Sermon Tone Analysis

To start with, I want to thank Bobby Lee for asking me to come.

I have always enjoyed coming to preach at this church, and I have always been welcomed by the congregation here.

I thank you for that.

We have had some wonderful services in this place!

If you have your Bibles tonight, I want to ask you to stand with me for the reading of the Word of God.

Context

As we look in the book of Nehemiah, we see, what I believe to be, one of the greatest revival stories in all of scripture.

Israel was taken into the Babylonian captivity around the year 606 BC and the 70-year captivity ended at the fall of the Babylonian empire around 538 BC, but all of Israel did not return at once to their homeland.

The return of God’s people to Israel took place through three waves: Zerubbabel led the first wave around 536 BC (Ezra 1-6), Ezra led the second wave around 455 BC (Ezra 7-10), and then here in Nehemiah, we see the third wave, led by Nehemiah himself, that took place around 446 BC.

As we begin the book of Nehemiah, we see that one of Nehemiah’s brothers, along with other men of Judah, have come to visit him in the capitol city of Shushan, within the Persian Empire.

Upon their arrival, Nehemiah asks how the remnant of God’s people, who survived the captivity and made it back home, are doing and also about the Holy City.

The answer that Nehemiah receives from his brother Hanani, is not what he was expecting.

I think when Nehemiah asked this question he was expecting his brother to tell him of the wonderful singing and praising God that took place on the journey back home.

I think he was expecting to hear of how the people were settled back in and how the crops had started to grow.

I think he was expecting to hear of how the worship of Almighty God within the temple was the highlight of every single day.

I think he was expecting to hear good things, but instead he gets a bad report.

Nehemiah has never seen Israel himself, for he is a young man that was born during the captivity, but he has heard stories.

He has been told of the glory of that place.

He has pictured in his mind a place of splendor, honor, and glory.

He has built an entire memory of a place that he has never even seen, because it is part of his heritage.

He has heard stories of how God reigned over their people.

He has heard of the mighty victories Israel has won throughout their history by the hand of God.

He has heard of the sacrifices that were made at the temple.

He has heard of how God moved in and through the people to form a family.

A family that leaned on one-another while the world stood against them.

He has heard many things, and since most of the rest of Israel had already returned, he was expecting this former glory to be restored by now.

Unfortunately, this is not the report that he receives.

Instead of getting a report of restoration, he receives a report of destruction.

The gates have been burned, the walls have been broken, and the people are burdened.

I want to speak to you tonight under the title of “America’s Need For Revival”.

Content

We too, like Nehemiah, are hearing stories of a nation, who no longer carries the glory that it once did.

I have heard stories in my life about a time

When God was reverenced in America.

When Church was made a priority.

When people took their Bibles home instead of leaving them in the church pew.

When parents would sit their children down every night before bed, read the Bible to them, and pray together as a family.

When children were taught that God was to be feared, and not fantasized about.

When the leaders of this great country made decisions based upon their time in prayer to God, instead of trying to win votes.

When this country stood firm on their convictions of God and didn’t cower to opposing ideologies.

When the ten commandments hung in the courthouses as a reminder of where the law came from and what provided the foundation for everything it said.

When people longed to see Jesus and showed it by the lives the lived here on this side of eternity.

When people leaned on one another and cared for one another.

They built relationships with one another and showed love to each other.

Listen, we have all heard stories, but unfortunately that is not the world we live in anymore.

It is of my opinion, and I think that opinion is backed by the Word of God, that their is a good reason why: Our gates have been burned, Our walls have been broken, and our people are burdened.

Somewhere along the way, we have allowed the enemy to come into our country, and destroy this once fortified nation from the inside out.

Our Gates Have Been Burned

The first and main entry point to any fortified structure is the gateway, including our hearts.

Depending on which side of the gate you are on, a gateway speaks of either entering into or exiting out of something.

The gate that has been burned speaks of Jesus Christ.

The first step in America’s fall was that it took Jesus off the throne.

Jesus is the epicenter of Christianity.

1 Corinthians 3:10–11 (NKJV)

10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it.

But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 (NKJV)

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Ephesians 2:20 (ESV)

20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

John 14:6 (ESV)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the gateway to eternity.

One must go through Jesus in order to get to God.

He is the foundation on which we build.

He is the cornerstone that guides how we build.

It is by Him that we are saved, and it is by Him that we stand.

We cannot make it without Jesus Christ.

The very essence of salvation is based upon a relationship with Jesus.

He left heaven and came to earth, so that he could be:

born as a man

grow as a man

live as a man

struggle like men do

be tempted as men are

and even die a man’s death

and He did it all for us.

He died that we might live; He suffered that we might prosper; He gave His life so that we could have one.

He came down so that we could go up; He broke the shackles of bondage so that we might go free.

He bridged the gap between man and God; He conquered an evil that we cowered before.

He was accused so we could be justified; He was broken down so that we could be sanctified; He was shamed so we could be glorified; He became the King of sin that we could become slaves unto righteousness.

Without Jesus, we are hopeless.

He is the gateway to everything.

The biggest mistake any person can ever make, is to fail to realize that Jesus sits on the throne.

He always has and always will.

The men of old, the priests and prophets, all served God looking forward unto a promise of deliverance.

The men of recent years have all served God looking back unto a promise of deliverance.

It has always been about Jesus.

He was the Messiah of the OT and the Christ of the New.

Did you know that those two words are synonomous?

The Hebrew Word for Messiah is equivalent to the Greek word for Christ.

They both mean “The Anointed One”.

It has always been about Jesus.

Without Jesus, there is no Christ.

Without a Christ, there is no salvation.