Word Centered Revival

Introduction

Give a recap of their mourning, Nehemiah and Ezra’s call to celebrate Booth’s, and what it means that it is the twenty-fourth.

“Revival is When The Spirit Uses The Word To Reveal To Us This Profound Truth: He is Wonderful, and We Are Not”

Revival is the greatness of God creating a loathing for sin within us (1-2)

There are many people who pursue the joys of the world to escape the problems of life. One of the most famous examples of the pursuit of joy is Solomon as he tried to find it with women, wisdom, alcohol, and laughter, but he never found it in those things. Well, many would think that the sorrow of sin would’ve simply faded away with a week of celebrating the goodness and faithfulness of God, but that’s not the case. It is safe to assume that it instead may have acted as a catalyst to the agonizing sorrow that we see before us today. It is, after all, His goodness that leads us to repentance.

The twenty fourth day is two days after Booths has ended. This decision to congregate was an intentional one since the 23rd day would’ve been known for traveling with Booths being a pilgrimage feast.

This mass assembly was made up of individuals who have a personal acknowledgement of their sin. James Montgomery Boice said, “When revival sweeps over a people, the first evidence is a profound awareness of sin and sorrow for it.” he goes on to say, “There can be no genuine forward moral progress for either a nation or an individual without an acknowledgment of, sorrow for, and a true turning from sin. In other words, nations move forward spiritually and morally only in times of revival.”

The extent of their sorrow:

Fasting as though to say, “We are so troubled by our sin that the necessities of life seem unimportant!”

Sackcloth would be an extremely uncomfortable and irritating material to wear, not that they are wearing this as a meritorious form of trying to achieve God’s approval but as a physical manifestation of their heart’s yearning. This is a sign of submission, humiliation, and mourning. This is as though they are saying, “We are so troubled by our sin that the very comforts of this life are unimportant!”

The oldest account of putting dust on ones head was actually discovered within an Egyptian tomb. But even though this was a practice that transcended one particular culture to show mourning, the reasoning behind it weren’t the same. Within this context I believe we find a link directly back to creation our self where we find that we were made from the dust of the earth as seen in Psalm 103:13-14. It is as though, because of their rebellion, there is the open proclamation that we are nothing but dust without your grace!

The 3 actions are depictive of the depth of their agony of their sin. This is a sorrow that has totally consumed them to their very core. DRIVE APPLICATION

A.W. Pink said, “It is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors”. “Repentance is the hand releasing those filthy objects it had previously clung to so tenaciously; faith is extending an empty hand to God to receive His gift of grace.”

(v2) An act of devotion: The action of separating themselves from the gentiles would not have been racist or arrogant, but a sign of deep devotion. I want you to take note of the word “foreigners” here. It comes from the Hebrew word pronounced “nacar” which describes those who are not within the Mosaic Covenant. We find God’s commandment of this separation being declared in Leviticus 20:26 as it says, “You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine.” However, we find that there has been a violation of that command which is found addressed in Ezra 9:2 which reads, “Indeed, the Israelite men have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has become mixed with the surrounding peoples. The leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!” and we find the enactment of this command being executed in Ezra 10, however, there were some who hadn’t obeyed and here we find ourselves in Nehemiah 9 with a deep devotion to purify themselves that the Messianic bloodline may be pure. This separation would have also been an intimate alone time with God as they would confess their sin and adore Him as the One who forgives.

While we are not in the pursuit of providing a pure messianic bloodline today, we are commanded in 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe.” it is obviously taken that we may not be negatively influenced and that we may raise godly children. However, and even greater takeaway from this text is Christologically. Most basically stated, we know through the Gospel accounts of the genealogies of Christ that He is our qualified Messiah birthed forth from a pure lineage. Those names listed immediately in Matthew isn’t merely a passionless information dump, but a confident proof for us to know that He was and is qualified.

(v2) An act of accountability: Not only did these people acknowledge their individual sin, but they realized that they were a collective people and were therefore collectively guilty. This is totally antithetical to the mindset of an unrepentant man. From Adam to us today, we all want to blame shift as a means to relieve ourselves from the severity of our own sin. (My mom is from Woodruff)

Revival is a renewed longing for the Word (3)

There are many people who attend church to receive a sermon that is sort of a spiritual methamphetamine that will boost them up until they crash and must return for another. However, within the heart of a believer there must be a yearning for the constant nurture found in the Word is we are to grow.

Thomas Watson said, “The Scripture is the library of the Holy Ghost; it is a pandect of divine knowledge, an exact model and platform of religion.  The Scripture contains in it the credenda, “the things which we are to believe,” and the agenda, “the things which we are to practice.”

Here we find them back to the same means that was used and is still used to this day to invoke change in our lives, the Word of God. This is not a mere glancing at the Word but a time of evaluation, understanding, and application. (We see that they have spent time in Leviticus 20:26 as that is what spawned the action of v2. The Word is meant for far more than to be a diving board into some elegant emotional experience, no, it is the very basis for our faith and practice for everyday life. It may be said that all genuine revival is a renewed grasp that I hold the Word of God Himself. Within this text we find that we cannot obey God’s Word if we do not know it! Scriptural examination leads to confession of sin and enjoyment of God! This is the means by which we are revealed our condition and the method by which we will continue in obedience.

Revival is to the glory of God (4-8)

With all of the issues, needs, and threats both inside and outside there aren’t many things that could warrant an excuse from labor. How are they not worried? Why are they not working? This is all because they know One who transcends the problems of this life, He is from everlasting to everlasting.

(v6) There is truly a lot of theology here, but the high note is God’s magnificence in Creation. There are many debates over the creationary accounts in Genesis today: evolution, Theistic evolution, 6-day creationism, the gap theory, and progressive creationism and more. And though all of these things are important to discuss, they are not the thematic point of Genesis 1-2. No, those chapters are about the nature of God, His power, His authority, His pre-existence and goodness and this reveals man’s evidential duty to worship Him as our very Creator. And this is what we find apparent in Nehemiah 9. This one Creator God who possess all wisdom, splendor and beauty has covenanted with Israel and this drives us to our next two verses that we will close with as they recall the Abrahamic Covenant

(v7-8) The emphasis throughout the prayer is on what God has done. It recounts God’s actions in and for his people and He is the subject of every sentence mentioned here. I want you to notice the influx of verbs in these two verses. “chose, brought, changed, found, made, give, give, and fulfilled.” This is a historic account on the acts of a present God who deals with His people and we need to take note of that. We, as Christians, are grafted into God’s family and now Israel’s history is apart of our own history. And even in our own lives need to remember God’s acts in our own history and throughout all the history of salvation. I want you to note, lastly, the repetitive use of the word “You”. God is most clearly, the subject of everything said here. Boice said, “Even the reference to Abraham’s faithfulness is framed in this way, for the text does not say, “Abraham was faithful” or “served faithfully” but “You [God] found his heart faithful”. The emphasis is entirely upon God. But unlike God, who kept his promises, the people (so it is implied) did not keep theirs. God was utterly faithful; they were not.”

Conclusion

As we end our look at this passage today, it may be most simply concluded by saying this, “Revival is when the Spirit uses God’s Word to reveal to us the profound truth that He is wonderful and we are not.”

Last Sunday Mark made mention of the strong Messianic Kingdom focus of the Feast of Booths that may have started at this time or shortly after. Upon the assumption that they may have been focusing on the Advent of Messiah it is reasonable to believe that with the temple, the wall, and the priesthood in place they would’ve expected that Messiah could come during their life time and so they wanted to be found pure and worshiping upon Him arrival. Though they were about 400 years off this desire is a good one and is one worth cultivating today. In 1 John 2:28-29 we read, “So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of Him.”

The reality is this, Church. We serve an awfully wonderful God, the One true God who is holiness, just, righteous, and gracious. And while we have tasted of His grace it is important to set the delight found in His goodness in stark contrast with the gall of our sin, not that we minimize grace, but that in realizing how sinful we are His grace might be magnified.