Rev. David Holwick B Nehemiah series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 14, 2007
Nehemiah 10:28-39
|
I. Promising like you mean it.
A man bought a parrot.
It was a beautiful parrot but it had a really dirty mouth.
That parrot could swear for five minutes straight without repeating
himself.
The man was embarrassed because the bird was doing it in front of
guests.
He tried to appeal to the bird by asking him to clean up his
language.
The parrot promised to change but nothing happened.
In fact, his swearing increased in both volume and frequency.
It finally got to be too much, so the guy grabbed the bird by the
throat and started shaking him and yelled, "Quit it!"
But this just made the parrot angry and he swore more than ever.
Then the guy got really mad and locked him in a kitchen cabinet.
That aggravated the bird and he started clawing and scratching and
making all kinds of racket.
When the guy finally let him out, the parrot let loose with a
stream of profanity that made the man blush.
At this point the guy was so ticked off that he threw the bird into
the freezer.
For the first few seconds the bird squawked and screamed and
thrashed around.
Then there was silence.
At first the guy just waited, but then he started to wonder if
the bird was hurt.
After a couple minutes of not hearing anything, he was so worried
that he opened the freezer door.
The bird calmly climbed onto the man's outstretched arm and said,
"I'm really sorry about all the trouble I've been giving you.
I make a solemn promise and vow to clean up my language from
now on."
The man was astounded.
He couldn't believe the transformation that had come over the
parrot after being in the freezer for only a couple minutes.
The parrot then turned to the man and said, "I just have one
question... what did that chicken do?" #11412
A. We all make promises that don't mean much - New Year's
resolutions.
B. Our promises to God are something to take seriously.
II. Promises and people of faith.
A. A public confession led to a public vow.
1) The Jews wanted something concrete to come out of their
revival.
2) They put it in writing. 9:38; 10:28-29
a) The political leaders committed to it.
b) The religious leaders committed to it.
c) Average people and even their children committed to it.
3) They backed it up with an oath -- and a curse!
a) They were promising to put God first.
B. God's relationship to us is based on promises.
1) Old and new covenants.
2) New covenant is sealed with Jesus' blood. Mark 10:45
3) Here, the word "covenant" is not used, but "binding
agreement."
a) In the Bible, covenants tend to be initiated by God.
b) In Nehemiah 9:38, the people are making the promise.
C. Promises and salvation.
1) We are not saved because we make promises; we make promises
because we are saved.
a) And we should make promises to God.
2) We need to challenge ourselves if we are to grow in the
faith.
a) Too many Christians make a "decision" for God and let
it go at that.
b) Nehemiah's people understood that warm feelings weren't
enough -- action is required.
III. The four promises of Nehemiah 10.
A. They vowed to submit to God's Word. 10:29
1) They had listened to it - for literally hours.
2) Listening must be followed by doing.
As James 1:22 says:
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive
yourselves. Do what it says."
3) One solution: don't listen or do.
a) When you want to go your own way, reading the Bible
can give you the "guilties."
b) So you don't read it. Then you are not a hypocrite.
4) A better solution: listen and do.
a) From what you know of the Bible, what should you
change in your life?
b) What habit should you drop?
c) The Jews came up with three areas of trouble.
B. They vowed to separate from the world. 10:30
1) Intermarriage was a big issue for them.
a) It was a religious issue, not a racial one.
b) Their acceptance of Ruth the Moabitess proves this.
2) The danger of intermarriage was the dilution of faith.
a) It had compromised someone as great as Solomon.
b) The New Testament gives the same warning: don't be
tied to someone who doesn't share your faith.
1> Encourage your family to follow this as well.
3) A wider principle is to guard against worldly influence.
a) If you can't beat it, avoid it.
b) This is especially true of relationships.
C. They vowed to honor the Sabbath. 10:31
1) It was harder to do now because of foreigners living there.
2) Keeping a day special for God is always hard.
Article in New Yorker - an orthodox Jew in Teaneck loved
the New York Rangers.
A problem for him was that sometimes the games were on
Saturday.
He would turn on his TV on Friday and put it on the
right channel, then wait to watch the game on Saturday.
(He also covered the TV with a towel so devout neighbors
couldn't see how sinful he was.) [1]
3) Sabbath rest included land and debts.
a) Every seven years, the land was unfarmed, and debts
were to be forgiven.
b) In a rural economy like theirs, this was a huge
commitment and a real test of faith.
c) There were no Wal*Marts back then!
4) However you apply the Old Testament Sabbath rules for today,
it is important to honor God each week.
a) Attendance in church is good, but only part of it.
b) Spend time serving God as well.
c) And rest some!
D. They vowed to support God's work. 10:32-39
1) They agreed to the Temple tax.
a) (It increased to half a shekel in Jesus' day)
2) They agreed to supply sacrifices and wood. 10:33-34
a) Interestingly, in the Pentateuch the supplying
of wood was assumed, not specified.
b) When everyone should do it, no one does it!
c) So here they agreed to come up with a plan.
3) They agreed to give firstfruits and tithes. 10:36-37
a) They also tithed the tithe, for the priests.
b) Overall principle: don't neglect God's house. 10:39
1> Support God's work among his people.
4) We can give for at least three reasons:
a) Because we have to - that's law.
b) Because we ought to - that's obligation.
c) Because we want to - that's grace.
IV. What promises should YOU make to God?
A. Analyze how you spend your time and your treasure.
1) Is God the priority he should be?
2) Should you make a written contract with God, like the
Israelites did, of things you will turn over to him?
B. Make a full commitment.
After Nicola Taubert finished high school in Stuttgart, Germany,
she decided not to go on to university and became a DJ in a
disco instead.
She spent everything she earned buying records, gambling, and
doing drugs.
Soon she was broke and in debt.
The glamorous life she once had was a distant memory.
In spite of the drugs and the music, Nicola could not drown out
the feeling that there was a God and she needed to learn
more about Him.
She remembered her mother telling her about God when she was a
child.
She remembered that they sometimes prayed together, but Nicola
sensed there had to be more to God and religion than just
saying a prayer.
Late one night after she finished working at the disco, Nicola
went home and faced off with God.
On her knees she literally shouted at God, "If You are here,
and if You are real, then help me - now.
I am willing to listen to You, but I need to know You are there
and You can help me."
Nicola was in big financial trouble, and she knew she could not
solve her problems herself.
She was willing to let God help her, so she made a deal:
she would surrender her life to Him if He would help her.
And God took her up on the deal, even though she had no idea at
the time what "surrender" really meant.
Nicola did not know where to start with God, but she entrusted
her life into His hands.
She promised God that she wanted to live according to His will,
if he would free her from the chains that bound her.
And it worked: God took away her addictions to alcohol, tobacco,
and gambling - all things that had chained her for years.
She was free!
Nicola felt great!
She was sure God had done this, but she did not know yet how to
live her life for God.
Then one day she received a piece of paper that said, "I tried
to contact you. Please give me a call."
A few weeks later she called the number; it was a pastor and
he invited her for a meal and Bible study.
She hesitated, because she wasn't sure what these Christians
were all about.
But the Holy Spirit impressed her to go, and she liked it so
much she went back.
Soon she began to attend the weekly morning service.
Nicola knows now that the Holy Spirit was speaking to her.
She no longer wanted to fight against God and spiritual things;
she was home.
She continues attending the church and is growing in her faith.
God never ripped anything away from her; instead, He showed her
step-by-step what He wanted her to do.
And as she looks back over the past few years, she would ask
to keep one thing.
The music, the gambling, the "excitement"?
No -- she would rather keep Jesus.
#8692
What about you?
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
This sermon derived much of its material from Rev. Brian Bill's sermon
"Making Investments That Last," Pontiac Bible Church of Pontiac, Illinois,
November 5, 2000; Kerux Sermon #24803.
[1] "Playoffs: Things That Are Prohibited," by Shalom Auslander, New
Yorker magazine, January 15, 2007, page 38.
# 8692 "She Gave Up Disco And Drugs For God," by Nicola Taubert, Wit And
Wisdom at http://www.witandwisdom.org, editor Richard G. Wimer,
January 3, 2007.
#11412 "What Did That Chicken Do?" by Rev. Brian Bill of Pontiac Bible
Church; Pontiac, Illinois. Kerux Sermon #24803, "Making
Investments That Last," November 5, 2000.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Easily create HTML Help documents