I. Introduction

A. Illustration – W. T. Richardson wrote, The mark of a saint is not perfection, but consecration. A saint is not a man without faults, but a man who has given himself without reserve to God (as cited on SermonCentral.com).

B. Richardson gives a great definition of what consecration really means. We often confuse it with sanctification, which means to be made holy, to be filled to the fullest with the Holy Spirit. Consecration is something we do; sanctification is something Jesus came and died for so that God could do it in us. After the Jews finished the wall, they spent time consecrating themselves to God, as their ancestors had failed to do. And they committed themselves to doing whatever God called them to do. Let’s read about it in Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-13, 18; 9:1-3; 10:28-29, and I’m reading from the New Living.

C. Nehemiah 8 from the New Living – All the people assembled together as one person at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given for Israel to obey. 2 So on October 8 (444 B.C.) Ezra the priest brought the scroll of the law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand. 3 He faced the square just inside the Water Gate from early morning until noon and read aloud to everyone who could understand. All the people paid close attention to the Book of the Law. Verses 5-6 – Ezra stood on the platform in full view of all the people. When they saw him open the book, they all rose to their feet. 6 Then Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people chanted, “Amen! Amen!” as they lifted their hands toward heaven. Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Verses 8-13 – They read from the Book of the Law of God and clearly explained the meaning of what was being read, helping the people understand each passage. 9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.” All the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the law. 10 And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of choice foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before the Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” 11 And the Levites, too, quieted the people, telling them, “Hush! Don’t weep! For this is a sacred day.” 12 So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them. 13 So on October 9 the family leaders and the priests and Levites met with Ezra to go over the law in greater detail. Verse 18 – Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God on each of the seven days of the festival. Then on October 15 they held a solemn assembly, as the law of Moses required. Chapter 9:1-3 – On October 31 the people returned for another observance. This time they dressed in sackcloth and sprinkled dust on their heads. 2 Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors. 3 The Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them for about three hours. Then for three more hours they took turns confessing their sins and worshiping the Lord their God. Chapter 10:28-29 – The rest of the people – the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, Temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the pagan people of the land in order to serve God, and who were old enough to understand – 29 now all heartily bound themselves with an oath. They vowed to accept the curse of God if they failed to obey the law of God as issued by his servant Moses. They solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, laws, and regulations of the Lord their Lord.

II. Joyful Truth or Onerous Burden

A. When we read through the history books in the Old Testament, it becomes obvious that the people of Israel and Judah just didn’t get it. They didn’t understand that consecrating themselves to God meant that they were excluding all other gods. Watchman Nee wrote, To what are we to be consecrated? Not to Christian work, but to the will of God, to be and to do whatever he requires (as cited on PreachingToday.com). The Israelites consecrated themselves, or gave themselves over completely, to the system of sacrifices. They had forgotten that the purpose of the sacrifices was not to give them something to feel good about, or to give them a sense of security against the world. The purpose of the sacrifices was to help them to build a personal relationship with God. The sacrifices were evidence of their sin contrasted with God’s mercy and goodness, and a sign that God loved them and wanted them to personally know Him. The people didn’t get it, so they indulged in worshipping other gods thinking that the best thing they could do was to cover all their bases. Besides, serving other gods gave them a certain sense of pleasure and fed their own sinful desires. That’s why Israel was slaughtered by the Assyrians and Judah by the Babylonians, and the survivors were led off into exile.

B. Flash forward to Nehemiah’s time. The exiles who had returned to Judah had just finished rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. So they deserved some time off, right? Instead, they asked for God’s Word to be read. Nehemiah 8:1 - All the people assembled together as one person at the square just inside the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given for Israel to obey. 2 So on October 8 (444 B.C.) Ezra the priest brought the scroll of the law before the assembly, which included the men and women and all the children old enough to understand. The people hungered for the Word of God. They wanted to know it so they could be sure to worship Him wholeheartedly as their ancestors had not. It doesn’t matter what those who’ve gone before us have done – we can choose to consecrate ourselves to hungering after God’s Word and worshiping Him wholeheartedly.

C. That’s the beginning of a true focus on God, one that He is pleased with and can work with. That’s how the Jews started to get back on track with God. When they heard the Word of God, they bowed down and worshiped Him. They were so committed to knowing God through His Word that they allowed themselves to respond to the Word. When we are consecrated to God, we will allow ourselves to respond to His Word in ways that allow His plans and purposes to be done and that will bring glory to His name. The Jews certainly brought glory to His name when they bowed down and worshiped in response to His Word.

D. Something interesting happened to the Jews on that day. When the Word was read and explained to them and they fully understood it and its implications, their hearts were broken. It was easy for them to see all the ways they themselves and their ancestors had failed to obey the Word. It was easy for them to see the unworthiness of their own hearts. God uses His Word to instruct and then to convict. But His Word is also cause for celebration. Verse ten - And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of choice foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before the Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” 11 And the Levites, too, quieted the people, telling them, “Hush! Don’t weep! For this is a sacred day.” 12 So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them. When they first heard and understood God’s Word, they saw it as a cause for mourning, because they were fixated on their past. God called them to celebrate because the past He had brought them through pointed them to His future. They could now worship Him and live for Him as He called them to. God’s Word is calling us to consecrate ourselves, not to our failed past, but to His powerful future for us. His Word is cause for great celebration for us, so we’ve got to celebrate His goodness and what He’s going to do among us.

E.The Jews didn’t just get together once and call it good. All the people got together on October 8^th, then the leaders on October 9^th to learn more details, then all the people again on October 15^th. What were they doing? Getting together in what was called a solemn assembly to hear the Word of God. Then on October 31^st, something different happened. Nehemiah 9:1-3 - On October 31 the people returned for another observance. This time they dressed in sackcloth and sprinkled dust on their heads. 2 Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors. 3 The Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them for about three hours. Then for three more hours they took turns confessing their sins and worshiping the Lord their God. The people got together to deal with their pasts. They listened to the Word for three hours. That’s more than American Christianity would tolerate. Then they took turns confessing their sins and the sins of their ancestors, and they worshipped. The Word of God wasn’t just something static to them, some nice words to listen to. They allowed God’s Word to permeate their hearts and change their behavior. That’s a big part of what consecration is all about. It’s easy for us to believe that consecration is just an outward act, but it’s much more than that. Consecration requires a commitment to face up to our sins, our family’s sins, our spiritual ancestors’ sins, then confess them, put them in the past, and move forward in a lifestyle of worship. That’s what the Jews did, and that’s what God’s calling us to, because we’ll never move forward in our relationship with Christ until we do. And we’ll never move forward as a church until we do.

F. Consecration and commitment require all of us. Nehemiah 10:28-29 - The rest of the people – the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, Temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the pagan people of the land in order to serve God, and who were old enough to understand – 29 now all heartily bound themselves with an oath. They vowed to accept the curse of God if they failed to obey the law of God as issued by his servant Moses. They solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, laws, and regulations of the Lord their Lord. This time together followed a period of several weeks when they had dealt with their baggage from the past. The pain and bad memories were still there, but they had resolved to take responsibility, ask for and receive forgiveness, and move on with God’s plan for them. Then they committed themselves in an act of surrender – binding themselves under an oath to do what God commanded them to do. And they all knew firsthand what God’s curse meant, so when they accepted this curse they knew what they were accepting. So their expectation was one of obedience. They committed themselves and set themselves apart for God and His purposes. God is calling us to commit ourselves and set ourselves apart for Him and His purposes. If we’re going to see His will happen in our church, we’ve got to do the same thing as the Jews did. If our passion is going to be reaching people for Christ by accepting all people where they’re at and moving them toward Christ-like maturity, which is what our vision statement says, then we’ve got to commit and consecrate ourselves as individuals and as a church to this vision He’s given us. If we’re going to provide a safe and stable place to share, serve, and grow together into a loving Christian family, then we’ve got to commit and consecrate ourselves as individuals and as a church to this vision He’s given us. If we’re going to live Him, share His love with everyone, reach out with compassion, apply the Bible and prayer to real life, and serve others out of our love for Christ, it’s going to take us committing and consecrating ourselves to this purpose. God is in the business of transforming hearts and lives, and it takes a people committed and consecrated to this purpose to see it happen.

G. Illustration – Jonathan Edwards wrote, "I go out to preach with two propositions in mind. First, every person ought to give his life to Christ. Second, whether or not anyone else gives him his life, I will give him mine" (as cited on PreachingToday.com). We can’t look around and see what everybody else is going to do. We have to be just like Joshua was at the end of his life when he told the people of Israel in Joshua 24:15, “But if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve… As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Today I tell you to choose whom you will choose to commit and consecrate yourself to and serve. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.

H. Illustration – Darren Ethier wrote, A young lady stood talking to an evangelist on the subject of consecration, of giving herself wholly to God. She said, "I dare not give myself wholly to the Lord, for fear He will send me out to China as a missionary." The evangelist said, "If some cold, snowy morning a little bird should come, half-frozen, pecking at your window, and it lets you take it in and feed it, thereby putting itself entirely in your power, what would you do? Would you grip it in your hand and crush it? Or would you give it shelter, warmth, food and care?" A new light came into the girl’s eyes. She said, "Oh, now I see, I see. I can trust God!" Two years later she again met the evangelist and recalled to him the incident. She told of how she had finally abandoned herself to God – and then her face lit up with a beautiful smile as she said, "And do you know where God is going to let me serve Him?" And there was now a twinkle in her eye – "in China!" (as cited on SermonCentral.com)

I. God will not crush us, but will nurture us and help us if we will only commit and consecrate ourselves to Him and His purposes for our lives and for our church. Choose today whom you will serve.

III. Conclusion

A. Please bow your heads and close your eyes out of respect for each other’s privacy. What is God speaking to your heart this morning about committing and consecrating yourself to Him and His purposes? Let’s spend a few quiet moments listening to what the Spirit is saying to us.

B. Again, what’s God been speaking to your heart? If right now you are surrendering and committing and consecrating yourself to God and His purposes, now’s the time to take a tangible step toward doing that. Up front here is a pile of bricks. We’re building a small memorial wall that will stay up for the next few weeks and remind us that this day we chose to commit and consecrate ourselves to God and His purposes, leaving the garbage of the past behind. If you’re surrendering and committing and consecrating yourself to God and His purposes, come forward now, pick up a brick from the pile, and put it in the wall. Let’s pray.