Relentless Reform
Relentless Reform | Nehemiah 13:4–31
Christ Church East | A PCA Church in Jacksonville, Florida
How do you face the reality of relentless reform in your life? In the final sermon of our series through Nehemiah, Keith Dickerson walks through Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem. He finds God's people slipping back into compromise and calls them once more to be set apart for the Lord.
SERMON RECAP
I. The "Why" of Reform
When Nehemiah returned, he found that Eliashib the priest had cleared out a temple storeroom set apart for God's servants and given it to Tobiah, Nehemiah's old enemy. To be holy is to be set apart, removed from common use for God. When the reason for reform is pragmatism, doing whatever works, it gives way to compromise. Holiness and pragmatism are like oil and water. They don't mix.
II. The "What" of Reform
Four problems surfaced: Tobiah living in the temple, giving declining until the Levites left, the Sabbath turned into a market day, and marriages outside the faith. Different on the surface, they shared one root: what works for me and benefits me. Nehemiah's reforms were swift and uncomfortable. He threw out Tobiah's furniture, restored the tithe, and shut the city gates on the Sabbath. Holiness is rarely convenient or comfortable, which is exactly why compromise is so tempting.
III. The "How" of Reform
The book ends with the people breaking their promises yet again. Nehemiah's reforms didn't last, and his three prayers ask God to remember his covenant love. God answered in Jesus, the greater Nehemiah, who cleansed the temple and rose on the third day. There is no lasting reform apart from the risen Christ. United to him by faith, we die and rise with him again and again, dying to comfort and ease and finding life in repentance, humility, and hope.
The relentless reform in your life is authored by a God who has set you apart and who is faithful and worthy of your trust.
SCRIPTURE
Nehemiah 13:7
"I then discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, preparing for him a chamber in the courts of the house of God."
Nehemiah 13:8
"And I was very angry, and I threw all the household furniture of Tobiah out of the chamber."
Nehemiah 12:47
"And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron."
Nehemiah 13:14
"Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service."
Nehemiah 13:22
"Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love."
Nehemiah 13:31
"Remember me, O my God, for good."
John 2:19
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Romans 6:5
"For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his."
Also referenced: Nehemiah 13:4–6, 9–13, 15–21, 23–27; John 2:13–17
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway.
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