NEHEMIAH 10-13 REPAIR YOUR BROKEN COMMITMENTS2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Nehemiah 10-13 Repair Your Broken Commitments

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016.

This morning as we look at Nehemiah chapter 10, we'll be looking at actually chapter 10 as well as chapter 13 to see the difference between the making of this great commitment that they made and then how things were going a little bit time later on. And so the title of the message this morning is Repair Your Broken Commitments.

Because what we'll see happen here is this great commitment that they make in Nehemiah chapter 10. By the time we get to chapter 13, they've faded away and have failed in these commitments that they make. And you'll find in your life, as they found in their lives, that oftentimes the greatest dangers that we face are after the obvious dangers are dealt with.

The greatest dangers that we face are often after the obvious dangers are dealt with. Last week we looked at Nehemiah chapters 4 and 6. And we saw the attacks from the enemy. And the attempts to derail the project of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. And in the midst of this opposition and there was this great attack and these attempts to stop this building from going on,

They had victory. They remained strong and steadfast in the work. And they finished the walls that God had called them to rebuild. Now, after the wall is built, after this great victory, the obvious danger is dealt with, and now the city is safe. There is security. There is some comfort within the city. They also take some time in Nehemiah chapter 8 to read the word.

And they respond to it. And Nehemiah chapter 10, what we read today, is part of that response of recognizing what's in the word. And now the people are responding and committing to do the things that God recorded for them in his word.

After that, Nehemiah has to go back to the king of Persia. He was authorized to go to rebuild the wall, but that project is done. He heads back to the king of Persia. And then after some time, we don't know exactly how much time passes, but then he comes back to Jerusalem. And that's Nehemiah chapter 13. And when he gets back to Jerusalem, he finds things out of order.

Specifically, the things that they committed to, the things that they said, we will do this, we will obey this, this is what we want to do for the Lord. All of those things, the very things they said they would do, they are failing to do when Nehemiah returns in chapter 13.

And so the greatest danger was not the obvious danger of the broken down walls or the sand ballot and Tobias they came against and tried to prevent the work. They were victorious in that. But then after that, in the time of security, in the time of safety,

Then they found their hearts drifting away from God and away from the things that God had called them to commit to. They began to be comfortable and slack off in the things that God had called them to. And I like the way that Warren Wiersbe kind of summarizes the condition of the people at this time. He says, the walls of the city were still strong.

But the spiritual walls of separation were crumbling. And this is what was happening. There was still the walls up. They were strong. They were keeping the enemy on the outside and keeping the people inside safe. But spiritually, their walls were crumbling. Things were falling down. It was in disrepair. And there were some issues that needed to be dealt with.

You might remember the words that Jesus shared with the church of Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2. There Jesus spoke to the church of Ephesus and said, Hey, you guys are doing a lot of good things. You've got good works. You've got good doctrine. But I have one thing against you. You've left your first love. And he tells them in Revelation chapter 2 verse 5, he says, Remember from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works.

Repent and do the first works. Go back to the beginning. Go back to the commitment that you had. Go back to the heart that you had. Go back to where you started.

And so as we see this example in Nehemiah chapter 10, and then also we see the example of the church of Ephesus, I'm sure that we can recognize in our own lives, there are those times where God has spoken to us, where there's been clear instruction from the Lord, maybe at a retreat or maybe in a service or maybe in your own time in the word. And there's been those seasons where God has brought forth a word for you very clearly that

And there's been a response on your part that you said, yes, Lord, I want to follow that. I want to walk in that. I want to respond to the things that you're speaking here. And you make these commitments to the Lord to respond, to walk, to do what he's called you to do. And yet often, like the church of Ephesus, on the outside, we can have lots of things going well. Well, at the same time, there's a spiritual deterioration that's taking place.

And there's a call for them to return to do the first works, to go back and begin to do the things that were meant to be done, that they committed to do. And that's what we'll see Nehemiah do with the people of Israel. And that's what God wants to speak to us this morning as well. Those commitments that you've made, those things that God has spoken to that have fallen aside, that have been broken, that have been broken,

This morning, God wants to remind you of those things and call you once again to walk in them. And so there's four commitments for us to consider here in Nehemiah chapter 10. We'll begin with the first one in verses 28 and 29, and that is commit to obey the word of God.

Commit to obey the word of God. That's what we see the people do here in these verses. We begin again in verse 28. It says, Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethanim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge in the

and understanding. And it's going to go on in the next verse to say they made this covenant or commitment with the Lord. But notice at the beginning here in verse 28, it says, now the rest of the people. Now verses 1 through 27 here in chapter 10 is a list of a bunch of names. It's a list of the people who put their seal on this commitment document that they had drawn up. And

They realized their need. They realized as God was speaking to them, they needed to set things in order according to God's word. And so they actually wrote out a document. They actually wrote out kind of like a contract. And then all these leaders, it's actually a list of 84 men who put their seal on the document. It's like signing the document and saying, this is our commitment. This is what God's called us to do. And we're going to be faithful to do that.

Verse 1 tells us, as they put this seal on the document, Nehemiah, the governor, the one who came back to build the walls, he's first. He's kind of leading the charge in calling the people to be obedient to the word of God. And so all these leaders also jump on board and they put their seal on this commitment document.

But now in verse 28, we see the rest of the people. So it's not just the leaders. It's not just prominent people. It's not just those in authority. But the whole congregation, all of the people join in this agreement now. They don't put their seal on the document, but they also enter into the covenant and commitment and say, yes, this is what we are going to do. We're going to follow the Lord. Verse 29 says,

And so here the people enter into this agreement with their leaders. And they say, our leaders sealed this.

And they represent us well. We want to be faithful and committed to follow the word of God, to be obedient to the law of the Lord. Here in verse 29, it tells us that this was a serious commitment to the Lord because they entered into a curse and an oath. Now, a curse and an oath is just a way to express this was a very serious covenant that they were making with the Lord.

In Deuteronomy chapters 28, 29, and 30, God outlines for the people the blessings and the curses of obedience and disobedience. As they walk with God, there's great blessings that are promised. And if they walk away from God and disobey God, there's curses that will resolve. There's the consequences for that disobedience. And what they're entering into in this covenant is saying,

We are going to follow the Lord. And if we don't follow the Lord, it will be right for God to bring all of those curses from Deuteronomy 28. It will be right for God to bring those curses upon us because we are going to be faithful to walk with God. And if we don't, we deserve what we get. It was a serious commitment, a serious covenant that they're making, a curse and an oath that they enter into. And what were they committing to do?

Well, there in verse 29 it says, They were committing to God that they were going to be faithful to do the commands that are found in the scriptures. Their commitment is we will obey the word of God. Now, in the following verses that we'll look at in the coming points,

They'll highlight some specific things found in the law of God that they particularly dealt with and struggled with and say, specifically in this we're going to obey, specifically in this we're going to obey. But here it's just a general commitment. Whatever God's word says, we're going to keep it. We're going to do it. We're going to do what God wants us to do. Now this is a very good commitment to make.

This is what God desires of his people. He wants us to be obedient to the word of God. I shared recently, I reminded you about the parable of the wise and the foolish builder.

that Jesus told. He talked about the wise builder who built his house upon the rock and then the foolish builder who built his house upon the sand. And Jesus said, the wise man who built his house upon the rock is the guy who hears my words and then does them. The one who is obedient to my word, he's like the one who builds the house upon the rock and he's going to last and his house is going to stand. And

But the one who builds his house upon the sand, that's like the person who hears my words but does not do them. The one who's disobedient to my word, who doesn't follow my commands or who does the things that I say not to do, that's like building your house upon the sand and your life is going to be destroyed if that's the case.

God wants you to obey. God requires that we obey. And so committing to obey the word of God is the right thing to do. It's what God wants us to do. And so they make this commitment. Now, after this commitment, again, Nehemiah is the first one. He puts his seal on the document. After this commitment is made, Nehemiah goes back to the king of Persia. He's the cupbearer. He has to return to his post.

The wall is rebuilt. The city is safe and secure. And so he goes back to the king. But a few months later or a few years later, we don't know exactly how long it is. Nehemiah is authorized by the king to go back to Jerusalem.

And that's recorded for us. It's found in Nehemiah chapter 13. And when he comes back, he finds that the people have gone away from these commitments that they had made. Would you consider with me Nehemiah chapter 13? Turn there for just a moment. Nehemiah chapter 13, in verse 1, it tells us, On that day they read from the book of Moses, in the hearing of the people,

And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God. Verse 2. Because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.

And so here in chapter 13, we find the people reading from the book of Moses. Now it's possible, it's likely they're reading from Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse 3 and 4, where God specifically writes about the Ammonites and the Moabites, and that they should not be allowed to be part of the assembly of God there in Jerusalem.

Now, as you look at that, there's a lot of details we could get into, which we won't get into. But let me just say briefly that this is not an issue of nationality or race. This is an issue of people who are unconverted, people who have not turned to God, allowed to be part of the assembly of God. The

The people of the Ammonites and the Moabites, they were required to make a choice. That is, it's not that they could not ever actually participate in the things of God, but in order to do so, they had to turn to God completely. They had to convert to Judaism and...

begin to follow the law, begin to follow God under his terms. Unlike the Jewish people, they were born into the Jewish nationality and the heritage and the inheritance that they had was they got to be part of the assembly of God because they were of Jewish descent.

And other nations could also come in and participate. But because of this great harassment that they brought against and this attempt to destroy the people of Israel, God says for the Moabites and the Ammonites, they can't just come casually. They can't just come be, you know, a little bit of a part. They've got to make a real choice and convert. They know the truth. And so they need to turn to God wholly in order to be part of the assembly of God.

Now, the issue that we find here in Nehemiah chapter 13 is that this standard was not kept. And so they're reading the word and they recognize, they realize, they've fallen backwards. Their commitment in chapter 10 was to keep the word, but for some time now, they've not been keeping the word. And this, which God has forbidden, has been going on. And so what do you do when you realize you've not been faithful to the word of God?

I think we've all experienced that, haven't we? You kind of wake up and there's all of a sudden this realization, your eyes are opened and you realize, all this time I've been disobeying in this way or I can't believe how far I've gone or how far I've been away, how long I've been away. And there's this recognition, this realization of, man, this has been out of line for some time, for a while. And what do you do when that takes place?

Well, we see a good example here set for us. What we need to do is repent and then start to do what God's word says. Verse 3 here in chapter 13 says, So it was when they had heard the law that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel. And so now they began to be obedient once again. They'd become...

lacks in their faithfulness. It seems like they probably had not been faithful to be engaged in the reading of the law. And this was a renewal of that because later on we'll see the priests and the Levites all went home because the support wasn't coming in. And so there's been a spiritual decline. They haven't been in the word of God, but now as there's this kind of renewal happening again, they get into the word and they realize we've been doing it wrong.

There's this thing that's out of line. We haven't been faithful to our commitment to God. Now, when that takes place, when you have that awakening, that realization, I haven't been faithful to the Lord, there's a temptation that comes with that. A temptation to run away from God when you realize what you've been doing and how far you've been from God.

When you realize you haven't been keeping the word of God, there's a temptation to pull back. Sometimes it's because of condemnation that the enemy will bring against us. Maybe it's our own sense of guilt or shame or you just feel so foolish. But let me encourage you this morning. Never let your previous failures keep you from obeying God right now.

Never let your previous failures. Don't worry about the foolishness and all of that. We all are foolish and we all are sinful. We need to not let those things keep us. That's what the enemy would love to do is use those things in your life to keep you from turning back to God wholeheartedly. What we see them do is not run from God here, but they just begin right now to start doing what God had called them to do.

To start obeying once again the word of God. They began to repair that broken commitment. I would ask you to consider this morning. What commitments have you made to God about keeping his word?

What are those things that the Lord has spoken to you about? Maybe verses that he's highlighted for you. Maybe there's a message that he really used in your life or ways that he's brought forth his word in your life in a way that you knew God was speaking to you and you responded and there was this commitment that you made. Lord, I'm going to do what you've called me to do here in this scripture.

I'm going to follow what your word says. Lord, I need to be in your word and I need to be living it out and walking in it. And you make this commitment to obey the word of God. Has there been a lapse in that commitment? Has it fallen into disrepair?

Is there some issues now that have developed and crept in that you've allowed to go for far too long and God says, look, it's time to renew that commitment, to repair that commitment, to start dealing with that situation. And that happens as you start to obey immediately.

When Nehemiah returned, he found these unconverted people in the assembly, but not only that, he found them inside the temple itself. Their disregard of the word of God not only affected the whole assembly and there was this issue of the people amongst them, but even the temple was now defiled as a result of this issue.

We see in the following verses here in chapter 13 in verses 4 through 9, Tobiah is allowed to move into one of the temple rooms. One of the rooms that was devoted to the storage of the things that were for the house of God, that was cleared out.

so that Tobiah could move in. Now, Tobiah, if you remember from last week, he was one of those who was against the building of the walls. He tried to prevent the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. He was an enemy. He was also an Ammonite, which God had forbidden that they be part of the assembly of God. And so not only were they part of the assembly, but even moved in to the temple. It was a great disregard for the word of God that was taking place.

And Nehemiah says, this grieves me bitterly. And he's so upset by it. In verse 8 of Nehemiah 13, it says he began to throw out all the goods of Tobiah. I just picture Nehemiah kind of upset, you know, just like throwing a couch out the door, you know, just like throwing all his stuff out. It's all just scattered all over the area in the front. And it's just getting rid of all that junk. And then in the next verse,

He commands the priests, the Levites, to cleanse the room and to bring in the things that belong there, the articles of the house of God, the grain offering, the frankincense. And again, it's a picture that's painted for us of what repentance looks like as we recognize I've broken the commitment to obey God in whatever area that might be for you.

How do we respond and what do we do to address that? Well, number one, we take out the junk. And maybe if there's some violence and force needed, cast it out. Just get rid of it and be aggressive about it. Don't just like, well, today I'll just take one thing out and then maybe tomorrow I'll take something else out. No.

Clean out the room. Clean out. Turn from the disobedience. Don't let it persist. Don't let it continue. Don't put up with it for another day and kind of just casually work your way. No, when you realize there's that commitment that has been broken, or you're not doing what God's called you to do, or you're doing what God has told you not to do, immediately stop it. Clean it out. Start to clean it up. But then start to restore the things that belong there.

So bring back the articles of the house of God and the grain offering and the frankincense and put in the things that belong there. And so you stop the sin and you start to obey and that's what we need to do in response to our broken commitments in keeping the word of God. And so don't let your previous failures keep you from obeying right now.

Just start by stopping and then beginning to do the things that God has called you to do. And so that's the first commitment that we see. Commit to obey the word of God. And that's different for every one of us in the sense that generally we need to keep the word of God. But there's commitments that you've made to God based upon him speaking to you through his word. And where are you at? Are you being faithful in those things? Or do you need to repair those?

broken commitment to God. The next commitment we see going back to Nehemiah chapter 10 is found in verse 30 and that is commit your home to God. Commit your home to God. Verse 30 says, we would not give our daughters as wives to the peoples of the land nor take their daughters for our sons. So as they make this commitment to the Lord, this covenant with the Lord, they

1 Corinthians 3, verse 1.

Allowing their children to marry them, bringing their daughters for the sons. It was the intermarrying that was going on. Now, again, let me say, this was not really about race.

It was not that God is against, you know, different kinds of races or nationalities or peoples. This is about faith. And that's what God's concerned about. He's concerned about the heart of the people and the faithfulness of the people to the word of God. In Deuteronomy chapter 7, I think I lost control here for a second.

In Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 3, God says, God says,

And so here's the issue that God is concerned about. Here's the thing that God wants to address and make sure that he prevents. It's not about intermarrying races. It's about intermarrying

It's about faithfulness to God. And if you get involved in someone in that way, if you bring someone into your home who is not following the Lord, then you will be enticed to turn away from following the Lord. And so in a similar way as unconverted people were forbidden in the assembly,

marrying someone who is not converted to the Lord was forbidden. That was the issue. Again, it wasn't that you couldn't ever or they couldn't ever marry someone of these different lands, but that the people of those lands had to become Jews. They had to convert and begin to follow the Lord and make it a true conversion. You can think of the example of Ruth.

who was from the land of Moab. She was a Moabite, but she turned and made a real conversion. She turned to follow the Lord. And so then when she got married to Boaz, it was right, it was appropriate, and it was God's design to do that. And so there had to be this conversion that took place. There had to be this same heart in following God in order for marriage to take place.

Now, 30 years earlier, in Ezra chapter 9, Ezra had to correct this issue where the people were getting married to others who were not believers. They were not converted. And Ezra rebuked them and dealt with the issue at that time. But now it's taking place again. But they make the commitment. We're going to be faithful in this. We're going to keep our homes clean.

faithful to God. And we're going to keep out of our homes those that would turn us away from God. That's their commitment. Now let's see where they're at in Nehemiah chapter 13. Would you jump there with me? Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 23. In verse 23, it tells us, in those days, I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

So Nehemiah returns after they make this commitment to not intermarry. He comes back and he finds that actually they have. They've married people from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

And that's a problem because those people who got married and those relationships are now in danger of being enticed and turning away from the Lord because that's what happens when that kind of relationship is entered into. It's an unequal yoke. It's not a good thing.

But even worse, he finds in verse 24, the children are being severely affected because many of them spoke the language of Ashdod and could not speak the language of Judah. They could not speak the language of Judah. Now, the scriptures were written in Hebrew. And what Nehemiah is recognizing here is these kids don't know Hebrew.

And so they automatically are kind of set up to fail in a relationship with God because they're not going to understand the word of God. They're not going to know the word of God, even when it is read and brought forth. They're not going to know what it means. They're not going to know what's going on. They don't even speak the language of Judah. And again, it's not about race and it's not about, you know, a particular language. It's about faith.

That's the real issue here. Not only is the adult who married the unbeliever in danger of walking away from God, but the kids are even in greater danger now. They're set up to fail in a relationship with God, not knowing the word of God, not knowing the things of God. And I think it's something that those of you who are parents, you ought to really take some time to consider before the Lord. Does your child speak the language of Judah?

And I don't mean, does your child know Hebrew? I mean, does your child know the things of the Lord? Does your child know, is your child familiar with the things of the Lord? Because you teach them according to the ways of the Lord, according to the things of the Lord, you teach them how to walk with the Lord. Our homes are to be committed to God.

So that the things that happened there are right before God and teach us and help us to stay faithful to God. Now, Nehemiah, as he is rebuking the situation in chapter 13, he gives Solomon as an example in verse 26. He says,

He says Solomon had all kinds of advantages. He was beloved by the Lord. There was no king like him in all the nations.

He had great wisdom. His father was David. All kinds of advantages. But his great weakness was his home. And as he intermarried with these unbelieving women, even with all of his advantages, it caused him to sin. And his heart was turned away from the Lord. And God says, that's what I'm trying to prevent. It's an issue of faith. Is your home filled?

with things that will help you stay faithful to God? Or is your home filled with things that will compete with your attention to God? Now, he highlights here the language of the children. And I think language is a good illustration for us to consider in this. What language do you speak in your home? Now, languages are complex. If you've ever attempted to learn another language, you understand there's

There's a great deal of work and there's so much depth in every language and there's nuances that can only be understood after long periods of exposure and immersion and understanding the language. It requires for you to immerse yourself.

in the language to be able to understand some of the depths and some of the nuances and some of the details about the language and it can be very very difficult and take lifetime to learn. Let me give you myself as an example. In my life I've had what I would consider a lot of exposure to the Spanish language. It's actually a language that I love.

Growing up when I was young, my family would go to Mexico pretty regularly, usually a couple times a year. There was a couple Christmases. We actually spent Christmas and New Year's there. There was just a lot of that. And so there was all this exposure. One of my good friends was a next-door neighbor, a Hispanic family. And so there, I remember the mom teaching me how to say good morning one time when I was having breakfast over there. Then my dad later on, he was...

seeking to disciple and reach this friend that he had at work who is also from Mexico. And so he would bring him home and we'd spend time together. And I remember him teaching me and my sister the vowels, you know, and how to pronounce the different letters in the Spanish alphabets and

Throughout that and ever since then, I mean, I've studied the language. You know, in high school, at RCC, I've read the entire Bible in Spanish. I've written a bunch of devotions and things in Spanish. I've translated with Cisco booklets, you know, the Quipping the Saints booklets, most of them, we've translated them into Spanish. And I've taught in Spanish and actually, like, you know, brought forth the message in Spanish. And yet with all of that, you know,

I can easily and clearly tell you I cannot speak Spanish. I've got tons of exposure.

but I'm not able to have a conversation. I'm not able to dialogue. I can't understand you if you speak to me in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish as much as I would love to. In order for me to be able to, it would require something far greater than what I've experienced thus far. I can't just have all this exposure and know Spanish and be fluent in Spanish. That's not the way that it works. It's going to require even a greater commitment on my part.

it's going to require a greater immersion into the language. Now, on the other hand, there are those...

Maybe some of you are them. You know, as a child, you were raised, and in the home, it was Spanish that was spoken. Now, outside of the home was English, right? You're here in America, but in the home was Spanish. And so you're fluent, and you know the depths. It's familiar to you. It's normal to you. And you can conjugate, and you don't even think about it or know that you're conjugating, just like in English, I conjugate, and I don't recognize that I'm conjugating. But transgressions

trying to conjugate in Spanish is like quantum physics. It's like super difficult, right?

But it's just natural in the language that you grew up in, in the language of your home. And that's the point I'm trying to make here. You see, you speak that language at home and it's so familiar to you, it's natural to you, you know it, and it's so easy. It comes without even thinking, without working so much. And this is the way that the things of the Lord need to be in our home, that your home is set up in such a way, that your home is devoted in such a way that it's the things of the Lord that are spoken there.

That your children, that your spouse, that your, you know, those who are there in your home, they hear the things of the Lord. That they don't hear the things of the world. That they're not so familiar with the things of the world that they don't know the things of the Lord. They don't know how to hear from the Lord. They don't know what the Lord wants or what the Lord says. If our homes are set up that way, it's set up for disaster. We're set up to fail in a relationship with God.

Our homes need to be a place. Listen, you're going to get lots of competition and lots of bombardment from the world. You don't need that kind of attack at home as well. And so there's this spiritual parallel. Immerse your home in the things of the Lord, like speaking another language at home. If your home is set up so that you have lots of exposure to the things of God, that's not enough.

Your kids know we go to church or we pray before meals. There's these kind of things that we do, but then there's also all these other things that are going on. Is your home committed to the Lord, devoted to the things of the Lord? You can think about it this way as well. Our children's ministry is set up so that the kids are immersed in the things of God. But that's the way our homes need to be.

Our church is set up so that when you come, you're immersed in the things of God. There's worship, there's prayer, there's time in the word, and our homes need to be that same way, that there's this immersion, that there's this total filling of the things of the Lord so that we speak the language of the things of God. What kind of commitments have you made to the Lord about your home? Are there some things that he's spoken to you about, some things that you've committed to him in response to that commitment?

Maybe some television things that he's spoken to you about. Maybe some schedule things that he's spoken to you about. Maybe some relationship things that he's spoken to you about. What's your home life like? And what has God been saying to you? And then now have you been faithful to keep those commitments to the Lord about your home? Now listen, I could learn Spanish. I'm completely convinced. If I moved to Mexico and lived there for six months, I think I'd be set. I would...

But it would require that kind of change, that kind of commitment. Or maybe if I could convince Kim, only Spanish at home. We've joked around with Latin lunes, where we would only speak Spanish and do Spanish stuff on Mondays, but we've never actually done it. We just joked about it. I'm not really willing to make that commitment. We have a hard enough time communicating in English sometimes, so we don't need more obstacles, right?

But I could do it if I was willing to make that kind of commitment. In a similar way, are you willing to make that kind of commitment to the Lord that your home will be devoted to the things of the Lord? That you, your children, would speak the language of the things of the Lord? Like Joshua, willing to say, as for me and my house,

He calls the people. He challenges the people. If it's evil for you to serve the Lord, if you don't want to make that choice, you're free to make that choice. But as for me and as for my house, we are going to be immersed in the things of the Lord. We're going to speak the language of the Lord. We're going to be devoted to the things of God. That's the heart that we need to have and that's the commitment that we need to make. And I'm convinced, I'm sure, God's probably spoken to you about your home before. Where are you at on those commitments?

Where are you at on the things that God has shown you and spoken to you? Do you need to repair some of those things that have been broken down and set your house back in order so that as for you and your house, you will serve the Lord? Well, going back to Nehemiah chapter 10 now, we see the third commitment that needs to be made or that was made. And that is commit your time to God. Commit your time to God. Verse 31 says...

Here they make a commitment regarding the Sabbath. Now the Sabbath day is the day

was primarily about rest. Sometimes we get it confused and we connect it to worship and there's a worship element to the Sabbath day, but primarily it's about rest. God rested on the seventh day of creation.

And so then he calls his people to rest on the seventh day. And so he gave them the Sabbath command. They were to rest on the seventh day. They were not to work on it. And then every seventh year they were to let the land rest and not plow the land and harvest it. And so he commanded his people to rest in the same way that he rested on the seventh day.

And here in Nehemiah chapter 10, they commit to once again keep this. We're going to be faithful. God wants us to rest on the Sabbath. And so we will keep the Sabbath a day of rest. That's the commitment they make. They seal it. They sign it. The people agree and say, yes, that's what we want. And then in Nehemiah chapter 13, if you want to jump there, when Nehemiah returns, he finds this condition. In verse 15 of Nehemiah 13 says,

It says,

Manage your time this way. Schedule yourself this way so that you have this amount of work and this amount of rest. That's the instruction God gave. That's the commitment that the people made in chapter 10. But when Nehemiah returns in chapter 13, he finds the people working on the Sabbath day and loading their donkeys and exchanging in commerce and bearing burdens and doing all the things that God had said, don't do that on the Sabbath day.

And so Nehemiah contends, it says in verse 17, with the nobles and says, what is this evil thing that you do? You profane the Sabbath day. And he takes steps to correct the issue. He insists, he commands, he goes to the gates of the city and says, close the gate. It's Sabbath day, close the gate. It's not to be opened on the Sabbath day.

Don't allow the commerce to take place and the people to bring in their... No, close the gates. He begins immediately to set things in order. And it says he posted his own servants at the gates in verse 19 to make sure that no burdens were brought in. And then some of the merchants who would come from the nearby areas, they kind of camped next to the wall, next to the gates when they found that the gates were closed.

And Nehemiah yells at them from the wall and says, hey, you guys better not do that. Stop that. And if you come back next time, I'm going to lay hands on you. He's taking some serious steps to make sure the Sabbath day is kept. He begins to set things in order. Again, what do you do when you find your commitments in disrepair, broken down? The thing to do is to start immediately to set things right.

Put things back where they go. And begin again to obey what God has instructed. Now, for us today, as members of the body of Christ, the New Testament church, the Sabbath law says,

is not in effect for us. So keeping the Saturday as the day of rest is not a legalistic thing that we have to keep. And Paul makes that very clear in the book of Galatians. The author of Hebrews deals with it. Jesus is our Sabbath rest. And so it's not about that specific thing or that legalistic type thing. But here's what I would ask. What commitments have you made to God about your time? That's what the Sabbath was about.

It was about God helping them to manage, to have good proportions of the different things in their lives so that they worked, but they also had time to rest. That they didn't become consumed with work, but that also they didn't just live lazy lives and never work. That it was God helping them to have balance in their lives.

And you and I, we all have things that we have to balance in life. We all have things competing for our time and we have, well, the constant fight of figuring out how much time to give to different things in our lives. Because time is such an issue for all of us, I can speak pretty confidently if you're walking with the Lord and hearing from the Lord, he's going to be speaking to you about your time and he's going to be calling you to invest time in certain things.

And I'm sure that God's spoken to you about your time in the past. He's given you instruction. And you've responded and maybe made some commitments to the Lord about your time. Now, where are you in those commitments that you've made? Where are you in those things that God has instructed you about your time? You see, balance is not, you know, does your life look exactly like somebody else's life because that's the perfect model.

It's not a formula. Balance is where you're at in regard to what God wants for you in your life. How much time does God want you to spend in these various things? Because God wants you to work. He does. He wants you to work. He wants you to earn money. He wants you to do that, but He also wants you to rest. And so there needs to be a balance between the amount of time you work and the amount of time you rest. Listen, God wants you to spend time with your family.

That's important. That's valuable. He wants you to do that. But he also wants you to fulfill your role in the body of Christ. And so there's a balance. You're going to have to balance this time, how much you're going to spend to each one. And he's the one who's in charge of who gets to say how much goes to each area of your life. Listen, God wants you to have hobbies. He wants you to be able to do things that you enjoy just for the enjoyment of it. But at the same time, God wants you to work.

And at the same time, God wants you to rest. And He wants you to spend time with your family. And He wants you to be involved and engaged in the body of Christ. He wants all of these things in your life. And we look at that and we're trying to juggle, you know, what we've got. And then something else comes in and we're like, how do I manage all this? We need to look to the Lord for Him to instruct us how much to work, how much to rest, how much time with the family, how much time engaged in the body of Christ, how much time doing the hobbies and things that we enjoy.

We need to let the Lord be the one who dictates how much time we spend on different things in our lives. And I'm sure God's spoken to you about that. But where are you at now? Let me share kind of a little example, but it's a repeating pattern in my life.

The pattern begins with some free time. I'll have maybe a free day. Maybe it's Christmas season or something. There's some time off. There's some things that aren't urgent. And so I'm able to just kind of relax a little bit. And so many times I'll be there sitting down relaxing and just thinking, you know, I want to just do something fun. And so let me find some kind of game in the App Store. And so I'll go on my iPad and I'll try to find some. What's new? What's free? You know, what's kind of...

What can I get that just looks like fun? And I'll begin to look around. Now, recently, I was doing that, and there was a new Star Wars game. And I was all excited. I was like, oh, you know, my favorite thing. And then a game that goes along with it is a fun game. And so I began to play it. And here's how the pattern goes. I find a game on that free day, that free time, and I begin to play it. I have a good time. And then, you know, I have other responsibilities. And so I go out and I take care of other things.

But then when I have another few moments or something, I begin to play that game again. And then I go take care of other things. And then I go play the game again. And then pretty soon, I'm playing the game more and more and more. And it's beginning to compete with actual responsibilities I have. Now, this is a pattern in my life. I know it. I'm very familiar with it because it happens over and over. And it's super predictable. And so when I found this Star Wars game, I was loathing the day that the Lord would tell me, you got to delete that game. Yeah.

And guess what? I'm preparing for the message this week. I'm looking at this, you know, time commitments and time proportions. And so God tells me, you got to delete that game. Like, no, I got so far. They just increased the level. I could get even more. But if I continue, if I disregard that, it's going to compete. It's going to take away from other things that God has called me to do. And so my time has to be surrendered to the Lord. Now,

In a month, a couple weeks, I might have some free time. I'll begin looking for a new game. The whole process will start over. And that's okay. As long as I continue to be submitted to the Lord. Hey, when you tell me to quit, I got to quit. It's okay to have fun. It's okay. It's not that it's bad. It's not that it's sinful. But I have to continue to keep my time submitted to God. Is your time committed to God? Is there things that God has spoken to you about your time that now...

You've laid aside what God has said and you're out of proportion in the way that you're spending your time. It's time to set things right. Like Nehemiah, he commanded, hey, close the gates. Shut off the opportunity. Get rid of the opportunity. He put a stop to it immediately. That's what we need to do. Take some drastic steps and do what God's told you to do regarding your time.

Well, the final commitment, number four, back in Nehemiah chapter 10, verse 32, is commit your finances to God. This is everybody's favorite subject. Verse 32, it says, Now, in the following verses, verses 32 through 39, it goes into a lot of detail, which we're not going to get into, but...

regarding their financial commitment. They were going to give their tithes. They were going to give their first fruits. They were going to give offerings and they were going to provide for the temple so that the priests and the Levites could serve at the temple and do the things that God had called them to do. In verse 39, at the end, their commitment was, we will not neglect the house of our God.

We're not going to neglect the house of God. We're going to give the way that God's called us to give. We're going to support and provide the way that God's called us to support and provide so that the work of God can continue. And so they commit to this and they say, we're going to be faithful. We're going to bring our offerings and provide for the house of God. But guess what happens? Time goes by.

commitments kind of start to fade away. In Nehemiah chapter 13, when Nehemiah returns in verse 10, it tells us, I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them. For each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field. Nehemiah comes back and he recognizes provision for the temple has not been coming in.

So that the priests and the Levites had to go to their own fields because the people weren't doing what they committed to do, what God called them to do. The priests and the Levites had to go back to their fields because they still had to provide for themselves and their families. And so they had to go back to work their own fields to be able to feed themselves and their families. The people were not being faithful to do what God called them to do and what they committed to do to the Lord.

And so it tells us in verse 11 that Nehemiah contends with the rulers and says, why is the house of God forsaken? And then in verse 12, then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil into the storehouse. And so again, immediately they began to correct the issue. They began to repair that broken commitment and do what they had committed to do. Now, what has God spoken to you about your finances?

What has God spoken to you about your giving? Now, this is not meant to be a legalistic thing. We're not going to take another offering. This isn't about that. This is about what has God spoken to your heart and where are you at in regard to what God has said to you? David Guzik tells us that the Bible says we need to be givers, not so much for the sake of those we give to you,

but because giving sets our heart right about material things. I'm not sharing these things for my sake or even for the sake of living water. But for your sake, giving sets our heart right about material things. And many times our hearts need to be set right. And God knows that. And so he instructs us and he tells us,

This is how I want you to give. This is how I want you to spend. This is what I want you to do with your finances. Now, technically, we could say they're not my finances. It's all God's. He's the one who gives to us and he's the one who has the authority to direct. This much goes to your retirement. This much goes to the mortgage. This much goes to food. This much goes to whatever. It's God who needs to be giving that direction to

on our finances. Now, one area of that is giving, and that's what they were committing to. We're going to make sure that we give to the Lord and that we allow the work of the Lord to continue at the temple. In the New Testament, it's a little bit different. Let me share with you what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9. In verse 6, Paul says, but this I say,

He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. There is not a law for us when it comes to giving. Instead, there's this instruction. Give as you purpose in your heart.

Give what you can give without grudging. If you're upset about it, if you're upset about giving to God, if you're upset about giving to the work of the Lord, if you're upset about giving, don't give. If you're giving out of necessity, I don't want to, I don't really like it, but I have to. He says, God loves a cheerful giver. So give what you purpose in your heart. What you can give cheerfully, that's what you need to give.

But there's some tension here. And notice the tension between verse 6 and 7. And if you take one of these by itself, you'll get a little bit out of balance. In verse 6, he says, if you sow sparingly, you're going to reap sparingly. But if you sow bountifully, you're going to reap bountifully. Now, you can take this out of balance and just isolate this verse, and many people do. And so it's like, yeah, give more, give more, give more, give more, so you can get more, get more, get more, get more, get more. But that's not what Paul is saying.

He is saying there's a proportionate response. If you sow bountifully, listen, God's going to bless you. But if you sow bountifully with a grudge or out of necessity because someone told you you have to, then, well, God looks at that different. He doesn't hold himself to standards that you set. He holds himself to standards that he has set. Give according to what God has put upon your heart. Give according to the purposes that he's put there that you can give cheerfully.

And then his promise is that you will reap bountifully. It's a promise. You will reap according to what you sow and he will bless. And maybe you're reaping sparingly. Maybe you're really struggling because you haven't been sowing in the way that God has instructed you. That's a possibility. Maybe you've been neglecting. Maybe there's some broken commitments that you need to repair.

But you know, it can apply to giving to the work of God, giving to the things of the Lord. It can apply to any aspect of your finances. God has the final say. And he's spoken to you about how to spend. He's spoken to you about how to earn, what to do with what you have. Where are you at in your commitments to him as he's been speaking to your hearts? That's the issue. That's the concern. Because again, giving sets our heart right about material things.

and our obedience to God about His instruction on different aspects of our spending. It's about our heart, and where's your heart in regard to the things of this world and in regard to the things of God? If your financial commitments to the Lord have been broken and fallen into disrepair, the thing to do is to start immediately to do what God's called you to do.

And so Nehemiah calls the meeting and says, let's get this straight. Let's get going again. Let's do what God's called us to do. And the people respond, that's what we need to do. Repair your broken commitments. Again, the greatest danger that we will face often is after the obvious dangers are dealt with. The wall has been completed. There's been a great victory. They have safety and security now. And oftentimes in our lives, when we're not in the midst of the fire, we're not in the midst of the fire.

It's when we face that great threat of slowly relaxing, stepping back, fading in our commitment, and allowing ourselves to engage in things that God has told us not to be engaged in. Compromise creeps in and disobedience takes place and our commitments are broken before the Lord. We need to check our hearts. We need to evaluate. Are there things that God has spoken to you that have fallen by the wayside?

This morning, God would say to you, it's time to renew those things. He's sending me this morning like he sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem to say, hey, get things in order. Now, you can see in chapter 13, if you look at some of the scriptures there, Nehemiah gets pretty serious. I mean, he gets so upset with people, he's pulling out hair and beating them like, hey, you be faithful to your commitment. So if you need us to lay hands on you after service, I'm just kidding. Okay.

But let me say, God wants you to do what you committed to him to do. Not in a legalistic way, not commitments that other people are putting on you, but you know the things that God has spoken to your heart. And you better be faithful to them. You better be faithful to them. Because if not, it's part of your heart wandering away from God. You be faithful to God and do what he's called you to do. If you've left your first love, God says, repent.

and do the first works. Go back and do what I've called you to do. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us, Lord, that you would refresh our memory and remind us of those things that you've spoken to us, Lord, that we might evaluate and understand where we're at. And Lord, those things that are out of line, those commitments that have been broken and fallen into disrepair, I pray, Lord, that you would give us the boldness, the strength, the

to recognize it and to not run from you, but Lord, to run back to you and to begin immediately to do the things that you've called us to do. Help us, Lord, to set things in order as you speak to our hearts, to live in accordance to your word and your will for us. Lord, we want to be pleasing to you. We want to live our lives to glorify you. So help us, Lord, to have balance in these things, to hear from you,

And as we respond, Lord, that we would be faithful in those commitments that we make. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.