Sermon Tone Analysis

Elements Of Real Revival

Text: Nehemiah 8

Introduction

An anonymous writer observed a paradox of our generation:

We spend more but have less.

We buy more but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families.

We have more conveniences but less time.

We have more medicine but less wellbeing.

We read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values.

We have tall men and short character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

We have two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses but broken homes.

We have added years to life, not life to years.

We have cleaned up the air but polluted the soul.

We have learned how to make a living but not a life.

The people of God had rebuilt the walls, now it is time to renew the hearts of the people for worship.

“Revival” is warning the believer who is living like an unbeliever.

His heart for God has stopped beating and the affections for God have subsided.

He no longer breathes the air of fellowship with the Lord, and he is in need of resuscitation by the Father.

1) The People Had A Renewed Hunger For God’s Word

Let’s try and gain a deep clear perspective of where they are spiritually at this moment:

Many of the Jews had been living in captivity by the Persians.

Their beloved city of worship had been destroyed and left in ruins.

They had not worshiped God in the way He commanded since the time of Joshua.

Illustration: Try to think of this as a combination of being snatched away from your home and place of worship and the odds of getting both back are slim to none.

However, GOD MADE IT HAPPEN!

FIRST, we notice that they gathered together at the Water Gate.

Don’t forget the spiritual significance of this gate.

This place of gathering was very appropriate!

They all gathered with one demand; WE WANT SCRIPTURE!

Psalm 119:34 “34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.”

Psalm 119:37 “37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; And quicken thou me in thy way.”

Ezra the scribe/priest was asked to return and bring the book of the law of Moses; the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)

Ezra read for six hours!

Scripture was not only read, but it was translated and the meaning was given so the people could understand.

Why translated?

between the time of Moses writing the book of the law and the time of Nehemiah, there was a span of one thousand years.

Consider, also, that these people no longer spoke or understood Hebrew.

They had Hebrew hearts but Babylonian ears.

Example: 600 years stand between us and Wycliffe’s translation.

We needed translations in contemporary English.

The people LISTENED for six hours while standing.

Continued every day for an entire week.

Question: Can you say that you have ever had that kind of hunger for God’s Word?

2) The People Had A Renewed Perspective Of God

VERSE 6

Ezra’s declaration of God’s greatness was not some empty random statement.

It was a response of the scriptures that he read.

What did these scriptures cover?

In short a spiritual summary of the OT history of the Jews.

The creation

The call of Abraham

The Exodus

Israel’s wilderness experiences

Conquering the land

Period of the judges

Period of the prophets up to their captivity

Revival comes to a person who’s heart encounters the living triune God, who is holy and mighty.

Isaiah 9:6 “6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 40:22-26 “22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

24 Yea, they shall not be planted; Yea, they shall not be sown: Yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: And he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, And the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.

25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?

saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, And behold who hath created these things, That bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names By the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; Not one faileth.”

The only way a people will be strengthened for their daily walk is for there to be preaching of the awesome character of God from the pages of holy scripture.

Scripture-less preaching will bring about powerless results!!!

Notice the people’s response!

AMEN, AMEN! = So be it

They were simply agreeing with everything Ezra was saying.

This tells you that they were experiencing a renewed vision of God.

“lifting up their hands” & “bowed their heads”

A deeper reverence for God will always follow a renewed vision of God.

3) They Had A Renewed Desire For Biblical Application

VERSES 9-12

FIRST — They clearly lifted up repentance and sorrow due to seeing themselves through God’s law.

This is where many Christian today remain stuck in their pew without any desire to make a change.

Hebrews 4:12 “12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

True Story: The British playwright George Bernard Shaw once had a Bible.

He sold it to auctioneers who, in turn, sold it for fifty dollars after Shaw’s death in 1950.

One of the selling points was an inscription on the flyleaf written by the playwright himself: This book is a most undesirable possession … I must get rid of it.

I really cannot bear it in my house!

Stephen Davey, Nehemiah, ed.

Lalanne Barber, Wisdom Commentary Series (Apex, NC: Charity House Publishers, 2012), 146–147.

For there to be understanding of what God has said, and there is, it should bring about JOY in your heart that you now know how to go forward in obedience.

God said for them to build little shanties and lean-to shacks out of branches so they could remember their journey in the wilderness.

This custom did not make much sense to the modern Jew.

They needed to continue rebuilding their own homes inside the newly constructed city walls.

But God’s Word said, “Build booths using leafy trees.”

They unhesitatingly responded, “We’ll build booths, just as the Word commanded.”

The end result was great rejoicing.

Insight led to obedience, and obedience led to joy.

Conclusion

You might say, “I’ve confessed, tried, and failed so many times—revival just doesn’t last.”

Someone made this comment to evangelist Billy Sunday in the early 1900s and tried to make the point that since personal revival wasn’t a permanent end-all to temptation, sin, and failure, revival wasn’t important.

Billy Sunday replied with his characteristic humor, “A bath doesn’t last either, but it’s good to have one occasionally.”

The fellowship God wants to have with us requires us all to be renewed DAILY!

2 Corinthians 4:7 “7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

“Earthen vessels” = cracked pots

Question: How do you keep a cracked pot filled with water?

Keep it under the facet!