A life of grace fueled renewal

Friends, keep your Bibles open at Nehemiah 8.

We're looking at Nehemiah 8, 9 and 10 this morning.

Let's pray.

Gracious Lord, in the words of your psalmist,

we ask that you would open our eyes

that we might see wonderful things in your law.

Father, we pray that we would delight in your word

and that we would delight in obeying your word

and we ask it by your grace.

Amen.

Let me tell you about two court cases.

Both have to do with driving offences.

Case number one, a man is pulled over by the police

for driving at 191 kilometres an hour.

His breath test revealed his blood alcohol reading

was four times the legal limit.

He was charged and then eventually he was released on bail.

Four hours after being released on bail,

he was pulled over again.

His breath test result was exactly the same.

Four times the legal limit.

Case number two, 23-year-old man is in court

charged with manslaughter and culpable driving.

Trying to overtake, he ran into an oncoming car

that killed two people.

The judge said one thing was in his favour

and interestingly enough,

so did the family of those who he killed.

He said that they were struck by his genuine remorse.

We know there's a big difference between those two attitudes.

A difference between true repentance and empty words.

So what might that look like for the people of God

as they return from exile, settle back into their home

after a long, long history of ignoring God?

Have they learnt from their past mistakes?

Will their lies reveal genuine remorse?

The story so far is that the wars are built,

the city is populated, leadership is in place,

the community life is ordered,

people are setting back into normal life again,

but the work of Nehemiah that he had come to do

had only just begun.

Chapter 8 verse 1 says it's the first day of the seventh month.

It's the day of the Feast of the Trumpets,

something similar to our New Year's Day.

A good day for the people of God to have a new start

as they look forward to the future.

Very significantly we read in chapter 8 verse 1

that the people gather as one people

and they ask Ezra the priest to read to them the law of Moses,

the same law that they had neglected for so long.

And notice that there are men and there are women,

all who could listen and understand.

They gather for the reading.

There was potentially a creche,

but there certainly wasn't a Sunday school

and there wasn't a movie put on for the teenagers

down by the dung gate.

The whole community gathers

for the reading of the word.

Verse 3 says,

the reading went for five hours.

And verse 5 says that they stood for it the whole time.

And verse 3 says,

all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.

There is a respect here for God's word.

Notice too the response to the word of God in verse 6.

Ezra praised the Lord, the great God,

and all the people lifted their hands and responded,

Amen! Amen!

Amen!

Then they bowed down and they worshipped the Lord

with their faces to the ground.

Bowing down is a posture that signifies their submission,

corporate submission to the word of God,

the authority of the word of God.

The people of God are here relearning the law

that they had rejected for so long.

They are making the scriptures

the guiding principle of their lives.

Is that not what we confess here?

The Bible for us,

to be the guiding principle of our lives,

it's written on our walls.

One of our core values is Christ-centered Bible saturation.

It says the Bible alone is God-inspired,

infallible,

and unerring means of speaking to humanity.

The Bible is essential for knowing God

and transformation of life.

The Bible is our standard for faith and conduct

and leads us to treasure Jesus Christ.

We believe that right thinking

fosters right living,

and we value teachable hearts

that are earnest and intense

and passionate about the things of God.

Like them,

our response to the word of God

is not meant to be a mere intellectualism.

They praise God.

They want God to change them

and to change us.

God's word here is informing the minds

and reaching the hearts of these exiles.

These exiles start to grieve in verse 9.

It says,

all the people

had been weeping

as they listened

to the words of the law.

Everyone who gathered was guilty.

Their offense was tragically universal,

deeply serious,

and inescapably personal.

Amazingly though,

the gathering was urged

to dry their tears.

Verse 9 says that

Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levite

said to them,

whoa, whoa, whoa.

This day is a sacred day

to the Lord your God.

Do not mourn or weep.

They tell them to stop mourning

and instead

go off and have a party

with some great food

and the best drink

because the end of verse 10,

the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Why do they tell them

to stop weeping

and start rejoicing?

How can they find joy

when all the conviction

of their centuries

of rebellion

came flooding in

as the word of God is read?

How?

Well,

the same word of God

also reveals the remedy

to their sin

because every year,

10 days after celebrating

the Feast of the Trumpets,

the people of God

gathered together

to celebrate

the Day of Atonement.

This day

is the annual public declaration

of God's mercy.

The atoning sacrifice

was offered.

The people would

metaphorically

pin their sins

on a scapegoat.

The scapegoat

was cast out

into the wilderness.

It was a visible sign

that they were clean

from all of their sins.

All their sins

would be fully,

immediately

and irrevocably

pardoned by God

on the Day of Atonement.

Of course,

each year

the Day of Atonement

anticipated

a greater scapegoat

who would truly,

fully,

completely carry

the sins of all people

and that day came

on the first Good Friday

when God's Son,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

carried our sins

on the cross

in his sinless body.

And that's why

for these returned exiles,

the weeping and sadness

of verse 9

is balanced

by the joy

and the gladness

of verse 12.

The people of God

are again starting

to live

under the control

of the Word of God.

Verse 14,

I think,

expresses it

with a beautiful simplicity.

They found written

in the law

which the Lord

had commanded

through Moses

that the Israelites

were to live in booths

during the feast

of the seventh month.

They discovered

something

from the Word of God

that they didn't know

was there,

that they neglected.

And what they discovered,

most likely,

they'd been looking

at Leviticus 23,

was that the following

the Day of Atonement

on the 10th

of the seventh month

was the Feast of the Booths

on the 15th day

of the seventh month,

also known to us

as the Feast of the Tabernacles.

They saw it,

they'd been ignoring it,

and so they did it,

they celebrated it.

The Feast of Tabernacles

called the people of God

to look back

to the wilderness wanderings

and remember God's provision

of water from a rock,

from a dying, thirsty people,

for a dying, thirsty people.

They're also to remember

God's presence with them

in the pillar of the cloud

during the day

and the light that led them

to the promised land

at night time.

Verse 16, 17 is entering.

It says that they hadn't celebrated it

from the days of Joshua,

son of Nun.

That's a long gap.

Joshua led the wilderness wanderers

into their new home

after the rescue from Egypt.

And the next time

this festival is celebrated

is when the exiled people of God

are brought back to their home

and established again

in the land

as the people of God.

They are meant to see the parallels.

God has again committed

a mighty act of salvation.

God has again committed

a mighty act of salvation

and he has rescued his people

and brought them to their home.

And this feast

was to remind

these returned exiles

that their confidence

is not in walls.

It's not in the city.

It's not in even

the strong leadership

of Nehemiah and Ezra

and others

but in their great

and awesome God.

The Lord Jesus celebrated

the Feast of Tabernacles

in John chapter 7.

John 7 · chapter mention

On the last day

of the feast

he stands up

and he says

if anyone is thirsty

let him come to me

and drink.

Whoever believes in me

as the scriptures

has said

and I believe

when he says

the scriptures has said

he was looking at

Nehemiah 8 and 9

streams of living water

will flow from within him.

By this he meant

the spirit

whom those who believe

in him

will later

were later to receive.

Jesus

on the Feast of Tabernacles

makes an extraordinary claim.

It's an offer

to anyone

and whoever

believes in him.

Jesus claims

to fulfill

all that the

Feast of Tabernacles

points back to

and anticipated

in the future.

Jesus is the one

true rescuer

who will provide

for our most

essential need.

Spirit of God himself.

Jesus is the

giver of the Spirit

as God's

ongoing presence

with the believer

as the guiding

toward truth

and the rich source

of eternal life.

That is what he promises

those who believe

in him.

Our confidence

is to be

in the Lord Jesus.

So the rediscovery

of the word of God

leads to covenant

renewal

on the

day of the

Feast of the Booths.

And then there's

another

service

celebrated

on the very

next day

of the Feast

of the Booths.

This time

it's a six hour

service.

And this time

there will be

repentance.

Nehemiah

Nehemiah 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9.

We notice

there that

Ezra's prayer

from verse 6

dominates the

chapter.

And his

prayer

surveys

the history

of Israel's

relationship

with Yahweh.

Verses 6

to 15

in chapter 9

lists the goodness

of God

in creation,

in choosing

Abram

from all the

peoples,

in hearing

the cry

of his people

in Egypt,

in delivering

them with

his awesome

power,

in giving

his law,

in providing

bread from heaven

and water

from the rock

and telling

them to take

the land.

Verse 16

gives the

contrast

that people

acted

arrogantly.

They become

stubborn and

refused to

listen.

They refused

to remember

God's goodness

and they even

tried to go

back to

Egypt.

And then

comes a

list of

God's added

mercies in

spite of

Israel's

disobedience.

Verse 17,

you are a

forgiving God,

gracious and

compassionate,

slow to

anger and

abounding in

love,

therefore you

did not

desert them.

And more

than that,

he didn't

just desert

them,

he pursued

them with

goodness and

mercy again

and again

and again

and again.

Verses 20

to 25

says,

God gave

his good

spirit to

instruct them.

He gave

them manna

and he gave

them water.

For 40

years their

clothes did

not wear

out.

They

overcame

kingdoms.

They

entered and

possessed

the land.

They

had cities

and fertile

land.

They

had houses

and cisterns

and vineyards

and olive

grows and

fruit trees.

The end

of verse 25

just sums

it up.

They

reveled in

the goodness

of God.

Like a

dog rolling

in something.

Oh,

this is

great.

Contrast

to the people

of God.

Verse 26

in their

response.

But they

were disobedient

and they

rebelled

against you.

They

put your

law behind

their backs.

They

killed

your

prophets

who had

admonished

them in

order to

turn them

back to

you.

They

committed

awful

blasphemies.

God's

response.

Verse 27,

you handed

them over to

the enemies.

You oppressed

them.

But when

they were

oppressed,

they cried

out to you.

And from

heaven you

heard them.

And in

your great

compassion,

you gave

them deliverers

who rescued

them from

the hand of

their enemies.

The people's

response,

verse 28,

but as

soon as

they were

at rest,

they again

did what

was evil

in your

sight.

Then you

abandoned

them to

the hand

of their

enemies so

that they

ruled over

them.

God's

response,

verse 28,

and when

they cried

out to you

again,

you heard

from heaven

and in

your

compassion,

you delivered

them time

after time.

And again

in verse

29,

you warned

them to

return to

your law,

but they

became arrogant

and disobeyed

your commands.

They sinned

against your

ordinances,

by which a

man will

live if he

obeys them.

Stubbornly they

turned their

backs and you

became stiff

necked and

refused to

listen.

But again,

God's response

in verse 30,

for many years

you were

patient with

them.

By your

spirit,

you admonished

them through

your prophets,

yet they

paid no

attention,

so you

handed them

over to the

neighbouring

Gentiles,

neighbouring

peoples.

And yet this

is what I

mean by

inexhaustible

grace.

In verse

31,

Ezra says,

in your

great mercy

you did

not put an

end to

them or

abandon

them,

for you

are gracious

and a

merciful God.

The focus

right through

this prayer

is on God's

faithfulness,

mercy and

goodness in

the face of

Israel's

rebellion,

sinfulness and

failure.

It is a

history lesson

in

inexhaustible

grace.

Notice

that the

language

shifts in

verse 32.

Ezra now

prays in

the first

person plural.

Now

therefore,

O our

God,

the great,

mighty and

awesome God

who keeps

his covenant

of love,

verse 33,

in all

that has

happened to

us.

You have

been just.

You have

acted faithfully

why we

did wrong.

Ezra's

prayer is

not just a

history lesson.

He brings

it right

down to

present

ownership of

failure and

acknowledgement of

God's goodness.

His prayer

here is an

implicit plea

for mercy.

Verses 36

and 37

twice state

the condition

of God's

people as

being slaves.

They are in

great distress,

it says.

They might be

back now in

the promised

land, but

they are still

under foreign

control.

And so

Ezra's prayer

is implicitly

asking God,

have your

mercies dried

up?

Have your

great

compassions

ceased?

Will you

now forsake

what you

have refused

to forsake

all these

centuries?

Notice

that they

don't direct

God to

do anything.

They don't

know what

the outcome

will be.

They do,

however,

commit to do

something themselves.

Have a look

at verse 38.

this is the

great renewal.

In view of

all this,

all what?

All the

century-longs

of great,

mighty,

awesome,

covenant-keeping,

loving work

of God.

In view of

all this,

we are making

a binding

agreement,

putting it in

writing,

and our

leaders,

our Levites,

and our

priests are

fixing their

seals to

it.

They confess

their failure.

They ask

God for

mercy,

but they're

not taking

that mercy

for granted.

In view of

God's mercy

from the past,

they commit

themselves to

covenant

obedience in

verse 38.

The details of

what they commit

themselves to

are in

chapter 10.

they make

six pledges

in chapter 10

and they

all have to

do with

the law

and the

temple.

Time doesn't

permit to

go into

all the

details,

but the

pledges of

commitment

have to

do with

how these

people are

to rightly

relate to

God.

My friends,

this is

willed,

principled,

binding,

written,

corporate

agreement to

pursue the

covenant

together.

God's

inexhaustible

grace through

history is

the basis

of this

covenant

renewal.

The return

to covenant

faithfulness is

not just seen

in walls being

built.

And it's not

just seen in

the reverence

for the word

of God.

Not even in

grieving over

sin.

They're all

part of the

covenant

renewal.

What is

needed is

a return

to God

in relationship

of obedience.

These

pledges are,

if you like,

the fruits that

show repentance.

Their

brokenness of

heart is

not content

to simply

moan and

groan,

but it

whips out a

pen and a

piece of

paper and it

makes a

list of

how it

will be

revealed in

repentance.

The

centuries of

God's

faithful

mercy and

provision to

the faithless

and ungrateful

people has

stirred the

returned

exiles to

renew their

commitment to

their covenant

with Yahweh.

Their return to

the covenant is

seen in their

faithfulness to the

covenant

requirements.

just before

his death on

the first

Easter,

the Lord

Jesus said he

was establishing

a new

covenant.

Luke 22

Luke 22:19–20

verses 19

to 20

records the

occasion.

It says he

took bread,

gave thanks and

broke it,

and he gave

it to them

saying,

this is my

body given

for you,

do this in

remembrance of

me.

In the same

way after the

supper he took

the cup saying,

this cup is

the new

covenant in

my blood

which is

poured out

for you.

The apostle

Paul picks

up Jesus'

words in

1 Corinthians

11.

He picks

them up to

a church

that is

declared to

be the

people of

God,

but you

could hardly

tell by the

way that

they lived.

Verse 23

of 1 Corinthians

11 says,

the Lord

Jesus on the

night he was

betrayed took

bread,

and when he

had given

thanks he

broke it and

said, this is

my body which

is for you,

do this in

remembrance of

me.

In the

same way,

after supper he

took the

cup saying,

this cup is

the new

covenant in

my blood,

do this

whenever you

drink it in

remembrance of

me.

Notice first

of all that the

Lord's Supper is

about remembering

the Lord Jesus

and all that we

have in him.

As his covenant

commitment and

obedience is so

much about

remembrance.

remembrance.

Jesus is the

fulfillment of

centuries of

God's grace and

patience and

mercy and

goodness and

kindness, and

Paul calls this

church of

Corinth to

remember Jesus,

remember the

gospel.

But reading on,

we see that the

Lord's Supper is

also about

covenant renewal.

Verse 26 says,

whenever you eat

this bread and

drink this cup,

you proclaim the

Lord's death

until he comes.

When you partake

in the Lord's

Supper, you are

declaring your

allegiance to the

Lord Jesus and

commitment to a

covenant relationship

with him.

And when we read

on further into

1 Corinthians 11,

we know that this

is a very serious

commitment.

Therefore, whoever

eats the bread or

drinks the cup of

the Lord in an

unworthy manner,

will be guilty of

sinning against the

body and blood of

the Lord.

A person ought to

examine themselves

before they eat of

the bread or drink

of the cup.

For anyone who

eats and drinks

without recognizing

the body of the

Lord, eats and

drinks judgment on

themselves.

When we take this

bread and we take

this cup, we are

saying amongst

other things, I

remember the mercy

and the forgiveness

of the Lord

Jesus.

And so to take

this bread and

to drink from

this cup, while

acting like sin

doesn't matter,

despising other

people, cherishing

and nurturing secret

sin, malicious

talk, slander,

gossip, judging

motives, embellishing

the truth, greed,

ingratitude, sharing

information that's

not yours, sarcasm.

That's to profane

the covenant.

it's taking the

Lord's Supper and

instead of renewing

the covenant in

that moment, you're

blaspheming against

the covenant.

covenant.

And that's why the

Lord's Supper is

never to be an

automatic, unthought

through, ritualistic

outward form.

In recommitting

ourselves to him, he

calls on us to

examine our lives, to

make sure that we

make much of our

sin so that we

would mourn it

rather than conceal

it or excuse it

and so that we

would repent of

it and pursue

change.

Friends, this is so

essential for us.

It is the

difference between

genuine remorse

and empty words.

And genuine

remorse is at the

heart of covenant

renewal.

At the end of

Nehemiah 9, Ezra

turns the attention

on the people

standing right

there in front of

him and including

himself in that.

They had a long

history of God's

goodness and mercy

expressed to them.

They instead had a

long history of

having unrepentant

hearts and lack of

change and renewal.

Ezra, in praying

this prayer at the

end, knew his place

in history.

Do we?

This is a church

that has a

Bible teaching

history that we're

proud of.

We sit in the

biblically rich

reformed evangelical

tradition.

We've had many

great names in our

pulpit.

We have access

to the very best

of Christian

literature,

conferences,

Bible colleges.

We are part of a

diocese with a

very strong

doctrinal and

gospel heritage.

We have access

to any number of

Bible translations

in the English

language.

We have the

word of God.

We know the

word of God.

It's even on

some of our

laps.

And for those

who it's not,

make sure it is.

Some of the most

sobering words of

scripture are in

Matthew chapter 11

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

where Jesus

pronounces judgment

on two cities

amongst God's

people who did

not repent when

they were confronted

with the Lord

Jesus, the word

of God.

He said to

them, it

would be better

off for those

other two pagan

cities up to

the north who

have never been

experienced the

gospel, never

even had me in

their midst.

It would be

better for them

on the day of

judgment.

The principle

is, he

who has been

given much, much

is expected.

Imagine Jesus

saying on the

day of judgment,

woe to you

Chatswood, it

would be better

for Kabul

Afghanistan than

for you on the

day of judgment.

Or, woe to

you St.

Paul's Chatswood,

it would be

better for the

Lakemba mosque on

the day of

judgment than it

would be for you.

some very

sobering words.

And in case

you think I

am removing

myself from

this, there's

some very

sobering words

for me

personally in

James chapter

James 3:1

3 verse 1,

not many of

you should

presume to be

teachers, my

brothers, because

you know that

we who teach

will be judged

more strictly.

every time I

call others to

obedience as I'm

calling you to

right now and

don't do it

myself, I'm

compounding

judgment for

myself.

To those who

have much, much

as is expected.

When I call us to

renew covenant

faithfulness with

Jesus, what I'm

not saying here

this morning is

take a deep

breath and say,

here goes, I'm

going to give it

my best shot, I'm

going to pull up

my socks.

That's legalism.

That's not what

I'm calling you

to.

What I'm saying

is in view of

the history of

God's grace and

mercy, with such

a God as this,

there is hope

that I will get

the help that I

need and when I

fail and repent,

he will forgive

me and take me

back.

I will continue

to press on in

the promises

that I have

made to live

in such a

way that I'll

proclaim the

Lord's death

until he

returns.

The grace of

the Lord Jesus

fuels our

covenant renewal.

So friends,

I'm going to

lead us into a

time of covenant

renewal now.

As I've said,

do not make

much less of

your sin.

As we do

this, I'm

very much

reminded of

two things

that are at

the heartbeat

of Charles

Simeon's

spiritual life,

a growing

downward in

humility and

a growing

upward in

adoration and

communion with

God.

I once said

in a sermon

that the

remarkable thing

about humiliation

and adoration in

the mind of

Charles Simeon is

that they were

inseparable.

They go

together.

For him,

adoration of

Christ only

grew in the

freshly ploughed

soil of

humiliation for

sin.

He actually

labored to

know his

true sinfulness,

not to excuse

it, not to

make less of

it.

But he had

no fear of

turning up every

sin in his

life and looking

upon it with

grief and with

hatred because

he had such a

vision of

Christ's

sufficiency.

And so with

those words,

words from God

fresh in our

mind in the

example of

Charles Simeon,

will you bow

your heads and

pray with me?

Great and

awesome God,

we confess our

sins this day.

You have been

gracious not only

in the great

moments of

redemptive history,

but in our

small history,

pouring out

reformation and

revival in the

lives of many.

You have given

us your spirit,

drawing us to

yourself.

You have been so

good to us,

Father.

You have given

us the Bible,

preachers,

community group

leaders,

courses,

literature,

conferences,

theological

colleges,

mission societies,

strong churches

and constant

exposure to the

communion of the

saints.

All in the part

of a world where

there is relatively

little strife

compared to many

parts and

comparatively many

freedoms compared to

many parts.

We can just get in

our car and go to

Courant.

You are so good to

us.

But we have been

wicked.

We have not feared

your word.

We have not acted

as if we believed

the promises or

trembled as if we

feared your

judgment.

We enjoy all the

trinkets of a

passing society and

have not lived with

eternity's values and

views despite the

warning you have

given us,

our Lord.

We have loved

ourselves.

ourselves.

While confessing

that we are to

love you with all

of our heart and

our soul and our

mind and our

strength and to

love our neighbours

as ourselves,

so many of our

decisions reveal

that we don't.

They have really

been bound up with

self-interest and

self-fulfillment and

family promotion.

We love money more

than service.

We want self-fulfillment

more than self-doubt.

We entertain

ourselves to death.

We have so many

things to do that we

can't do the

important things.

We have often

drifted towards

prayerlessness.

We've got multiple

Bibles that are

hardly read, a

domesticated gospel,

little passion for

holiness and

righteousness,

worship and the

glory of God.

We've drifted

towards coolness in

all things of the

faith so that we

exercise them with a

sense of duty but

no longer a delight.

We've become two

people.

Outwardly there is

still a kind of

conformity to

expected piety

while inwardly we

succumb to jealousy

and rivalries.

Our pleasures are

bound up with who

wins in the football

or shopping or the

opera or travel,

much more than they

are bound up with

someone coming to you.

Sometimes, Lord, we

even doubt your

word.

We go through the

motions but we no

longer believe that

Christ is building his

church.

We confess, Lord God,

that frequently we

succumb to

covetousness.

Some of us dishonour

our parents.

Some of us really do

not hunger for purity

of mind or heart.

We make little of some

sin.

We make excuses for

our failure.

We point the finger

and we blame others.

We're affronted when

someone points out to

us the obvious sin

that we harbour.

We hear your voice

saying, be holy for I

am holy but it does

not stir us.

We don't grieve over

sin as you do.

But you are holy

and you are pure.

Will you not

forgive us our sins,

most mirthful Father,

by the merits of the

Lord Jesus Christ?

Will you not renew a

right spirit within us?

Will you not renew your

covenant faithfulness to

us?

Have mercy on us

and revive us,

we pray,

for the glory of your

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Affście B woh tu

to the heavenly

new

work and

you

can

see.

Let's

see.