We begin by asking this question, when has true revival occurred in a life? What are the characteristic features of true biblical revival? And suggested by the book of Nehemiah are at least seven features which accompany true biblical revival. As per chapters 8 and 9 of Nehemiah, there are six features. And they are as follows. First, where there is true revival, there will be a renewed passion, a renewed passion and desire for the word of God. That's evident from chapter 8. Secondly, there will be an overwhelming sense of conviction marked by brokenness and contrition over one's sins. That is also in chapter 8, and that is even more pronounced in chapter 9, as we saw last week. And in this regard, we come to see that the true nature of revival, the true nature of revival is marked. One such feature is an acute sense of sin. One comes to see sin in a new light, in a new dimension. One comes to see sin for what it is. One comes to see sin from God's perspective. And then thirdly, there will be a rediscovery of the priority of prayer. Fourthly, there will be an honest, unreserved confession of sin, verses 26 through 29 of chapter 9. There will be no attempt at covering up or sugarcoating sin. We'll call a spade a spade. And fifthly, there will be enlarged views of God in terms of His glory, in terms of His majesty, His sovereignty, His power, verses 6 and following. Then a sixth feature, there will be passionate, heartfelt worship. We see that in verses 3 through 5 of chapter 9. And what then is the seventh characteristic feature of a spiritual awakening, of true biblical spiritual revival? In a word, it could be described as consecration, consecration. And by that we mean a decided commitment to devote one's life to the pursuit of righteousness, holiness, godly living, to the glory of God. A commitment to be sold out entirely and wholeheartedly to God and for God. And that's what we find here in Nehemiah chapter 10, which we want to look at this evening. And where there's not this element of consecration, then any claim of spiritual revival is really without substance. And I want to submit to you that a renewed desire for the word of God, though good, though commendable, is not in and of itself revival. In fact, Jesus in his parable of the sower mentioned, he made reference to those who having heard the word of God, received it with joy, and yet endure only for a while." There are people who get excited about the Word of God, they have renewed enthusiasm for the Word of God, for listening to preaching of the Word of God, but then they just peter out and that's where it all ends. There are many who are impacted by the allure and appeal of the emotions by what they deem stirrings of the heart toward God, and they regard that as the be-all and end-all of the Christian life, of the spiritual life. And yet the truth is that true revival which stems from the sovereign work of God upon the hearts of God's people of necessity issues in moral and spiritual transformation. And this is most crucial because the Apostle James reminds us in James chapter 2 and verse 19 that even the demons believe and tremble. We always have to bear that in mind. We cannot just go on one or two indicators in our lives suggesting that we are really there where God would have us to be. Just because there have been great emotional stirring, bringing with it tears, does not mean that true revival has taken place. There are people sometimes, they'll shed tears. They hear the claims of God upon their lives, and they realize sin in their life, things that need to be taken care of. They shed tears, and yet that in and of itself is not revival. In fact, the prophet Malachi pointed out to the people in his day this very situation. We read in Malachi 2.13 of one of his many indictments against Israel. He charged Israel, and here's what he says to them in Malachi 2.13, and this second thing you do, you cover the Lord's altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand." And of course, Malachi was not remiss in letting them know why God did not react, why God did not respond to all their crying and tears. He says in verse 14, he tells it in verse 14 that they, in a nutshell, that they were leading sinful lives. You see, as far as God is concerned, crying, if it does not lead to change, if it does not lead to commitment, if it does not lead to consecration of hearts and lives to God, is worthless. Tears, if they do not lead to transformation, is nothing but a sham and mockery. Contrition or sorrow for sin, then, is more than just an emotional affair. Why are we saying this this afternoon? Because in many, many circles, in many places, the word revival is being bandied about, and what is happening is people look at some of the things we're talking about, shedding of tears, enthusiasm, and they say revival has taken place. Also, we need to make the point that a display of passionate, enthused worship is not, in and of itself, a guaranteed indicator of a spiritual awakening. I think one of the biggest blunders, one of the biggest mistakes that many make in our time is just along this line, mistaking spiritedness in worship for revival. Yes, revival is often marked by great fervor, by passion, by enthusiasm. We see, for example, in Nehemiah chapter 9, 3 and 4, we find there that when the people of Israel read from the Book of the Law, the Scriptures, they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. There's something about when God moves mightily upon his people, when the Word of God hits home, The word of God sometimes brings emotional responses. And yet, these emotional responses we are saying are not in and of themselves indicators, true indicators, of biblical revival. You would have heard the name Jonathan Edwards. And Jonathan Edwards was a prominent figure during the 18th century revivals in New England. Jonathan Edwards comments on the phenomenon of what we would today call enthusiasm. People are getting excited and all emotional. And here's what Jonathan Edwards wrote. Jonathan Edwards wrote this. He says, some are ready to condemn all intense affections. They are immediately prejudiced when they see people raising their religious affections to a high pitch, and without further consideration, dismiss these affections as delusions. But if true religion lies deeply within the religious affections, then there will be great affections in a rich quality of true faith. So what was happening here? Notice, Jonathan Edwards was not knocking. He was not discarding. emotions in worship. And yet Edwards cautions, Edwards cautions, however, that there are false signs of religious affections of which one needs to be wary. He points out, for example, that intensity of feelings manifested by such bodily expressions as trembling, groaning, crying out, shouting, are no conclusive evidence of genuine religion. So here's what Edwards concludes, and here's where we're getting at with our study this afternoon. According to Edwards, much fluent and fervent talk is no evidence of genuine religion. He points out that the Pharisees taught much about their religion, and yet Jesus condemned them for being hypocrites. And he says something that When I read it, it really requires some thinking. He says this, if Satan could bring scripture to Jesus' mind, then he's able to bring scripture to our mind in a deceptive way so as to induce a great religious feeling within us. You know, that's what's happening in many places today. People hear the Word of God, they are enthused about the Word of God, but that's where it stops. And James says the demons do just that. They believe and they tremble. And there are a host of other things of which Edwards warns that they are not necessarily conclusive signs of true, genuine religion. And here is his conclusion. Genuine religion with its expressions of enthusiasm will change us, making us more Christ-like. That's where it's at. So having said all that, We make the point that in Nehemiah's day, the people did not fall short of true, genuine revival. For culminating their prayer in chapter 9 and verse 38 was that most crucial, critical component of revival we're talking about, namely consecration, in which they set out to change the course of their lives What was the nature of their consecration? Very quickly as we go through this passage, first of all, notice it was marked by resolution. Their consecration was marked by resolution. It was marked by a firm pledge and vow to serve God. Look at verse 38. He says there, because of this we make a firm covenant in writing on the seal documents are the names of our princes or Levites and priests and all the way through through chapter 10 verses 28 and following, we notice there how they carried through with their resolution. You see, when we come to see something of the majesty, something of the glory of God, when we come to see how sinful we are, and more so when we come to understand the grace of God in dealing with us, then we'll come to find it most reasonable to vow to him our love and our service." A vow speaks of what? Resolve. It speaks of decided intention to carry out some purpose. And there's a saying that goes, if you aim at nothing, you will surely hit it. What's the point here? In other words, the idea here of how we see the people making, the lesson here for you and me is this, that we have said this time and again, you know this, yet it bears repeating, that serving God requires intentionality, it requires purpose, it requires resolution. That's what the people of Nehemiah's day did. They vowed to serve God. They said in verse 38, because of all this, we make a firm covenant in writing. Like any other worthwhile endeavor, serving God calls for intention. Consider the fine examples of holy resolution we have in Scripture. Joshua, when the people of his day were going contrary to God, here was Joshua's resolution. In Joshua 24 and verse 15, he says, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Psalm 101, 4 through 6, we hear the psalmist pledging to serve the Lord in specific ways. In Psalm 17, verse 3, he says this, I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself. Daniel chapter 1 and verse 8. The Apostle Paul was a man of resolutions when it came to serving God. He expressed serious intention to serve the Lord when he declared in Philippians 1 verse 20, here's what he says, It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. Let me ask the question this evening. I ask it by way of challenge, and I challenge my own life. Is there in your life some kind, it might not be a formal vow, but is there some kind of serious intention to make God the Lord of your life? I know that expression carries with it some problems, but you know what I mean. I'm saying here, is there an intentionality to put God above everything else in our lives, to serve Him, to make Him number one. As we see in our text, the people's consecration was characterized by resolution to serve the Lord. And this resolution to serve the Lord is clearly defined in verse 29. He said there in verse 29 of chapter 10, we join with our brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law that was given by Moses, a servant of God, to observe to do all the commandments of the Lord, our Lord, and his rules and his statutes. Here was a resolve to let the Word of God be the sole absolute authority in their lives. This was an intention to conduct their lives strictly according to the standards of God's Word and not according to the standards of the culture, to bring their lives under the governance, under the dominance, under the direction of the Word of God. In fact, we would say here, theirs was a determination of mind and heart to live by the Book. Is that your desire, your intention? You'll notice from verses 29 and following at least three things about the people's vow to obey God. First of all, look at verses 28 and 29. Their vow to obey God's Word, we would say, was sweeping. It was comprehensive. We see there in those verses that theirs was the intention to observe, notice the key word, all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes of God. To keep to do all the commandment of God is ordinances and statutes. And that word all is extensive and wide-ranging. What it suggests is this, they were not partial, they were not selective with respect to what they would obey from the Word of God. In other words, every part of the Word of God, they determined they were going to commit themselves so they would not be confused what they liked or found convenient to obey. It means that without any kind of reservation, they would make a full surrender to the demands of God's word and will. We see this kind of sweeping commitment to the word of God, this comprehensive commitment to the word of God in the psalm. In Psalm 119, verse 6, the psalmist speaks of his having his eyes fixed on all of God's commandment. The King James Version says, I have respect to all your commandments. And that's how you and I ought to relate to the Word of God. Let me ask this question. What area of your life is closed off to God's supremacy, to God's authority? You say, maybe you say, well, all this, mine, so far and no more. You know, there are people who live their Christian lives like that. They take certain areas of their lives into their own hands. They said, Lord, You have this, you have this, but don't come this far. That's what, in effect, they are saying when they are selective, when they are partial with respect to the Word of God. Someone as well said that if he's not Lord of all, then he's not Lord at all. Or Lord Jesus said in Luke chapter 6, verse 46, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? And it's so true for 1 Samuel 15, 18-23 suggests that partial selective obedience to God is tantamount to total outright disobedience to God. Read the account when you have time and that will be evident. We don't have time to go into it. So as far as the people of Nehemiah's day were concerned, their commitment, their resolution to live by the Word of God was sweeping. Notice secondly, a second feature of their consecration to God, their resolution to live by the Word of God was this, it was solemn. It was solemn. They took the matter very seriously, this matter of committing themselves to obey God's word. And you ask, how so? Notice at the end of verse 38, here's what they did. They say, we make a firm covenant in writing. When we put something to writing, we mean business, where we're doing some transaction with someone and we say, you know something, let's get this done in writing. What are we talking about? We're talking about being serious about the matter. We are committing ourselves when we put to paper certain agreements. And that's what these people were doing, by putting into writing their agreement to live In obedience to God's word, they were indicating that this was no sham, this was no joke, they meant serious business for God. They were suggesting that they were not into any kind of shallow, short-lived, for the moment, commitment to God. It suggests there, the very fact that they put it in writing, suggests that they were not making some idle, empty promise, but that they meant very serious business for God. That's why we're going to put this in writing. We are going to serve God. We are going to make Him number one. We are going to make His Word prominent and supreme in our lives. Now if you notice verses 38, the B part, as well as chapter 10, 1 and following, and we just skimmed through, who are the people that signed the document? Look first of all, verse 38, on the seal documents are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests. Chapter 10, verse 1, and the seals are the names of Nima, the governor, the son of Hakalai, as Zedekiah. Chapter 10, verse 9, you notice there was the There were the praise and worship leaders that we find in chapter 9 and verse 5. In verses 14 and following, there were the leaders of the people. Now what do you notice here? What's the point here? Notice here the prominent exemplar role of the leaders in this act of consecration. In this act of resolution to put the Word of God at the center of their lives, notice leadership took the lead. Beginning with the priests, the Levites, and of course, Nehemiah is there. The worship leaders are there. Headed by Nehemiah, the governor, there are some 83 other leaders who took the lead in signing this agreement, the Pledge of Commitment to God. What a challenge to those of us in spiritual leadership. What it suggests to us there is this, you see, that when it comes to challenging people to live the Word of God, to be committed to the Word of God, how we need to set the pace to be exemplary in our own devotion to God's Word. It is leaders who, by their examples of serious devotion and consecration to God, who blaze a trail for the rest of God's people to follow. And that is why one of the prayers you would want to make for your pastors, for your leaders, is that they would be men of God, men who love God, men who are committed to the Word of God. Here's the truth. We have feet of clay. We fall, we stumble. And we want to, as Paul says, we want to have a good conscience, we want to lead a life that commends the gospel. And let me say this, in this endeavor, Satan will do everything possible to tear down leadership. That's why we need, of course, ourselves to be humble. We need the people of God to lift us up in prayer that we might set the pace when it comes to godliness. As a further indication of how serious they took their consecration to God, their solemn resolution to obey God's Word, notice what they did in verse 29. The Bible says they took upon themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God's law. They took upon themselves a curse In effect, they were pledging to God, Lord, if ever we fail in this our commitment to obey your word, then we may your curse come down upon us. Of course, we're not suggesting that we pray like that. We do that. But it shows us something of how serious these people are. And here's the interesting thing. They were just coming from under a curse of sorts because they were in captivity. And they knew what it was like, life in captivity. Why? Because they had rebelled against God. They were disobedient to God. They were unfaithful to God. They followed idolatrous ways. And at this point, now that they are restored to God, they are saying, Lord, we prepare to go under the curse again. If ever we break covenant with you and your word, that shows how serious they were. That shows how seriously committed they were to the word of God. Notice something else that marked the solemnity, and we're winding down shortly. Notice something else that marked the solemnity of the people's pledge to live for God and to obey God. Notice the pledge was evidently taken by mature adults. In other words, by those who were in a position to think through what they were doing. There seem to have been no little children involved in taking this pledge because notice the last clause of verse 28, chapter 10 tells us that it was undertaken by all those who had knowledge and understanding. What's the lesson here for us? Serving God is not only serious business, it is intelligent business. We serve God not mindlessly. We serve God not out of sheer sentiment. We serve God not just in a hunch. We serve God out of considered reflection on what he has done for us. We love him because he first loved us. We love him with all our hearts, with all our souls, but we love him with our minds. Serving God is an intelligent, rational endeavor. The features of the people's consecration to God, of their resolution to obey the word of God, were as follows. First of all, it was sweeping. Second, it was solemn. Third, it was specific. It was specific. It centered on very concrete, particular, specific areas of their lives. No, they weren't vague. They weren't hazy with regard to their commitment. So notice how specific they got. Verse 30. Specifically, the Word of God, they ensured that the Word of God affected their family life. Their family life, chapter 10, verse 30. Notice, in taking upon themselves the solemn pledge to obey the Word of God, here's what they said. We will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, or take their daughters for our sons. Now, it's very interesting when we stop to think of it. Notice the very first area of commitment was with regard to what? The family, because that's what we would say is the bedrock of society. If the family is out of sync, if the family goes awry, everything else goes awry. And these people started where it mattered most. They started with their family life. They said, listen, we are going to take the Word of God right into our homes, into our families. We are going to take it into the area of marriage. We are going to see to it that our children do not become associated maritally with the unconverted, with the heathen. In effect, what they were saying as they took this pledge was, from this day on, our lifestyle, particularly as it relates to marriage practices, is going to be different. Our homes are going to be godly homes. Our home is going to be built on the foundation of the Word of God. And our family life, as regards marriage, is going to take its cue not from the culture, but from Scripture. That's what they were saying. You see, that's the way it is when you and I are serious in our commitment to God. Of necessity, the Word of God will be central. It will be central in our lives. It will be central in our social relationships. It will be central to our family, to our dating, to our marriage decisions, to our friendships, to our association. In other words, there's no area of life in which the Word of God will not be brought to bear upon. And when the Word of God becomes central in our social relationships, then one of the demands we'll find it makes on us is that of separation. Separation from the ungodly. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 14 says, "...wherefore come from among them, be separate, says the Lord, touch not the unclean thing." It talks about being not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. We have talked about that time and again. And yet here it is once again in the Word of God. Friendship with the world, James chapter 4, verse 4, is enmity with God. If anyone loves the world, 1 John 2.15, the love of the Father is not in him. If we make friendships, if we make covenant through marriage, through whatever, through dating with unconverted people, then that is contrary to all that the Word of God represents. But notice secondly, the Word of God penetrated not only their family life, it penetrated their business life, verse 31. They decided to honor God first rather than break the Sabbath and violate God's Word. They said, we refuse, if you notice verse 31, they said this, and if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day, and we will forego the crops of the seventh year, the exaction of every debt. In other words, what they realized was that God had a supreme claim on their time. on their time. They said, we're not going to do any work. We're not going to do any business. But notice, thirdly, the word of God penetrated and affected their, we would say, church life, verses 32 to 39. And I know I'm being anachronistic here, out of time. But by way of application, this is what we can take from it. The word of God must he brought to bear on our church life. Verses 32 to 39. And notice in these verses, in a nutshell, they pledge not to be neglectful of the house of God. In fact, that's all they ended. We will not neglect the house of God. And from verses 32 to 39, notice there are nine times, some nine times, in which they made reference to the house of God. You know, we are living in a day and age where, for many Christians, Now, we today do not have a house of God as such in terms of a sacred place, but we have the house of God in God's people. And what the Word of God says in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25, he says, we must not forsake the assembling of ourselves as some are in the habit of doing. And we don't have time to develop all of this, suffice it to say, that what we are having in our time is really foreign to the New Testament where people can actually dispense or actually see as being unnecessary the local assembly, the gathering with God's people on the Lord's Day. Because they had been negligent of the house of God, they became more firm in their pledge not to be neglectful. For them, the house of God became a renewed priority. And because they had been negligent in this area of their lives, they now sought to remedy it in specific ways. Notice the whole idea of giving. They had a renewed commitment to giving. They said, we are going to set aside, and we are going to make provisions for the Levites. We're going to bring in the necessary offerings and tithes that we have long neglected. Here's the truth. The essence of what we are saying this evening, beloved, is this, that where true biblical revival takes place in a life, there are going to be concrete evidences. And all of those evidences can be subsumed under one major heading we call consecration, where we are devoted to God. The Word of God becomes prominent and uppermost in our thinking. It governs our lives. It governs every single aspect, every single area of our lives and how we need this in our time. We need today, my friend, a revival of God's people in which God's people make and recognize the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord of the Church. He's Lord of our lives. We put him first. And I tell you, where God is put first, where Christ is honored supremely, it is going to show in all areas. May God grant us this revival. May he revive my own heart. I pray to that end. I trust you have this desire as well. For Christ's sake and for his glory. Amen.