Home Page Contact Us Service Times Sermons Are You Going To Heaven?
NOTICE: THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN REVIVAL COMES?
NEHEMIAH 8:1-6
Introduction
Nehemiah wasn’t really anybody. His family had been carried away into captivity and he was working as the kings’s cupbearer. If someone tried to poison the king by putting poison in his wine, then Nehemiah would have been history!
One day he got news from one of his brethren and some of the men of Judah about the condition of his homeland, Jerusalem, and the remnant that was left behind. Look at Nehemiah 1:2-4.
Nehemiah was grieved over the condition of Jerusalem and the remnant of the people that still lived there. It brought him to a place of weeping, mourning, fasting, and praying to God!
Would to God that the condition of our country would grip our hearts in such a fashion!
What caused the condition that he heard about? Nehemiah knew what cause was. Look at Nehemiah 1:5-11. Nehemiah not only knew what caused the problem, but he knew what could cure it–a repentance from sin and a returning to God! (Vs 9)
Chapters 2 through 6 detail how Nehemiah, a laymen, allowed God to use him to cause the walls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt and for the city to be re-occupied.
The Revival of Jerusalem began with one man, Nehemiah!
God searches for a man! One man that is determined to make a difference! That man was Nehemiah!
He was not a preacher mind you!
He was just a laymen who had a burden about his homeland and his people!
He was just a man who got tired of sin, the bondage of sin, and the consequences of sin!
He was just a man who was willing to bear his soul to God!
He was just a man who was willing to be used of God to do a great work!
He was just a man who was willing to trust God for what he needed to do the work!
He was just a man who determined to move on for God even in the midst of great oppression and opposition to what he was doing!
He was just a man who, by God’s grace, carried the work God gave him to completion!
That is how Revival begins--with one man who catches the fire of God in his soul. He catches it to such an extent that it spreads to all the brothers and sisters that he comes into contact with!
That was Nehemiah!
Here in Chapter 8, the wall had been built, the gates had been set, the work was finished, and God got the glory! (See Nehemiah 6:15-16)
So Revival had begun! What then? What happens when Revival comes? That is what chapter 8
and 9 are all about!
We want to see how this Revival had an effect on the preachers, the preaching, and the people!
I. WE SEE HOW REVIVAL AFFECTS THE PREACHERS.
Those who proclaim the Word of God.
A. They Were Scriptural In Their Presentation. (Vs 1-3; 5)
1. The basis of their presentation was not what was popular.
There are too many preachers that get caught up in whatever the popular movement or craze of the day is.
(Exp.–Bible studies based on various TV series [Andy Griffith, The Lucy Show, etc.] rather than the Word of God.)
There are some who formulate their sermons around different “Pastors Annual’s” that are out on the market.
They look to a book instead of looking to THE BOOK for what God would have them bring to the people.
These so called preachers just kind of “go with the flow” so to speak. Whatever is popular! What most everybody else is doing!
But we don’t see that here in our text! Here we see them pulling out the Bible! The Book of God! That had not been popular in Nehemiah’s day and that is not real popular in our day and time!
a. The Bible had been a forgotten book!
b. The Bible had been a forsaken book!
That is what had spelled trouble for them in the first place!
Jeremiah 6:16-17–“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. 17Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.”
2. The basis of their presentation was not the latest book from Dr. So and So.
There is too much jumping on to somebody’s bandwagon these days!
A new book comes out and before you know it you have folks doing all kind of carrying on about what is in this new book!
Well what about what’s in this OLD BOOK!
Now I understand that some books can be a help to us. I would to God
though, that we relied more on God’s Holy Spirit than on what some man said in a book!
I believe a preacher ought to read. He ought to continually be a student. However, everything he reads should be judged by same standard–THE BIBLE.
3. The basis of their presentation was not their own human reasoning.
Jeremiah 17:9–“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Your heart can’t be trusted!
Again, everything must be laid along side of THE STANDARD–THIS OLD KING JAMES BIBLE!
Jesus told his disciples, “Why reason among yourselves. . .?”
Matthew 16:8
Jesus told the scribes, “Why reason ye these things in your hearts. . .?”
Mark 2:8
Let our reasoning be according to the Word of God!
4. The basis of their presentation was not worldly wisdom.
Worldly wisdom says to scrap the OLD BOOK, because nobody can understand it.
That is one of the reasons why we see all kinds of perversions being published! People are trying to take a Spiritual book and make it palatable to the flesh!
1 Corinthians 2:14–“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
None of these perversions has caused people to believe the truth, but they have caused people to question it!
That started way back in the garden of Eden when Satan said to Eve,
“Yea hath God said. . .?”
Most folks problem is not that they don’t understand as much as it is that they do understand and don’t like what they do understand!
They want somebody to change it so it isn’t so piercing to them!
The basis of their presentation here in our text was not worldly wisdom!
5. The basis of their presentation was the Word of God!
We don’t need another book, we don’t need another book about THE BOOK, we just need to concentrate on THE BOOK–THE BIBLE.
This Book doesn’t need to be re-written, it needs to be read and obeyed!
They Were Steadfast In Their Presentation.
B. They Were Steadfast In Their Preaching. (Vs 8)
What is preaching? It means to herald as an old public crier used to do!
The difference is in what we herald–We herald the truth, the Gospel, God’s Word!
Isaiah 58:1–“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”
That is what we see going on here in our text!
They read the book distinctly and then they gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading!
That is what preaching is about! As we come here for services, we read the Word of God!
After we read the Word of God, we give you the sense of what God is talking about in His Word!
We cause you to understand the reading of the Word!
We “preach the Word” as Paul told Timothy to do in 2 Timothy 4:1ff.
C. They Were Spiritual In Their Praising. (Vs 6)
Not the praise of persons or personalities, but the praise of the LORD!
Debate over personalities shows carnality! There were contentions in the Corinthian Church that were caused mostly by debate over personalities!
1 Corinthians 1:12-13–“Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?”
God help us to move beyond focusing on personalities and focus on the Word!
II. WE SEE HOW REVIVAL AFFECTS THE PREACHING. (Vs 3)
It affects how the preaching is received. Many of these folks ignored Jeremiah’s preaching to their own harm! They now were ready to hear the Word!
A. We See The Conviction It Brought. (Vs 6)
“And all the people answered, Amen, Amen: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.”
When we come to the place of Revival, we’ll say Amen to the Word of God and it will bring us to a place of worship!
B. We See The Contrition It Brought. (Vs 9; 9:1)
“For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.”
True revival will bring brokeness over sin!
C. We See The Confession It Brought. (9:2-3)
True revival will cause us to confess our sin!
D. We See The Commitment It Brought. (Vs 10-12)
They were obedient to what they were told to do!
When true revival comes, it will cause us to be obedient!
III. WE SEE HOW REVIVAL AFFECTS THE PEOPLE.
A. They Had A Hungering For The Word. (Vs 3)
Revival brings a hungering for the Word of God!
They read from morning until midday and we don’t see any complaining!
Matthew 5:6–“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
B. They Had A Humility From The Word. (Vs 6; 9:1)
Revival brings humility before God and man!
C. They Had A Holiness From The Word. (9:1-3)
Revival brings a desire for holiness!
Revival brings holiness!
Conclusion
Next Sunday morning, Bro. Randal Morris will be with us to kick off our 37th Anniversary week long Revival Meeting. Now understand, Bro. Morris can’t bring revival!
God can bring revival if we want it! God brings revival in response to his people’s desire for it!
I can tell you that we will know it is revival if and when it comes. There won’t be any doubt about it! Because revival brings change! It will affect the preachers and those who proclaim the word, it will affect the preaching and how it is received, and it will affect the people.
Home Page Contact Us Service Times Sermons Are You Going To Heaven?
NOTICE: THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!