Go ahead and open up your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 13.
This is a new podium and it's kind of wobbling on me. Let's see if it stands up the whole time. Know, since the beginning of the year, if you've been with us, we've been diving into the book of Nehemiah and we have gone through it in great detail. Right, so far we have discussed ruins, and rebuilding, and relationships, revival, renewal, and today we're going to close out in chapter 13, so you can turn to the back of the book there.
And if you'd like to follow along, or you'd like notes, if you go to our church app, the sermon notes are in the app. Literally, there's a little bar that says sermon notes, click on that, and it should be on the top, so you can follow along. The title of our lesson here. Make sure this is on. It's from ruin to righteousness, from ruin to righteousness.
Now before we read the end of the story here, I think it's important to remind us of what all has gone on in the city of Jerusalem in the book of Nehemiah. Okay, at the beginning of the book Jerusalem is in ruins. Certainly, especially the walls have been broken down. So that report is sent to Nehemiah The walls and the ruins are examined, and the wall is built.
But really, if you notice that, building of the wall is only kind of the first stage of transformation. for this city, right? And in chapters 8 through 12, I want to get us, give us a little recap of what happened in those chapters. After the wall is finished, the people gather together numerous times to recommit themselves to the Lord.
In chapter 8, Ezra, the priest, gets up and reads the law and people are weeping. and listening attentively as the words are read. And they praise God, and they throw celebrations and feasts in God's name. Then in chapter 9, the group gets back together, and they're wearing sackcloth, and they're fasting, and they're confessing their sin.
They pray to God, and they are reading the law even more. Then in chapter 10, the, the word says that they come together and make a binding agreement, and they even put it into writing. They took responsibility for what has happened. Before, and made promise after promise. These we will promises about what the future would look like.
And then in chapter 12, the people gather to officially and ceremonially dedicate the wall. So this is all what's going on in chapters 8 through 12. I want to zoom in real quick and go to chapter 10. Aaron Hawkins spoke on these a couple weeks ago, but these are some of the the specific promises the people made as a community to God.
First they said we will, we promise to be faithful in marriage, faithful in our romantic relationships. They said we will not marry. Or give our children in marriage to foreigners. That was the first one we talked about. Second was faithfulness in business. They said we will not sell or buy or trade on the sabbath.
We will forgive debt every seventh year. We will be faithful in our business practices. And then finally they promised we will not neglect the house Of the lord whether in our effort or our heart or our sacrifices and offerings We will not neglect the house of God. So, with all that context, with all of that in mind, let's dive into chapter 13.
We're going to start in verse 6. While all this was going on, I, meaning Nehemiah, was not in Jerusalem. For in the thirty second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I returned to the king. Some, some time later I asked his permission and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing Eliashib had done in providing Tobiah a room in the courts of the house of God.
I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah's household goods out of the room. Like he was using it as a storage unit or something. I gave orders to purify the rooms and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God with the grain offerings and the incense. I also learned that portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and musicians responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields.
So I rebuked the officials and asked them, Why is the house of God neglected? Then I called them together and stationed them at their post. Skip to verse 15 with me. In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath. And bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs, and all other kinds of loads.
And they were bringing all of this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise, and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, What is this wicked thing you are doing?
Desecrating the Sabbath day. And then finally, in verse 23, Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, or the language of one of the other peoples, and did not know how to speak the language of Judah. I rebuked them, and called down curses on them.
I beat some of them and pulled out their hair. Thankfully we don't deal with things in that way anymore, amen? I made them take an oath in God's name and said you are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons Nor are you, no, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned?
Among the many nations there was no one like him He was loved by his God and God made him king over all Israel But even he was led into sin by foreign women. Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women? Okay, we're gonna stop right there.
Wow. I don't know about you, this is sadly the conclusion of the story, right? This is far from the happily ever after we'd love to see in our storybooks, right? So we learned that after 12 years in Jerusalem, Nehemiah returned to Persia. And I'm sure after chapters 8 through 12 of confession and repentance and revival and all that was going on, I'm sure he thought things were in a pretty good place.
I can probably go back home, right? So he does that, comes back to Jerusalem, and as soon as he arrives, he starts to become aware of how people have failed to follow through on their promises. And not only have they failed to follow through, but the people have done exactly the opposite of what they said they would do in chapter 10.
Did you see that? Right in chapter 10, they said we will not neglect the house of our God. Chapter 13, rooms of the temple have been corrupted. Nehemiah literally has to ask the question, why is the house of God neglected? Chapter 10, they promise we will be faithful in our business practices. We will honor the Sabbath.
Chapter 13, they're buying and selling and doing the exact opposite. And Nehemiah calls it a desecration. Again, chapter 10, we will be faithful in marriage. Chapter 13, it's obvious the practices of marrying foreign women had continued. And so, with all that, the question that comes to my mind is, how after chapters 8 through 12, could this be the result?
Like, what in the world happened? In such a short time, the people had broken the covenant they made with the Lord. And I think we might be surprised by this when we look objectively at someone else's story, but I think the same can happen in our lives with God. That we genuinely want to follow Jesus, yet we sin, right?
Those of us who have been baptized have been raised to a new life, and yet we are still tempted and enticed by the things of this world. We long to be holy, we long to please God, to be like Christ, and yet some days we look or feel or act or think nothing like Him. What do we do with that? And I think all of that brings up the, the topic, the, the concept of change, of transformation.
How can a person actually become who God desires them to be? How can a person actually become who they long to be with the Lord? How can we go from ruin or sin to righteousness? And holiness and Christ likeness. That's what I want to talk about this morning. Before we jump into all that, I do want to make just two kind of general points.
One is I think it's important to discuss the difference between the people in the book of Nehemiah and us today. You know, the people in Nehemiah, they committed themselves to following the law of Moses. And yes, that law was given by God at the time, but it required continual Later in the New Testament, Paul would write in Romans 8 that we are set free from the law of sin and death, amen, through Jesus.
What the law was powerless to do, God did through Christ. Again, in Galatians 2, he says that we are justified by faith in Jesus, not by the works of the law. And Paul actually states, emphatically, that Righteousness could not be gained through the law. So, I love this, that today, those who walk with God do not follow a law, or a legal code, or a set of rules and regulations.
We follow a person. Amen. We follow the Son of God Himself, Jesus, who before we were even born, before we ever sinned, before we even thought about Him, before we knew how to choose right from wrong, gave His life so we could be healed, so we could be set. Another just general point I want to stress is in this, this Really meant a lot to me in my study of this book, especially my study of this chapter, is thinking back to the story, you have chapters 8 through 12 of this amazing time of communal repentance and everything is going on.
It's a, it's, it's all great, right? They're, they're, they're doing really well, and you have 13 where they don't fall through. What I want to say is this, chapter 13 doesn't make chapters 8 through 12 any less sincere. Any less significant. And yes, they failed to repent. And yes, they had gone right back to the practices they were accustomed to.
But let me ask you, does that mean their previous prayer and praise and repentance and confession is invalid? I don't think it's that simple. See, some of us would see the fruit of their deeds and maybe take it as a sign. Well, they must just not have gotten the point. They must not really want this. We can look at chapter 13 and question their heart or the sincerity of their faith.
Or we might use it as evidence to make a case as why they only had worldly sorrow rather than godly sorrow. But again, I don't think it's that simple. And not only can we do this with God as we look to this, or God's people, when we look to the scriptures, but I think we can do this with ourselves. That we, as humans with a sinful nature, we fall, and we give in to sin.
And maybe there's even a continual sin that you feel, even being here this morning, you feel trapped in, or addicted to, or stuck in. And in response to our struggles with sin, sometimes we question everything. We go into kind of a spiritual imposter syndrome. Like, why am I here? Can I even do this? Is God actually with me?
Do I even belong here? Is this worth it? Is this what I really want? We ask all these questions and we can attack ourselves. And we can beat ourselves up. As if everything we've done is in vain. As if we've made, because sin might be present, we've made no progress in becoming any more like Jesus. And I think we can do this with each other.
That we can quickly question the motives or the intent. of even our brother or sister. And we can lose patience with one another because of a lack of repentance, or we can fail to believe the best in one another's intention. And I was praying about this all week. When I think about this community, when I look out on this room, I believe we want to do what is right.
Amen? I believe that the followers of Jesus in the room want to do just that. To follow Jesus. And we, as family, as brothers and sisters, I think we need to trust in that foundational desire in one another. And I'm not saying that we don't, you know, that we should go easy on sin. Right? We need to name it and go after it with tenacity and earnestness.
Sin hurts God, it pains Him. We need to see it in the same way. I'm saying, however, that the presence of sin doesn't automatically invalidate the heart, or the intent, or the desire of a person to do what is right. And I think repentance relies as much, like change relies as much on how one understands and implements change as it does their desire.
And for me, as I was praying about it this week, for me, this brings grace and peace and really a godly focus to the topic of change that sadly can be shrouded often in frustration. or judgment, or criticalness. And so, the question I want to talk about here is, how does a person change? There have probably been books written about this, and so this is gonna be the, you know, 30 minute version of it.
But, how can someone actually become who God desires them to be? And so I want to pour it, point out four things that I believe are essential to transformation. And the author John Mark Comer speaks of some of these in his book, Practicing the Way. It's a great book if you want more study there.
The first is teaching. Jesus was a teacher, amen? He was a rabbi, and he taught whether it's, you know, in synagogues or on a hillside or in a boat. When he taught, he revealed truth to everyone who would listen. In a specific set of his teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expands upon the Jews traditional understanding of the law.
He takes things to another level, a deeper level. And as he goes from one topic to another, I believe we talked about this before, but he says this phrase over and over again in the Sermon on the Mount, You have heard that it was said, this, but I tell you, This and what he's trying to do is say hey you have heard this you've practiced this you've known this but let me tell you the truth I tell you, this is what it's about.
And we have heard many things throughout our lives, haven't we? We've been told things, taught things, formed in many ways. But God hopes that our source of truth will be Him, and His Word, and His Son. But I think God could still say this same thing to us today. You have heard that it was said, fill in the blank, but I tell you this.
You've heard from your parents, from your family, from your friends, but I tell you. You know, maybe you've been telling yourself you're worth this much, but I tell you. You've been thinking the longest that God is this, but I tell you. You know, society tells you every day, or the world tells you to run after all these things.
But I tell you, you know, you've been told what will really make you happy is this, but I tell you, it could be on every topic, right? And let me tell you, brothers and sisters, we will not be able to change. We will not be able to be who God desires us to be without the teaching and the truth that comes from Him.
And followers of Jesus will be people who regularly expose themselves to God's Word. And whether that is through reading and memorizing scripture. Or studying the Bible, or listening to sermons, or podcasts, or tuning in on Zoom, or meditating, or reading books. These are just to name a few. All the ways that we can connect to God and really have that truth revealed to us as his people.
Catch up on my slides here. In Romans chapter 12, in verse 2, Paul writes, Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed. By the renewing of your mind. I think that's what Jesus was doing in the Sermon on the Mount. I think that's what God wants us to experience now. And for many of us, exposure to the, the teachings and the truth of God, that's the beginning of real transformation.
Because in that, we're able to cast out the lies and the different things we've been told and the different things we believe that are not true and to believe and accept and even come to embody the truth of God. Amen? So first, we need teaching. Now, there is a caveat to this point I need to mention, and that's this.
Knowledge alone is not enough. You know, for generations, it's been assumed that the more a person knows Even maybe in the church, the more scripture a person knows, the more they will grow and mature, but information alone does not produce transformation. Let me give you a simple example. If I took a pop quiz of the room, and I asked everybody, maybe I give you a sheet of paper, or did one of the fancy, you know, through your phone things, and said, yes or no, does God call us to be generous?
I think the resounding answer would be yes, absolutely, a thousand percent. If so, then why aren't we more generous, right? The question is not whether or not we know the right answer. The question is whether or not we will allow the teachings of Jesus to get past our head and into our heart, into our very being, into the deepest parts of us, right?
Into our priorities. Peace. What we treasure, what we desire, what is most important. See, knowledge is powerful, and regular Bible study, and good sermons, and all of that, it is helpful, and even essential. But alone, knowledge is not enough to produce the kind of change we wish to see. So first, we have teaching.
Second, we have practice. You know, I wanna throw a kind of analogy at you. Imagine you are not in the best shape. Okay? For like the Dom Duran's in the room, that's, that's probably hard to do. He's a beast. But, imagine you are not in the best shape, and you decide you want to run a marathon. Okay? How do you do that?
Right? Do you just buy a pair of Nikes or, or OnCloud or Hokas or whatever your preference might be, right? Do you just buy those, put them on, step outside, and try really hard to run 26. 2 miles? No! Right? That would be crazy. Maybe like Aaron Hawkins who ran cross country. Maybe if you've done it before, I don't know, but that would be crazy.
You might make it a couple of miles on willpower alone. But at some point, you're going down, right? It's not gonna be pretty. Why? Because you are not the kind of person, currently, who can run 26. 2 miles. It's not impossible for a human to run a marathon. But it is for you, right now. Right? Just as running a marathon would take practice So does our discipleship to Jesus.
You know, he says himself. Again, near the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this in Matthew chapter 5. Therefore, anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But, whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Then if you skip a few chapters later to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 7, verse 24, he says, therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. It's as if the Sermon on the Mount begins and ends with a call to practice, right?
And what do we practice? As we follow Jesus, we put into practice His words and his teachings and his lifestyle, right? And even further, we practice the practices of Jesus. And this is where, we've discussed them before, things like spiritual habits and rhythms and disciplines come in. The habits of scripture, and prayer, and silence, and solitude, community, fasting, giving, hospitality, all of these things.
These habits and rhythms, if we build them into our lives, they allow what we believe to be true and know up here to really become a part of us. A part of our bodies even, our daily lives. I appreciate Comer's definition of the spiritual disciplines. He writes this, The disciplines are our attempts to copy the example of Jesus lifestyle in the hope of experiencing his life.
And we all want to experience that life, right? Let me give you another analogy on this point. So, in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 6, Jesus commands us all, do not worry. I'm sure all of us. Would love to be free of anxiety and worry, to be a non anxious presence in this world, right? But how do we do that?
Right? Do we just read Matthew 6 and not worry? I don't even know what that would mean, right? Or where to start with that, right? And for some of us, and I say this, you know, not as a joke, for some of us living, and myself included, being able to live without anxiety and worry is like being able to run a marathon.
We just can't do it, not yet, right? And in order to live a life without worry, we have to become, over time, the kinds of people who learn how to trust in God deeply. And so to do that, we train ourselves, and we train our bodies, and our mind. Yes, we read Matthew 6. But we also spend time in prayer and meditation.
Maybe in a place where distraction is gone, where busyness is just cast aside. We can also practice the Sabbath. Intentionally spending a day without work or without to do lists. Just to be in the presence of God or with our loved ones. We can be in, be a part of community where we can help one another trust in God.
We can confess our sins and be able to walk unburdened. In the light with the Lord, right? And all of these things come together, and there's so, so much more to that, right? But all of that being brought together, we're practicing. And over time, our anxiety can be replaced gradually by a peace of God that passes all understanding.
Right? We will not be transformed without practice, without training. We will be like those Jesus spoke of. Those who have set aside his commands and his teachings. Those who build their lives on the shifting sand. Amen? So we have in this effort to become who God calls us to be. We have knowledge. We have practice.
Thirdly, we have community. I'm just gonna say this because it's true. You cannot follow Jesus alone. You can't. It's, it's not even an option, right? Jesus had apostles. Plural. Disciples. Plural. Followers. Plural. He calls us to follow him. In community, even God himself in the Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit exists in community and the community, this community can be one of the greatest agents of change in our lives.
Colossians chapter 1 midpoint, we looked at this on Friday and prayed through it a little bit. Colossians chapter 1 verse 28, He, meaning Jesus, is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom. So that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end, I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works.
So in our relationships with one another, we are called to admonish and teach with all wisdom. We hope and we strive, Paul uses that phrase, we strenuously contend to present one another fully mature in Christ. And let me ask you, when you think about our congregation, is this who we are for one another?
Would this passage describe our community, your family group, your relationships? And I was thinking about this, you know, for me. There can be, and there has been so much debate in, under the umbrella of Christianity as to what is the best form of church. What's the way, the best way to go about church, right?
Should we do this? Should we do that? Should we sing hymns or gospel or contemporary worship? Should we meet all together on a Sunday or should we meet in the house church? Should we do this series? Should we do that series? Right? And there, the debate can go on and on and on. It has, and it probably will.
And sadly, that debate has split God's people apart throughout generations, right? And I'll say, I've definitely had my preferences on some of those things over the years. But honestly, what matters most to me, when I think about the church, is not our structure, it's not our plans, it's our culture. Are we this for one another?
Are we family, really? Are we a people who take the calling of Jesus seriously? Are we a community that, out of love for God and out of love for one another, We strenuously contend to help one another grow in our faith and become more like Christ. And I know, living in community is not easy, right? It will take your, your heart, your effort, your comfort.
It'll take your time. It'll take perseverance and humility and courage. And it's probably even less easy when you consider that messed up people like you and I are a part of it. Right? It is difficult to live and thrive in community, but it is so worth it. And it is the way God has set things up.
This is family. Amen? And as family, we will help one another follow Jesus. Amen? So we have knowledge, we have practice, we have community, and last but certainly not least, We have the Holy Spirit. You know, those who have made Jesus Lord and who have been baptized for the forgiveness of their sin, you have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And let me make this clear. He, not our knowledge, not our practice, not anything we can do, not even this community, He is the ultimate source of our transformation. And this is where that marathon analogy falls painfully short, and I understand that and I'm grateful for it. In Scripture, the Holy Spirit is a counselor, comforter, an advocate.
He is the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of revelation. He convicts the world of sin and righteousness. He authors Scripture. He reveals what is true. He teaches followers of Jesus all things. And guides them in truth, as hard as it may be to admit, especially in a very independent society and world that we live in, we cannot become like Jesus on our own.
And I think this is why we won't read it now, but in Galatians five, you could read another time. Paul is urging the church to walk by and to keep in step with the Holy Spirit because he wants the brothers and sisters in Galatia to be who God is calling them to be. He wants them to fulfill even their desire to be holy and pleasing in God's sight.
He wants them to become more like Jesus, so he urges them not to be led by their sinful desire or the old life or the way things were, be led by the Spirit. And yes, we have a part to play in our change. But whatever work we do is alongside God. And that partnership is not 50 50. You know what I'm saying?
The points that came before, right? Teaching, practice, community. I think sometimes these and anything else we try to use to help us change. They are not a way to control the outcome, as if we have the secret formula to becoming like Jesus. If I just do X, Y, and Z, then I'll be good, right? Then I'll be like Christ.
That sounds a lot like the law. But on the contrary, things like teaching, and practice, and community, and these spiritual disciplines, they are ways to give up control. Because in them, we come humbly before our God, and his word, and his son, and we let the Spirit do his work. Amen? You know, in all of this, as we close out here, the book of Nehemiah, again, it's an incredible story, and I don't think I've done as in depth of a study as I did at the beginning of this year, and kind of prepping for this series as I have before.
But I love, it's an honest picture of a people going from ruin to revival, from ruin to righteousness. It's an awesome story of God using his people to do his will. And yes, they fail to follow through on their promises, but that doesn't need to be our story, right? And we have been called to follow Jesus.
And again, I believe. Many of us desire to be like him, to be a man or woman who brings honor to God. So I want to ask you to think about a couple things as we close. They're not on the screen here. First, consider today, is there anything in the way of your transformation? There any obstacles, any sin? Any bitterness, you name it, anything in the way of your transformation, any, anything threatening your devotion to the Lord.
And second, I want to ask you to consider how these elements of teaching, practice, community, and of course, the person of the Spirit might help you become like Him. Amen.
