God’s calling is one of our greatest hurdles in today’s world

- Last week we saw the people’s need to worship God and why:

1. He is completely Sovereign

2. He is always righteous and true

3. He is their Savior and deliverer

4. He is their provider

5. They (we) have an inheritance

- And we challenged ourselves: How can we fail to praise God for what we have?

-- Re: He is just & faithful, and we are the ones who are wrong in our sins

- So, if we focus on God, we will see that sometimes we must cry out to Him

-- This brings us to today’s passage, which demonstrates a key covenant

-- Lots of names (again) / Purpose: to see the level of commitment in Jerusalem

-- Read Nehemiah 9:38 – 10:39 / Pray for God’s calling to be committed

Point 1 – Godly obedience begins with a personal commitment

- I want us to see the order of the pledge made here (Nehemiah is first)

-- KEY: This is an extremely important leadership trait to take note of

-- Leaders do NOT sit in the background and direct the action (puppet masters)

-- At least, not effective leaders - leader should know the way and show the way

- Consider: Every general was at one time a lower rank, and they had to perform

-- Therefore, when they give the order to go … they understand the task & risk

- This is no different than what is happening in this story

-- They’ve rebuilt, they’ve repopulated, and now, it’s time to get busy living

-- And their task? Will we live a godly life and honor/thank God in everything?

- So, Nehemiah leads the way by signing a pledge of commitment

-- He is joined by the community leaders: priests, Levites, & other leaders

- Now, why is this so important? Proverbs 29:18, “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.”

-- Proverbs 29:18 (KJV), “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”

- Remember, Israel’s defeat was often due to their disobedience & God’s judgment

-- Thus, after rebuilding, Nehemiah says, “Look, we are going to do this right”

- Now, just consider for a moment if the Church (big C) did this as well

-- If collectively, we determined that God’s way was most important

-- What if we focused more on what He said, than what the world told us to do

-- Expound … what if we put aside our preferences and desired more of Him

- How much different of a world could you and I have?

-- Answer: It would be a DRASTICLY different world! (What we are called to)

- At Seasons, I believe this is our charge today … Why? God is still moving!

-- The work is at hand – and the mission is simple: Worship God & Love People

-- APP: Living for God is no different today than 445 BC … He is the same God!

- See this: Godly leadership is not just doing what a committee voted on

-- It is also not just going along with the flow to keep the populous happy

-- It means looking at God’s word, praying hard, and seeking His will

-- Then … you execute because your focus & desire is on living for His approval

- NEH: Once the leaders agree – look how people respond (fully commit v28-29)

-- FACT: Our greatest worldly weakness is not having godly leaders

-- Not just in the Church, but in our country / world (ref. mankind’s failures)

-- I’m not saying that we must be perfect … but we must start somewhere

- FACT: Everyone wants to be in charge – but no one really wants to work

-- I feel like this is where we get ourselves in trouble … by doing it our way

-- And it is where God’s word leads us to today (Nehemiah) – do it God’s way!

- TR: So once the leaders/community pledge to live …

Point 2 – The people commit to live right before God

- The people vow to live upright lives in five specific ways:

1. Marriage (v30)

- Ezra dealt with this same issue before also: Jews marrying pagan women

-- Now get this, this is not about segregation – but regarding “spiritual purity”

-- Remember, their ceremonial practices took devotion and commitment

-- EX: If your spouse is anti-God, you have a foundational worship issue

- KEY: The desire to fall into foreign practices often got Israel into trouble

-- This decree says they will live separate from the world and rightly before God