| Introduction In a few moments, baby Titus will be baptized. His baptism will set him apart as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. He will be ingrafted into the covenant community of God and will be part of the Body of Christ. In less theological terms, his baptism will make him a member of this church where, alongside the home, he will be directed to Christ. We will look forward to the day when he will profess his own faith in Jesus Christ. This morning, I would like for us to think about this idea of being set apart. The Israelites of Nehemiah's time had come back from exile a few decades earlier. They came back on fire for the Lord and immediately began the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem (Haggai). After a couple of years, their excitement for the Lord died down. Their commitment to his Word waned. They forgot their identity as the people of God and opened themselves to the worldviews of the peoples of the land by marrying men and women who did not know the Lord. In God's good providence, Ezra preached the Word of God to them (chpt. 8). The Spirit of God got hold of their hearts and one of the consequences of the work of the Spirit in their hearts was their remembering their identity as they holy people of God (9:2). After their eyes are opened to see the greatness of God, the wickedness of their sin, and the Lord's abundant mercy in dealing with them, they make a commitment to live out their identity as the holy people of God. That commitment is what chpt. 10 is all about. I. What Does It Mean to Be Separated from the Peoples of the Land, 28. A. Being separate means the same thing as being set apart and being holy, and always implies a specific purpose – we will see what this purpose is in a moment. B. First, I want you to see that the history of redemption is the history of God setting apart a people to himself. 1. After the Fall, he set apart Seth and his children as the line of redemption. 2. He, then, from the line of Seth, called Noah and set him and his family apart. 3. From Noah, God set apart Abram and his family out Ur of the Chaldeans, out of paganism, to continue the line of redemption over against every other descendant of Noah. 4. After Abraham was established, God set apart Isaac as the child of the promise. 5. When Isaac had sons, God set apart Jacob to continue his plan of redemption. 6. From Jacob/Israel, God set apart his own Son to accomplish the redemption for which God had been preparing his people since the beginning of time when he promises that the son of the woman would crush the serpents head. 7. In Christ, God is setting apart a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue. a. All this setting apart had one purpose: the praise of his great name! b. The great scene of heaven in Revelation shows that all of history exists for the praise of God's great name and the climax of it will be the gathering of the Church that was set apart for him. Rev. 5:8-14– Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth." Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power beto Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!" Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. Eph. 1:4-6– just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. C. This notion of being set apart is so important to God that he calls his people both in the Old and New Testaments a holy nation. 1 Pt. 2:9-10– … you area chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once werenot a people but arenow the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. D.Not only the corporate church as the people of God has been set apart for the specific purposes of honoring God's name, each individual Christian has also been set apart for that same purpose. Heb. 3:1– Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus…. 1 Pt. 1:13-16– Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest yourhope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, asin your ignorance; but as He who called you isholy, you also be holy in all yourconduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Pt. 2:5– … you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. E. We are set apart by the Holy Spirit because of the work of Christ. Col. 1:13-14– He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed usinto the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. F. Through the preaching of the Word of God, Nehemiah's compatriots realized that their identity wasn't in being like the peoples of the land, but in being a holy people, set apart for a holy God with the purposes of honoring his name. II. A Holy Identity Leads to Holiness of Life A. Once the people of God came to grips with whom they were and owned their identity as a people who had been set apart for God, they make a commitment to holiness of life, that is, a life lived within the boundaries of the Word of God, 9:38, 10:28-29. 1. When a Christian understands who God is, who he is, and what God has done for him/her in Christ, the only logical and biblical outcome is holiness of life. 2. Notice that Nehemiah describes all of them as fromand topeople: from the peoples of the land and to the law of God. a. From the world to God as identified by his law. b. They see themselves at that moment as sojourners and pilgrims in this world. c. That too is our identity. 1 Pt. 2:11-12– Beloved, I beg youas sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, byyourgood works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. B. The covenant they make with God and one another is a commitment to obey God. 1. As obvious as this might sound, the leaders led the people in this commitment to holiness, 1-27. a. Federal government officials, 1-8; b. Ecclesiastical leaders, 9-13 c. Local officials, 14-27. 2. The people willingly followed their civil and ecclesiastical leaders, 28-29. 3. Notice that the obedience they commit themselves to is objectively defined for everyone of them. a. They go beyond an amorphous and abstract notion of obedience. b. They specify what that obedience looks like in concrete ways, 30-39. "Collectively, they were convicted by the demands of Scripture. Corporate and personal sin had been exposed. Wearing sackcloth and with dirt… on their heads, they expressed their sorrow for their failure and transgression…. But it was not enough tosaythat they were sorry; they needed to express the sincerity of their desire to serve the Lord wholeheartedly and passionately. Repentance, after all includes both a turning fromand a turning toward." Derek Thomas C. Notice that the commitment described in this chapter is not a casual commitment. 1. It is not one that is confined to an hour on Sunday morning. 2. It is not "part" of life. "It was life-changing and total in scope. Their children's marriages, their personal time and possessions – everythingwas held in stewardship to the Lord, to be used for him and his kingdom." Derek Thomas 3. Theodore Monod, a rare French Reformed pastor, captured in his hymn O the Bitter Shame and Sorrowthe experience that Nehemiah and Israel went through and the experience that Christians often go through. O the bitter shame and sorrow, that a time could ever be, when I let the Savior's pity plead in vain, and proudly answered, "All of self, and none of Thee! All of self, and none of Thee!" Yet He found me; I beheld Him bleeding on th'accursed tree, heard Him pray, "Forgive them, Father!" And my wistful heart said faintly, "Some of self, and some of Thee! Some of self, and some of Thee!" Day by day His tender mercy, healing, helping, full and free, sweet and strong, and ah! so patient, brought me lower, while I whispered, "Less of self, and more of Thee! Less of self, and more of Thee!" Higher than the highest heavens, deeper than the deepest sea, Lord, Thy love at last hath conquered; grant me now my supplication,— "None of self, and all of Thee! None of self, and all of Thee!" III. The Commitments of Holiness, 30-39. A. They identified four commitments of holiness that were representative of the entire law of God and these four commitments are representative for us today because encompass all of life. B. These are markers that identify you and me as people of God. C. They are not readily intuitive in the sense that we would on our own pick them as identifying characteristics of the people of God, but they make a lot of sense. D.The four commitments they make are the following: 1. An unwavering commitment to the sanctify of marriage, 30 (13:23-31); 2. An unwavering commitment to the Sabbath day, 31 (13:14-22); 3. An unwavering commitment to the worship of God, 32-34; 4. An unwavering commitment to tithing, 35-39. E. We are not going to look at each one of them in detail today, but I do want us to see that they together encompass all of life. 1. Marriage was created with the primary purpose of displaying for all to see how Christ relates to his Church and his Church relates to Christ. a. So, it makes all sense in the world that a people have been set apart for the specific purpose of bringing great praise to the name of God would be committed to biblically defined marriage. b. That commitment here is demonstrated by covenant marriages between people who love the Lord. 2. The Sabbath day is representative of every day belonging to the Lord. a. One day in seven when we are reminded that every other day is the Lord's. b. Often when one day is not the Lord's, no day is the Lord's. 3. There was no cost that was high enough to keep them from worshiping the Lord – they didn't view worshiping God corporately as a matter of convenience, but a matter of necessity to which they were willing to give their most precious resources. 4. A commitment to tithing, much like the commitment to the Sabbath, is a demonstration that all belongs to the Lord – these two commitments show a willingness to give to the Lord the two most precious commodities that we have: time and money.
Like the people of Nehemiah's day, we have been set apart for the specific purpose of bringing honor to the name of God. We hear the Word of God preached. The Spirit works in us. We behold the greatness of God through Jesus Christ. We commit ourselves to be a holy people for a holy God.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-holy-people-for-holy-god-nehemiah-10.html
|  | Send olympiabp blog feed to OBPC Podcast |  |
Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.  |
