You'll remain standing for the reading of God's word. If you would, turn in your Bibles, or turn on your Bibles, whatever it is, or use the Bible that is in front of you, but you want to have your copy of God's word open this morning to Nehemiah chapter 10 as we carry on in this book. We'll begin reading actually in verse 39, or 38 of chapter nine, and then going into chapter 10. Because of all this, we make a firm covenant in writing. On the sealed documents are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests. In verses one through 27, you have the names of those princes, Levites, and priests. And carrying on in verse 28, the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, all who had separated themselves from the people of the lands, the law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who had knowledge and understanding, joined with their brothers, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law that was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe and to do all the commandments of the Lord our God and his rules and his statutes. We will not give our daughters to the people of the lands or take their daughters for our sons. And if the people of the lands bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the props on the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. We also take on ourselves the obligations to every year give to a third part of a shekel for the service of the house of God, for the showbread, the regular grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbath, the new moons, the appointed feasts, the holy things, and the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. We the priests, the Levites, and the people have likewise cast lots for the wood offering to bring it into the house of our God, according to our Father's house at appointed times, year by year, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law. We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our grounds and the firstfruit of all the fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord, also to bring to the house of our God, to the priest, the minister, and the house of our God. the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as is written in the law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks, to bring the first of our dough and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil to the priests, the chambers of the house of our God, to bring to the Levites the tithes from our grounds, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor. And the priests and the sons of Aaron shall be with the Levites, and the Levites receive the tithes The Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chamber of the storehouse. For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chamber where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers, and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word. You may be seated. Many of you are familiar with the theological documents for our understanding of scripture and theology, which is the Westminster Confession of Faith. We hand them out in the new members class and we did so this morning so that everyone in that class and everyone that has gone through that class would have their own copy. They are a very fine document that summarizes what we believe and why we believe it. But many do not know the history that led to such documents. They were written in the 17th century in the midst of Charles I, the king of the day of England and of the United Kingdom, believing that he had the divine right of the monarch, therefore placing himself as the head of the church. And so Charles, as the king, started imposing a new liturgy upon the church in the kingdom, a high liturgy, an Episcopalian liturgy. As you can imagine, this did not go over very well, specifically in Scotland, who were and still are very wary of anything English, but especially when it comes from the English king meddling in their churches. And so you have this story of Jenny Geddes, the simple milkmaid, throwing her stool at the pulpit, when in her estimation, they were introducing popish heresies to her church. As you know, from history, probably even in the present, the Scots are and were very feisty people. And they were also, by and large, Presbyterian. Now there may be a correlation there, I'm not sure, but perhaps. But in 1638, many Scots signed the National Covenant in reaction to these Episcopalian invasion, essentially saying in not so many words, bug off, king. Jesus Christ is the head and king of his church and we will submit to him and him alone. You can imagine the king didn't look kindly upon such things, but when it was shown that the resistance was firm, he called for an assembly to work out the worship and the doctrine of the church. And therefore, the Westminster Assembly was formed in 1643 and produced these wonderful documents. But yet, it did not unite the kingdom. And so the English monarchs, Charles and those that came after him, went back to forcing conformity with their swords. And as a result, many Scots died in about a 50-year period. But those that were a part of that Scottish resistance called themselves covenanters because they made a covenant with God and with each other. And so that is very much a part of our Presbyterian heritage. And where did these Scottish Presbyterians Get such an idea to enter into such a covenant? Not to conform to the prevailing ideas and thoughts of the day? Well, you don't need to look much further than our passage before us this morning, Nehemiah chapter 10. For here we see Nehemiah and the people of God coming together, coming before God and making a covenant with each other and with God, listing the items that they promise to do, ways that they will live differently. And it is no different today. As we think of ourselves and our situation and our role as believers and as Christians, and specifically as Bible-believing Presbyterians, our commitment is to God, and as such, that will put us out of the mainstream often. And yet our dedication and our devotion to him must be deeper than anything or to anyone else. And we must know that that practice at times, oftentimes, will be arduous. But I believe it's a part of picking up our cross and following Christ. And so we want to look at that this day, Nehemiah chapter two in two points. Covenant making and then covenant keeping. First, covenant making. As I said, the chapter really begins in verse 38, the end of chapter nine, where we see the leaders entering into a covenant. Perhaps your translation says, like mine does, a firm covenant, or perhaps it's a binding agreement, or a solemn promise. Whatever it says, there was a devotion. There was a dedication that was being made unto God. And the question must be asked, why? Why would anyone do this? Why would they do it? Why would anybody do it? Well, as we have seen in the last several chapters, as the Word of God was read and explained from morning to midday, these people understood their God. They understood the character and person of God, and as a result, they were overwhelmed. It was truth that was too great and too wonderful, and as they recount history of the people of God, what God had done and continued to do. We see that the truth of this history was a blessing to them as they heard, and as we heard last week, that it was God being gracious to them. It was grace upon grace, as the God of all grace. They are saying because of our God, our cup, overflows. And yet, how do we and how do the people of Israel oftentimes repay the kindness and goodness of God? Well, too often with sin. And you heard it throughout chapter nine as they are praying to God. They're saying, God, you did this and this and this. but we have done that and that and that. And it's summarized in that one verse, verse 33, you have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly. That is an accurate summary statement of God's relationship with his people, including you and me. And so the question must be asked, why would God have anything to do with us? Why would he have anything to do with Israel? Or why would God ever be a covenant God that would be faithful to his people in the midst of his people being unfaithful, his people being wicked? That really is the great mystery, isn't it? Sometimes, many times, you're like me, you don't want to do anything with yourself? You ever get tired of yourself and your own sin and your own sinfulness? And you think, if I'm tired of me, how much more would God, the holy God, be tired of what I do and my sinful deeds? Why, God, would you ever want to have a relationship with me? And that truly is a good question. It is a great question. But it's only then that we really and truly understand grace, that God accepts us in Christ, even when we're not even accepting of ourselves. Because God's gift is not to the well-deserving. No, it is to the ill-deserving. It is to the hell-deserving. Jesus said, I have come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. That's the call of Christ. And that's the call that is still present even today. If you are a sinner, then my friend, you're in the right place this morning. because you are amidst sinners, have received grace, grace upon grace from the God of all grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is truly awesome in the full sense of that word. It is overwhelming to us. Yes, we may come. Yes, we may be dressed up. Yes, we may be wearing our dress or wearing a suit and even maybe wearing a tie this day, but do not let the outside fool you. We are not here because we have it all together. No, far from it. We are here for one reason and one reason alone, because God has lavished his grace and love upon us in Christ. We are sinners saved by grace. We are sinners that are held together constantly and continually by God, and that is it. And so as Nehemiah and Ezra recount the history of God's dealing with his people, it is a glorious and rich history. And so too, we can even add to the history the things that happened after the time of Ezra and Nehemiah and the history that we are even able to recount is more glorious, it is even more beautiful than what Nehemiah and Ezra could have even known or even imagined. Because we know, we understand how God has perfectly accomplished his redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so when we think and go back to that question, why would anyone enter into a covenant, the question really must be answered with, well, another question, how could you not? How could you not? As the people of God looked and learned and listened about who God is and what he has done, their response was, well, this changes everything, and I wanna be a part of that. And so it is the same for us as we come here this morning, as we think of the history of God and even more so in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must say, well, this really changes everything, doesn't it? And I wanna be a part of that. I wanna know that love. I wanna know that grace. I wanna know that relationship with my creator and my maker and my redeemer and my savior. See, it is a response to God's faithfulness. That our covenant, so to speak, is a response to God's covenant made with us. See, Israel was not the initiators, nor are we. God is always the initiator. We are the ones that must respond. Romans 5.8 says it so clearly, that God demonstrated his love to us. that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so to quote that great old hymn, love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. Because God has loved us, because Christ has died for us, we give of ourselves entirely unto him. That is why the people in Nehemiah chapter 10 come and make a covenant. That is why we come this morning and present ourselves. And just as the leaders sign their name to this covenant, we see that the leaders are the ones that are driving this. The leaders leading, which I wanna talk more about next week. But we see that as a result of the leaders leading the people respond to it, that is what we see in verse 28. It says that not only the priests and the Levites, but the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, all who separated themselves from the people of the lands, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who had knowledge and understanding, joined with their brothers and their nobles and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law. Everyone wanted to be a part of this. That is covenant making. It's making covenant in the light of who God is, in the light of God making a covenant, a relationship, a way with us. And so that asks the question, well, if we are to make such a covenant, if we are to present ourselves unto God, what does that look like in practical reality? What is this covenant keeping that we are to keep before our God? Well, we see that these people covenant in three specific areas. It begins in verse 30 when it says, we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. In other words, there is to be no mixed marriages. But don't get me wrong with what I mean with mixed marriages. It's not a mixing of ethnicity or a mixing of races. It's a mixing of religions. It's a mixing of beliefs. And that needs to be stated and that needs to be made known because oftentimes many people are critical of such passages as this or even such passages as the Old Testament or the Bible as a whole and even would say that the Bible is racist and puts forward just one race over that of another thing. But as I said, this isn't a racial thing as much as a religious one. And we can know that because if we look back in verse 28 when it says, All those who had separated themselves from the people of the lands to the law of God are included in this covenant. That is a euphemism for the people of the nations coming and joining Israel. seeing what God has done, seeing how God has dealt with his people, and them saying that they wanted to come and be a part of that God. They wanted to have a relationship with him. And so the people of different nations joined themselves to the people of God, and they themselves became the people of God. And so we shouldn't read the Old Testament covenant and think that it was a monolithic racial group. No, the purpose of Israel was to be a light unto the nations. Now, did they forget that? Yes, often they did. And did they prop themselves up as greater than other people? Yes, they did, and Christ had to come and change that attitude, change that perspective. And likewise, in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, has there been times that certain racist tendencies have been put forth? Absolutely. But that is a misunderstanding. That is a misinterpretation of the scriptures themselves. And so we shouldn't look at a word like this and say there's something wrong with it. No, there's something wrong with our interpretation if we have that as our thinking or that is our belief. Jesus' family tree was made up of several that were not Israelites. Demonstrates that ethnicity was not the primary factor, but your belief in God and being a part of the people of God. They were not to be unequally yoked with the nations, those that had different beliefs and different gods and had idols. The life of Solomon would Teach that clearly, wouldn't it? That his many wives and their gods turned his heart, at least for a time. And so this principle still exists. That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? And so, young people, those of you that are unmarried, let me speak to you. It doesn't matter how cute or how adorable or how funny or what a great personality this person has and how they get to know you and how well you get along with them. All of those things are temporary. All of those things are fleeting. If you do not have the same eternal destination with them, then you have ultimately nothing in common. You have nothing to build a life upon. It's literally heaven and hell sleeping in the same bed together. You'll be pulling in completely opposite directions with completely different purposes. And so, therefore, there is no missionary dating. Can you find examples of where it works? Yes. Is there even people in this church that there is the truth of them marrying an unbeliever and that person becoming a believer? Yes, that is true. You can find it, but that happens probably one out of 10 times and you never see the nine. where it didn't happen, that is because the gravity of depravity is that it will pull us down. Unbeliever is going to bring us more into conformity with them than you, them with you, because that is the natural direction of our heart. So young people, again, Do not give your heart away unless the other person is as devoted, if not more devoted to Christ than you. Because your first devotion is to the Lord, not to a boy or not to a girl or a man or a woman. Likewise, you're not to give of your bodies until you covenant before God and man in the bonds of marriage. Fathers and mothers, these are things that we must be teaching our kids. These are the standards that must be upheld. Why? Because hormones can cloud judgment, can't they? But we are to have the judgment of Christ. And you know, as a married couple, the challenges of marriage, even as believers. How much more? Married to an unbeliever, and so children, let me urge you, listen to your parents in this. It'd be much better to have a night of tears because of a breakup rather than a lifetime of tears being married to the wrong person. Will we covenant before God on this? Children, youth, parents, is this a promise that we can make before God? I am devoted to you, O Lord, and therefore I'll only be devoted myself in marriage to those that also have that same devotion. Well, it goes on, verse 31, it says that we will remember the Sabbath day, and we will not buy from them on the Sabbath day that would sell, and we'll forego the crops on the seventh year and release the debts that are before us again This comes from the fourth commandment, doesn't it? That we are to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all of your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord. On it you shall do no work. There's at least two principles there. First is that for six days you shall labor, and that we are to labor. Not labor in any way that we want to, but in a way that serves God and serves our neighbor. through our services and through our goods, doing good for our fellow man and ultimately for the glory of God. And if you do that for six days, then the seventh day, the Sabbath day, which becomes the first day in the new covenant, should be that which is consecrated to God. On it we should not do any work. Why? Because we're called to a different work, aren't we? We're called to a different purpose. Called to the purpose of worshiping God. Called to the purpose of resting in God. Why? Because God deserves all of us. And part of our devotion is to give him time in our schedule, in our week, that'll be devoted unto him. But he doesn't do that because he is so harsh. He doesn't do that because he is so demanding. He does it for our good, because we need it. Remember what Jesus said, man was not created for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for the man. Therefore, the Sabbath, this rest, is as important as the air we breathe or the food that we eat. It is essential to us. It's a reminder that we are not as important as we think we are. And we are more dependent upon God, and that he is not dependent upon us. We are not indispensable. We can break. We can rest. And the world will not fall apart, I promise you. And therefore, we need not push ourselves to the limit. I recently saw a t-shirt that says, Jesus napped, be like Jesus. I like that, there's some truth in that, isn't there? Jesus, the God man, in the flesh, napped, he needed rest, which is a clear demonstration that we need rest as well. And so six days of good labor unto the Lord, We'll go further and better than if we use seven days for ourselves or for selfish gain or selfish glory. The Lord will honor those that honor him. And so what do your Sundays look like? Are they different? Intentionally different than the rest of your week? Use it for your relationship with God and to rest in God. Well, that goes hand in hand with the third part of the covenants. We see that they are to give their shekels for the service of God, their sacrifices for the worship of God, their firstfruits of all that God has given in verse 32 through the end of the chapter. In other words, they were to bring of their offerings and their tithes unto the Lord. You might be thinking, oh no, here pastor goes talking about money, giving money to the church. No, it is so much more than that, isn't it? Besides, we don't do special sermons on giving or tithing. We don't do giving Sundays, but we do preach it when it comes up in the text as this does here. And what this is saying is that it's so much more than dollars and cents, isn't it? It's a recognition that all of it comes from the Lord. And we give it to the Lord in dedication. In dedication of all the rest that he has given to us. God could demand all of our days. He could demand all of our dollars. But this is given in parts of the whole. Why, because he needs it? No, of course not. Our God has no need. We need it. We need to be reminded that all of it belongs to him. And so our spending demonstrates our priorities and our giving. What does it say about us? What does it reflect of us and that which we prioritize? Because what we prioritize is what we give to and what we spend upon. And so you see all of these things working together. All of these principles that are laid out and the people of God say this is what they're going to covenant with God with and for. And the principles are still true of us. Our bodies and our business and our budgets are God's. Our family, our faith, our finances belong to the Lord. Our sons, our Sabbaths, our shekels, our daughters, our days, our dimes must all be consecrated to God, but we must not miss the overarching purpose of all of this. It comes in that verse which describes all of those that came from the nations to covenant with God. It says all who have separated themselves from the people of the land. When we come to the Lord, that is really what we are doing, isn't it? That is the call that is upon ourselves. We are to separate ourselves from the world. Not the people of the world, but the principles and the practice of the world. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. We are coming unto God and saying, I am consecrated unto you. I'm consecrated unto your purpose and unto your ways. Again, is that how we see ourselves? Is that how you see your work? Is that how you see your life? Men, women, as you go out in the workplace, or even if you are a stay-at-home mom, do you see your work as a holy work? Students, do you see your studies as being an offering unto God, holy and pleasing to Him? It may not always seem like it. Sometimes you're having to, you're a stay-at-home parent. Sometimes you have to change diapers, don't you? But even that is being done unto the glory of God. Why? Because I am called out. And that is what the Greek word literally means of the church, that we are called out ones, we are called out from the world, not unto a holy bubble, but to represent the glories of Christ to the world. It's no different than what Israel was called to, that we are to be separated unto God and separated unto his word and unto his law, as it talks about in verse 29. In the New Testament, there was a word for this. There's a title that is given. They're called saints. No, not those that have gone on to be with the Lord, and no, not those that are venerated by the Catholic Church, but in the New Testament, saints were those that were in the church. It's the title that we are to give one another. Saints, literally meaning holy ones. Not in being sinless, but being separated. Just like in the temple you had holy water and holy utensils and holy tongs, all because they were consecrated, that they were no longer to be used in ordinary day-to-day use or to use in a common way, but they were to be used in a special way. They were to be used in the worship and service of God. Isn't that a great description of what we are now in Christ? And we're no longer called to ordinary common use, but to a sacred one. There is no sacred, secular distinction. No, all is sacred. We're to use our mind and our body, our will, our thoughts, our work, our money, no longer for selfish gain or worldly gain, but for the glory of God. And I tell you what, that is where your greatest witness will come. Our witness is not how we can be more like the world, or more tolerable to the world, or more affirming of the world and its practices, but how can we walk in God's way and observe his commandments and his word? And are we willing to that? And do we understand that call? Do we understand that level of consecration? That is the question before us today. Do we see ourselves as saints? Holy ones, set apart, consecrated unto God. There's a college professor who's known in our circles, who often says some provoking things, provocative things, usually only because he is right. But he said this, taking aim at young Christians, 20s and 30s, but the sentiment is true of all of us. He said, there's a hard choice to make in the next decade. You really do kid yourself if you think you can be an Orthodox Christian and be at the same time cool enough and hip enough to cut it in the wider world. Frankly, in a couple years, it will not matter how much urban ink you can support, how much fair trade coffee you can drink, How many craft brews you can name? How much urban jitterish you can spout? How many art movies you can find with that redeemer figure in it? How much money you divert from gospel preaching to social justice? He says this, just in maintaining a biblical sexual ethic will be the equivalent in our culture of being a white supremacist. And he wrote that almost a decade ago. And that is truer today than even when it was Sid. You understand that there are certain things that if you consecrate yourself to God, you're going to be anathema in the eyes of the world, in the eyes of this culture. And therefore, you cannot have one foot in this camp and your other foot in the other because there is a point and is already here It's actually always been the case where the roads diverge and what path will you take? What choice will you make? I tell you that that preparation needs to be made, not then, but now, right now. And we need to prepare ourselves and we need to prepare our children and our grandchildren. Don't get me wrong, not with fear tactics, or scare motivation, but rather with the beauties of Christ. Be reminded and to remind them that this world has nothing to offer. No human institution, no political party, no cultural philosophy can provide anything better than Christ. They are all false messiahs. They promise heaven, but they will only provide greater hell upon this earth. Why? Because they depart from righteousness and therefore depart from God. And yet, they demand conformity, increasingly more so, and we must say that we will not conform. We must be non-conformist in this sense for Christ's sake. And that may mean suffering for Jesus as part of our calling, all for his glory's sake. but it's a part of what we are called to, that we present ourselves, as Paul says in Romans chapter 12, as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. That is our spiritual act of worship. Let me finish this up, wrap this up. Notice that summary statement at the very end of this chapter when it says, we will not neglect the house of God. We might hear that and say, yeah, yeah, I won't neglect church. No, that's missing it. No, you need to be reminded in the new covenant, we are the house of God. We are the one where God dwells through the Holy Spirit. Remember I quoted 2 Corinthians 6, when Paul says, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, and that goes far beyond just marriage. He says this, because we are the temple of the living God. We are the house of God. And then quotes two, Scriptures from the Old Testament, it says, this is God speaking, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, go out from their midst and be separated from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing. Then I will welcome you and I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. You see, we present ourselves as the house of God, the dwelling of the Almighty. holy and dearly beloved. Many of you have joined this church or in the process of joining this church. We had another wonderful new members class that ended today, and there's a lot of discussion these days about church membership and what it means to be a member in good standing. Well, this passage, I think, lays it out better than any that we are to consecrate ourselves to God. And as such, we are to live differently and we're to join others that are doing so and that are saying, hold me accountable to this because I want to be devoted to Christ and Christ alone. And out of this abundance of grace that you have received in Christ, you voluntarily say, I want to be a part of that. Sign me up for that. That's what you're signing up. That's what church membership is about because there is nothing greater, nothing greater than Christ. Nothing greater than His church being a part of His body, saints called by Him, and I wanna be a part of that this day and for all of eternity. Is that you this morning? I trust by His grace and through His Holy Spirit that it is, may the Lord by His Spirit consecrate us unto Him more and more. Join me in prayer. Our gracious God and heavenly Father, Lord, this is a convicting word to us because how we desire the praises of men more than the praises of our God. How we commit to the ways and the philosophies of this world rather than the ways and the wisdom of Almighty God who is wisdom incarnate. Lord, would we dedicate ourselves to you as we come week by week? Would we make that covenant with you that we want to be covenanted unto you as your people and that you are our God as we partake and eat of that holy food on communion Sundays? Would it be a good reminder that this is my true food? to do the will of my Father in heaven, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Would you help us in this, Lord? Would you not leave us or forsake us, but would you give us the Holy Spirit so that we, by day by day, may live for your glory and for your praise? So help us, God. We pray in Christ. Amen.