NEHEMIAH(Some copied content; not every source is endorsed)

We are now going to look further into the Book of Nehemiah...

This is really a part 2 of this morning’s message.

Through the first chapters we saw the important godly leadership principles that Nehemiah employed, and how we can also learn to be BUILDERS for God.

There will be more such lessons about godly leadership through these other chapters of the book, but more especially we will see how God brings revival.

Chapters 8 through 10 especially show us REVIVAL in Jerusalem...

It is the last great revival recorded in the Old Testament... BIBLE REVIVAL...

In this part of the Book of Nehemiah we see SIGNS OF REVIVAL...

Really, our message tonight outlines

GOD’S BLUEPRINT FOR REVIVAL...

There are many signs through the rest of the book of Nehemiah, where we see some features of God at work amongst His people... God’s Power and Truth. And God’s people’s Joy, and Fellowship, and Separation.

We will only touch on some of these themes.

GOD’S BLUEPRINT FOR REVIVAL...

We see God working here in the record of Nehemiah... God at work... In genuine REVIVAL POWER... and In a RESTORATION of Bible truth...

At this time in the book, the walls of Jerusalem were restored, and the people dwelt safely, they lived in security again...

Nehemiah had accomplished within 52 days – what others before him had failed to do in over a century...

Then, in... Nehemiah CHAPTER 7, we see how that Nehemiah organised the city...

He appointed men with the important character traits of FAITHFULNESS, and THE FEAR OF GOD, to take charge.

It is probable that it was at this time that Nehemiah returned to the Persian court.

7:2 ...I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.

It was important that Nehemiah left the responsibility for the city in safe hands.

Delegation is an important leadership principle.

At this point Nehemiah steps out of the limelight, as it were...

And he passes the baton on to Ezra...

Ezra steps into his shoes...

God had used Nehemiah to RECONSTRUCT the WALLS

Now God would use Ezra to REINSTRUCT the PEOPLE..

From here on in the Book of Nehemiah, it is EZRA who leads the revival and reform...

Ezra was a preacher of the Word.

Many believe that it is possible, by the way, that Ezra was the author of Psalm 119, the beautiful chapter about the Word of God.

Ezra, the revivalist and reformer, appears in...

CHAPTER 8

In this chapter we see God brings REVIVAL to the nation... What is REVIVAL?

REVIVAL is really a movement OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD...

A bringing back to spiritual life.

It is evident in... Real REPENTANCE At the READING of God’s Word A true REVERENCE amongst the people

for the things of God and an obedience to it...

CHAPTER EIGHT tells of the people responding to the WORD:There was an...(1) UNDERSTANDING of God’s Word(2) A REJOICING in the Word, and (3) AN OBEYING of God’s Word...

There were signs of SPIRITUAL RENEWAL...The people HUNGERED for THE WORD...There was a UNITY as they came together.

In Chapter 8:1, the Word was brought...And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate;

The Bible speaks of the washing of the Word... It is a picture of the cleansing power of God’s Book...

and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to BRING THE BOOK of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.

‘BRING THE BOOK,’ was their cry...

The people’s one purpose was to cry out to their leaders to bring to them THE WORD OF GOD.

Bring THE BOOK, they said...

This is REVIVAL.

They had been in captivity for seventy years and they were thirsty for the reading and exposition of the Word.

8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

For twenty four consecutive days, the people worshipped the Lord and heard His Word.

There was a FAITHFULNESS...

They did not treat the things of God carelessly...

We must likewise seek God, for as long as it takes... The people met together They brought their children who were old

enough to understand God's Word They read from the books of Genesis,

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

8:3 And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday,

One of the features of revival is BIBLE PREACHING. This is very important in these days where there is a famine of hearing the WORDS OF THE LORD – Amos 8:11.

The people heard the Word, from first light, from daybreak...

Ezra read the Word...before the men and the women, and those that could understand;

Their approach was that everyone who could understand the Word of God needed to hear it.

AND THE EARS OF ALL THE PEOPLE WERE ATTENTIVE UNTO THE BOOK OF THE LAW.

The Word was READ and TAUGHT.

And, importantly, it was HEARD.

Faith cometh by hearing.And hearing by the Word of God.

8:5 And Ezra OPENED THE BOOK in the sight of all the people;

(for he was above all the people;) and

WHEN HE OPENED IT, ALL THE PEOPLE STOOD UP:

They HONOURED the Word of God.They had RESPECT for it.

This is still the case in some cultures today.

In contrast, in the West it seems like we have adopted a relatively careless regard for the Word of God as a culture.

The people stood for hours as they listened.For five or six hours.

And the WORD had an effect.

The WORD led them to WORSHIP...

8:6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God.

And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands:

and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

There was a reverence and respect for God’s Word.

Their response was passionate worship.

Ezra read God's Word, and explained the meaning...

8:8 So THEY READ IN THE BOOK in the law of God DISTINCTLY, and GAVE THE SENSE, and CAUSED THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE

READING.

When God’s people were gathered their purpose in gathering together was not to provide humour, or drama, or entertainment but UNDERSTANDING of the Word...

They WORSHIPPED and WEPT FOR JOY because of THE WORD...

God turns their tears of sorrow into shouts of joy, because of the WORD!

8:9 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people,

This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep.

For ALL THE PEOPLE WEPT, WHEN THEY HEARD THE WORDS OF THE LAW.

There was shedding of tears at the water gate...

It is evident that the great historic movements of revival have been characterised by a deep conviction of sin.

‘For by the law is the knowledge of sin’ Romans 3:20.

There was a holy conviction that swept through the place.

This was the WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The people came under the AUTHORITY of the Word.

Where are the people weeping at the holy Word today?

WHY did REVIVAL COME? There was a godly UNITY There was a DESIRE for GOD’S TRUTH; as

spiritual hungering and thirsting The WORD OF GOD was READ and

EXPLAINED: not a bunch of stories and experiences

The eyes of the people were opened to THEIR OWN SINFULNESS AND GOD'S HOLINESS

The people ACTED upon what they had heard.

Furthermore, the preacher exhorted the people,

8:10 ...the joy of the LORD is your strength.

When God is at work He hears our cry, He sees our repentant hearts and He lifts the burden of sin.

He brings real deep heart JOY to our lives...

He grants us JOY that is based on FAITH, as our conviction of sin leads to His forgiveness.

Our heart’s JOY is based on GOD’S TRUTH.

In v.12 it says the people rejoiced. They had understood the Words that were declared unto them.

The understanding of the Word brought WEEPING, JOY, HOLINESS, GLADNESS, AND FELLOWSHIP.

At the centre of REVIVAL is the WORD.

It says also that the leaders of the people gathered especially together to grasp the Word of God together...

We need to pray that the people who lead us care about the Word... For our government, for our nation...

Nehemiah 8:13 And on the second day were gathered together the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.

A strong sign of revival is an emphasis on God’s Word. On Biblical preaching.

The proclamation of the Bible must be central...

Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee said, “I don’t care how loud the soloist sings, or how sweetly the organist plays, or how flowery the message, if the Bible is not read distinctly, and the sense of it is not given so that the people understand, the service is of no avail whatsoever. God wants understanding to come from the reading of His Word.”

The Word brought conviction and moved the people to take corrective action and restore what they had neglected...

The people restored the feast...

And, as they did do... 8:17 ...there was very great gladness.

They had great joy because they had obeyed the Word of God. It was spontaneous and sweet.

Do we realise THE IMPORTANCE of GOD'S WORD FOR US?

We are SAVED by hearing, and applying the Word of God to our hearts and lives (1 Peter 1:23)

We are given FAITH by hearing (Romans 10:17)

We are MADE CLEAN by applying and heeding the Word of God (John 17:17; 15:3)

We are EDIFIED by the Word (Acts 20:32) We are LED by the Word (Psalm 119:105) We are Fruitful as God uses His Word in

our lives and through our lives to touch others (Psalm 1:2, 3).

We have VICTORY Through the Power of the Word...

As we... STUDY it LOVE it LIVE it...

Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones has said that genuine revival is always marked by a return to biblical teaching and preaching.

As someone has put it, the Israelites responded to the Word of God in six ways: They WANTED the Word

They HONOURED the Word They LISTENED to the Word They UNDERSTOOD the Word They WERE CONVICTED by the Word They REJOICED IN the Word

There was a reverence for the Word which led to a reverence in their assembly...

In Nehemiah 8:18 it is called a solemn assembly. There are numbers of scriptures that speak of this dedicated time that God’s people convened. A solemn assembly...

Such an assembly is talked of in... Joel 1:14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,

Moving onto...CHAPTER 9

In this chapter we see REPENTANCE... and TRUE WORSHIP restored...

For twenty four consecutive days, the people had worshipped the Lord and heard His Word. There was a faithfulness... They did not treat the things of God carelessly... We must seek God for as long as it takes...

We notice here, the people were fasting. They were wearing sackcloth. They had dirt upon them (dust on their heads). They came in humility.

In verse 2 it says they separated themselves from the world...

They had a three-hour Bible-study time and then three hours of praising the Lord and a time of confessing their sins.

REVIVAL came, as they... were... READING THE WORD OF GOD – studying and

understanding it FASTING, in sackcloth and ashes –their heart

attitude was HUMILITY, and as... They joined in CONFESSION and WORSHIP...

As the people listened, they wept over their sin, Verse 2.

There was a brokenness over their sin.

The people had enjoyed a time of feasting and now they had come together in fasting.

Their holy sorrow led to a godly joy.

Their REPENTANCE led to REJOICING.

They cried out with a loud voice and gave praise,

9:5 ...Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and

blessed be thy glorious name,

which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

9:6 Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

V. 17 ...thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and

of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

In the closing chapters of the book we see the people cleaned up their lives. There was an establishment of leaders.

In Chapter 12 there is even more great thanksgiving and praise.

12:43 Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

In Verse 46, we read of ...songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God.

The people renewed their commitment.

The nation had known a time of spiritual decay and backsliding.

In CHAPTER 13 the people took their SEPARATION seriously...

In Verse 3, it says ...they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude.

There was a SEPARATION.A SANCTIFICATION...

God has called His people... TO BE A SEPARATED PEOPLE To be His peculiar, particular treasure

(Exodus 10:4-6).

We are also called unto SEPARATION FROM SIN AND THE WORLD (Titus 2:11-14).

God commands us TO BE SEPARATED from THE WORLD because we are NOT OF THE WORLD (John 15:16-21), because we are A CHOSEN PEOPLE (I Peter 2:9), because we are INDWELT BY GOD and are HIS OWN (2 Corinthians 6:14-18), and because we are to ‘LOVE NOT’ the world (I John 2:15,16).

Sin had been brought about by compromise.

At this point, after twelve years away, Nehemiah returned on the scene – he was back at Jerusalem...

He was shocked and disappointed with what he saw. A corrupt priesthood had caused a dreadful spiritual decline...

He took leadership again over the situation...

The people has even accommodated the enemy of God, Tobias, in the temple itself. This man was one of those who had withstood Nehemiah and conspired against him.

In verses 7 and 8 it says Nehemiah threw him out. It was alike to the Lord casting the moneychangers out of the temple.

Nehemiah REBUKED THE SPIRITUAL LEADERS and got things back on track again...

13:11 Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken?

And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.

Nehemiah took drastic action. He took leadership of the situation.

He called for a spiritual cleansing.

Nehemiah shows us how there needs to be a VIGILANCE about THE HOUSE OF GOD...

WORSHIP had been forsaken.

Nehemiah CALLED THE PEOPLE BACK TO GOD.

He called them to a restoration of doctrine and godly practice.

He brought rebuke. He restored giving, and the regular practice of worship.

Nehemiah charged the Levites to cleanse themselves and to keep the gates, and to sanctify the day of the Lord.

Nehemiah also brought REBUKE about UNHOLY ALLIANCES...

The Israelites had married women of Ashodod, Ammon, and Moab. This was strictly forbidden.

God is greatly grieved with His own, the saved, when they intermarry with the unsaved.

Marriage is to be in the Lord. It is a sacred bond before a holy God.

Nehemiah’s goal was the restoration of the people’s relationship with God.

Nehemiah called out for godly leaders.

In verse 13 he appointed faithful men... Men with God-given convictions and commitments who would not compromise.

We desperately need leadership like this in our day. We need to be as the godly men of Nehemiah’s time... I believe we have such leaders in this church today...

Men who will stand for INTEGRITY rather than EXPEDIENCY SCRIPTURE rather than CULTURE BIBLICAL CONVICTION rather than

POPULAR OPINION.

Through the book of Nehemiah we see the VICTORY of God’s people.

They overcame... Hatred (4:4-6) Conspiracy (4:9)

Doubt and unbelief (4:13-14).

We see the theme of PRAYER. Nehemiah prayed through whatever faced him... When he met heartache When he met mockery When he saw strife When he was opposed.

And the work was wrought of God. That is REVIVAL.

Andrew Bonar explains about revival... ‘Revivals begin with God’s people, the Holy Spirit touches their heart anew, and gives them new fervour and compassion and zeal, new light and life, and when He has thus come to you, He next goes forth to the valley of dry bones. Oh, what responsibility this lays on the Church of God! If you grieve Him away from yourselves, or hinder His visit, then the poor perishing world suffers sorely!’

Right at the core of the Book of Nehemiah we see what made the difference was when the people developed a appreciation and attention – a renewed love for the Word of God.

A native of India, writing to a friend about a great revival they were having, said, "We are having a great rebible here." The Church needs to be rebibled.—C. E. World.

What about us?

Brothers and sisters we need to be re-Bibled...

Will we have a famine of the Word, or a revival of the word?

A famine of God’s word destroys God’s people (Amos 8:11). True revival starts

when God’s word is rediscovered (2 Kings 22:8-11).

Jeremiah wrote (15:16) Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

We need the Word...

Psalms 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

God has provided us with His Word.

Where the Word was there was REPENTANCE and there was REJOICING...

Where the WORD is God will bring REVIVAL.Take it, in faith and convictionJoin with the Bible believersBelieve His Word.In closing let me quote the revivalist RA Torrey:

I can give a prescription that will bring revival -- revival to any church, or community, or any city on earth. First: Let few Christians get thoroughly

right with God. If this is not done, the rest will come to nothing.

Second: Let them bind themselves together to pray for revival until God opens the windows of heaven and comes down.

Third: Let them put themselves at the disposal of God for His use as He sees fit in winning others to Christ. That is all. I have given this prescription around the world... and in no instance has it failed. It cannot fail.

I urge you – to make a PERSONAL decision...

You may ask, WHAT CAN I DO?

Moody wrote these words, "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And that which I can do, by the grace of God, I will do."