Sermon Tone Analysis

History is His story

Arthur T. Pierson

Be Determined (Chapter Nine: Amazing Grace! (Nehemiah 9))

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach,” wrote Aldous Huxley

George Santayana wrote, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it.”

Don’t Quit.

Cameron said last week that the shift in Nehemiah is from brick and mortar to their way of life.

In this series, we saw the call of God on Nehemiah’s life and his response, we looked at the prayers of Nehemiah in the middle of quitting, we then looked at dealing with attacks, there was also attacks from within and attacks on leadership.

We saw last week their centering on the Word of God and how essential it is for us to center around the Word.

This week in Nehemiah the people begin to confess sin and I am talking about 3 hours worth of confessing sin and worship.

In this chapter, we will see a shift.

This chapter’s focus is all on God and all that God has done.

When it comes to confessing sin, it is essential that we do not major on self-examination to the extent that we start ignoring the Lord.

I often see two different responses to sin

1.) Ignore it and believe that you don’t sin or that sin is not present in your life.

This keeps us from growing in the grace of Jesus and experiencing the depth of his Love

2.) Just focus on yourself and how bad you have messed up

This becomes idolatry because your sin becomes bigger than the God that we worship.

Whenever you see sin or failure in your life, immediately look by faith to Christ and seek His forgiveness, and keep on looking to Him.

The more you look to yourself, the more discouraged you become.

Focus on His perfections, not your own imperfections.

History

The Feast of Tabernacles concluded on the 22nd day of the month.

After one day’s interval, the 23rd, the people assembled on the 24th.

They confessed their sins, through fasting, wearing sackcloth, and putting dust on their heads.

These were signs of mourning and grief

They stood and heard the Law read for 3 hours

Then

They confessed their sins for another 3 hours and worshiped the Lord!

The cried out...

The Greatness of God

You alone are God

You Created

The heavens,

The highest of heavens

The host of the highest of heavens

The earth and all that is on it

The seas and all that is in them

You give life to all of them

The heavenly host worship you

In our worship, it’s wise to begin with the greatness of God.

If we focus too much on what He gives or what we want Him to do, we may find our hearts becoming selfish.

Sincere worship honors God in spite of circumstances or feelings or desires.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1996).

Be Determined (p.

111).

Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

The Goodness of God

God is not unaware of the circumstances of his people and he does not abandon them.

God guides and instructs His people

God provides for his people

God is ready to forgive

Against the dark background of Israel’s unfaithfulness shines the bright light of the faithfulness of God.

When Israel obeyed Him, He was faithful to bless; when they disobeyed Him, He was faithful to chasten; when they asked for mercy, He was faithful to forgive.

God is willing to give His people many privileges, but He will not give them the privilege of sinning and having their own way.

God’s purposes are more important than our pleasures, and He will accomplish His purposes even if He has to chasten us to do it.

The grace of God

Wedding Ring in Closing

God is not unaware of the circumstances of his people and he does not abandon them.

God guides and instructs His people

God provides for his people

God is ready to forgive