SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). Confession: it was a time to get right with God. (vs 1-2):
(2). Adoration: it was a time to worship God. (vs 3-5).
(3). Reflection: it was a time to learn from past mistakes (vs 6-37)
(4). Commitment: it was a time to move forward with God (vs 38).
SERMON BODY:
ill:
Trivia
• Question: How many gallons of water are in the ocean?
• Answer: 343 quintillion gallons
• Question: How many stars are in the known universe?
• Answer: 1 billion trillion stars in the observable universe!
• Question: How many grains of sand are in the world?
• Answer: Seven quintillion five hundred quadrillion grains of sand.
• TRANSITION: Even if these answers are incorrect,
• Here is my point: God’s grace is bigger than all these numbers!
• So big you cannot measure it!
• It is often described this way,
• Quote: “Grace is the unmerited favour of God.”
• I like this description,
• Quote: “Grace is everything for nothing to those who don’t deserve anything”
• Grace is where God shows us mercy, kindness, and patience,
• Instead of the judgment that we deserve for rebelling & sinning against him.
• God's grace cannot be earned by our actions or sincerity.
• It cannot be lost by our rebellion or sin.
• Grace is based on the character of God
• And not on our sincerity, performance, or ability to keep the law of God.
• Otherwise, grace would not be grace.
Ill:
• I recently described it this way in a sermon,
• With a very delicate flower, the first hint of frost will kill it.
• Grace is so delicate if we try adding anything to it, then it dies! It is no longer grace.
• TRANSITION: Out title this morning is, ‘Amazing Grace’
• And we will see that illustrated in chapter 9 of the book of Nehemiah.
• God’s amazing grace towards his people.
We are picking up the story in chapter 9:
• Verse 1 tells us the people ‘gathered together’.
• So, this was a public event, the people gathered to worship God.
• We noted in our last study these folks were not in a hurry,
• And we see that again in verse 3.
“They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day and spent another quarter in confession and in worshipping the Lord their God.”
• According to the experts, a quarter of a day was three hours.
• That is literally a quarter of twelve hours, not 24 hours.
• Referring to twelve hours of daylight in which they worked.
• So, this tells us that the people experienced a six-hour service.
• Three hours of preaching followed by three hours of praying.
• So, if you think I tend to go on a bit!
• Just be glad you are reading about this service and not actually attending it!
• Note: I think the point of these long services in the book of Nehemiah,
• Is that having returned back to Jerusalem, their spiritual home.
• These people were hungry for God and could not get enough of him.
Ill:
• The French have a proverb, which states,
• “A good meal ought to begin with hunger.”
• It is hard to enjoy a meal when you are not yet hungry.
• But, when you are hungry, anything tastes good.
• TRANSITION: These people were hungry for God and could not get enough of him.
• So, the people endured(?), enjoyed(?), certainly experienced a six-hour service.
• Three hours of preaching followed by three hours of praying.
• Now, the chapter divides into four sections,
• With the first section being…
(1). Confession: it was a time to get right with God. (vs 1-2):
“On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers.”
Ill:
• Beverly Sills was for many years the general director of the New York opera,
• But the stresses and the pressures of the job took a toll on her health.
• She ballooned into obesity. She wrote:
"It made me sick to look at myself. I'd reached the point where I didn't want to have my clothes made anymore. It was too embarrassing. So, I ordered everything from catalogues."
• Eventually Beverly Sills was forced to face the problem.
• She said, "I woke up one day and realized I was really ill."
• So, she went to see a specialist.
• The specialist put her on the weighing scales, and they read 215 pounds (almost 18stone).
• Beverley said, “I cannot possibly weigh that much!”
• Her doctor replied,
• “Please look down. Are those two fat feet on the scale yours or mine?'"
• Beverly smiled. "Once I accepted the problem, I was on my way."
• TRANSITION: Confession starts with admitting you have a problem.
• Confession is not meant to make a Christian feel guilty,
• In fact, the opposite, it is designed to help a Christian find forgiveness.
Notice: their confession contained three elements:
FIRST: Words (vs 2b).
They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.
Words dominate the people’s worship:
• Verse 3a: They listened to the Bible being taught - words from God.
• Verse 3b & 5: They respond with words of praise & worship.
• Verse 4: They ‘cried out’ their words of prayers & petitions.
• Verse 2: Confessed their sins.
• There is a two-way relationship here:
• The people listening to God through his word.
• And then they responding to him in prayer, worship & confession.
SECOND: Actions (vs 1b):
“Wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads.”
• This was an outward sign of how the people were feeling inside.
• ill: Black to the funeral of a close relative or friend and not a Hawaiian shirt!
• “Sackcloth”: is symbolic of humility:
• Nobody looks good in sackcloth,
• It is the very opposite of ‘power dressing’ or fashionable clothes.
• “Ashes”: is symbolic of our mortality.
• We know the phrase that is used at funerals; “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust”.
• We are the very opposite of almighty God, we are frail, weak and mortal.
• This confession time was more than words, it required effort and it was very visual.
• This demonstration was to say our actions are speaking as loud as our words.
THIRD: Fasting (vs 1a):
• Fasting generally meant going without food and drink for a period of time.
• Not only was it a sign you meant business with God (cost involved)
• But the time you could have been eating and drinking were given over to prayer.
Ill:
• Let me illustrate it this way, when friends need to be together,
• They will cancel all other activities in order to make that possible.
• Rather than say,
• “I know it’s an emergency, but I am watching the football, I will be over later”
• Instead because they are a friend who mis important,
• You say, “Ok, I will be right over”
• The time you could have spent watching the football has been sacrificed for them.
• TRANSITION: There’s nothing magical about fasting.
• It’s just one way of showing God,
• That your priority at that moment is to be alone with him.
(2). Adoration: it was a time to worship God. (vs 3-5).
“They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day and spent another quarter in confession and in worshipping the Lord their God. Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God. And the Levites – Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah – said: ‘Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting.’
‘Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.”
• One thing I have learnt over the years as a Christian,
• Is that everyone’s take on worship is different.
• If you ask a Pentecostal; an Anglican; a Brethren, a Methodist; a Baptist.
• Their answers will all probably differ.
• If you ask a young person, or an older Christian,
• And their answers may be very different.
• However, you define it; or whatever your take or viewpoint is.
• One thing is I think we would all agree on,
• Worship is important and should be a priority in the life of every Christian.
Ill:
• 3 Minute Theology 5.4: What is Worship?
• YouTube link: https://youtu.be/xoTiigkidzs
• TRANSITION: Verses 4-5a Explain how the Israelites conducted their time of worship.
• The Levites divided themselves into two groups.
• Some were standing on the stairs on one side of the assembly,
• And the other group stood across from them.
• These two groups called back and forth to the congregation,
• One group confessing the sins of the people,
• The other group praising God for his greatness.
• It’s like an antiphonal, a responsive chorus.
• The first group “called with loud voices.”
• The second group responded by focusing their reply on God’s character.
• In fact, the rest of this chapter gives us the actual words they used.
• Cries of guilt are followed by shouts of praise for God’s greatness, goodness, & graciousness.
• Tears of grief over their many sins.
• Followed by tears of joy as they find forgiveness and cleansing.
(3). Reflection: it was a time to learn from past mistakes (vs 6-37)
• This prayer is 1,142 words long (N.I.V. Bible)
• Now, that brothers and sisters that is a long prayer!
• In fact, the longest prayer in the Bible.
Ill:
• Dwight Lyman Moody, also known as D. L. Moody,
• Was an American evangelist in the 1800’s,
• Who won hundreds of thousands of people for Christ.
• On one occasion D. L. Moody asked someone to pray at the start of a service,
• The man began to pray and was still droning on after ten minutes had gone by.
• Finally, Mr. Moody stood up and said,
• "While our dear brother is finishing his prayer, let's turn to number 342 & sing it together!"
• TRANSITION: My advice would be,
• Long prayers should be for our private devotions and shorter prayers in a public setting.
• I am not totally sure the best way to divide up and summarise this prayer,
• The best summary I can give you is this one.
• The Greatness of God (vs 1-6).
• The Goodness of God (vs 7-30).
• The Grace of God (vs 31-37).
This prayer is full of biblical quotations and it really is a history lesson for the people.
• Verse 6:
• God is the creator, the only one we should worship.
• Verses 7-8:
• Reflects on the call of Abraham (the father of the Jewish people),
• And reminds the people of God’s faithfulness to him and his descendants.
• Verses 9-12:
• Recalls the Exodus and how God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt,
• He did it with signs and wonders, displaying his power
• Verses 15-21:
• Recalls the Israelites time of rebellion and times of forgiveness,
• During the forty years roaming around the wilderness, the desert.
• Verses 22-25:
• Recalls how God gave them victory,
• So that they could take possession of the Promised Land,
• Verses 26-31:
• Recalls how the people chose rebellion against God,
• They killed his prophets and God had to allow the Babylonians to take them into exile.
• Now in case you are wondering, there is a point to this history lesson:
• The emphasis throughout the section is on God’s faithfulness,
• And it contrasts it with the unfaithfulness of His people.
Note: in verse 32 the word, “therefore…”
• This brings us up to Ezra and Nehemiah’s day,
• To the place where the people need to confess and repent for their sins.
• The final part of the prayer (vs 32- 37) is a series of prayer requests.
• Once again there is a mention of the need to confess sins.
• And ask and experience God’s grace and mercy.
(4). Commitment: it was a time to move forward with God (vs 38).
“‘In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”
• Quote: “Commitment is an act and not a word!”
• We know the saying, “Talk is cheap”
• And we also know the saying, “Actions speak louder than words”
• These people back up their words with actions, they make an agreement,
• They are determined to move forward with God.
Ill:
• The Australian coat of arms has a picture of an emu and a kangaroo.
• They chose those particular animals because they both share a common trait,
• That appealed to the Australian forefathers.
• Emus and kangaroos can only move forward.
• They cannot move backward.
• The three-toed foot of the emu makes it fall if the emu steps back,
• And the kangaroo’s large tail prevents it from moving backward.
• TRANSITIONS: Christians who mean business with God,
• Need to become like the emu and the kangaroo,
• Determined to move forward in their walk with God.
Ill:
• If this was a modern-day soap opera, like ‘EastEnders’ the end music would kick in,
• Setting you up for the next episode.
• Because this last verse, really should be the first verse of the next section,
• And we will look at that next week.
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=n6XGeG3zn43EKz0MwAgzGpAf4yjp0UZK
SERMON VIDEIO:
https://youtu.be/8LbFSTqZoaE
