MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(This is the ninth of a Leadership series featuring Nehemiah. Some ideas & illustrations in these messages were based on or benefited greatly from, to varying extents, the book “Hand Me Another Brick” by Charles Swindoll.)
(The Powerpoints used with this sermon are available free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request PP #323.)
Whether you’re a senior in high school or a senior in college graduation day is special because it marks the closing of a major period in your life & the beginning of another. And in recognition of this new beginning the ceremony which marks your graduation is traditionally called a “Commencement” service. So in a few months, in thousands of auditoriums, seniors will attend Commencement services, listening to a great variety of speakers.
In all likelihood, most of the speakers will challenge them to make a success of their lives, to take an active part in seeking to make this world a better place in which to live.
ILL. Some speaker will undoubtedly relate that a great mathematician once said, “If I only had 3 minutes in which to work a problem, I would spend 2 minutes reading the problem & deciding how to work it.”
Another speaker may tell about the expert lumberjack who said, "If I only had 5 minutes in which to chop down a tree, I would spend 3 minutes sharpening my axe."
These seniors will be told that Commencement is not the end, but just the beginning, & they will have to think clearly & plan carefully as they prepare for whatever path they choose to follow. These speakers will almost certainly emphasize the great importance of proper preparation if they are ever going to achieve their hopes & dreams in life.
A. But may I remind you, thinking clearly & planning carefully is hard work!
ILL. Henry Ford once said, "Thinking is the hardest work there is - which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."
It is said that many of our modern conveniences came about because of our laziness. We don't like to dig ditches – so someone invented a backhoe. We no longer have the time or inclination to spend long hours toiling over a hot stove, so TV dinners & microwave ovens were developed.
Some of us would even have a hard time balancing our checkbooks if we didn't have help. We used to be able to add & subtract & divide & multiply. But we don't have to do that any more because we’re living in an electronic age with computers & calculators to do much of our thinking for us. You see, thinking is hard work.
B. And thinking things through - standing back & getting the total picture, looking into the future, determining priorities & then planning accordingly - is also hard work. It wasn't easy in old Jerusalem, & it isn't easy now.
Think what we have learned so far about Nehemiah. When he came to Jerusalem the city was in ruins & he had a wall to rebuild. As I’ve mentioned before, if I had been in his place, I would have rolled up my sleeves & started getting ready to lay bricks almost immediately.
But Nehemiah didn't. In fact, he took 4 days to think about it - to pray about it - to examine the work that needed to be done. It was only after 4 days of praying & planning before Nehemiah told anyone in Jerusalem why he had come – about the burden that God had laid upon his heart & what the King had authorized him to do. He thought about it & prayed about it first & then he acted.
And again, when opposition arose - when Sanballat & his crowd decided to oppose them in their project - Nehemiah didn't react off the top of his head, but rather, he thought about it & prayed about it. He sought God's will, & then he acted.
As you may remember from last week’s message, when it was time for revival for the people to hear the Word of God Nehemiah thought about it & prayed about it also, & then he acted. And the results were tremendous. The people listened & then wholeheartedly sought to do the will of God.
I. FIRST OF ALL, PEOPLE TOOK TIME TO THINK & REEXAMINE THEIR LIVES
Now, in the 9th chapter of Nehemiah, vs's 5 38, you will find the longest prayer recorded in the Bible. In that prayer the people acknowledged their sins & repented of them. They asked God for forgiveness & recommitted themselves to Him & to the observance of His laws. They wanted to be God's people once again!
But something very interesting happened in the last verse of the 9th chapter. The people decided that it is not enough just to say in their hearts that they would follow God. Instead, they decided to make a public commitment, to sign their names on the dotted line & say, "This is what we will do & here is our public pledge to do it."
II. THEY MADE A COMMITMENT IN WRITING
Vs. 38 says, “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, & our leaders, our Levites & our priests are affixing their seals to it.”
Now, as you read on through vs. 27 of the 10th chapter, you find the names of the people who signed this document. First, there is the name of Gov. Nehemiah. Then his name is followed by the names of 24 priests, 17 Levites, & 44 other leaders of the people. They are publicly setting an example for the people to follow.
Vs. 28 of the 10th chapter says, “The rest of the people – priests, Levites, gate-keepers, singers, temple servants & all who separated themselves from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with their wives & all their sons & daughters who are able to understand…”
All of these people also publicly signed the document rededicating themselves to God. They had drifted away from Him. They had been captives in a foreign land where many of them had ignored or forgotten the law of God.
But now a revival has swept over the land & the people are turning back to God. And they felt that their commitment needed to be reinforced. So they all signed the document & made a public commitment to God.
ILL. You go to the bank to borrow money to buy a new car. You say to the banker, "I promise that I will pay you back." He says, "Fine, sign your name right here on the dotted line." It is a moment of commitment.
ILL. Two people want to get married. In this day & age some rebel against commitments & just live together. But those who want to honor God & the institution of matrimony choose a time when they will publicly commit their lives to each other. And there is a slip of paper called a marriage license that testifies to the reality of that commitment.
ILL. It is the same way when we become Christians. I once called upon a woman who had visited the church a couple of times & asked her, "Are you a Christian?" She answered "No." Her husband immediately interrupted & said, "Of course you're a Christian. Why, I don't know anybody any better than you."
But, you see, she understood that being a Christian wasn't just a matter of being good or honest or kind. It is a matter of commitment to Jesus as your Savior & your Lord. There must be a point in time when you make a commitment - when you come in faith & repentance & baptism, & God gives you the gift of His Holy Spirit & the forgiveness of your sins.
Then we can say, "I can tell you when I became a Christian. It was when I committed my life to God, & I obeyed His example & command in baptism."
SUM. Life is a series of commitments. Sometimes we fall away, just like these people in Jerusalem had done. So there must be a time when we say, "It is important to make a commitment. We commit ourselves anew to God." That is what these people did.
III. HERE IS WHAT THEY COMMITTED THEMSELVES TO DO
But when they said, "We are publicly committing ourselves to God," just what were they pledging to do?
A. Vs. 29 says they bound “themselves with a curse & an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God & to obey carefully all the commands, regulations & decrees of the Lord our God.”
Do you understand what they were saying? "When we looked at everything we do, from painting the house, to mowing the lawn, to going fishing - we decided that the most important thing was to obey the commandments of God."
One day a person came to Jesus & asked, "Lord, what is the most important commandment?" Jesus answered, "…to love the Lord your God with all your heart & soul & mind & strength." I ask you, when you look at this scripture & then at your own life, how do they compare? Are God's commandments a top priority in your life?
Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Do you love Him?
B. Notice their second promise. Vs. 30 says, “We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons.”
They zero in on their own homes & say, "We will be concerned about our children. We’ll be careful about whom they marry. We’ll make sure our daughters don't marry pagan men, & that our sons don't marry pagan women. We will allow nothing to enter our homes that might corrupt our faith in the one, true living God."
They had been through that. They had seen the influences of the pagan world. So they pledged to remain pure in their faith & to make sure their children followed His teaching.
APPL. People, I’m convinced that the greatest effort of Satanic attack today is aimed at the home. Homes divided - moms & dads divorcing - children & parents fighting & separating & going in different ways. Many homes are areas of constant conflict today.
SUM. Just like the people of Jerusalem, second on our list of priorities today, after loving God, should be to make sure that our home is a Christian home & that our children are being taught about the things of God. If we don't - our children are going to be out there in a pagan world & lost for all eternity.
C. Vs. 31 records their third promise, “When the neighboring peoples bring
merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day.”
Do you know what that verse is saying? It is saying, "We realize how important it is to trade & make money. We must make money in order to support our families. But when somebody comes on the Sabbath day - even with a great deal we will refuse to do business with that person, because the Sabbath day is holy & we will keep it holy.”
Folks, I’m concerned at the seeming indifference of some Christians about the sacredness of worship. They seem to think, “Worship is something to do if it is convenient - if it doesn't interfere with anything else - but top priority, no! Our own pleasure comes first. Our own satisfaction comes before worship.”
But these people said, "This is a priority. We will always honor God on God's day & worship Him."
Why do we worship?
1. First, we worship to honor God & to tell the world that we love Him. As you are driving to church & you see people mowing their lawns, or getting their boats hooked up, or leaving on trips you can be assured that the message they are giving to the world – to all who see them - is, "God does not come first in my life - maybe 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th - but not 1st."
2. Secondly, we worship because we need to worship. As I look around, most of us look well fed. We make sure that we are. If we go more than 6 or 7 hours without a meal we have hunger pains. So we rush to the filling up station & make sure we’re adequately supplied with food. We wouldn't think of missing more than a meal.
But for too many the spiritual man is skin & bones because we do not consider it very important to feed our spiritual selves. God intended for the church to be a filling station. Yet meeting with fellow Christians to worship is not a priority in their lives.
3. And worship is important also because we can minister to others as we come together. Someone else may be inspired & encouraged by your presence - by your testimony. So this should be a priority item - to be in God's house. But when that is not a priority it tells us something about what comes first in our life.
D. Now listen to their fourth promise. Vs. 32 says, “We assume the responsibility
for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God…”
Vs. 35 says, “We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the first fruits of our crops & of every fruit tree.”
Vs. 37 says, “Moreover, we will bring to the storerooms of the house of our God, to the priests, the first of our ground meal, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees & of our new wine & oil. And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work.”
Finally, the last words of the 10th chapter say, “We will not neglect the house of our God.” (Vs. 39)
They are saying that it is not enough just to sign your name on the dotted line. They are saying, "We will give. We will give of our selves. We will give of the crops of the land. We will give of our money. We will commit ourselves & our commitment will be backed up with action." That is the only kind of commitment that really counts.
Words are cheap. We all can speak them. We all can sound so pious. We all can say the right prayers. But the proof is in the doing.
So they said, "It is not enough to sign our name & to sign it publicly. We will do more than that. We will put these 4 items as our top priority."
As these people thought things through - as they planned for the future - they decided first of all to commit themselves to obey the commandments of God; secondly, to protect the sanctity of their homes from the pagan influence of the world; thirdly, the day of worship would come before anything else; & fourthly, to back up their commitments by their giving.
Do you see the parallel between us & the people in Jerusalem? Do we need the same revival? Do we need to sign our names on the dotted line & say, "This we will do?"
Will the commandments of God come first in our lives? Will we protect our homes? Will we seek to stop pagan influences from coming into them? Will we keep our date with God to worship Him when it is time to worship? Will we back up our commitment by giving ourselves, our lives, & of our wealth? Will our lives be an example that others can see & follow us to Jesus?
