A Declaration of Dependence

Tucked inside all of the pomp and circumstance are these words, and on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar. The joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar. The people had returned to joy. It's more than the reestablishment of a choir.

It's more than bricks and mortar. It was the restoration of joy. True revival isn't just about external actions, but an internal surrender, depending fully on God. This echoes America's Declaration of Independence, where our founders pledged reliance on divine providence.

The Jews in Nehemiah 10-12 demonstrated what this looks like in practice. Today on Wisdom for the Heart, we'll explore together how to live with that same spirit of dependence, not only reforming how we act, but who we are at the very core. Stephen Davey is the president of Wisdom International. He called this message, Declaration of Dependence. Let's get started. On July 4, 1776, in the city of Philadelphia, one of the historic documents of our young nation was signed, called the Declaration of Independence. It marked the birth of our nation under God. The closing words of that document solemnly declared these words, With a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. The 56 courageous men who signed this document understood that it was more than simple rhetoric, that it would indeed cost them, and they expected nothing less than total commitment to that declaration.

The Declaration of Independence is in reality a declaration of dependence upon each other and their providential God. I thought about that as I studied again in chapter 10. In our last two sessions, we have watched the nation Israel in revival, and it began with this hunger for the word of God and a willingness to obey it. They were a people who were literally rebibled, for any revival is nothing short of the word of God flowing in and through the life of a revived believer. Their revival also included true confession and a mourning over their sin. I have defined revival for our study today by simply taking the events of Nehemiah's revival and the people there, as evidenced in this book, articulating what happened in their lives and that which is timeless and should be true in our lives when true revival comes.

Let's read it together. Revival is, reading with me, a movement of God's Spirit in the believer's life that produces both private confession of sin and public obedience to the scriptures. The outward behavior of a revived believer will be marked with God's pleasure as their highest priority.

That priority will undeniably impact personal relationships, financial decisions, and lifestyle choices. In other words, revival is hard work. It involves persistence and humility.

It involves submission to the word and obedience. One author said it this way, revival is a lot like remodeling your kitchen. It takes longer than you planned, it makes a bigger mess than you ever thought possible, and it costs more than you hoped. Revival is when your life is remodeled.

It is inconvenient, it is upsetting, and life changing. You cannot determine when it will come. It is the gift of God's Spirit to reawaken the slumbering eyes of a believer in need of revival. We cannot announce on the church lawn that we're going to have revival in the second and third week of June. But we do pray that God will awaken our eyes to the wonders of his character and to the wonders of his law. We pray that God will blow upon the smoldering embers of our heart and reignite them to flame again for himself and for his people and for his cause. You pray like David prayed, oh God, revive us again. Revival, my friends, is not so much about emotion as it is about action. In fact, the emotion of revival is soon followed by the action of revival, and that's where we are in Nehemiah chapter 10.

It revealed the action of the Jewish people, action that proved that revival was authentic and genuine. And I just want to go through this quickly and point out for you four evidences of true revival. And as you go through this with me, take spiritual inventory in your own life, compare your spiritual experience with the four things that you find here and see where you are. Ask God to make the reality of your walk a conscious thing to your heart and life.

Number one, revival is experienced when you rededicate your feet to follow after God's precepts. Let's begin in verse one. Now on the sealed document were the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah. I think it's interesting that he signed first as the civil leader.

He is leading by setting the example. Then what follows are a list of names, as I mentioned before, I could easily pronounce them if we had time, but we don't have time, so just skip down to verse 28. Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding, are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God's law, which was given through Moses, God's servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord and his ordinances and his statutes. What I find interesting, men and women, is that they had only recently blown the dust off the book of the law, and they heard it read to them, those first five books of Moses, for the first time in their entire lives. And after the first hearing, they respond like this, they sign this declaration as they pursue, as it were, spiritual freedom, they knew that this was indeed what they were hearing, God's word, it was binding, it was authoritative over their lives, it was not an optional guide, it was in fact the will of God. Is there a New Testament counterpoint for this attitude and passion for the word?

Yes. In Colossians 3, Paul challenged the believers to allow the word of God to dwell richly within them with all wisdom. The word dwell could be translated to take residence in. In other words, you let the word of God move into your life, move into the home of your heart. A revival occurs in the life of a believer when he or she rolls out the welcome mat for the word. Let the word of Christ live in you richly.

It's a good word, you could translate it extravagantly. In other words, the word knows no boundaries in your life, you haven't fenced it in, is what he's saying. You don't say to the word, come into my life, but then stay over in that corner over there. Whatever you do, don't come out, don't come out of that closet or that corner until I call for you.

Whatever you do, don't come out into the family room, don't come out into the television room, don't come out into the bedroom. You stay over there in the corner of my life. Paul is saying, no, in effect, if you want to be a revived believer, you allow the word to have full reign, to have extravagant reign in your life, it can go anywhere it wants.

It can invade any compartment, any department of your walk and your existence. Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you. The people in Nehemiah's day were saying nothing short of this. They were in effect saying, we will allow the word of God to determine our lifestyle. Go back to verse 29 again, the latter part, they declared, we will walk in God's law, we will keep and observe all the commandments of God our Lord and his ordinances and his statutes. In other words, the word will determine our walk. Have you ever had a time in your life as a believer when you have sat down and you have said in your heart to God, God, whatever your word says, I will do it. Whatever I discover in your word that is for my life, I will obey and I will follow it. That is the sign of a revived believer and that's quite a statement.

That is what the world needs to observe in you, by the way. At Colonial, the word of God is not optional. It is essential and people are hungry to worship this God revealed in the Bible. They are hungry not for what man says, but for what God has already said. Revival in a church and in the life of a believer is when you rededicate the path of your feet to follow after what God has already said. God, you said it and I will obey it. Secondly, revival occurs in the life of a believer who rededicates their family to a lifestyle of biblical purity. Verse 30, and we, as they declare further, will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. This is quite a statement. It doesn't mean a lot to us today because our culture is so different than their culture.

Obviously, our parents today do not pick out the children's spouses, although the older my children become, the more attractive that idea is to me. The timeless principle that transcends cultures and generations is this statement. They were in effect saying, we will accept the importance of godly relationships. The New Testament counter passage, by the way, that reveals the same principle is in 2 Corinthians chapter 6.

Why don't you turn to that chapter and look at verse 14. Do not be bound together with unbelievers. Your translation may read, do not be unequally yoked. Now in Paul's day, the concept of an unequal yoke was used primarily in relation to marriage.

It could affect their business practices. Primarily, it was used in relation to marriage. Simply put, he was saying, do not be married to an unbeliever. Do not choose an unbeliever as your spouse. Some of you may already be married to unbelievers. Perhaps you came to faith in Christ after your wedding, or perhaps you discovered the reality of your spouse's relationship to Christ was pseudo-spiritual and it was only after marriage you discovered the truth. Those of you in marriages with an unbelieving spouse, Paul makes it very clear in 1 Corinthians 7 that the believing spouse is not to send away the unbelieving spouse, but to remain there and Paul says you actually act as a sanctifying holy influence over that unbelieving spouse and those children whom you hope to win to faith in Christ. So you stay and you become a testimony to the grace of God. But for those of you that are choosing, as it were, for those of you that are not yet yoked together, don't be yoked together with an unbeliever.

You say, well, why shouldn't a believer marry an unbeliever? Well, Paul goes on in the passage to turn the question back to the one who would argue that point by asking questions like, verse 15, what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. You could apply the principle of separation here to the business world. Don't become bound in business with unbelievers.

And frankly, there isn't more to tell us where and how to draw the line. We happen to live in a world of unbelievers. We do business daily with unbelievers. In fact, even in our world of relationships, if you didn't have relationships with unbelievers, how could you ever win them to faith in Christ? Do you hear to be salt and light? How can they hear unless they have a preacher or messenger?

Go to them. The point is that you need to ask God how and where to draw the line in personal relationships and in business relationships. There is a financial planner in our church who called me a few months ago asking advice about handling the investments of a religious cult. He was troubled in knowing that if he helped them financially, he would indirectly be aiding in the spreading of their propaganda, so he turned them down. And by turning them down, he lost financial gain himself.

I admired him in that setting for his courage and his conviction. I wonder how many business owners today are actively seeking, how many men and women in the business community are actively seeking to reveal this principle of separation. Even though you are in among that crowd, you are separate from that crowd.

How do you do that? Well frankly, I happen to believe that one of the reasons revival has been hindered in our generation is because we as believers no longer wrestle, grapple, struggle with the issues of godly separation, godly distinction. In fact, we have thrown off as legalism any piety, any distinction, any conviction that makes us different.

Maybe you must be a legalist. If pressed, could you name at least five things that you or your family do not do or do that just about everybody else around you does not do or does? And the only answer you could give if asked is because I am a Christian. Talk about sounding strange. What do you want us to be, Stephen? Fanatics? Yes, I do. God's Word says come out from among them and be separate. What does that mean, do you know? In your own life?

I can't tell you up here what that means. Do you know how your life is different from an unbeliever's life? Do you know how to apply godly separation in your personal walk and your relationships? My friend, I am convinced that if you can't find at least five ways in which you are different from an unbeliever, you are probably in need of revival.

Chuck Swindoll quoted Keith Miller in his commentary on this topic and he said this, It has never ceased to amaze me that we Christians have developed a kind of selective vision which allows us to be deeply and sincerely involved in worship and church activities and yet almost totally pagan in the day in, day out business of our lives and never even realize it. Swindoll went on to add, We won't care if anyone else in the world lives by the Word. We will live by it.

It will be our guide. We won't shrug our shoulders and yawn and say it doesn't matter when our kids want to mix and mingle with the crowd. Our homes will be distinct.

Our philosophy of life will not be like that of those who live outside the walls. This is our promise to you, O God. Revival is when a believer has his feet affected and his family or personal relationships affected as well.

Third, revival is when you rededicate your faith to trust in God's providence. Go back to Nehemiah chapter 10 and look at verse 31. As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day and we will forego the crops the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. Now, they have just signed their names here to this declaration and stated that they would not do three things that the rest of the world did. Number one, they said we won't do business on the Sabbath. Number two, we won't plant crops in the seventh year. And number three, we will forgive any debt owed to us by a fellow Jew on the seventh year.

Now, this was unique to the nation Israel in its specific application. In fact, Paul made it clear in Galatians chapter 4 that believers are no longer bound to the Sabbath. In fact, in the believer's life today in this era or dispensation of grace, every day is holy. You can worship God and we could as a body on Monday or Friday or Sunday.

The reason we have chosen to worship on Sunday is that precedent set in the book of Acts where the believers began to worship on the first day of the week because or in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the chief shepherd of the church. These were unique to the nation, but the principle is timeless. Jews were to trust God to provide for them. Can you imagine being a farmer and not planting any crops on the seventh year? That means that whatever you've harvested in the sixth year would have to last you for two years. Can you imagine wiping every loan off of your books that others owed to you every seventh year? I mean, can you imagine loaning anything to anybody on the sixth year? On Christmas of the sixth year.

December, probably not. You see, this was God's built-in curriculum on faith and every Israelite had to enroll. This course title would have been something like How to Trust in God's Provision.

And this particular course could not be audited. It could not be skipped. It had to be taken by every Jew. It was God's way of reminding them as they sought to be revived that He ultimately is the provider. And you have discovered in your life, haven't you, as well as I have discovered, that we are at our spiritual best when we have to completely trust in God for provision.

Along that same line is the last evidence of true revival. Revival is when you rededicate your finances to acknowledge God's priorities. Now in chapter 10 and in chapter 12, that we're just going to look at very briefly as the ceremony winds up, the walls are dedicated, the choirs are singing with great joy, but back in chapter 10 here at verse 32, you notice how they're going to devote whatever is necessary to maintain the house of worship. We also placed ourselves under obligation to contribute yearly one-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God, for the showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burn offering, the Sabbaths, the new moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel and all the work of the house our God. Likewise, verse 34, we cast lots for the supply of wood among the priests, the Levites, and the people so that they might bring it to the house of our God according to our Father's households at fixed times annually to burn on the altar of the Lord our God as it is written in the law.

I skipped to the last part of verse 39. It sort of sums up their declaration as it relates to this particular attitude and action. Thus, we will not neglect the house of our God.

Worship would become of primary importance to the people again. I agree with Warren Wiersbe who wrote on this passage these words, where there is true spiritual revival, it will reveal itself in the way that we support God's work beginning in our own local church. The mark of a revived believer is an open hand.

The mark of a believer in need of revival is a closed fist. And frankly, when I am ever in the position as we deal with texts going through books that deals with the subject of money, I know that it is the most sensitive subject of all to teach or preach on. I'm convinced, as one man said, that the most sensitive nerve in the human body runs from the heart directly to the back pocket. But I am also equally convinced, as one author said, that we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. Let me tell you something that's true about me and it's true about you, I believe, as well. There is something profoundly revealing about my soul and what I do with my money. In fact, one author said that the greatest test and revelation of your character is the register in your checkbook.

I believe it. That represents your blood, sweat, and tears. That's what you've been out there earning, and what you do with that reveals more about you than perhaps anything else. In fact, Jesus Christ said it all when he said it this way.

Wherever your money is, that's where your heart is. But revival comes in and finances are reordered. We happen to live in a culture that says, get, get, get, get, get. Somehow God slips back into the picture and our priority is rearranged. There is a revival of our soul. There is a revival of our finances. There is a revival within our relationships. There is a revival in our will. There is a revival of our all to our great and wonderful, holy and gracious God who has lavished upon us his grace. We cannot help but give back to him. There are some things revived believers just can't do.

Let me give you three as we wrap it up. A revived believer cannot stay selfish. Second of all, a revived believer can't keep silent.

You're going to talk about the one you love. A revived believer can't remain sorrowful. If you turn over to chapter 12, the choirs now are ending this ceremony as they proceed along the wall. They've mentioned other dignitaries. They've mentioned the resurgence of that worship and now this great ceremony is taking place and coming to its conclusion.

The declaration has been signed. The people have vowed to keep their God and the worship of him their highest priority. I love verse 43. Tucked inside all of the pomp and circumstance are these words. On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced because God had given them great joy. Even the women and children rejoiced so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar. The joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar. The people had returned to joy. It's more than ceremony. It's more than the reestablishment of a choir.

It's more than bricks and mortar. It was the restoration of joy. I think if some Christians were honest with themselves, they'd realize that they're not sure that they really want revival.

That's because they've become content with the way things are. They're concerned that life may not be as much fun if God brought revival to their hearts. The truth is, when God brings revival, it's accompanied by great joy.

Yes, your life may have to change, but you'll find that when the desires of your heart are aligned with God's heart, there is contentment and joy. What a great reminder today. You're listening to Wisdom for the Heart, the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey. Stephen is the president of Wisdom International. In addition, Stephen is also the founder and president of Shepherds Theological Seminary.

He founded that school out of a desire to train men and women for a lifetime of service. The focus of an education at Shepherds Seminary is to gain the skill and knowledge to teach God's Word faithfully. If you or someone you know is interested in pastoral ministry, I encourage you to consider coming here to Cary, North Carolina, and studying at Shepherds.

Stephen has assembled a world-class faculty that is eager to invest in you. For some students, there's an opportunity to gain a seminary degree for free. If you're interested in pastoral ministry upon graduation, if you're willing to relocate to Cary and study in person, and if you can commit to being a full-time student, this opportunity might be for you. If you'd like to speak with someone at Shepherds Seminary and learn more, visit wisdomonline.org forward slash STS. Once again, that's wisdomonline.org forward slash STS.

That link will direct you right to the school, and you can explore the information or call the staff there for more information. Our ministry heard from a listener who wrote to say this, I listen to you all the time. I cannot tell you how much your teaching and reading materials have helped me develop a better relationship with God. Your ministry is in my prayers. I pray that you'll continue to grow and impact people around the world. That came from Jane who listens right here in North Carolina, and it's true. We currently have resources in nine languages that are being accessed by people in 150 countries. We're incredibly grateful to the Lord, and we're thankful for our financial partners who make it possible. Be sure and join us next time to discover more wisdom for the heart. ...