Rev. David Holwick C Nehemiah series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 21, 2006
Nehemiah 12:43; 13:1-5
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I. Bipolar nation.
A. "This Is True" email newsletter, Dec 31, 2006:
AP headline, Dec 30 -- "AP Poll: Americans Optimistic for 2007"
AP headline, Dec 31 -- "Poll: Americans See Gloom, Doom in 2007"
I guess we want it both ways...
#34073
B. Nehemiah ends on a roller coaster.
1) They reach the heights of joy, then the pits of defeat.
2) There are probably parallels with your own spiritual life.
II. Joy at a mission accomplished.
A. An ornate celebration.
1) Organized to the "T", but sincere.
a) Dueling choirs.
1> Very symmetrical arrangement.
b) Loud music.
1> They like percussion.
2) The groups meet at the Temple.
a) Many sacrifices and loud worship.
B. Great joy.
1) All ages, from the oldest to the youngest.
2) They recognized that the joy was a gift from God.
C. Appointment of managers.
1) A deflating of enthusiasm?
2) Joy lifts you for a day, but Nehemiah wants worship for
a lifetime.
a) Their worship needed realistic provisions.
b) Nehemiah strikes while their enthusiasm is high.
3) The best praise comes from a lifetime of service. Heb 13
III. When the cat's away...
A. These passages are probably inserted in Nehemiah's own journal.
1) Note the "I" passages.
2) Evidently he left Israel for a number of years.
3) The text may tie together events separated by significant time.
B. While he was gone, things fell apart.
1) Issues that led to the revival reared up again.
a) Corruption. 13:4
1> The high official Tobiah (a foreigner with
connections!) annexed a chunk of the temple.
2> You might call this a "set-aside".
3> He is living high on the hog while the temple
utensils languish somewhere else.
b) Sabbath breaking. 13:15
1> They are back to buying and selling on God's day,
with foreigners.
2> This had been a problem even back in Amos's period.
c) Unequal yokes. 13:1,23
1> Families have intermarried and not kept their
Jewish heritage.
A> It was religious more than racial.
B> Ruth had converted - no problem there.
2> But these kids didn't even know the Jewish language.
2) Is there ever any final resolution?
IV. Harsh measures.
A. Nehemiah was a "hands on" man.
1) The official is thrown out on his rear. 13:9
2) The gates are locked on the Sabbath. 13:19
a) Nehemiah even lurks to catch the sinners red-handed.
3) The foreigners are forcibly expelled. 13:3
a) A hundreds-of-years-old curse is invoked. 13:2
Deuteronomy 23:2-4 >>
No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his
descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD,
even down to the tenth generation.
No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may
enter the assembly of the LORD,
even down to the tenth generation.
For they did not come to meet you with bread and water
on your way when you came out of Egypt, and they
hired Balaam ... to pronounce a curse on you.
b) Nehemiah got physical about it. 13:25
1> He rebukes them.
2> He calls down curses on them.
3> He pulls out their hair!
B. Should Christians be harsh?
1) We often are.
Pastor Fred Craddock preached in Blue Ridge, Georgia, one
Sunday while the pastor was away.
His sermon was on Luke 15, the prodigal son.
I hope all of you are familiar with it - the youngest son
gets his inheritance early, blows it on high living,
then crawls home to beg.
His father greets him with open arms and proclaims his lost
son has been found.
After the service a man said, "I really didn't care much for
that sermon, frankly."
The preacher asked the man why, and he said he just didn't
like that story because it was morally irresponsible.
Craddock asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"Forgiving the boy," the man replied.
Craddock responded, "Well, what would you have done?"
The man answered, "I think when he came home he should have
been arrested."
The preacher thought the man was joking, but the man was dead
serious.
Apparently the man belonged to the unofficial organization
that never has any meetings and doesn't have a name, but
it's a very strong national network that Craddock
calls 'quality control people.'
They're morality police.
Craddock then asked the man, "What would you have given the
prodigal son?"
The man replied, "Six years."
#29577
2) Parallels with Nehemiah and "Islamo-fascists".
a) We see the results of morality mixed with harshness.
1> Their ancient blood feuds is paralleled with the
curse of the Moabites.
2> Does it have any kind of expiration?
b) Christians can fall into the same trap -- our treatment
of homosexuals and abortionists and whoever else is
often harsh and unloving.
1> A common complaint these days is that religion is
the major cause of atrocities and war.
2> Not entirely true - the most destructive wars in
history have been caused by atheistic or pagain
totalitarianism (Communism and Nazism)
3> But we must admit that religion, even our religion,
can bring out the worst in people.
3) Our faith is exclusive and moral.
a) Logically, there is one way to do it right.
b) But do we always know what is right?
c) Do we ourselves always do what is right?
C. The New Testament itself is somewhat bipolar.
1) Jesus is a good example.
a) Like Nehemiah, he got physical when God's house was
being abused, and he whipped people out of it.
b) However, Jesus was kind to the woman caught in adultery
and the outcast woman at the well.
2) The Apostle Paul had similar tendencies.
a) To keep a church pure, he insisted that notorious
sinners be expelled.
b) But he also admitted that he himself had been a
notorious sinner once, and threw himself on God's
mercy.
V. Keeping a balance.
A. Sometimes we must invoke our power.
1) Church discipline is still necessary.
a) Confession and repentance by the wayward is important.
b) Our restoration and forgiveness of them is just as
important.
2) We should take public stands on important moral issues.
B. But we should never forget to exhibit grace.
1) Giving good instead of evil.
2) Showing forgiveness instead of imposing justice.
VI. Nehemiah's plea. 13:14
A. "God, remember my faithfulness."
1) Attitude problem?
a) Sounds like classic self-righteousness.
b) Compare the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector.
Luke 18:9-14
2) But Nehemiah truly had been faithful.
a) He was about the only one holding the nation together.
b) And his plea is more of a prayer than a boast.
B. God does remember our efforts.
1) Jesus' promise: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Matthew 25:21
2) What will God say to YOU?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#29577 "The Prodigal Should Be Arrested," by Fred Craddock, Lifeway.com
Illustrations.
#34073 "America Is 100% Bipolar," by Randy Cassingham, editor, This Is
True #655, December 31, 2006.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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