It's All About Him

Last week we saw how Nehemiah identified the need of Israel. He saw that they were in trouble, that they were being shamed, and that the walls were down and he reacted to this by crying out to God.

Doug Doty was a highly decorated Green Beret in the Vietnam war. Before every major mission, his group would go into a seven-day lockdown. They would study everything possible about the enemy, the terrain, communication, supply lines, etc. and every conceivable contingency.

Before they left the room, they knew exactly what the point of their mission way. The particulars of their plan would surely change as Field Marshall Helmut Von Moltke noted, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy”, but they were completely unified on the point of the mission. Before they left the room, they would circle up, arms around each other, and one by one repeat, “I’m a dead man,” signifying their willingness to die for the mission.

Over the next seven weeks, we are going to be study and prepare ourselves for revival and spiritual awakening. We are going to see what God does in scripture and how God has often called his people to seasons of prayer and repentance.

As we go on “lockdown” as a church for the next seven weeks, my prayer is that we will commit ourselves to be dead men and women, committing ourselves to do whatever it takes to see God move in our lives, our families, our churches and our land.

The first reality that we are going to look at is this:

Revival and Spiritual Awakening is the invasion of the King and his Kingdom.

Notice our text today:

Nehemiah 1:1–5 ESV

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

As we see Nehemiah beginning to respond to the reality of the need of Israel, we find a response in him. An important response. Nehemiah’s first reaction is not like our reactions are often when we see sin around us.

Nehemiah in that moment recognized something and that recognition set him on a direction that would lead to revival.

So the first thing he recognized is this:

God is the DIRECTION and the DESTINATION of Revival.

Revival is About God

In the 6 verses of Nehemiah’s prayer he says the phrase “You/Yours” an astonishing 26 times. Nehemiah’s first response wasn’t to rail against the people and their sin. It wasn’t to point out the unfaithfulness of his neighbor. It wasn’t to go to the king and beg for relief. No, Nehemiah’s first realization was about God.

Nehemiah recognized the HOLINESS of God.

The word Holy is an important word in scripture. The Hebrew word for “holiness” is qōdes. It’s a word that means other. And it highlights the realm of the sacred in contrast to everything common and profane. The adjective qādôš, “holy,” refers to God and what belongs to him. In various places in the Hebrew Scriptures, God is called by the title the “Holy One of Israel.”

In scripture, every great revival began with a recognition of God’s holiness.

Perhaps no story displays this better than the story of Moses. Let’s look at Moses’ interaction with God:

Exodus 3:1–6 ESV

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Moses, tending the flock, sees God’s holy glory and responds with worship and revival.

At another time, Moses asks God to see his glory, and hear the response of God:

Exodus 33:18–20 ESV

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

So God then says this:

Exodus 33:21–23 ESV

And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”

So God is too holy, and so he tells Moses he will let him see His backside.

But then see what happens in chapter 34

Exodus 34:29–35 ESV

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Now notice what’s happened. Moses has seen God, but not his face, lest he die, but rather his backside. And so glorious is God’s back, that when Moses comes down the people are terrified to look upon Moses.

This is a picture of revival. God’s glory so shown on Moses’ face that his countenance reflected God’s glory.

If we want to see God’s kingdom come. if we want to see a movement of God it begins with us recognizing the holiness of God.

"God's kingdom will never come where His name is not considered holy. His will is not done on earth as it is in heaven if his name is desecrated here. In heaven the name of God is holy. It is breathed by angels in a sacred hush. Heaven is a place where reverence for God is total. It is foolish to look for the kingdom anywhere God is not revered." - R. C. Sproul

Nehemiah recognized that the primary issue in Israel wasn’t the broken walls, nor the sin of the people, but the rejection of Holy God.

Nehemiah 1:7–9 ESV

We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’

Revival is necessary because our love for God grows cold, our vision of his word goes dim, and our work for his kingdom becomes weary.

God’s primary purpose for revival is the restoration of his glory.

In the Prayer Revival of 1857-1858, a small prayer meeting that started with 6 people in a Dutch Reformed church in New York City grew in a matter of months to 50,000 people meeting every day for prayer at noon! Every church in New York was filled because of the faithful prayers of God’s people.

Spiritual Awakening and Revival occurs when Christ is enthroned as the King of His church. When that happens, lives are changed.

In the Welsh Revival 0f 1904-1905 over 100,000 people came to Christ in nine months! So dramatic was the change in the lives of believers that bars were closed, brothels were abandoned and churches were built for the glory of God.

At the time of the second Great Awakening there were 30 million people in America. During the course of that, over 1 million people came to Christ. If that was to happen today, that would mean we would see over ten million people come to faith in Christ.

In his book Downpour, James McDonald notes: “The first step in personal revival is to get God in His rightful place. When God is recognized as being above me, beyond me, highly exalted, over me, and totally separate from me, I am getting in position for a downpour. When I embrace God for who He is and I understand who I am—when I know God's place, I can know my place—then things start to fall into place. That's what God's holiness does for us—it puts everything and everyone in their rightful place.”

Nehemiah recognized that revival was primarily about God and so he recognized some truth:

We have not enthroned You in our hearts

Nehemiah 1:7 ESV

We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.

But You are a covenant keeping God

Nehemiah 1:8 ESV

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,

And you made promises to your people

Nehemiah 1:9 ESV

but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’

So restore and revive us so that you can be glorified

Nehemiah 1:10 ESV

They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.

That’s the heart of revival.

Revival is from God

Finally, Nehemiah recognized that Nehemiah was from God. Revival is not something that we can do. Revival is a work of God.

The direction of the prayer is too God, but it’s also a recognition that revival comes from God. Nehemiah over and over recognizes the sovereignty and authority of God.

Listen to his prayer, he calls God:

The Lord - Yahweh

God of Heaven - Adonai

Great & Awesome God - El Nora ha gadol

He’s the Covenant Keeper

Nehemiah recognized their need, and he recognized that only God could bring about the needed revival.

Revival and Spiritual Awakening is the invasion of the King and his Kingdom.

We need the King of kings to revive us. We need him to invade our lives.

When the king invades:

The Church is revived

The Lost are Saved!

The culture is transformed!

The Mission is expanded.

Would you pray for God to revive us?

Our goal this week is not for revival for revivals sake. Revival occurs when we see God on the Throne - a picture of his holiness - because revival is about God and revival is from God!

Will we be like the men who in Vietnam stated, “I am a dead man”? Today, are you dead to self and alive to Christ? I wonder if we will be the people who seek revival to see the king enthroned and worshipped, who cry out for Jesus’ sake, who see revival and awakening come for His glory in our day?

Do you need to see God on His throne today?

If you’re a believer, do you need a fresh vision of God?

Do you need to bow the knee today?

If you’re not, do you need to yield to him?