Title: 4 Important Vows Script: Neh. 10
Type: Expost./series Where: GNBC 3-22-15
Intro: I recently heard story of a man who bought a beautiful parrot, but sadly when got home, found out had a terribly foul mouth! Could swear for minutes on end w/o repeating itself! Owner tried to appeal. No change. Finally, got so irritated grabbed and shook it. Only caused bird to go ballistic. Threw the bird into the cupboard. Even worse explosion of vitriol! Clawing and scratching and cursing. Owner lost control of self, snatched the bird and tossed into the freezer! Cursing and banging for 2 minutes and then all went silent! Owner thought bird had heart attack or died. Consciene-stricken, opened the freezer door. To the man’s surprise, parrot quietly walked out and onto the man’s outstretched arm. I am very sorry and repentant for my bad language. I am resolving as of now to never speak in such a vile way for as long as I live. I vow I will never speak to you in such a way again. Please forgive me. Man was astonished, could not believe the transformation that had come over the bird in the freezer. Parrot turned to the man and said, “I just have one question…what did the chicken do?!” Now, this morning we are going to learn about several important vows the people of God made in Neh. 10.
Prop: Today we’ll realize 4 important vows the people of God made in Nehemiah’s day.
BG: 1. Although had not been thrown in freezer, had felt sting o God’s Word in chap. 8&9
2. 9:38 – see that people are convicted of their sin and make a “binding agreement” to follow the Lord, wholeheartedly. Actually put in writing and seal upon it, making it a binding oath before the Lord. Those who agreed w/ covenant have names written down in 10:1-27.
3. Bible contains many example of people making vows and covenants with God, only to break later on. Are vows good today? Yes, vows help us focus. “I am going to invite my neighbor to Easter services.” Also, good because allow us to express our love. Do this in wedding services. Even if we are unfaithful it is important to remember that God is a covenant keeping God!
Prop: Examing Neh. 10 we’ll notice 4 important vows people of Nehemiah’s time made towards God that we would do well to emulate today.
I. 1st Vow: Submission to the Word of God. Neh. 10:29
A. The People of God determined to Submit themselves wholeheartedly to the WOG!
1. The first step of investing in your Christian life is to become obedient to the WOG!
a. Notice the deadly seriousness with which the Jews of Nehemiah’s time made such an oath. Look: v. 29 – “taking on themselves both a curse and an oath…” I know a lot of Christians as well as non Christians who want to make deals with God. If God does “x” for me, I will do “Y” for Him. However, I know very few that say, “I will do “X” for You, and if I fail to do that you can hammer me with…” There is a seriousness in this commitment!
b. Illust: In 1912 about 500,000 men and women from Northern Ireland signed “Ulster Covenant”, many in their own blood, saying that they were willing to lay down their very lives to fight against Home Rule if the British Gov. sought to declare a totally independent Ireland! That is commitment! Our own founders, in the Declaration of Independence were signing a covenant of sorts that would have terrible repercussions for many!
2. Israel makes a binding oath before the Lord.
a. Illust: If you look back to Num. 30:2 you will find the law governing oaths: "If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” Israel had not had a very good history in keeping their oaths before God. In Ex. 24 the Israelites promise to do “everything the Lord has said.”, yet in less than 6 weeks from the event these same people will fashion a golden calf and worship it!
b. In Neh. 10 the people of God are saying that they are seriously submitting themselves to the will and WOG, so much so that they are willing to have the curse of God fall upon them if they are unwilling to obey! That is what I call “dangerous devotion”! Are we that devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ, today? I know I am not. What about you? Are you and I willing to be?
B. Christians today will honor God by vowing to Submit their lives to the WOG.
1. Submission to the WOG is sadly lack in both the society and church today.
a. Illust: This past week we have seen more examples of modern Christians declaring their independence from the WOG. It was earlier this week the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination’s leaders vote 71% to 29% against, in declaring LGBT marriage acceptable and thereby redefined marriage! Now, that was no real surprise. PCUSA has been approaching an apostate church the last 20 years and this decision is the last gasp of a dying denomination. A more disturbing announcement this week was by City Church’s pastors and elders announcement. City Church is the largest evangelical church in San Francisco and has been a bastion of hope in a despondent sea of moral rot. City Church’s leadership declared that they would no longer require celibacy from those who feel homosexual in their orientation. Really?! Now listen, this is no rank congregation. This church was founded as a result of the influence of Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC! Illust: Franklin Graham said: “In His Word, the Bible, God has already defined marriage, as well as sin, and we should obey that rather than looking for ways to redefine it according to the desires of our culture. Marriage is defined as between a man and a woman—end of discussion. Anything else is a sin against God, and He will judge all sin one day.”
b. Illust: We need to be reminded today of what Gen. Wm. Booth said over 100 yrs. ago when asked the secret of his incredible ministry success: “God has had all that there was of me. There have been other men with greater brains that I…but from the day I go the poor of London on my heart and caught a vision of what Jesus Christ could do with me and them, on that day I made up my mind that God should have all of William Booth that there was.” William Booth knew that God’s Word judges our hearts and that we do not sit as judge over the WOG!
2. Are you and I completely committed to the WOG? Romans 12:1 starts with the word "therefore". There is a causal relationship to the preceding verses. It is because God is so incomparably great, beyond our capacity to understand or imagine, and because all things belong to God and are controlled by God, that we should offer ourselves as living sacrifices. (Note that I am here, and in the rest of this paper, deliberately broadening Paul's language. Where he speaks of offering our body, I think what God really wants is an offering of our whole self, of everything. We can't really offer him our body without offering our mind, will, emotions and spirit. They go together. I think other passages of Scripture will make this clear.)
C. Applic: The first commitment we make to grow spiritually is honor God’s Word.
II. 2nd Vow: Separation from the World. Neh. 10:28& 30
A. After Vowing themselves to the Lord, the People of God make a Second Vow in this passage.
1. In this vow the believers make a vow to be separate from the world.
a. v. 30 – Notice what their commitment of separation was: (Read). This commitment was not made out of some racial or ethnic pride or superiority, believing their gene pool superior to others. Rather it had everything to do with how they were going to worship God and honor Him. God wanted His people to be a missionary people and so it was vital that the message and sanctity of the nation not be corrupted by the insidious plague of religious syncretism that had previously undermined the entire country and ultimately led to their downfall and deportation.
b. In making this pronouncement it was obvious that the Lord was concerned with the purity of their faith and the holiness of their lives. They had been entrusted with the wonderful message of God’s salvation and He didn’t want anything to corrupt that message. The same is true today. We need to ask ourselves if there are relationships in our lives that undermine or discredit our witness for Jesus Christ.
2. Separation from the world is nothing more than complete devotion to God no matter the cost.
a. Illust: I will never forget when Alex and Jana D. were a part of this fellowship. Alex was a resident in Anesthesiology. Told me that his father was a citizen of former USSR and wanted to study medicine. Yet, as a committed Christian living under communism, when authorities found out he was not willing to denounce his faith, he was denied entrance to medical school and told had to become an auto body technician instead. Cost him his dream. Yet, God used that skill he learned! Do you know that as a young man Alex was sickly and didn’t play sports, etc. So his father taught how to do auto body work. When immigrated to USA after fall of USSR, Alex put self through medical school with father’s help by buying and fixing up junk cars! God honored Alex’s father’s commitment! Never be worried about what you will lose in this world when you are willing to keep your commitment to Christ!
b. Our Lord said Mt. 6:24: “"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
B. Specifically, the People Declare that they will not Intermarry with the Pagans of their land.
1. There were two reasons why marriage with pagans were disastrous and need to be avoided.
a. First, there was the clear Biblical warning. In ancient times when two people were married, they would make their marriage agreement and then when they took up their home together, each would bring the idols of his/her religion in to the new home. Josh 23:13 said that the heathen spouses would become “snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes.”
b. Second, there was abundant historical evidence that unequally yoked marriages led to a decline in Israel’s spiritual and moral life. This was most notable in the life of Solomon, Israel’s wisest and wealthiest ruler. In fact, (READ) Neh. 13:26. The foreign wives (religions) turned Solomon’s heart from devotion to God with disastrous results.
2. Such a commitment is still incumbent upon God’s people today.
a. If we are honest with ourselves we are more influenced by others than any of us wish to admit. Just as religiously mixed marriages were a danger then, they are still a danger today. God is concerned that a believer marries a believer. If someone does not, the stage is set for conflict, compromise, and conformity to the world! Illust: You young people have absolutely NO BUSINESS dating anyone who is not a committed Christian believer. I couldn’t give a rip what his or her skin color is, and neither should Christian parents! However, we should be absolutely concerned about the religious devotion of the individual or children are interested in.
b. Illust: In our age of religious inclusivity, one might ask if mixed marriage have any negative effects today. In an article by Naomi Schaefer Riley, in the Sunday, June 6, 2010, edition of the Washington Post, she notes that the American Religious Identification Survey of 2001 indicates that couples in religiously mixed marriages are three times more likely to get divorced than couples who share the same religious faith. There are also variations, usually more tragic, for those of differing degrees of religious belief. The basic reason cited by Schaefer Riley is that most people don’t realize what a profound impact their religious heritage has on their approach and expectations of all relationships, including marriage. Often the degree to which they are influenced by their faith, even if they do not actively practice it, does not manifest itself until much later in the marriage. Most typically, this occurs after the birth of their first child when questions about the religious upbringing of the children come to the fore. It turns out that the old adage, “The family that prays together stays together,” has much more sociological credence than folks were willing to admit.
C. Applic: II Cor. 6:14 clearly states: “Do not be yoked with unbelievers, for what doe righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” Now if you are a Christian married to a non-Christian, I Pet. 3:1-6 applies - As long as he or she is willing to live with you, allow your godly life to speak to them..better than words. They will be won by your pure, godly behavior.
III. 3rd Vow: A Vow to Keep the Sabbath. V.31
A. The Third Vow the Jews of Nehemiah’s Day make is to Honor the Sabbath.
1. As a nation, the people commit to honoring the Sabbath!
a. The Sabbath Day was Saturday for the Jews. It was the day on which God rested from His creation. It was designed as a day of rest for the people of God to focus on God and His goodness, grace and mercy.
b. The Jews are committing to honoring Sabbath years as well as Sabbath days: i.e. leave the land at rest from ploughing or tilling it in that year, according to God’s command, Exodus 23:10,11 Le 25:4. This allowed the land to lie fallow and restore itself. God is a conservationist! Seven of these Sabbaths or 49 years made up the Year of Jubliee, which wasa joyful year of rest, celebration, cancellation of debts, freedom for slaves, and return of ancestral property.
2. The Jews of Nehemiah’s day are making a solemn vow to not only honor the Sabbath Day themselves, but to enforce it that no foreigners living in their land would break the day either. The Sabbath was a day of rest for the Jews. It was a day to honor God and worship Him. It was a day to help others. All Israelite employees enjoyed the Sabbath day off. Finally, the Sabbath Day offered the Jews an opportunity to declare the truth to those peoples who saw that they viewed one day reverently and defend why they did. Most Christians miss out on how importantly God thought of the Sabbath and the need for the nation to keep the Sabbath day holy. If I were to ask 100 Christians the reason why Israel was taken into captivity, 90% would say: idolatry, immoral behavior, pagan worship, corrupt rulers, etc. All of those items certainly contributed to their downfall. However, what does the WOG say?
B. Christians today need to Seek ways to Honor the Lord’s Day.
1. Illust: God told the children of Israel that if they did not keep the sabbaticals and Jubilees they would be taken out of their land so the land could enjoy its sabbath rest. Leviticus 26:27-35. The children of Israel neglected the sabbaticals and Jubilees for 430 years. During this time the land missed 70 sabbath years. Ezekiel 4:1-6. (See chart above: 70 Sabbaths without rest). The children of Israel were taken into captivity to Babylon for 70 years. Jeremiah 25:8-12. Jerusalem was burned and ruined, many people were killed, many people were taken captive to Babylon, and God’s beautiful temple was destroyed. Then the land was allowed to lay desolate for 70 years to enjoy her sabbath rest. 2 Chronicles 36:15-21. The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah 25:11. The seventy years are commonly reckoned from B.C. 606, the date of the deportation of Jehoiakim and his princes, to B.C. 536, when the decree for the return of the exiles was issued by Cyrus.
2. As Christians, let’s actively look for ways to make the Lord’s Day special in our lives.
a. Illust: I hear a lot of Christians say, “Sunday is family day for our family.” Maybe, but before it was your or my family’s day, it was, is, and forever share be “The Lord’s Day” in recognition of the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ! Part of reason so many Christians today live defeated lives is cause not honoring the Lord’s Day. Not setting it aside as special. Not making sure to go to church but allowing all the sports and clubs and choirs and everything else compete for the souls of our children and families. Really, it is not that hard to say: “NO!”
b. Illust: In 1981 the movie, Chariots of Fire, won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This Hollywood film told the true story of a devout Christian, Eric Liddell, in a very positive way. Eric has decided he must forfeit his chance to run in the 200 meter dash at the 1924 Paris Olympics because the qualifying meet would be held on Sunday. His coach, and some others, including the Prince of Wales!, try to convince him to change his mind.......wow! Yet, think about the stand that Eric took. He didn’t participate in the race, simply because it was on Sunday. He believed that to run on Sunday violates the Biblical command, the 4th of the Ten Commandments...to keep the Sabbath day holy. Many of us in this room probably would not agree with Eric’s position. We would have said, "Eric, lighten up a little. Is this really the mountain you want to die defending? It is just one race. There will be plenty of time to go to church before or after the meet. Your decision not to run may keep you from witnessing to others about Christ." Today most Christians see Sunday as just the day we happen to meet for church. Many feel there is really nothing special about the day and going to church on Saturday night or Wednesday evening is just as good. Maybe the better question to ask is: “How important is the Lord’s Day” to you and me?
C. Applic: No one grows as a Christian who does not seek to make the worship of the Lord and fellowship with other believers a priority. If you are wanting to make a life changing commitment to the Lord, commit to honoring the Lord’s Day!
IV. 4th Vow: Support for the Lord’s Work. Vv32-39
A. The newly returned nation needed to make a commitment to support the Lord’s work.
1. The temple of the Lord needed financial support.
a. In verses 32-39 the phrase “house of our God” is used 9x in this section and refers to the restored temple. The people were promising to follow God’s priorities by submitting to Him, by separating from the world, by keeping His Sabbath day, and by supporting the work of God. V. 39 sums this up when it says: “We will not neglect the house of our God.”
b. The newly restored temple stood at the center of the country’s religious, moral, and spiritual life. In tangible and yet also symbolic terms it proclaimed the presence and power if God among His people and the centrality of all spiritual matters.
2. The Christian’s meeting place, the church, needs to be financially supported.
a. Illust: Local church needs your support Christian. This local church needs your support. Actually, and for whatever reason, giving in the new year has been down significantly. I know that December’s giving was the largest in history of the church. However, the first three months has seen a significant shortfall that needs to be corrected soon or present problems. Would you pray and give?
b. Billy Graham stated, “One of the greatest sins in America today is the fact that we are robbing God of that which rightfully belongs to Him. When we don’t tithe, we shirk a just debt. Actually we are not giving when we give God one-tenth, for it belongs to Him already (Lev. 27:30). This is a debt we owe. Not until we have given a tenth do we actually begin making an offering to the Lord!
B. The giving characterized by the people of Nehemiah’s day should be mirrored today.
1. We see 6 characteristics: Their giving was responsible – v. 32/35 they people assume responsibility. “They owned” into the temple and the Lord’s work. The gave obediently. This was not impulse giving, but rather an expression of practical obedience. Those who love God will keep His commands. Those who love God will give to the Lord’s work. This giving was systematic. Their giving was not haphazard. V. 32 tells the amount they were to bring. V.34 Tells that lots were drawn to determine when contributions were to be brought. NT teaches systematic giving: I Cor. 16:2 – “On the 1st day of the week…each one should set aside a sum in keeping with his income.” It was proportionate. Everyone had to give some, but not all gave the same amount. It was sacrificial. Again, not everyone can give equally, but each can sacrifice. This giving was comprehensive. Not just crops or money, but family, animals, whole lives! God wants it all!
2.Illust: Are You On the Wrong Runway? I’m sure you heard the tragic news this week about the Singapore Airlines jumbo jet that crashed on take-off, killing at least 81 people. Investigators have now determined that the jet was on the wrong runway when it tried to leave for Los Angeles. The pilot realized at the last moment that he was on a strip closed for repairs and plowed into some heavy construction equipment. Seconds before the jetliner crashed, caught fire and broke into three sections, the pilot swore and screamed out, “Something there.” Apparently the pilot knew what runway he was supposed to be on and was not misdirected by the control tower. However, the officials have admitted that there was no barrier set up to block planes from going onto the closed runway. In addition, the lights on this runway were turned on because of the bad weather. I’m wondering this morning if any one here is on the wrong runway. It might look like everything is going ok in your life, but you actually might be headed for a crash. The Bible is clear ¬ if you do things your way, you’re going to have a collision. God wants you and me to make investments that last by: • Submitting to God ¬ that answers the question, “Who’s the pilot of your life?” • Separating from the world ¬ that covers who we spend time with • Practicing a Sabbath rest ¬ that deals with how we spend our time • Supporting God’s work ¬ which involves how we spend our money.
C. Applic:
