Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.61LIKELY
Disgust
0.14UNLIKELY
Fear
0.54LIKELY
Joy
0.55LIKELY
Sadness
0.5UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.62LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.24UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.72LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.86LIKELY
Extraversion
0.04UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.5UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.76LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Promises That Matter
Nehemiah 10:1-39
I heard about this man who bought a parrot.
It was a really pretty parrot but it had a really bad mouth.
He could swear for five minutes straight without repeating himself.
The man was so embarrassed because the bird was driving him crazy when people would come to visit.
He begged that parrot to clean up his language especially when they had visitors in the house and the parrot promised that he would.
But he didn’t.
He actually started cussing even more.
It finally got to be too much, so the guy grabbed the bird 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 really 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 swear words that made the man blush.
At that point, the guy was so ticked off that he opened the freezer, threw him in and shut the door.
For the first few seconds the bird squawked and screamed and thrashed around.
And then there was silence.
At first the guy just waited, but then he started to wonder if the bird was hurt.
After a minute of not hearing anything, he was so worried that he opened the freezer door.
The bird calmly climbed onto the man’s arm and said, “I’m really sorry about all the trouble I’ve been giving you.
I promise to clean up my language from now on.”
The man was astonished.
He couldn’t believe the transformation that had come over the parrot from being in the freezer for only a minute.
The parrot then turned to the man and said, “I just have one question…what did the chicken do?”
This morning we’re going to learn about four promises that the people of God made in Nehemiah chapter 10.
While God’s people weren’t thrown in the freezer, they did feel the sting of God’s Word in chapters 8 and 9.
After hearing what God wanted from them, and owning their own persistent rebellion, verse 38 of chapter 9 says that the people made a “firm covenant,” a “binding agreement” to follow the Lord wholeheartedly.
They put it in writing and sealed it.
Putting a seal on a document was a serious matter because it meant making a solemn promise to the Lord.
The 84 people who agreed to this covenant are listed in Nehemiah 10:1-27 which you can read on your own later.
I’ll pray and then we’ll work through the rest of this chapter together.
Pray!
As a result of hearing God’s Word, the Israelites made four promises.
The first one is found in 10:29:
This is the first promise: Submission to God’s Word.
Submission to God’s Word
They were serious in their desire to dedicate themselves to everything that is spelled out in the Bible.
Who does God use to make an impact?
Super-saints?
Super-heroes?
Super-religious people?
No.
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless (committed, devoted) toward him…
The key is devotion.
We need to remember that the depth of our devotion determines our impact.
God is not looking all over the earth for strong people, for great people, for perfect people, or even for religious people.
He’s looking for devoted followers, for men, women, boys, and girls who are fully committed to Him.
He’s looking for a regular person who He can pour His strength out on.
In order for that to happen, we need to be fully committed and devoted.
In Nehemiah 10, the people are saying that they are so serious in their submission to God and His Word that they are willing for the curses of God to fall on them if they do not carefully obey what He says.
I wonder if we have that same submission and devotion today.
Does God have all of you?
After submitting themselves to God and His Word, the believers make a second promise to be separate from the world in verses 28 and 30:
That’s the second promise: Separation from the World
Separation from the World
When you think about it, separation is simply total devotion to God, no matter what the cost.
When a man and woman get married, they separate themselves from all other possible mates and give themselves completely to each other.
The Israelites separated from the peoples around them and to God and His Word.
It wasn’t a sense of racial pride or superiority on the part of the Israelites.
It had to do with how they worshipped God and honored Him.
Wrong relationships can destroy a believer’s witness.
God wanted his followers to be a missionary people and so it was vital that their message not be corrupted.
In declaring this prohibition, the Lord was concerned about both the purity of their faith and the holiness of their lives.
They had been entrusted with the most wonderful message in the world and nothing was to be allowed to corrupt it.
There were at least two reasons why marriages with pagan people were disastrous.
First, there were clear biblical warnings.
Biblical Warnings
When two people in the ancient world made a marriage agreement, they normally confirmed their commitment in the presence of their gods and gave each other’s idols a prominent place in their new home.
Joshua 23:13 says that pagan spouses would become
…a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes…
Second, there was abundant historical evidence that these marriages led to a decline in Israel’s spiritual and moral life.
Historical Evidence
Nehemiah 13:26 asks the question,
We are more influenced by other people than most of us care to admit.
God’s concern is that when a believer marries a non-believer the stage is set for conflict, compromise and conformity.
God did not want them to compromise their walk or their faith.
But it just isn’t in the marriage relationship that we need to be separated from the world.
We are called to live in the world but not like the world.
We are not meant to live in a way that would bring Christ a bad name but when we start compromising and living outside of his will, we change.
It might not happen all at once.
But we will slowly and surely drift away from Him and the church.
Now, don’t think that I’m talking about isolation, about isolating and insulating the church from the outside world.
If we did that, we wouldn’t be able to fulfill his purpose.
We need to live our lives obedient to Him instead of the way the world operates – in the world but not like the world.
After pledging themselves to submit to the Word of God and to live separated lives, the believers renew the covenant with a third promise in verse 31:
That third promise is a:
Sabbath for God’s People
In Nehemiah’s time, it was necessary for God’s law about the Sabbath to be clearly understood.
First, this day was set aside to honor God.
A day to honor God
It was different from other days and given to God so that they might offer their worship to Him without being distracted by the demands of everyday life.
Second, it was a day of rest.
A day of rest
Rest is an important part in effective living.
God set the pattern for this in Genesis 2 when He rested on the seventh day and set it in stone in Exodus 20:11.
The Israelites worked with no breaks in their weekly schedule when they were slaves in Egypt and God did not ever want this to happen again.
Third, it was a day to help others.
A day to help others
Jewish workers had a mandatory rest day automatically written into their employment contracts.
This helped others enjoy the blessings of rest.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9