THEY ALL CONFESSED THEIR SINS!

You need to bring your sins and offensive attitudes and negative thoughts, Anger, cursing, hating, guilt present or past!  Stealing, coveting, cheating, evil thoughts,     making wicked plans against others, violence, pride, thinking you are better or best than others, 

The People of Israel Confess Their Sin

Nehemiah 9:1-38.   Then on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the People of Israel gathered for a fast, wearing burlap and faces smudged with dirt as signs of repentance.

The Israelites broke off all relations with foreigners, stood up, and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their parents.

While they stood there in their places, they read from the Book of The Revelation of GOD, their God, for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day they confessed and worshiped their GOD.

A group of Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani—stood on the platform and cried out to GOD, their God, in a loud voice.

The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, "On your feet! Bless GOD, your God, for ever and ever!" Blessed be your glorious name, exalted above all blessing and praise!

You're the one, GOD, you alone; You made the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all angels; The earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; You keep them all alive; heaven's angels worship you!

You're the one, GOD, the God who chose Abram And brought him from Ur of the Chaldees and changed his name to Abraham.

You found his heart to be steady and true to you and signed a covenant with him, A covenant to give him the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, The Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites, —to give it to his descendants. And you kept your word because you are righteous.

You saw the anguish of our parents in Egypt. You heard their cries at the Red Sea;

You amazed Pharaoh, his servants, and the people of his land with wonders and miracle-signs. You knew their bullying arrogance against your people; you made a name for yourself that lasts to this day.

You split the sea before them; they crossed through and never got their feet wet; You pitched their pursuers into the deep; they sank like a rock in the storm-tossed sea.

By day you led them with a Pillar of Cloud, and by night with a Pillar of Fire To show them the way they were to travel.

You came down onto Mount Sinai, you spoke to them out of heaven; You gave them instructions on how to live well, true teaching, sound rules and commands;

You introduced them to your Holy Sabbath; Through your servant Moses you decreed commands, rules, and instruction.

You gave bread from heaven for their hunger, you sent water from the rock for their thirst. You told them to enter and take the land, which you promised to give them.

But they, our ancestors, were arrogant; bullheaded, they wouldn't obey your commands.

They turned a deaf ear, they refused to remember the miracles you had done for them; They turned stubborn, got it into their heads to return to their Egyptian slavery. And you, a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, Incredibly patient, with tons of love— you didn't dump them.

Yes, even when they cast a sculpted calf and said, "This is your god Who brought you out of Egypt," and continued from bad to worse,

You in your amazing compassion didn't walk off and leave them in the desert. The Pillar of Cloud didn't leave them; daily it continued to show them their route; The Pillar of Fire did the same by night, showed them the right way to go.

You gave them your good Spirit to teach them to live wisely. You never stinted with your manna, gave them plenty of water to drink.

You supported them forty years in that desert; they had everything they needed; Their clothes didn't wear out and their feet never blistered.

You gave them kingdoms and peoples, establishing generous boundaries. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan.

You multiplied children for them, rivaling the stars in the night skies, And you brought them into the land that you promised their ancestors they would get and own.

Well, they entered all right, they took it and settled in. The Canaanites who lived there you brought to their knees before them. You turned over their land, kings, and peoples to do with as they pleased.

They took strong cities and fertile fields, they took over well-furnished houses, Cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, and lush, extensive orchards. And they ate, grew fat on the fat of the land; they reveled in your bountiful goodness.

But then they mutinied, rebelled against you, threw out your laws and killed your prophets, The very prophets who tried to get them back on your side— and then things went from bad to worse.

You turned them over to their enemies, who made life rough for them. But when they called out for help in their troubles you listened from heaven; And in keeping with your bottomless compassion you gave them saviors: Saviors who saved them from the cruel abuse of their enemies.

But as soon as they had it easy again they were right back at it—more evil. So you turned away and left them again to their fate, to the enemies who came right back. They cried out to you again; in your great compassion you heard and helped them again. This went on over and over and over.

You warned them to return to your Revelation, they responded with haughty arrogance: They flouted your commands, spurned your rules —the very words by which men and women live! They set their jaws in defiance, they turned their backs on you and didn't listen.

You put up with them year after year and warned them by your spirit through your prophets; But when they refused to listen you abandoned them to foreigners.

Still, because of your great compassion, you didn't make a total end to them. You didn't walk out and leave them for good; yes, you are a God of grace and compassion.

And now, our God, the great God, God majestic and terrible, loyal in covenant and love, Don't treat lightly the trouble that has come to us, to our kings and princes, our priests and prophets, Our ancestors, and all your people from the time of the Assyrian kings right down to today.

You are not to blame for all that has come down on us; You did everything right, we did everything wrong.

None of our kings, princes, priests, or ancestors followed your Revelation; They ignored your commands, dismissed the warnings you gave them.

Even when they had their own kingdom and were enjoying your generous goodness, Living in that spacious and fertile land that you spread out before them, They didn't serve you or turn their backs on the practice of evil.

And here we are, slaves again today; and here's the land you gave our ancestors So they could eat well and enjoy a good life, and now look at us—no better than slaves on this land.

Its wonderful crops go to the kings you put over us because of our sins; They act like they own our bodies and do whatever they like with our cattle. We're in deep trouble.

"Because of all this we are drawing up a binding pledge, a sealed document signed by our princes, our Levites, and our priests."

Neh 9:1-38

The solemn fast of assembled Israel. Notice three features in the people’s religious life.

1. Their confession of sin.

2. Their external reformation.

3. Their solemn adoption of the written word of God as the law of their life. Take these as representative, universal.

HUMILIATION AND CONFESSION.

1. Public and united as well as private and solitary. Great impressiveness in numbers. The heart needs the stimulus of contact with great waves of feeling. There is much in the expression of religious emotion to feed and sustain it.

2. The sense of sin should not be merely the acknowledgment of individual transgressions, but of moral helplessness. "They confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers." They recounted the history of Divine grace and the backslidings of his people. It kept alive in their hearts the sense of their utter dependence on the free, unmerited mercy of Jehovah.

3. The penitential spirit will clothe itself in an appropriate dress. The people fasted and put on sackcloth and earth, as signs of mourning and self-humiliation. We are not enjoined to adopt their religious customs, but there is a natural expression of penitence which is not formality or self-righteousness. Self-denial, simplicity of life and manners, practical remembrance of the nothingness of earthly things. "Moderation known unto all men."

THE REFORMATION OF THE OUTWARD LIFE. There are external conditions under which alone the true service of God can be fulfilled. Such are—

1. Complete separation from alliance with ungodly strangers. The uncompromising purity of our conversation is our only safeguard. The truly consecrated heart will renounce all for God. Often a sacrifice will be involved, but to give up the old life is to save the new.

2. Attention to the public observance of religious ordinances. The most humble and sanctified natures appreciate such opportunities the most. Neglect of the house of God is a sure sign of decay of the spiritual life. Nothing can be substituted for it. Solitary religion may be sincere, but it cannot be entirely healthy, and is generally apt to grow morbid. The consecrated gifts of God’s people are placed at our disposal by the mingling together of hearts and voices, and the use of a prepared expression of religious feeling.

3. The service of God in the daily life. "In the land which thou gavest unto our fathers;" "behold, we are servants in it." Religion must be made a reality, not only in the public assembly, but in the household, in the place of business, in the relations we sustain to fellow-men, in national life, in all the land.

THE SOLEMN COVENANT SEALED BY GOD’S PEOPLE, ADOPTION OF HIS WORD AS THE ONE ONLY LAW TO BE OBSERVED. "We make a sure covenant, and write it."

1. The covenant rests upon a covenant. We stand upon the ground which God himself has prepared for us—the history of his faithfulness and love in the past. We dare not undertake to live by the law of God except we have the assurance of his grace. The Old Testament is the precious support of our faith as we pledge ourselves to Christ in the new covenant of the gospel. We are able to surround ourselves with the cloud of witnesses.

2. The fellowship of faith our help. Those who have set their seals to the same writing hold up each other’s strength in the fulfilment of the vow. Princes, Levites, priests, with the people. God is no respecter of persons; but when all ranks and offices are united in his service, the confidence of all is maintained, and the spirit of brotherhood feeds the spirit of self-sacrifice.

3. Public consecration and profession of obedience should be the result of a deep, inward work of God’s Spirit, in the renewal of the heart and life. All rash vows are wrong; how much more those made in the name of religion! Because we repent and return to the Lord, we may safely make a covenant of faithfulness; but a mere sealing of the outward man, without a spiritual renovation, is a mockery and a snare.

4. Enlightenment should accompany all public religious acts. The people heard the word and understood it before they solemnly pledged themselves to keep the law. There can be no healthy revival of religion which is not founded on enlightenment. The great assemblies are easily moved to common action; but the preparation for it should be the clear, full, simple announcement of the gospel. We can never take too much account of the fact that the human heart deceives itself, that ignorance blinds, that selfishness and slothfulness hide the wonders of the past and the dangers of the future. The whole word of God should be the foundation on which religious life is built up.—R

The Inability of the Law to Sanctify

This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Gal 3:2-3)

The first question here in Galatians 3 again brings to mind issues of justification. "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" We received the Holy Spirit of God to dwell in our lives when we were born again, when we became children of God. This is also when the Lord declared us justified, righteous in His sight.

How did the Spirit come to indwell us? Was it by our performance, attempting to live up to the law of God? No, it was "by the hearing of faith." We heard the good news that Christ died for our sins. 

We heard the truth that Jesus could forgive us of our unrighteousness.

Faith was stirred in our hearts as we considered that grand message. 

In simple, humble faith, we asked the Lord Jesus to come into our lives, to be our personal Savior.

 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).

The next two questions apply this same biblical reasoning to sanctification. "Are you so foolish? 

Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" To think that we can advance the process of sanctification (that is, progressive transformation unto Christlikeness) 

by our own human resources (that is, by the flesh) is spiritual foolishness.

What a staggering thought! Just as we could never secure justification by our own best efforts, so it is true that we can never increase personal sanctification by our own best efforts. 

Yes, "The just shall live by faith," initially and continually!

Dear Lord, I praise Your holy name for justifying me by faith in Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I am so grateful that such a blessing did not depend upon my personal ability or merit. 

My heart is both convicted and encouraged that sanctification is by faith as well.

 I am convicted, because I have often thought and acted as though I could effect more practical righteousness by my own resources.

 I am encouraged that there is a way that actually works, and it depends upon trusting in You. 

O Lord, please remind me of this glorious, gracious provision day by day, in Jesus name, Amen.