Grace Bible Church Gillette, Wyoming

Grace Bible Church

4000 E. Collins Rd. P.O. Box #3762 Gillette, WY 82717 (307) 686-1516

- Preaching the Living WORD through the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 -

THE PEOPLE EVIDENCED THE RESULTS OF REVIVAL (Pt. 5)

(Neh 9:38 ‑ 10:1‑29) 8/29/10

Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming

Pastor Daryl Hilbert

I. THE EVIDENCES OF REVIVAL

1. A greater desire to study the Word (8:13, 18)

2. A greater desire to carry out biblical principles (8:14)

3. A greater desire to help others carry out biblical principles (8:15‑16)

4. A greater desire to recommit to old biblical convictions (8:14, 17b)

5. A greater joy in doing the Lord’s ministry (8:17c)

6. A greater desire to be set apart unto God (9:2)

7. A greater compulsion to confess sin and repent. (9:3)

8. A greater desire to worship the Lord in spirit and truth. (9:4‑5)

9. A greater capacity for prayer (9:5b‑25)

10. A greater ability for breaking the cycle of sin (9:26‑37)

11. A greater volition for dedication (9:38‑10:1‑29)

II. A GREATER ABILITY FOR BREAKING THE CYCLE OF SIN (9:26‑37; cp. Ga 5:16 ‑ 6:1)

A. Prayer of confession of your sin (1Jn 1:9)

B. Prayer of appeal to God for growth (Col 1:9‑10)

C. Humbly prepare against the desires of the flesh (Ga 5:17; 6:1)

D. Recognize the deeds of the flesh (19‑21; cp. He 12:1)

E. Pursue the Fruit of the Spirit (Ga 5:22‑23)

1. The believer must not only be aware of sin and his propensity to it, but must also know what it is that the Spirit is attempting to produce in his life.

2. Paul gives a detail description of the fruit that the Spirit produces in the believer.

3. A Spirit‑filled believer is a Spirit‑fruit‑filled believer. This fruit (singular) is the evidence of a believer who is spiritual and walking in the power of the Spirit.

4. The fruit is described as: love (agápê ‑ sacrificial love); joy (chará ‑ joy in spiritual truths); peace (eirếnê ‑ inner contentment with God); patience (makrothumía ‑ long fuse); kindness (chrêstótês ‑ gracious concern); goodness (agathōsúnê ‑ moral excellence); faithfulness (pístis ‑ loyal commitment); gentleness (praútês ‑ tender concern); self-control (egkráteia ‑ mastery over self).

F. Walk in the Spirit (Ga 5:16, 18, 25)

1. Gal 5:16 tells the believer how to have victory over the flesh and break any cycles of sin.

2. The believer is told to “walk by the Spirit.” As he does this, he does not carry out the desires of the flesh. The believer may sense the impulses of the flesh, but they are not carried out to completion. In other words, the flesh is denied. The key however, is to concentrate on walking with the Spirit.

3. To walk by the Spirit means to stay in step with the Spirit. The believer is to yield to the moment‑by‑moment admonitions of the Spirit contained in the Word of God. Every moment is a moment that the believer says, “What does the Spirit desire for me to say and do according to the Word of God.” The believer then, is to yield to the Spirit by means of the Spirit. It is the Spirit’s empowerment that enables a believer to live the Christian life and not carry out the deeds of the flesh. “Walk” is a present imperative of peripatéō. It is a continuous action and it is commanded by the Lord. Literally it would be translated, “You must keep on walking by the Spirit.”

4. It is not enough to say “no” to sin, but the believer must say “yes” to the Spirit’s power, fruit, and direction from the Word of God.

III. A GREATER VOLITION FOR DEDICATION (9:38‑10:1‑; cp. Ro 12:1‑2)

A. A Covenant in Writing (9:38)

1. Their present situation was a result of their past behavior. Because of this, they must dedicate themselves to keep God’s Law so that the same thing will not happen again.

2. Therefore they decided to “make an agreement,” which literally is “cut a firmness” or “cut a firm agreement.” This refers to making a covenant (an agreement with two parties) with God. This quite possibly may have its origin from the custom that when two individuals made a covenant with each other, they would cut a sacrifice in half (Ge 15:9‑17; Je 34:18‑19). Both parties would walk in between the two halves. This would symbolize the idea that the same thing would happen to them if they broke the covenant.

3. But instead of cutting a sacrifice in half, they would write it down as a memorial. In this way they or the following generations should never forget it. That memorial in writing was not only a written covenant, but it became an intricate part of the book of Nehemiah.

4. The written document was sealed. It was sealed because it was an important document that they did not want to be removed or tampered with. This was also in keeping with the Phoenician culture where they would seal a document with numerous clay seals (cp. Je 32:10‑12).

B. Names on the Document (10:1‑29)

1. On this document was written the names of all the leaders, Levites, and priests. In other words, all the spiritual leaders had to dedicate themselves to everything that was written in that document.

a) Governors (10:1‑8)

(1) Not only as governor, and not only as a good leader, but also in accordance with his character, Nehemiah was the first to sign the covenant (10:1).

b) Priests (10:2‑27)

(1) “Gedaliah, son of Passhur” was found inscribed on the wall by archaeologist, Dr. Eilat Mazar (Ez 2:38; Ne 7:41; 10:3; Je 38:1).

c) The Rest (10:28‑29)

(1) “The rest” included the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants (28).

(2) They all took on some curse if they were to break the covenant (cp. Ne 5:13). They took an oath to walk in God's law and to the Lord’s commandments, ordinances, statutes (29).

IV. OBSERVATIONS

A. Various Covenants

1. There were several Covenants given to Israel (Abrahamic (Ge 22:18), Davidic (2Sa 7:16), New (Je 31:31‑34 cp. 1Co 11:25).

2. God views marriage as a covenant (Mal 2:14).

3. Covenants are illustrative of

a) God’s Promises (Ge 9:9‑11; Ep 2:12)

b) Christian Dedication (2Ki 11:18; 2Ch 15:12‑13)

c) Church Membership (Ti 1:5; He 10:24‑25; 13:17; )

B. The Concept of Christian Dedication

1. The covenant with God made by Nehemiah, the leaders, and the people is a picture of the dedication and rededication of believers to Christ. This is not for salvation, but for discipleship in the Christian life. A believer is exhorted to dedicate and rededicate his life to the Lord in obeying God’s will as well as a total commitment to live for Christ.

2. Some dispute Christian dedication on the grounds that sanctification is the Spirit’s work alone. While the Holy Spirit gets all the credit for sanctification, the believer is exhorted in Scripture to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in sanctification and in the act of dedication (Ro 6:12‑13; 12:1‑2; 2Co 8:5; Ph 2:12‑13).

C. Christian Dedication is an evidence of revival in the soul

1. Christian dedication then, is a result of the Spirit’s work in a believer’s life to cause him to commit volitionally to cooperating with the Spirit to a greater degree.

2. This is what is expected of our Christian experience by God. Because we miserably fail in this area, when a believer is led to dedicate and rededicate his life to Christ, revival has begun in his soul.