Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction & Review

<<PRAY>> <<CHILDREN’S WORSHIP>>

This morning we return to Nehemiah series //, you can open Bibles to .

The title of our series is “How God Builds Churches,” and we started back in September with two weeks in

.

We did that for a very important reason: Nehemiah is God’s Word for you and for me, but it’s about Old Covenant people serving the Lord in Jerusalem before Jesus came.

If we’re going to understand both what the Old Testament is about, and what it has to do with us, we have to remember that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulcrum of all of human history, and the key to applying God’s Word to us.

Nehemiah was building a city, but God builds churches not through brick & mortar, but through the Gospel transforming people.

We are back in Nehemiah after a lengthy break.

Pastor Keith preached from

on November 25th, and today we’re in chapter 10.

In

, the Apostle Paul calls each Christian to build upon the right foundation - Jesus Christ.

To labor together for the mission of the Gospel.

The title of our series is “How God Builds Churches,” and we started back in September with two weeks in .

We did that for a very important reason: Nehemiah is God’s Word for you and for me, but it’s about Old Covenant people serving the Lord in Jerusalem before Jesus came.

If we’re going to understand both what the Old Testament is about, and what it has to do with us, we have to remember that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulcrum of all of human history, and the key for us to know how to apply God’s Word to us.

Nehemiah was building a city, but God builds churches not through stone & mortar, but through the Gospel transforming people.

In every text of Nehemiah, we’ve considered what it meant for his people, Jews who returned to Jerusalem after the exile, and what it means for us - Christians both from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds - wherever we find ourselves, whether it’s Jerusalem, or Winnetka, or somewhere else.

The title of our series is “How God Builds Churches,” and we started back in September with two weeks in

.

We did that for a very important reason: Nehemiah is God’s Word for you and for me, but it’s about Old Covenant people serving the Lord in Jerusalem before Jesus came.

If we’re going to understand both what the Old Testament is about, and what it has to do with us, we have to remember that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fulcrum of all of human history, and the key to applying God’s Word to us.

Nehemiah was building a city, but God builds churches not through brick & mortar, but through the Gospel transforming people.

In , the Apostle Paul calls each Christian to build upon the right foundation - Jesus Christ.

To labor together for the mission of the Gospel.

In every text of Nehemiah, we’ve considered what it meant for his people, Jews who returned to Jerusalem after the exile, and what it means for us - Christians both from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds - wherever we find ourselves, whether it’s Jerusalem, or Winnetka, or somewhere else.

In , as curtain opens, Israel under Persian power

Nehemiah - by God’s grace, now governor of Judea.

Neh not just a man of influence and means, but a man of faith, prayer, action.

Nebuchadnezzar, 586 BC

Return 538 (God keeping promise), Temple 516, still no wall 141 years later

Nehemiah - by God’s grace, now governor of Judea.

Neh not just a man of influence and means, but a man of faith, prayer, action.

- Rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem // - Restoring the people of Israel

Word of God at the center in Chapters 8-9

And when the people hear God’s Word, they’re cut to the heart, because they see how magnificent, and holy, and good, and merciful God has been, and their sins are shown for what they are.

And in chapter 9, they repent.

<<DEFINE REPENTANCE>> Repent is a word that means to turn away, run back to God

People’s confession

Pastor Keith - “You are more sinful than you think you are // God is more merciful than you think He is // A key mark of a true Christian is ongoing repentance” - turning back to God

Q.

What are the fruits of true repentance?

What does it look like?

Illust: All know false repentance (a self-serving apology)

All about me.

Like someone who asks how you’re doing but then never looks up from their phone.

False repentance is “I’m sorry, but...”

But what happens when a person is truly repentant?

Nicodemus - // night // Pharisee // ruler of the Jews // “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs unless God is with him”

Jesus sees thru: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nico: How born old?

Jesus: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Nico: How can these things be?

Jesus: Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?

<<Basic to what it means to belong to the Lord>>

Stinger for the man who came to him under cover of darkness: vv 18-21

And then, Nicodemus evaporates from the pages of Scripture.

No resolution… for 16 chapters.

Then…

After Jesus arrested, condemned by his own colleagues, sentenced to death by Romans, crucified, the man who came to Jesus by night did something remarkable.

He stepped out of the shadows.

After Jesus arrested, condemned by his own colleagues, sentenced to death by Romans, crucified, the man who came to Jesus by night did something remarkable.

He stepped out of the shadows.

tells us that Nicodemus and another man, Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a disciple of Jesus but in secret out of fear of the Jews, went to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, to ask for Jesus’ body.

tells us that Nicodemus and another man, Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a disciple of Jesus but in secret out of fear of the Jews, went to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, to ask for Jesus’ body.

What happened to Nicodemus?

Repentance - a radical change that works out in what we do.

A transformation that bears fruit.

And the first fruit of repentance that we see in and 10 is:

I.

A Decisive Commitment: Fixed on the Word of God (9:38, 10:28-29)

First 4 words - “Because of all this” - point us back to ch. 9 - THIS IS ISRAEL’S CONFESSION

Starts with God’s grace.

Grace is God’s undeserved favor.

Founded on recognition of God’s holiness, our sin, His grace

Founded on recognition of God’s holiness, our sin, His grace

9:6 - God had graciously, freely created; by grace He had chosen Abraham, not because Abraham deserved it but out of His grace and mercy; He had delivered Israel out of bondage in Egypt, purely out of grace; He led them through the desert, and brought them to Mount Sinai, and gave them His Word, the Law.

In verses 16-21, we see that He remained faithful, gracious, and abounding in steadfast love in spite of Israel’s ongoing faithlessness, rebellion, disobedience, and blasphemy.

By grace, He brought them into Canaan, the Land of Promise, subdued their enemies, multiplied their children, filled the land with good things.

But they continued to rebel.

Verse 26 says that they cast God’s Law behind their back and killed His prophets who He had sent to warn them to turn back to Him.

So, by grace, God gave them into the hands of their enemies, so that they cried out to Him, and by grace, He rescued them.

Again, and again.

And finally, He sent them into exile.

By His grace, he brought them back.

By grace, not because of any goodness in them but by His sheer, undeserved love, they were able to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

And they looked around and realized, “Even this torn-down city is better than we deserve.

Here we are, a remnant, a tatterling leftover from a soiled and torn garment.

We are a reminder of our own catastrophic decisions.”

This is their confession.

Nehemiah’s people saw the magnitude of their sin against the backdrop of the incredible mercy of God.

They looked back and saw grace, grace at every turn.

Steadfast love in spite of their headstrong sin.

The bright glory of the holiness, mercy, and steadfast love of the LORD stood in sharp contrast to their own character.

And yet, they still remained.

After all their fathers and mothers had done, after all they had done and were still doing, the Lord had not cast them off.

“Because of all this...”

Their covenant is a reflection of His own firm Word

A covenant is a commitment that defines a relationship.

In its most ancient form, it’s a permanent commitment by God to His creation, an unbreakable word from Him to us.

God makes an explicit covenant with Noah in , committing to rescue Noah and his family from the flood.