Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need

The Trouble We're In And The Way Out - Part 2 of 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Covenant Theology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2021-03-29

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver continues his message from Nehemiah 9, emphasizing that the way out of national and personal trouble is through genuine confession of sin and a renewed covenantal obedience to God's law. He illustrates the departure from biblical foundations in America, citing examples like Bethany Christian Services' compromise with LGBTQ adoption policies. Drawing from biblical revivals under Josiah and Hezekiah, he argues that every major renewal began with honest confession and a return to obedience. He stresses that love for Christ is demonstrated by keeping His commandments, and that Christians must start with personal and family obedience rather than despairing over national decline.

[John Weaver] It's to Nehemiah chapter nine and Lord willing, we'll do the second part of this message, which I'm titled the trouble we are in and the way out the trouble we are in and the way out. So in Nehemiah chapter nine, let's begin reading at verse 32. And we'll read through verse 38. Nehemiah 9, beginning of verse 32, Nehemiah is praying and he says, Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty and the terrible God who keep his covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee that had come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests and our prophets and on our fathers and on all thy people since the day the kings of Assyria unto this day.

[John Weaver] How be it thou art just in all that is brought upon us, for thou has done right, but we have done wickedly. Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers kept thy law, nor hearken unto thy commandments, and thy testimonies wherewith thou didst testify against them. For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turn they from their wicked works. Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it. And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins.

[John Weaver] Also they have dominion over our bodies and over our cattle. At their pleasure, we are in great distress. And because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it and our princes, Levites and priests seal unto it. In the first message, I pointed out how that we have left the foundation upon which this country has been built. We have forsaken the Bible, biblical principles. truth and righteousness that undergirded our nation. When our nation was founded, it was indeed founded as a Christian nation. That did not mean that everyone in the country was a Christian, but it just simply meant that it was built upon biblical principles.

[John Weaver] One of the quotes that I gave you last week was from the New Haven colony in 1639, where they said the laws of this colony shall be the laws of God as given through Moses. but we've left that foundation. And we have gone into not only humanism, but now seemingly transhumanism and perversions of every form in rebelling against God and his word. When you look around at our civil government today, we understand in one sense of the word that our own government basically has destroyed the family, economics, education, and health, and practically everything that it's touched. The only thing that our government has made better is the ease and the ability to sin and to violate the Word of God. Also quoted last week from Congressman Jerry Nadler, who on February 25th of this year said God has no authority in the House of Representatives. On February 27th, he said God's will is of no concern for this Congress.

[John Weaver] And he just simply pointed out and said publicly that which most politicians really and truly believe, but only are afraid to admit. But it's not simply the realm of civil government that has become perverted in this country. It seems as if we have been turning treasons against God within our own ranks. And especially what I'm talking about is professing Christendom. So let me give you an illustration. Here is the headline.

[John Weaver] It says this major evangelical adoption agency will now serve gay parents nationwide. Here's the article. Listen carefully. The decision comes as more cities and States require organizations to accept applications from LGBTQ couples or risk losing government contracts. One of the country's largest adoption and foster care agencies, Bethany Christian Services, announced on Monday that it would begin providing services to LGBTQ parents nationwide effective immediately, a major inflection point in the fraught battle over many faith-based agencies' longstanding opposition to working with the same-sex couples. Bethany, a Michigan-based evangelical organization, announced the change and an email to about 1500 staff members and was signed by Chris Polesky, the organization's president, chief executive. He said, and I'm quoting, we will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today.

[John Weaver] Mr. Polesky wrote, we're taking an all hands on deck approach where all are welcome. So my comment would be really, would you please show me somewhere in scripture where God has expressed love and compassion upon those who are rebelling against him, hating him, despising him, and wallowing in sin and wickedness and disobedience. It seems to me that there is a passage in the Bible, something like Psalm five verses four through six, where the Bible says for, Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee.

[John Weaver] The foolish shall not stand in thy sight. Thou art," and he said,"...thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing or lying. The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man." And so when the Bible says the foolish shall not stand in his sight and that he hates all of the workers of iniquity, obviously Our Lord is not going to show any love or compassion to those whom he hates in that sense of the word, because they're in open rebellion and defiance against him.

[John Weaver] And I hope you notice this phrase that I read. It said, or risk losing government contracts. So in reality, it is not the faith that matters to Bethany Christian services. It's not obedience that matters. It's not really love. or compassion that matters, it is money that matters. Because if they do not compromise, then obviously they're going to lose their government contracts. So I don't know, to be absolutely honest, how anyone could believe that the love and compassion of Jesus Christ is expressed by allowing a child to be raised, taught, and possibly abused by individuals that hate and despise the Lord Jesus Christ and are living contrary to his law.

[John Weaver] So the headline said, major evangelical adoption agency will now serve gay parents nationwide. Stop and think about this. There are no gay parents, at least not physically. It is physically impossible for two men or two women to produce a child. The only way it's possible for such people to be parents is to have a legal or a political line attached to them. In fact, the truth of the matter is this. Black's Law Dictionary gives a definition of parents and it's this, the lawful father or mother of a person.

[John Weaver] one who procreates, begets, or brings forth offspring. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines parents as he or she that produces young, and it's only through political and legal means that same-sex couples could ever be considered parents. If you look up the word family in an online dictionary, you'll find this definition, a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not. So the word parents here refers into fathers and mothers.

[John Weaver] Now think of the terms that we normally use in relationship to a family. We talk about family values. We don't even talk about family values when the wife is expecting. We normally say that she is in a family way, You read about a family man, a family man is someone who loves his wife, loves his children, takes care of them. Then you also read about a family tree, which is a graph from which your ancestors and descendants are own. But the truth of the matter is same sex couples cannot continue a family tree, at least not physically. It's absolutely impossible. So, uh, Black's Law Dictionary gives the meaning of the word family and it says this, most commonly refers to groups of persons consisting of parents and children, father, mother, and their children.

[John Weaver] Now, the point I'm trying to make right now is this, that we have erred so far from the word of God and so far from the foundation upon which this country has been built, It's absolutely astounding. We've deviated so far. The amazing thing to me is when most professing Christians will read about Bethany Christian Services now going to allow LBGT people to adopt children, most will support it and think that's just absolutely wonderful. instead of saying that is outrageous, that is absolutely contrary to the word of God.

[John Weaver] It was King Manasseh, which we will talk about a little bit later momentarily, who really got in trouble for allowing the sodomites, not only in the temple, but to live by the temple as well. And you'll find that in second King chapter 21.

[John Weaver] Now, the first message that I brought from Nehemiah chapter nine, I dealt with the context. in which our verses occur. And I pointed out in this passage, he is making a confession. And of course, I pointed out that the word confess means to agree with or decide with God or to say the same thing as God or to take the same attitude that God takes. And that no one really and truly confesses their sins until they view sin the way God does. And so in this passage, of course, they confess the goodness of God and all that He gave them. And then how they turn around and despise His goodness. They confess their sins and acknowledge their rebellion and violation of God's law. And then they even said and confess the fact that God was just in punishing them and chastising them. And they said that, God, you're right and we're wrong. You're just and we are unjust. Now, I pointed out last week that really and truly biblical confession involves repentance and a turning from sin and a turning to obedience.

[John Weaver] It's kind of like the passage in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 9 where the Apostle Paul said, talking about those Thessalonians, how they turn to God from idols to serve the living and through God. There's a negative that is, you turn from idols or you turn from sin, but there is also a positive, that is, you turn to God to serve and to obey Him.

[John Weaver] Now, the sin of Israel that is really being dealt with in Nehemiah chapter 9 is the fact that when these people had come back from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah, They had intermarried with the heathen. They had not only intermarried with the heathen, they were constantly and continually violating the Sabbath by buying and selling. Not only were they continually violating the Sabbath, they were also violating the sabbatical year, the seventh year, where all debts were to be forgiven. And they continued to exact those debts. And they were also enslaving their own and using them as manservants and maidenservants and refusing to allow them to go free in the sabbatical year.

[John Weaver] So they were having some very grievous sins. Now, what they're going to be confessing, one of the things is that they had intermarried. And he uses the word strangers, and it's from the Hebrew word nekar, which means literally a foreigner or an alien a stranger. So if you will turn back just a few pages to Ezra chapter 9, the book right before Nehemiah, and look in Ezra chapter 9, and let me show you who they had intermarried with, and I want you to think about this. Look in Ezra 9 verse 1. Ezra 9 verse 1.

[John Weaver] Now when these things were done, the princes came to me saying, the people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the land, doing according to their abomination, even watch of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites, for they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands. Yea, the hand of the princes and rulers have been chief in this trespass. Now, the interesting thing is when you look at these people with whom they had intermarried, these were the same ones that God put a sword in the hand of Israel's hand when they came out of Egypt and said, destroy all of them. Well, they failed to destroy all of them. They disobeyed God. They sinned against God in that sense of the word. And now they've even sinned farther in the fact that they are intermarrying with them.

[John Weaver] Now, all you have to do is read Deuteronomy chapter seven and, and Exodus chapter 34, where God specifically said they were not to enter into any covenant with them. They were not to give their sons unto them or, or take their daughters for their sons. Obviously, They'd only sinned against God in failing to conquer the land, but now they've sinned against God by intermarrying these heathen from whom he said, you shall not marry.

[John Weaver] And then, of course, on top of that, the violation of the Sabbath and the sabbatical year. So the very first step they took in getting themselves out of the trouble that they were in, and that's why he said there in verse 32, let not this trouble seem little unto you. They were in trouble, but the very first step they took was they had a real, genuine confession.

[John Weaver] That is, they were siding with God. That is why in verse 33, he says, how be it thou art just in all that is brought upon us. For thou has done right, but we have done wickedly.

[John Weaver] Now, once they made their confession, there had to be another step. And that second step was they had to renew their covenantal obedience. So if you look down to verse 38, he said, and because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it. And our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it. So you have to ask this question, what was the covenant? What were they covenanting together to do? Well, you'll find that in Nehemiah chapter 10, beginning there with verse 28.

[John Weaver] because he's listing all the people in the first verses that signed and sealed to this couple, at least the leaders thereof. But notice, if you would please, verse 28, and the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singing, the Nethanyims. Now, the Nethanyims were servants to the Levites, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God.

[John Weaver] See, there you have the negative, there you have the positive. They separated themselves from their sin, that's the negative, but they separated also themselves unto God, that's the positive, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone having knowledge and having understanding. They claimed to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an oath.

[John Weaver] Now watch, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses, a servant of God, and to observe to do all the commandments of the Lord our God and His judgments and His statutes. And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons. And if the people of the land bring ware or any vittles on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath or on the holy day.

[John Weaver] And that we would leave the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. So they're entering now into this covenant to obey the law of God as given by Moses. So simply stated they had repented of their sins and now what they're doing is they are renewing their covenantal obedience to God.

[John Weaver] Now it's interesting the Bible said they bound themselves with a curse and with an oath to walk in the law of God. You might think, wow, I don't think I'd ever bind myself with a curse to walk in the law of God. The truth of the matter is, if you don't walk in the law of God, you're already under a curse. All you have to do is read Leviticus 26, read Deuteronomy 28, read Galatians chapter 3, where it said, cursed be he that doeth not all according to this law. So everyone's already under curse that is disobedient. You have to remember that the law of God has sanctions, negative sanctions and positive sanctions.

[John Weaver] And so curses always follow disobedience and blessings always follow obedience. So you can have a negative sanction or you can have a positive sanction. Moreover, may I remind you of the fact that if you are a real genuine born again, Christian, that you are indeed a real child of God, you need to read Hebrews chapter 12. Because Hebrews chapter 12 teaches us very clearly that if we sin against God, he's going to chastise us. What did he say?

[John Weaver] He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. And if you be without chastisement, who are of all our partakers, then are you bastards and not sons. In other words, God is not going to allow us to get away with sin if we belong to him. It's just that simple. It's kind of like any earthly father. In fact, he uses that illustration there in Hebrews chapter 12. But if my father had told me, son, I want you to do this.

[John Weaver] And I'd look at dad and say, well, you're you're old enough now. You want us won't hurt you because I don't want to do this. I can see my dad right now smiling and saying, well, son, I've got something that will help you and will make you want to do what I've asked you to do. Well, that's the way it is with God in that sense of the word. If we obey his word, we do not need the rod. If we disobey his word, he's going to use the rod to bring us back into obedience. So the truth of the matter is when people say, well, I wouldn't bind myself with a curse. You're already under a curse. if you disobey. Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. These people came to a place in their lives where they had to become extremely serious with God and with His Word. There has to be a time in our lives when we become serious with God and His Word. Far too often we think and we act without God without reference to him and without reference to his word.

[John Weaver] The truth is most professing Christians ignore him, forget him, and in essence deny him. They deny that he exists practically. They deny that he is spoken practically. So the truth of the matter is many professing Christians are nothing more than what you and I would call practical atheists.

[John Weaver] Now, a theoretical atheist is someone in his mind, according to his own logic and his own reasoning will say, there is no God. But a practical atheist is someone who will confess that yes, God does exist. And yes, God has spoken, but I'm going to live my own life. I'm going to do my own thing. And that's how most professing Christians are living. They're just living their lives in total ignorance of God's word. and in complete violations of God's command.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bibles, hold me in my name, but I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus chapter 1 and look in verse 16. Titus chapter 1 and verse 16. Here is an amazing truth. First and second Timothy and then Titus chapter 1. Look if you would please at verse 16, because here is where we are today. Titus 1 verse 16.

[John Weaver] The Bible says they profess that they know God. But in works, they deny him being abominable and disobedient under every good work reprobate. Note carefully, they profess that they know God. They acknowledge him. They acknowledge his word. But in works, that is the way they live. They deny him. Consequently, they become abominable and disobedient, and their every good work reprobate.

[John Weaver] Now that is exactly where we are today. We meet, we greet, we eat, we repeat, but we never obey. We have a good talk, but our walk reveals that our talk is nothing but hot air. Our walk really reveals that our profession is useless and worthless. You see, the truth of the matter is this. Most people want the blessings of the Lord, but they do not want to live the way he commands.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you, you cannot separate, you cannot divide the person and work of Jesus Christ. His title is the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, the word Lord, Kurios, means boss, owner, master, sovereign. Jesus is from the Hebrew word Joshua, which means savior. Christ refers to the anointed one, the Messiah. And so what many people want to do is this. They want to take Jesus Christ as their savior because they don't want to go to hell. They don't want to be punished. They don't want to face the wrath of God. but they want to deny Jesus Christ as Lord. You cannot do that. You cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so many people have tried, and I've even heard preachers. They'll look at someone and say, well, you're saved, but now what you need to do is to make Jesus Christ your Lord. You can't make Jesus Christ Lord. He already is. God beat you to that.

[John Weaver] In the book of Acts chapter two in verse 36, the Bible says this, therefore that all the house of Israel know assuredly, listen to that. Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that what God hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. God made him Lord. God gave him all power and all authority in heaven and earth. He is the boss. He is the owner. He is the master. He is the sovereign. And you cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ. You cannot say, well, I'll be saved by him, but I don't want him telling me how to live. I don't want him telling me what to do. I don't want him telling me how to act. No, no, no. It doesn't work like that. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] And if he saves you, you bow to him. You acknowledge his Lordship.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you something. I want you to think with me because every major revival, every major renewal in the Bible began with an honest and real and genuine confession of sin. And secondly, there was a real renewal of covenantal obedience. So I want you to look in your Bibles to 2nd Kings chapter 23 and look with me at the revival under King Josiah. 2nd Kings chapter 23, 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles, 2nd Kings chapter 23.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse one. We'll read a pretty good way in this passage because I want you to see what is happening under Josiah.

[John Weaver] Second Kings 23 verse one and the king sent and they gathered under him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem went with him. And the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great.

[John Weaver] Now look what he did. And he read in their ears, all the words of the book of the covenant, which would be the law of Moses, which was found in the house of the Lord. And the King said by pillar and made a covenant before the Lord. Watch this covenant. What kind of covenant did he make to walk after the Lord? and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and with all their soul to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah, the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the door to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord, all the vessels that were made for bail and for the, for the grove, that is a Shura, and for all the host of heaven.

[John Weaver] And he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them under Bethel. And he put down the idolatrous priests whom the king of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places round about Jerusalem. Them also that burned incense into Baal and to the sun and to the moon and to the planets and to all the host of heaven. He brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, that's Manasseh's work, without Jerusalem into the brook Kidron and burned it at the brook Kidron and stamped it small to powder and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. Now watch. And he break down the houses of the Sodomites that were by the house of the Lord, where the women will hangings for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah. and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense from Geba to Beersheba, and break down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

[John Weaver] Nevertheless, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. Now watch this if you would. And he defiled Tophet, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Moloch. And he took away the horses that the king of Judah had given to the son at the entering into the house of the Lord by their chamber of Nathan Melek, the Chamberlain, which was in the suburb and burned the chariots of the son with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the king of Judah had made, And the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down and break them down from fence and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the Mount of corruption, which Solomon, the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidonians and for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, or Molech, or Malcolm, sometimes in the Bible, the abomination

[John Weaver] of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. He break in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and fill their places with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel, at the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and high place he break down. And he burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the groves, And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchers and burn them upon the altar and polluted it according to the word of

[John Weaver] the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Then he said, what title is that? I see. And the men of the city told him it is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah and proclaim these things that thou has done against the altar Bethel. And he said, let him alone, let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria and all the houses. Also the high places were in the cities of Samaria, which the Kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger. Josiah took away and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars and burn men's bones upon them and return to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people saying, keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.

[John Weaver] Surely there was not hold in such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah. But in the 18th year of King Josiah, wherein this Passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] Now watch verse 24 and 25. Moreover, the workers with familiar spirits and the wizards and the images and the idols and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and Jerusalem, did Josiah put away? Why? There's a turning away from, there's a negative that he might perform the words of the law, which are written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. Now look what he said about Josiah and likened to him. There was no king before him that turned to the Lord with all of his heart, with all his soul, with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, neither after him arose there any like him. Let me just summarize this by saying, here is exactly what Josiah did. He cleaned house.

[John Weaver] Anything and everything that was contrary to God, contrary to his word, he got rid of. Now, obviously, we do not have the power or the authority of an earthly king like Josiah. We are not earthly kings, and therefore we do not have the right or the authority to destroy property. Neither do we have the right or the authority to execute people and simply put them to death. But just because we do not have the authority that King Josiah had does not mean that we're helpless and that we can do absolutely nothing.

[John Weaver] The truth of the matter is we may change things in our personal lives. We may change things in our family lives. We may change things in our ecclesiastical lives and our church lives. We may even change things in our communities because you see, we can still preach. We can still teach. We can still witness. We can still speak. We can still help. We can still direct. We can still give counsel. We can do all of these things that most of the time we are not doing.

[John Weaver] Moreover, we could do something else that Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel did. And that is, we can not only confess our personal sins, but we can confess the sins of the nation. And there are plenty to confess. There are plenty to acknowledge. Moreover, we can go even further. We can learn to pray those imprecatory prayers that are listed in the Bible. I love that one in Psalm nine.

[John Weaver] Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but established out of the just. You know, I want to show you a verse. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Joel, the book of Joel. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. I want you to look in Joel chapter two. Look, if you would please, at verse 17. In fact, let's read verse 16. We can start with verse 15. Watch this. Joel 2 verse 15.

[John Weaver] God says, blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people. Sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and those that suck the breasts. Let the bride groom go forth out of his chamber and the bride out of her closet.

[John Weaver] Now look what we're to do. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep before the porch and the altar and let them say, spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach that the heathen should rule over them. Wherefore should they say among the people, where is their God? Surely we can fast and we can pray and we can pray, spare thy people, Oh God. And let not the heathen have dominion over your people. Surely we can do that. We can learn the imprecatory prayers and we can pray them. And God says in the time of trouble, this is exactly what we should be doing.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you one more very quickly. I want you to turn. to 2nd Chronicles chapter 29. 2nd Chronicles 29. I want you to see the first 10 verses because here we're reading about godly king Hezekiah. 2nd Chronicles chapter 29 and let's begin reading there with verse 10. Look what Hezekiah says. Verse 1, 2 Chronicles 29, Hezekiah began to reign when he was 5 and 20 years old, and he reigned 9 and 20 years in Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. And he brought in the priest and the Levites and gathered them together into the East street and said to them, hear me, Levi's sanctify now yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers and carry forth the filthiness out of this holy place. For our fathers have trespassed and done that, which was evil in the eyes of the Lord, our God, and have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turn their backs. That is a, gave God the back, not the face. And they have shut up the doors of the porch and put out the lamps and not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings of the holy place unto the God of Israel.

[John Weaver] Wherefore, the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem and he delivered them to trouble, the trouble we're in. He delivered them to trouble, to astonishment and to hissing as you see with your eyes. For lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

[John Weaver] Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel that is fierce wrath may turn away from us. And then he encourages them. And you need to read the rest of this chapter because God sent a wonderful revival, a tremendous revival. In fact, if you will look in the very last verse of second Chronicles 29 verse 36, And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly."

[John Weaver] So let me point this out again. Every major revival, every major renewal in the nations of Judah and Jerusalem and Israel began with an honest and true confession of faith. And then next came an absolute renewal to covenantal obedience to the word of God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews 13. In this passage, we're going to read about a covenant. This covenant, however, is the eternal covenant. Hebrews chapter 13 beginning there with verse 20 the Apostle writes now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant now let me just pause right there the everlasting covenant is the covenant that was made between God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit it was in this covenant that God the Father gave to God the Son of people. God the Son agreed to become their surety, their substitute, and their sacrifice. And God the Holy Spirit agreed to convict them, convert them, and regenerate them, and bring them back to God the Father through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse 20 again. He says, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant.

[John Weaver] What is the result or what is the end of this everlasting covenant? Make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. First, let me say, we cannot change this covenant. We cannot add to it. We cannot take from it. And let me say next, we do not want to change this covenant. It is absolutely perfect. And it is a covenant between God, the father, God, the son, and God, the Holy spirit, what we should want. And what we should desire is a greater obedience to this covenant because look if you would please at verse 21. It is God's will that we be made perfect in every good work to do His will. It is His will that we will be enabled for Him to work in us that which is well pleasing in His sight. It is His will that he do this through Jesus Christ so that Jesus Christ should receive the honor and the glory forever and ever.

[John Weaver] So what we should want is a greater obedience so that God would be pleased to work in us that which is well pleasing in his sight and make us fruitful under every good work so that we could abound in honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me quote some scriptures for you. There will be one or two I want you to see, but I want you to think with me. Our Lord Jesus Christ made some very simple statements which are exceedingly revealing and they should really reach our hearts and minds. The first one is this. In John 14, in verse 21, our Lord said, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I and my father shall manifest ourselves unto him.

[John Weaver] But notice what he said. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. When you get to verse 24, he says this, he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and the word which you hear is not mine, but the father's which has sent me. So he's just got out of his mouth. If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

[John Weaver] So here's someone who professes to be a Christian and yet his life is absolutely full of disaster. And when I mean disaster, I mean he's constantly and continually in violation of the word of God. And yet he professes to be a Christian. Our Lord said, no, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. If you don't love me, you will not keep my commandments.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 13. Watch this carefully. Romans chapter 13. And let's begin reading there with verse eight. There's some excellent economic counsel in the very first verse. Very first phrase of Romans 13, verse eight. Look what he says. Oh, no man, anything that's good economic advice. Stay out of debt. Don't go into debt, but let's finish it. He says, Oh no man, anything, but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Well, what is loving another?

[John Weaver] For this, thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not covet. If there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Love is not emotion. Love is not sentimentality. Love is obedience. Love is keeping God's law.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn to First John chapter two. First John chapter two. And look, if you would, please, at verses three and four. First John two. Verses 3 and 4. Here it is. Look in verse 3. 1 John 2, verse 3. And hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. How do I know that I know God? Because He is enabling me by His grace and by His Spirit to be obedient.

[John Weaver] Now that doesn't mean that I'm perfect. It doesn't mean that you're perfect. But it does mean that obedience characterizes our lives. Hereby we do know that we know him. If we keep his commandments, he that says, I know him and keep it, not his commandments is a liar. And the truth is not in him. And that's simple. Our Lord said, if you love me, you keep my commandments. If you don't love me, you won't keep my commandments. If you want to know whether or not you know me, it's because I'm enabling you and empowering you to be obedient. If you say that you know me and your life is characterized by sin, rebellion, wickedness, and disobedience, you're lying. You don't know me. Now, once again, this doesn't mean that we're absolutely perfect.

[John Weaver] David was a man after God's own heart, and yet David committed some very awful sins. But those awful sins that David committed were exceptions. They were not the general rule of his life. I want you to look in first John five and verse three, first John five and verse three. If you really want to know what the love of God is, here it is. First John five, verse three. The Bible says for this is the love of God. This is it. This is the love of God.

[John Weaver] that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous. So it does not grieve me that I can't commit adultery. It doesn't grieve me that I can't steal. Does it grieve me that I can't murder? I don't want to do those things anyhow. But this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not. Grievous. In every major revival, not only in the Bible, but in history, there was always a real, genuine confession of sin.

[John Weaver] And secondly, there was a renewal of covenantal obedience. We will obey.

[John Weaver] Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. I'm not sure of the exact number. I think it was around 48,000, but the people who came back with Ezra and Nehemiah were a very, or was a very small number, around 48,000. And so here, this little group of people is in the midst of the heathen and the pagans. Ezra was concerned with building the temple. building a wall and helping to get all the trash out of Jerusalem and rebuild the city.

[John Weaver] And so you have them here. Obviously, that small number of people could not control or dominate that entire area, just were not enough people to do so, even if they wanted to do so, just an insufficient number. If each of us banded together, could we control Washington, D.C.? No. Could we control Tallahassee or Atlanta? No. If we can't control Washington and if we can't control the state capitals, obviously we can't control a continent. Okay. But just because we can't do those things does not mean that there's absolutely nothing that we can do. We can do something. We can control ourselves. We can control our families. We can control our churches in one sense of the word. We can even control a community. How?

[John Weaver] By speaking, teaching, reaching out, helping. Let me give you something to think about. Do you realize that God was going to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if he had found 10 righteous people? There's more than 10 in this room. Can you imagine what effect it would have upon your churches and your communities if you had 10 families that said, we will dedicate ourselves to obey God in every area of our lives, every sphere, every venue, we will make sure that we are walking obediently according to the law of God. Whatever his word says, that's exactly what we're going to do. Can you imagine the impact? If God was going to spare Solomon Gomorrah with 10 righteous You see, we need to start where we do have control, not where we don't have control. Okay. Here's the second one.

[John Weaver] We must understand that our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ is non-negotiable. Government contractor, no government contract. multi-millionaires or no multi-millionaires. It's non-negotiable. We have to come to the place that we will obey.

[John Weaver] Now, we're living in a time right now where persecution is increasing. It's going to get worse. Christians are being singled out, and I'm not talking about in Africa. I'm not talking about in India or Pakistan, I'm talking about here in America. Christians are being singled out and it's going to get worse. So we have to make up our minds that persecution is not going to drive us into disobedience. Prosecution is not going to drive us into disobedience. Threats of death. are not going to drive us into disobedience.

[John Weaver] Have you ever stopped to think everybody's got to die? That's true. And everybody's got to die in some manner. I'll be honest. I don't want to die, but I had rather die a martyr than to live as a traitor. and treasonous to the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm just simply saying we need to quit playing church. Christians have given up, given in and given out for so long.

[John Weaver] It's now time that we come back and not only confess and acknowledge our sins, but renew our obedience. to the Lord Jesus Christ. The way out of the trouble that we are in as individuals, as families, as churches, as a nation, the way out is through confession and renewed obedience to God. So the question has to be asked. Will you confess and acknowledge your sins? The sins of your family, the sins of your churches, the sins of your nation, and then will you give a renewed covenantal obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ by acknowledging him as Lord, boss, owner, master, sovereign. You need to come to the realization.

[John Weaver] that since he has all power in heaven and earth, he has the absolute right to tell us how to live, what to do, and what not to do. Because God hath made that same Jesus, Peter said, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. And Lord, we do acknowledge the fact that we need to confess our sins and the sins of our nation. And we need a covenantal renewal of obedience to thee and thy word. Speak to our hearts, grip our minds, turn us Oh Lord.

[John Weaver] And we shall be turned quicken us. And we shall call upon thy name. We ask for thy grace and thy mercy in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. In whose name we pray, Amen.

[John Weaver] so

The Trouble We're In And The Way Out - Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	X_yrjcMiazk
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need
Genre	Sermon
Date	2021-03-29
Dictation Name
Book	Book 058: The Trouble We're In And The Way Out — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	82

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver reads Nehemiah 9:32-38, setting the stage for the message on confession and covenant renewal.

It's to Nehemiah chapter 9, and Lord willing, we'll do the second part of this message, which I've titled "The Trouble We Are In and the Way Out." So in Nehemiah chapter 9, let's begin reading at verse 32, and we'll read through verse 38. Nehemiah 9, beginning at verse 32, Nehemiah is praying and he says,

Scripture Reading — Nehemiah 9:32-38

"Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day." "Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them. For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins." "Also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it."

In the first message, I pointed out how that we have left the foundation upon which this country has been built. We have forsaken the Bible, biblical principles, truth and righteousness that undergirded our nation. When our nation was founded, it was indeed founded as a Christian nation. That did not mean that everyone in the country was a Christian, but it just simply meant that it was built upon biblical principles.

America's Departure from Biblical Foundations

Weaver reviews how America has left its Christian foundation, embracing humanism and perversion, with government facilitating sin.

One of the quotes that I gave you last week was from the New Haven colony in 1639, where they said the laws of this colony shall be the laws of God as given through Moses. But we've left that foundation. And we have gone into not only humanism, but now seemingly transhumanism and perversions of every form in rebelling against God and His Word. When you look around at our civil government today, we understand in one sense of the word that our own government basically has destroyed the family, economics, education, and health, and practically everything that it's touched. The only thing that our government has made better is the ease and the ability to sin and to violate the Word of God. Also quoted last week from Congressman Jerry Nadler, who on February 25th of this year said God has no authority in the House of Representatives. On February 27th, he said God's will is of no concern for this Congress.

And he just simply pointed out and said publicly that which most politicians really and truly believe, but only are afraid to admit. But it's not simply the realm of civil government that has become perverted in this country. It seems as if we have been turning treason against God within our own ranks. And especially what I'm talking about is professing Christendom. So let me give you an illustration. Here is the headline.

Compromise in Evangelical Institutions

Using Bethany Christian Services as an example, Weaver decries the compromise of biblical truth for government contracts, redefining family and parenthood.

It says this: "Major evangelical adoption agency will now serve gay parents nationwide." Here's the article. Listen carefully. "The decision comes as more cities and states require organizations to accept applications from LGBTQ couples or risk losing government contracts. One of the country's largest adoption and foster care agencies, Bethany Christian Services, announced on Monday that it would begin providing services to LGBTQ parents nationwide effective immediately, a major inflection point in the fraught battle over many faith-based agencies' longstanding opposition to working with same-sex couples. Bethany, a Michigan-based evangelical organization, announced the change in an email to about 1,500 staff members and was signed by Chris Palusky, the organization's president and chief executive. He said, and I'm quoting, 'We will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today.'"

Mr. Palusky wrote, "We're taking an all-hands-on-deck approach where all are welcome." So my comment would be, really? Would you please show me somewhere in Scripture where God has expressed love and compassion upon those who are rebelling against Him, hating Him, despising Him, and wallowing in sin and wickedness and disobedience? It seems to me that there is a passage in the Bible, something like Psalm 5, verses 4 through 6, where the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 5:4-6

"For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee." "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man."

And so when the Bible says the foolish shall not stand in His sight and that He hates all the workers of iniquity, obviously our Lord is not going to show any love or compassion to those whom He hates in that sense of the word, because they're in open rebellion and defiance against Him.

And I hope you notice this phrase that I read. It said, "or risk losing government contracts." So in reality, it is not the faith that matters to Bethany Christian Services. It's not obedience that matters. It's not really love or compassion that matters; it is money that matters. Because if they do not compromise, then obviously they're going to lose their government contracts. So I don't know, to be absolutely honest, how anyone could believe that the love and compassion of Jesus Christ is expressed by allowing a child to be raised, taught, and possibly abused by individuals that hate and despise the Lord Jesus Christ and are living contrary to His law.

So the headline said, "Major evangelical adoption agency will now serve gay parents nationwide." Stop and think about this. There are no gay parents, at least not physically. It is physically impossible for two men or two women to produce a child. The only way it's possible for such people to be parents is to have a legal or a political line attached to them. In fact, the truth of the matter is this: Black's Law Dictionary gives a definition of parents and it's this: "the lawful father or mother of a person." "One who procreates, begets, or brings forth offspring." Webster's 1828 dictionary defines parents as "he or she that produces young," and it's only through political and legal means that same-sex couples could ever be considered parents. If you look up the word "family" in an online dictionary, you'll find this definition: "a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not." So the word "parents" here refers to fathers and mothers.

Now think of the terms that we normally use in relationship to a family. We talk about family values. We don't even talk about family values when the wife is expecting; we normally say that she is in a family way. You read about a family man; a family man is someone who loves his wife, loves his children, takes care of them. Then you also read about a family tree, which is a graph from which your ancestors and descendants are shown. But the truth of the matter is same-sex couples cannot continue a family tree, at least not physically. It's absolutely impossible. So, Black's Law Dictionary gives the meaning of the word "family" and it says this: "Most commonly refers to groups of persons consisting of parents and children; father, mother, and their children."

Now, the point I'm trying to make right now is this: that we have erred so far from the Word of God and so far from the foundation upon which this country has been built, it's absolutely astounding. We've deviated so far. The amazing thing to me is when most professing Christians will read about Bethany Christian Services now going to allow LGBTQ people to adopt children, most will support it and think that's just absolutely wonderful, instead of saying that is outrageous, that is absolutely contrary to the Word of God. It was King Manasseh, which we will talk about a little bit later momentarily, who really got in trouble for allowing the sodomites, not only in the temple, but to live by the temple as well. And you'll find that in 2 Kings chapter 21.

Now, the first message that I brought from Nehemiah chapter 9, I dealt with the context in which our verses occur. And I pointed out in this passage, he is making a confession. And of course, I pointed out that the word "confess" means to agree with or decide with God, or to say the same thing as God, or to take the same attitude that God takes. And that no one really and truly confesses their sins until they view sin the way God does. And so in this passage, of course, they confess the goodness of God and all that He gave them. And then how they turn around and despise His goodness. They confess their sins and acknowledge their rebellion and violation of God's law. And then they even said and confessed the fact that God was just in punishing them and chastising them. And they said that, "God, you're right and we're wrong. You're just and we are unjust." Now, I pointed out last week that really and truly biblical confession involves repentance and a turning from sin and a turning to obedience.

The Nature of True Confession

Confession means agreeing with God about sin, leading to repentance and turning from sin to obedience, as seen in Nehemiah's context.

It's kind of like the passage in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 9 where the Apostle Paul said, talking about those Thessalonians, how they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. There's a negative that is, you turn from idols or you turn from sin, but there is also a positive, that is, you turn to God to serve and to obey Him. Now, the sin of Israel that is really being dealt with in Nehemiah chapter 9 is the fact that when these people had come back from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah, they had intermarried with the heathen. They had not only intermarried with the heathen, they were constantly and continually violating the Sabbath by buying and selling. Not only were they continually violating the Sabbath, they were also violating the sabbatical year, the seventh year, where all debts were to be forgiven. And they continued to exact those debts. And they were also enslaving their own and using them as menservants and maidservants and refusing to allow them to go free in the sabbatical year.

So they were having some very grievous sins. Now, what they're going to be confessing, one of the things is that they had intermarried. And he uses the word "strangers," and it's from the Hebrew word "nekar," which means literally a foreigner or an alien, a stranger. So if you will turn back just a few pages to Ezra chapter 9, the book right before Nehemiah, and look in Ezra chapter 9, and let me show you who they had intermarried with, and I want you to think about this. Look in Ezra 9, verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Ezra 9:1-2

"Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass."

Now, the interesting thing is when you look at these people with whom they had intermarried, these were the same ones that God put a sword in the hand of Israel when they came out of Egypt and said, "Destroy all of them." Well, they failed to destroy all of them. They disobeyed God. They sinned against God in that sense of the word. And now they've even sinned farther in the fact that they are intermarrying with them.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 7

Now, all you have to do is read Deuteronomy chapter 7 and Exodus chapter 34, where God specifically said they were not to enter into any covenant with them. They were not to give their sons unto them or take their daughters for their sons. Obviously, they'd only sinned against God in failing to conquer the land, but now they've sinned against God by intermarrying these heathen from whom He said, "You shall not marry." And then, of course, on top of that, the violation of the Sabbath and the sabbatical year. So the very first step they took in getting themselves out of the trouble that they were in, and that's why he said there in verse 32, "Let not this trouble seem little unto you." They were in trouble, but the very first step they took was they had a real, genuine confession.

That is, they were siding with God. That is why in verse 33, he says, "Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly."

Renewal of Covenantal Obedience

After confession, the people in Nehemiah 10 made a covenant to obey God's law, separating from sin and committing to walk in His commandments.

Now, once they made their confession, there had to be another step. And that second step was they had to renew their covenantal obedience. So if you look down to verse 38, he said, "And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it." So you have to ask this question: What was the covenant? What were they covenanting together to do? Well, you'll find that in Nehemiah chapter 10, beginning there with verse 28. Because he's listing all the people in the first verses that signed and sealed to this covenant, at least the leaders thereof. But notice, if you would please, verse 28:

Scripture Reading — Nehemiah 10:28-31

"And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims."

Now, the Nethinims were servants to the Levites,

Scripture Reading — Nehemiah 10:28-31

"and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God."

See, there you have the negative, there you have the positive. They separated themselves from their sin, that's the negative, but they separated also themselves unto God, that's the positive. "Their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding; They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath." Now watch: "To walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our God, and his judgments and his statutes; And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons: And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day."

"And that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt." So they're entering now into this covenant to obey the law of God as given by Moses. So simply stated, they had repented of their sins and now what they're doing is they are renewing their covenantal obedience to God. Now it's interesting the Bible said they bound themselves with a curse and with an oath to walk in the law of God. You might think, "Wow, I don't think I'd ever bind myself with a curse to walk in the law of God." The truth of the matter is, if you don't walk in the law of God, you're already under a curse. All you have to do is read Leviticus 26, read Deuteronomy 28, read Galatians chapter 3, where it said, "Cursed be he that doeth not all according to this law." So everyone's already under curse that is disobedient. You have to remember that the law of God has sanctions, negative sanctions and positive sanctions.

And so curses always follow disobedience and blessings always follow obedience. So you can have a negative sanction or you can have a positive sanction. Moreover, may I remind you of the fact that if you are a real, genuine, born-again Christian, that you are indeed a real child of God, you need to read Hebrews chapter 12. Because Hebrews chapter 12 teaches us very clearly that if we sin against God, He's going to chastise us. What did He say?

The Necessity of Obedience and the Curse of Disobedience

Weaver explains that disobedience brings God's chastisement, and that professing Christians often live as practical atheists, denying God by their works.

"He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. And if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." In other words, God is not going to allow us to get away with sin if we belong to Him. It's just that simple. It's kind of like any earthly father. In fact, He uses that illustration there in Hebrews chapter 12. But if my father had told me, "Son, I want you to do this." And I'd look at Dad and say, "Well, you're old enough now. You won't hurt me because I don't want to do this." I can see my dad right now smiling and saying, "Well, son, I've got something that will help you and will make you want to do what I've asked you to do." Well, that's the way it is with God in that sense of the word. If we obey His Word, we do not need the rod. If we disobey His Word, He's going to use the rod to bring us back into obedience. So the truth of the matter is when people say, "Well, I wouldn't bind myself with a curse," you're already under a curse if you disobey. Now, the point I'm trying to make is this: These people came to a place in their lives where they had to become extremely serious with God and with His Word. There has to be a time in our lives when we become serious with God and His Word. Far too often we think and we act without God, without reference to Him and without reference to His Word.

The truth is most professing Christians ignore Him, forget Him, and in essence deny Him. They deny that He exists practically. They deny that He has spoken practically. So the truth of the matter is many professing Christians are nothing more than what you and I would call practical atheists.

Now, a theoretical atheist is someone in his mind, according to his own logic and his own reasoning, will say, "There is no God." But a practical atheist is someone who will confess that yes, God does exist, and yes, God has spoken, but I'm going to live my own life. I'm going to do my own thing. And that's how most professing Christians are living. They're just living their lives in total ignorance of God's Word and in complete violations of God's commands. I want you to look in your Bibles, hold me in Nehemiah, but I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus chapter 1 and look at verse 16. Titus chapter 1 and verse 16. Here is an amazing truth. First and Second Timothy and then Titus chapter 1. Look, if you would please, at verse 16, because here is where we are today. Titus 1, verse 16.

The Bible says, "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." Note carefully, they profess that they know God. They acknowledge Him. They acknowledge His Word. But in works, that is the way they live, they deny Him. Consequently, they become abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Now that is exactly where we are today. We meet, we greet, we eat, we repeat, but we never obey. We have a good talk, but our walk reveals that our talk is nothing but hot air. Our walk really reveals that our profession is useless and worthless. You see, the truth of the matter is this: Most people want the blessings of the Lord, but they do not want to live the way He commands.

Jesus as Lord and the Inseparability of His Person and Work

One cannot accept Jesus as Savior without submitting to Him as Lord; God has already made Him Lord, and salvation entails bowing to His authority.

Let me tell you, you cannot separate, you cannot divide the person and work of Jesus Christ. His title is the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, the word "Lord," Kurios, means boss, owner, master, sovereign. "Jesus" is from the Hebrew word Joshua, which means Savior. "Christ" refers to the Anointed One, the Messiah. And so what many people want to do is this: They want to take Jesus Christ as their Savior because they don't want to go to hell. They don't want to be punished. They don't want to face the wrath of God. But they want to deny Jesus Christ as Lord. You cannot do that. You cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so many people have tried, and I've even heard preachers. They'll look at someone and say, "Well, you're saved, but now what you need to do is to make Jesus Christ your Lord." You can't make Jesus Christ Lord. He already is. God beat you to that.

In the book of Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, the Bible says this:

Scripture Reading — Acts 2:36

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."

God made Him Lord. God gave Him all power and all authority in heaven and earth. He is the boss. He is the owner. He is the master. He is the sovereign. And you cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ. You cannot say, "Well, I'll be saved by Him, but I don't want Him telling me how to live. I don't want Him telling me what to do. I don't want Him telling me how to act." No, no, no. It doesn't work like that. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And if He saves you, you bow to Him. You acknowledge His Lordship.

Biblical Revivals: Confession and Covenant Renewal

Weaver examines revivals under Josiah (2 Kings 23) and Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29), showing they began with confession and led to cleansing and covenant renewal.

Now, I want to show you something. I want you to think with me because every major revival, every major renewal in the Bible began with an honest and real and genuine confession of sin. And secondly, there was a real renewal of covenantal obedience. So I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 23 and look with me at the revival under King Josiah. 2 Kings chapter 23, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings chapter 23. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. We'll read a pretty good way in this passage because I want you to see what is happening under Josiah.

2 Kings 23, verse 1:

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great."

Now look what he did.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"And he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord."

Watch this covenant. What kind of covenant did he make?

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"To walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, that is Asherah, and for all the host of heaven." "And he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. Now watch. And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city." "Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. Now watch this if you would. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, or Molech, or Malcham, sometimes in the Bible, the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant." "Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem."

Now watch verses 24 and 25.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away."

Why? There's a turning away from, there's a negative,

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord."

Now look what he said about Josiah:

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him."

Let me just summarize this by saying, here is exactly what Josiah did: He cleaned house.

Anything and everything that was contrary to God, contrary to His Word, he got rid of. Now, obviously, we do not have the power or the authority of an earthly king like Josiah. We are not earthly kings, and therefore we do not have the right or the authority to destroy property. Neither do we have the right or the authority to execute people and simply put them to death. But just because we do not have the authority that King Josiah had does not mean that we're helpless and that we can do absolutely nothing. The truth of the matter is we may change things in our personal lives. We may change things in our family lives. We may change things in our ecclesiastical lives and our church lives. We may even change things in our communities because, you see, we can still preach. We can still teach. We can still witness. We can still speak. We can still help. We can still direct. We can still give counsel. We can do all of these things that most of the time we are not doing.

Moreover, we could do something else that Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel did. And that is, we can not only confess our personal sins, but we can confess the sins of the nation. And there are plenty to confess. There are plenty to acknowledge. Moreover, we can go even further. We can learn to pray those imprecatory prayers that are listed in the Bible. I love that one in Psalm 9.

"Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just." You know, I want to show you a verse. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Joel, the book of Joel. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. I want you to look in Joel chapter 2. Look, if you would please, at verse 17. In fact, let's read verse 16. We can start with verse 15. Watch this. Joel 2, verse 15.

God says, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet." Now look what we're to do. "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?" Surely we can fast and we can pray and we can pray, "Spare thy people, O God, and let not the heathen have dominion over your people." Surely we can do that. We can learn the imprecatory prayers and we can pray them. And God says in the time of trouble, this is exactly what we should be doing.

Now, let me show you one more very quickly. I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 29. 2 Chronicles 29. I want you to see the first 10 verses because here we're reading about godly king Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles chapter 29 and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Look what Hezekiah says. Verse 1, 2 Chronicles 29: "Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem."

"And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs." That is, they gave God the back, not the face. "Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel."

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 29:1-11

"Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble,"

the trouble we're in,

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 29:1-11

"to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this." "Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us."

And then he encourages them. And you need to read the rest of this chapter because God sent a wonderful revival, a tremendous revival. In fact, if you will look in the very last verse of 2 Chronicles 29, verse 36: "And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly."

So let me point this out again. Every major revival, every major renewal in the nations of Judah and Jerusalem and Israel began with an honest and true confession of sin. And then next came an absolute renewal to covenantal obedience to the Word of God.

The Everlasting Covenant and Our Obedience

Hebrews 13:20-21 reveals God's purpose to make us perfect in every good work; our desire should be greater obedience to this eternal covenant.

Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews 13. In this passage, we're going to read about a covenant. This covenant, however, is the eternal covenant. Hebrews chapter 13, beginning there with verse 20, the Apostle writes: "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant." Now let me just pause right there. The everlasting covenant is the covenant that was made between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It was in this covenant that God the Father gave to God the Son a people. God the Son agreed to become their surety, their substitute, and their sacrifice. And God the Holy Spirit agreed to convict them, convert them, and regenerate them, and bring them back to God the Father through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse 20 again. He says, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant."

What is the result or what is the end of this everlasting covenant? "Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." First, let me say, we cannot change this covenant. We cannot add to it. We cannot take from it. And let me say next, we do not want to change this covenant. It is absolutely perfect. And it is a covenant between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. What we should want, and what we should desire, is a greater obedience to this covenant because look, if you would please, at verse 21. It is God's will that we be made perfect in every good work to do His will. It is His will that we will be enabled for Him to work in us that which is well pleasing in His sight. It is His will that He do this through Jesus Christ so that Jesus Christ should receive the honor and the glory forever and ever.

So what we should want is a greater obedience so that God would be pleased to work in us that which is well pleasing in His sight and make us fruitful unto every good work so that we could abound in honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me quote some scriptures for you. There will be one or two I want you to see, but I want you to think with me. Our Lord Jesus Christ made some very simple statements which are exceedingly revealing and they should really reach our hearts and minds. The first one is this. In John 14 and verse 21, our Lord said, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

Love Defined as Obedience to God's Commandments

Scripture (John 14, Romans 13, 1 John) defines love for God as keeping His commandments; disobedience reveals a lack of love and knowledge of God.

But notice what He said: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." When you get to verse 24, He says this: "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings." "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." So He's just got out of His mouth: If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. So here's someone who professes to be a Christian and yet his life is absolutely full of disaster. And when I mean disaster, I mean he's constantly and continually in violation of the Word of God. And yet he professes to be a Christian. Our Lord said, "No, if you love Me, you'll keep My commandments. If you don't love Me, you will not keep My commandments."

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 13. Watch this carefully. Romans chapter 13. And let's begin reading there with verse 8. There's some excellent economic counsel in the very first verse. Very first phrase of Romans 13, verse 8. Look what he says: "Owe no man any thing." That's good economic advice. Stay out of debt. Don't go into debt. But let's finish it. He says, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." "He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." Well, what is loving another?

"For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Love is not emotion. Love is not sentimentality. Love is obedience. Love is keeping God's law.

Now, I want you to turn to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. And look, if you would please, at verses 3 and 4. 1 John 2, verses 3 and 4. Here it is. Look in verse 3: "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." How do I know that I know God? Because He is enabling me by His grace and by His Spirit to be obedient.

Now that doesn't mean that I'm perfect. It doesn't mean that you're perfect. But it does mean that obedience characterizes our lives. "Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." And that's simple. Our Lord said, "If you love Me, you keep My commandments. If you don't love Me, you won't keep My commandments. If you want to know whether or not you know Me, it's because I'm enabling you and empowering you to be obedient. If you say that you know Me and your life is characterized by sin, rebellion, wickedness, and disobedience, you're lying. You don't know Me." Now, once again, this doesn't mean that we're absolutely perfect.

David was a man after God's own heart, and yet David committed some very awful sins. But those awful sins that David committed were exceptions. They were not the general rule of his life. I want you to look in 1 John 5 and verse 3, 1 John 5 and verse 3. If you really want to know what the love of God is, here it is. 1 John 5, verse 3. The Bible says, "For this is the love of God." This is it. This is the love of God.

"That we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." So it does not grieve me that I can't commit adultery. It doesn't grieve me that I can't steal. Does it grieve me that I can't murder? I don't want to do those things anyhow. But this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous. In every major revival, not only in the Bible, but in history, there was always a real, genuine confession of sin. And secondly, there was a renewal of covenantal obedience. We will obey.

Practical Applications and Call to Action

Weaver urges starting with personal and family obedience, recognizing that even a small faithful remnant can impact a community, and calls for confession and renewed obedience.

Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. I'm not sure of the exact number. I think it was around 48,000, but the people who came back with Ezra and Nehemiah were a very small number, around 48,000. And so here, this little group of people is in the midst of the heathen and the pagans. Ezra was concerned with building the temple, building a wall, and helping to get all the trash out of Jerusalem and rebuild the city. And so you have them here. Obviously, that small number of people could not control or dominate that entire area, just were not enough people to do so, even if they wanted to do so, just an insufficient number. If each of us banded together, could we control Washington, D.C.? No. Could we control Tallahassee or Atlanta? No. If we can't control Washington and if we can't control the state capitals, obviously we can't control a continent. Okay. But just because we can't do those things does not mean that there's absolutely nothing that we can do. We can do something. We can control ourselves. We can control our families. We can control our churches in one sense of the word. We can even control a community. How?

By speaking, teaching, reaching out, helping. Let me give you something to think about. Do you realize that God was going to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if He had found 10 righteous people? There's more than 10 in this room. Can you imagine what effect it would have upon your churches and your communities if you had 10 families that said, "We will dedicate ourselves to obey God in every area of our lives, every sphere, every venue, we will make sure that we are walking obediently according to the law of God. Whatever His Word says, that's exactly what we're going to do." Can you imagine the impact? If God was going to spare Sodom and Gomorrah with 10 righteous, you see, we need to start where we do have control, not where we don't have control. Okay. Here's the second one.

We must understand that our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ is non-negotiable. Government contract or no government contract, multi-millionaires or no multi-millionaires, it's non-negotiable. We have to come to the place that we will obey. Now, we're living in a time right now where persecution is increasing. It's going to get worse. Christians are being singled out, and I'm not talking about in Africa. I'm not talking about in India or Pakistan, I'm talking about here in America. Christians are being singled out and it's going to get worse. So we have to make up our minds that persecution is not going to drive us into disobedience. Persecution is not going to drive us into disobedience. Threats of death are not going to drive us into disobedience.

Have you ever stopped to think everybody's got to die? That's true. And everybody's got to die in some manner. I'll be honest. I don't want to die, but I had rather die a martyr than to live as a traitor and treasonous to the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm just simply saying we need to quit playing church. Christians have given up, given in, and given out for so long.

It's now time that we come back and not only confess and acknowledge our sins, but renew our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. The way out of the trouble that we are in as individuals, as families, as churches, as a nation, the way out is through confession and renewed obedience to God. So the question has to be asked: Will you confess and acknowledge your sins? The sins of your family, the sins of your churches, the sins of your nation, and then will you give a renewed covenantal obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ by acknowledging Him as Lord, boss, owner, master, sovereign? You need to come to the realization that since He has all power in heaven and earth, He has the absolute right to tell us how to live, what to do, and what not to do. Because God hath made that same Jesus, Peter said, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, we do acknowledge the fact that we need to confess our sins and the sins of our nation. And we need a covenantal renewal of obedience to Thee and Thy Word. Speak to our hearts, grip our minds, turn us, O Lord.

And we shall be turned; quicken us, and we shall call upon Thy name. We ask for Thy grace and Thy mercy in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose name we pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Confession of Sin

Summary: True confession involves agreeing with God about the nature of sin, leading to repentance and a turning away from wickedness.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'the word "confess" means to agree with or decide with God, or to say the same thing as God... no one really and truly confesses their sins until they view sin the way God does.'

Covenantal Obedience

Summary: After confession, God's people must renew their commitment to obey His law, as seen in Nehemiah 10 and the revivals under Josiah and Hezekiah.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'every major revival, every major renewal in the Bible began with an honest and real and genuine confession of sin. And secondly, there was a real renewal of covenantal obedience.'

The Lordship of Jesus Christ

Summary: Jesus is both Savior and Lord; one cannot separate His person and work. Salvation requires submission to His authority.

Evidence: Weaver declares, 'You cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ. You cannot say, "Well, I'll be saved by Him, but I don't want Him telling me how to live."'

Love as Obedience

Summary: Biblical love for God is not emotion but keeping His commandments; disobedience indicates a lack of love and knowledge of God.

Evidence: Weaver quotes 1 John 5:3, 'For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.'

Practical Atheism in the Church

Summary: Many professing Christians live as practical atheists, acknowledging God with their lips but denying Him by their disobedient works.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'a practical atheist is someone who will confess that yes, God does exist... but I'm going to live my own life. I'm going to do my own thing.'

The Necessity of Personal and Family Reformation

Summary: While Christians cannot control the nation, they can start by obeying God in their personal lives, families, and churches, trusting God to work through a faithful remnant.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We can control ourselves. We can control our families. We can control our churches... By speaking, teaching, reaching out, helping.'

Key Arguments

America's departure from biblical foundations has led to moral and societal decay.

Summary: Weaver argues that the nation has forsaken the Bible and biblical principles, resulting in government-sanctioned sin and perversion.

Evidence: He states, 'we have left the foundation upon which this country has been built. We have forsaken the Bible, biblical principles, truth and righteousness that undergirded our nation.'

Compromise with sin for financial or political gain is a betrayal of the faith.

Summary: Using Bethany Christian Services as an example, Weaver contends that prioritizing government contracts over biblical obedience is treason against God.

Evidence: He comments, 'it is not the faith that matters to Bethany Christian Services... it is money that matters. Because if they do not compromise, then obviously they're going to lose their government contracts.'

True confession must lead to a tangible renewal of obedience to God's law.

Summary: Weaver insists that biblical confession is not mere words but results in a covenant to walk in God's commandments, as in Nehemiah 10.

Evidence: He notes, 'they had repented of their sins and now what they're doing is they are renewing their covenantal obedience to God.'

Disobedience brings God's chastisement, while obedience brings blessing.

Summary: Drawing from Hebrews 12 and the law's sanctions, Weaver argues that God disciplines His children and that curses follow disobedience.

Evidence: He says, 'curses always follow disobedience and blessings always follow obedience... if we sin against God, He's going to chastise us.'

The biblical pattern for revival is confession of sin followed by covenant renewal.

Summary: Weaver demonstrates from the reigns of Josiah and Hezekiah that national renewal began with acknowledging sin and committing to obey God's Word.

Evidence: He summarizes, 'every major revival, every major renewal in the nations of Judah and Jerusalem and Israel began with an honest and true confession of sin. And then next came an absolute renewal to covenantal obedience.'

Love for Christ is proven by keeping His commandments.

Summary: Weaver uses John 14 and 1 John to argue that obedience is the evidence of love and knowledge of God; disobedience reveals a liar.

Evidence: He quotes, 'He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.'

Scripture References

Nehemiah 9:32-38

Context: Read as the primary text, describing Israel's confession of sin and covenant to obey God.

Psalm 5:4-6

Context: Cited to show God hates workers of iniquity, contradicting the idea that God shows love and compassion to those in open rebellion.

2 Kings 21

Context: Referenced regarding King Manasseh allowing sodomites in the temple.

1 Thessalonians 1:9

Context: Used to illustrate turning from idols to serve God as a model of repentance.

Ezra 9:1-2

Context: Read to show the specific peoples Israel intermarried with, whom God had commanded to destroy.

Deuteronomy 7

Context: Mentioned as a command not to intermarry with the heathen.

Exodus 34

Context: Mentioned alongside Deuteronomy 7 as forbidding covenants and intermarriage with pagans.

Nehemiah 10:28-31

Context: Read to show the covenant the people made to obey God's law, including not intermarrying or violating the Sabbath.

Leviticus 26

Context: Referenced as containing sanctions for disobedience.

Deuteronomy 28

Context: Referenced alongside Leviticus 26 regarding blessings and curses.

Galatians 3

Context: Cited for the curse on those who do not continue in all things written in the law.

Hebrews 12

Context: Used to teach that God chastises every son He receives; lack of chastisement indicates illegitimacy.

Titus 1:16

Context: Quoted to show that some profess to know God but deny Him by their works.

Acts 2:36

Context: Quoted to prove that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ.

2 Kings 23:1-25

Context: Read extensively to illustrate Josiah's revival: reading the law, making a covenant, and purging idolatry.

Joel 2:15-17

Context: Read to call for fasting, prayer, and intercession for God's people in time of trouble.

2 Chronicles 29:1-11

Context: Read to show Hezekiah's revival: opening the temple, confessing sins, and making a covenant.

Hebrews 13:20-21

Context: Read to describe the everlasting covenant and God's work to make believers perfect in every good work.

John 14:21, 24

Context: Quoted to show that keeping Christ's commandments is the proof of love for Him.

Romans 13:8-10

Context: Read to demonstrate that love fulfills the law through obedience to the commandments.

Historical References

New Haven Colony (1639)

Context: Cited as an example of America's Christian foundation, where laws were based on the laws of God given through Moses.

Congressman Jerry Nadler statements (February 25 & 27, 2021)

Context: Quoted as saying God has no authority in the House and God's will is of no concern for Congress, illustrating governmental rejection of God.

Bethany Christian Services policy change (2021)

Context: Described as a major evangelical adoption agency deciding to serve LGBTQ parents nationwide to avoid losing government contracts.

King Manasseh

Context: Mentioned as the king who allowed sodomites in the temple, referenced in 2 Kings 21.

King Josiah's revival

Context: Detailed from 2 Kings 23 as a model of covenant renewal and purging idolatry.

King Hezekiah's revival

Context: Detailed from 2 Chronicles 29 as another model of confession and covenant renewal.

Return from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah

Context: Context of the passage, with about 48,000 returning exiles rebuilding Jerusalem and confronting sin.

Important Quotes

The only thing that our government has made better is the ease and the ability to sin and to violate the Word of God.

Significance: Summarizes Weaver's critique of government's role in facilitating moral decline.

God has no authority in the House of Representatives.

Significance: Quoted from Congressman Nadler to illustrate the explicit rejection of God's authority in government.

We will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today.

Significance: Quote from Bethany Christian Services' CEO used to show the redefinition of Christian love to include affirming sin.

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Significance: Key verse (Titus 1:16) used to define practical atheism among professing Christians.

You cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ. You cannot say, 'Well, I'll be saved by Him, but I don't want Him telling me how to live.'

Significance: Central argument that salvation necessarily includes submission to Christ's Lordship.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Significance: 1 John 2:4 quoted to emphasize that obedience is the test of genuine faith.

I had rather die a martyr than to live as a traitor and treasonous to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Significance: Expresses the call to unwavering faithfulness even in the face of persecution.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean to 'confess' sin in the biblical sense, and how does this differ from merely admitting wrongdoing?

Context: Weaver defines confession as agreeing with God and viewing sin as He does.

How should Christians respond when evangelical organizations compromise biblical truth for financial or political reasons?

Context: The example of Bethany Christian Services is used to illustrate such compromise.

In what ways do professing Christians today live as 'practical atheists,' and how can we avoid this?

Context: Weaver describes practical atheism as professing God but living in disobedience.

Why is it impossible to separate Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord, and what implications does this have for salvation?

Context: Weaver argues from Acts 2:36 and other passages that Jesus is both Lord and Christ.

What can we learn from the revivals under Josiah and Hezekiah about the steps to personal and corporate renewal?

Context: Weaver examines 2 Kings 23 and 2 Chronicles 29 as patterns of confession and covenant renewal.

How does the Bible define love for God, and how does this challenge common cultural understandings of love?

Context: Weaver uses Romans 13 and 1 John to show love is obedience to God's commandments.

What are some practical ways we can 'start where we have control' in pursuing obedience to God in our personal lives, families, and churches?

Context: Weaver encourages beginning with areas under our direct influence rather than despairing over national issues.

How should the reality of potential persecution shape our commitment to obedience?

Context: Weaver states that threats of death should not drive us into disobedience.

Applications

Personal Confession of Sin

Summary: Believers must honestly confess their own sins and the sins of their nation, agreeing with God's assessment of wickedness.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'we can not only confess our personal sins, but we can confess the sins of the nation.'

Renewed Obedience to God's Law

Summary: After confession, Christians should make a deliberate commitment to obey God's commandments in every area of life.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'we need to quit playing church... It's now time that we come back and not only confess and acknowledge our sins, but renew our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.'

Start with Personal and Family Reformation

Summary: Instead of being overwhelmed by national decline, believers should focus on obeying God in their own lives, families, and churches.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We can control ourselves. We can control our families. We can control our churches... we need to start where we do have control, not where we don't have control.'

Refuse to Compromise for Worldly Gain

Summary: Christians must not compromise biblical truth for financial, political, or social acceptance, even under pressure.

Evidence: Weaver declares, 'our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ is non-negotiable. Government contract or no government contract... it's non-negotiable.'

Embrace the Lordship of Christ Fully

Summary: Salvation requires acknowledging Jesus as Lord in every aspect of life, not merely as Savior from hell.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'you cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ... He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And if He saves you, you bow to Him. You acknowledge His Lordship.'

Pray Imprecatory Prayers and Intercede

Summary: In times of national trouble, believers should fast, pray, and ask God to spare His people and establish justice.

Evidence: Weaver references Joel 2 and Psalm 9, urging prayer: 'Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach.'

Prepare for Persecution with Faithfulness

Summary: Christians should resolve that persecution will not drive them to disobedience, valuing faithfulness over safety.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'we have to make up our minds that persecution is not going to drive us into disobedience... I had rather die a martyr than to live as a traitor.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:07:32Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T12:45:44Z

Clean Transcript

The Trouble We're In And The Way Out - Part 2 of 2

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

It's to Nehemiah chapter 9, and Lord willing, we'll do the second part of this message, which I've titled "The Trouble We Are In and the Way Out." So in Nehemiah chapter 9, let's begin reading at verse 32, and we'll read through verse 38. Nehemiah 9, beginning at verse 32, Nehemiah is praying and he says, "Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day."
#1 | 0:03 to 1:03 | cleaned
"Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them. For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins."
#2 | 1:04 to 1:50 | cleaned
"Also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it." In the first message, I pointed out how that we have left the foundation upon which this country has been built. We have forsaken the Bible, biblical principles, truth and righteousness that undergirded our nation. When our nation was founded, it was indeed founded as a Christian nation. That did not mean that everyone in the country was a Christian, but it just simply meant that it was built upon biblical principles.
#3 | 1:51 to 2:43 | cleaned
One of the quotes that I gave you last week was from the New Haven colony in 1639, where they said the laws of this colony shall be the laws of God as given through Moses. But we've left that foundation. And we have gone into not only humanism, but now seemingly transhumanism and perversions of every form in rebelling against God and His Word. When you look around at our civil government today, we understand in one sense of the word that our own government basically has destroyed the family, economics, education, and health, and practically everything that it's touched. The only thing that our government has made better is the ease and the ability to sin and to violate the Word of God. Also quoted last week from Congressman Jerry Nadler, who on February 25th of this year said God has no authority in the House of Representatives. On February 27th, he said God's will is of no concern for this Congress.
#4 | 2:43 to 3:57 | cleaned
And he just simply pointed out and said publicly that which most politicians really and truly believe, but only are afraid to admit. But it's not simply the realm of civil government that has become perverted in this country. It seems as if we have been turning treason against God within our own ranks. And especially what I'm talking about is professing Christendom. So let me give you an illustration. Here is the headline.
#5 | 3:58 to 4:28 | cleaned
It says this: "Major evangelical adoption agency will now serve gay parents nationwide." Here's the article. Listen carefully. "The decision comes as more cities and states require organizations to accept applications from LGBTQ couples or risk losing government contracts. One of the country's largest adoption and foster care agencies, Bethany Christian Services, announced on Monday that it would begin providing services to LGBTQ parents nationwide effective immediately, a major inflection point in the fraught battle over many faith-based agencies' longstanding opposition to working with same-sex couples. Bethany, a Michigan-based evangelical organization, announced the change in an email to about 1,500 staff members and was signed by Chris Palusky, the organization's president and chief executive. He said, and I'm quoting, 'We will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today.'"
#6 | 4:29 to 5:44 | cleaned
Mr. Palusky wrote, "We're taking an all-hands-on-deck approach where all are welcome." So my comment would be, really? Would you please show me somewhere in Scripture where God has expressed love and compassion upon those who are rebelling against Him, hating Him, despising Him, and wallowing in sin and wickedness and disobedience? It seems to me that there is a passage in the Bible, something like Psalm 5, verses 4 through 6, where the Bible says, "For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee."
#7 | 5:45 to 6:28 | cleaned
"The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man." And so when the Bible says the foolish shall not stand in His sight and that He hates all the workers of iniquity, obviously our Lord is not going to show any love or compassion to those whom He hates in that sense of the word, because they're in open rebellion and defiance against Him.
#8 | 6:29 to 7:00 | cleaned
And I hope you notice this phrase that I read. It said, "or risk losing government contracts." So in reality, it is not the faith that matters to Bethany Christian Services. It's not obedience that matters. It's not really love or compassion that matters; it is money that matters. Because if they do not compromise, then obviously they're going to lose their government contracts. So I don't know, to be absolutely honest, how anyone could believe that the love and compassion of Jesus Christ is expressed by allowing a child to be raised, taught, and possibly abused by individuals that hate and despise the Lord Jesus Christ and are living contrary to His law.
#9 | 7:01 to 7:55 | cleaned
So the headline said, "Major evangelical adoption agency will now serve gay parents nationwide." Stop and think about this. There are no gay parents, at least not physically. It is physically impossible for two men or two women to produce a child. The only way it's possible for such people to be parents is to have a legal or a political line attached to them. In fact, the truth of the matter is this: Black's Law Dictionary gives a definition of parents and it's this: "the lawful father or mother of a person."
#10 | 7:56 to 8:46 | cleaned
"One who procreates, begets, or brings forth offspring." Webster's 1828 dictionary defines parents as "he or she that produces young," and it's only through political and legal means that same-sex couples could ever be considered parents. If you look up the word "family" in an online dictionary, you'll find this definition: "a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not." So the word "parents" here refers to fathers and mothers.
#11 | 8:47 to 9:30 | cleaned
Now think of the terms that we normally use in relationship to a family. We talk about family values. We don't even talk about family values when the wife is expecting; we normally say that she is in a family way. You read about a family man; a family man is someone who loves his wife, loves his children, takes care of them. Then you also read about a family tree, which is a graph from which your ancestors and descendants are shown. But the truth of the matter is same-sex couples cannot continue a family tree, at least not physically. It's absolutely impossible. So, Black's Law Dictionary gives the meaning of the word "family" and it says this: "Most commonly refers to groups of persons consisting of parents and children; father, mother, and their children."
#12 | 9:30 to 10:33 | cleaned
Now, the point I'm trying to make right now is this: that we have erred so far from the Word of God and so far from the foundation upon which this country has been built, it's absolutely astounding. We've deviated so far. The amazing thing to me is when most professing Christians will read about Bethany Christian Services now going to allow LGBTQ people to adopt children, most will support it and think that's just absolutely wonderful, instead of saying that is outrageous, that is absolutely contrary to the Word of God.
#13 | 10:33 to 11:17 | cleaned
It was King Manasseh, which we will talk about a little bit later momentarily, who really got in trouble for allowing the sodomites, not only in the temple, but to live by the temple as well. And you'll find that in 2 Kings chapter 21.
#14 | 11:18 to 11:33 | cleaned
Now, the first message that I brought from Nehemiah chapter 9, I dealt with the context in which our verses occur. And I pointed out in this passage, he is making a confession. And of course, I pointed out that the word "confess" means to agree with or decide with God, or to say the same thing as God, or to take the same attitude that God takes. And that no one really and truly confesses their sins until they view sin the way God does. And so in this passage, of course, they confess the goodness of God and all that He gave them. And then how they turn around and despise His goodness. They confess their sins and acknowledge their rebellion and violation of God's law. And then they even said and confessed the fact that God was just in punishing them and chastising them. And they said that, "God, you're right and we're wrong. You're just and we are unjust." Now, I pointed out last week that really and truly biblical confession involves repentance and a turning from sin and a turning to obedience.
#15 | 11:33 to 12:51 | cleaned
It's kind of like the passage in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 9 where the Apostle Paul said, talking about those Thessalonians, how they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. There's a negative that is, you turn from idols or you turn from sin, but there is also a positive, that is, you turn to God to serve and to obey Him.
#16 | 12:52 to 13:17 | cleaned
Now, the sin of Israel that is really being dealt with in Nehemiah chapter 9 is the fact that when these people had come back from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah, they had intermarried with the heathen. They had not only intermarried with the heathen, they were constantly and continually violating the Sabbath by buying and selling. Not only were they continually violating the Sabbath, they were also violating the sabbatical year, the seventh year, where all debts were to be forgiven. And they continued to exact those debts. And they were also enslaving their own and using them as menservants and maidservants and refusing to allow them to go free in the sabbatical year.
#17 | 13:18 to 14:14 | cleaned
So they were having some very grievous sins. Now, what they're going to be confessing, one of the things is that they had intermarried. And he uses the word "strangers," and it's from the Hebrew word "nekar," which means literally a foreigner or an alien, a stranger. So if you will turn back just a few pages to Ezra chapter 9, the book right before Nehemiah, and look in Ezra chapter 9, and let me show you who they had intermarried with, and I want you to think about this. Look in Ezra 9, verse 1.
#18 | 14:15 to 14:57 | cleaned
"Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass." Now, the interesting thing is when you look at these people with whom they had intermarried, these were the same ones that God put a sword in the hand of Israel when they came out of Egypt and said, "Destroy all of them." Well, they failed to destroy all of them. They disobeyed God. They sinned against God in that sense of the word. And now they've even sinned farther in the fact that they are intermarrying with them.
#19 | 14:57 to 16:06 | cleaned
Now, all you have to do is read Deuteronomy chapter 7 and Exodus chapter 34, where God specifically said they were not to enter into any covenant with them. They were not to give their sons unto them or take their daughters for their sons. Obviously, they'd only sinned against God in failing to conquer the land, but now they've sinned against God by intermarrying these heathen from whom He said, "You shall not marry."
#20 | 16:06 to 16:35 | cleaned
And then, of course, on top of that, the violation of the Sabbath and the sabbatical year. So the very first step they took in getting themselves out of the trouble that they were in, and that's why he said there in verse 32, "Let not this trouble seem little unto you." They were in trouble, but the very first step they took was they had a real, genuine confession.
#21 | 16:35 to 16:59 | cleaned
That is, they were siding with God. That is why in verse 33, he says, "Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly."
#22 | 16:59 to 17:14 | cleaned
Now, once they made their confession, there had to be another step. And that second step was they had to renew their covenantal obedience. So if you look down to verse 38, he said, "And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it." So you have to ask this question: What was the covenant? What were they covenanting together to do? Well, you'll find that in Nehemiah chapter 10, beginning there with verse 28.
#23 | 17:15 to 17:53 | cleaned
Because he's listing all the people in the first verses that signed and sealed to this covenant, at least the leaders thereof. But notice, if you would please, verse 28: "And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims." Now, the Nethinims were servants to the Levites, "and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God."
#24 | 17:54 to 18:19 | cleaned
See, there you have the negative, there you have the positive. They separated themselves from their sin, that's the negative, but they separated also themselves unto God, that's the positive. "Their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding; They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath."
#25 | 18:20 to 18:43 | cleaned
Now watch: "To walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our God, and his judgments and his statutes; And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons: And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day."
#26 | 18:43 to 19:13 | cleaned
"And that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt." So they're entering now into this covenant to obey the law of God as given by Moses. So simply stated, they had repented of their sins and now what they're doing is they are renewing their covenantal obedience to God.
#27 | 19:14 to 19:41 | cleaned
Now it's interesting the Bible said they bound themselves with a curse and with an oath to walk in the law of God. You might think, "Wow, I don't think I'd ever bind myself with a curse to walk in the law of God." The truth of the matter is, if you don't walk in the law of God, you're already under a curse. All you have to do is read Leviticus 26, read Deuteronomy 28, read Galatians chapter 3, where it said, "Cursed be he that doeth not all according to this law." So everyone's already under curse that is disobedient. You have to remember that the law of God has sanctions, negative sanctions and positive sanctions.
#28 | 19:41 to 20:31 | cleaned
And so curses always follow disobedience and blessings always follow obedience. So you can have a negative sanction or you can have a positive sanction. Moreover, may I remind you of the fact that if you are a real, genuine, born-again Christian, that you are indeed a real child of God, you need to read Hebrews chapter 12. Because Hebrews chapter 12 teaches us very clearly that if we sin against God, He's going to chastise us. What did He say?
#29 | 20:32 to 21:04 | cleaned
"He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. And if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." In other words, God is not going to allow us to get away with sin if we belong to Him. It's just that simple. It's kind of like any earthly father. In fact, He uses that illustration there in Hebrews chapter 12. But if my father had told me, "Son, I want you to do this."
#30 | 21:05 to 21:35 | cleaned
And I'd look at Dad and say, "Well, you're old enough now. You won't hurt me because I don't want to do this." I can see my dad right now smiling and saying, "Well, son, I've got something that will help you and will make you want to do what I've asked you to do." Well, that's the way it is with God in that sense of the word. If we obey His Word, we do not need the rod. If we disobey His Word, He's going to use the rod to bring us back into obedience. So the truth of the matter is when people say, "Well, I wouldn't bind myself with a curse," you're already under a curse if you disobey. Now, the point I'm trying to make is this: These people came to a place in their lives where they had to become extremely serious with God and with His Word. There has to be a time in our lives when we become serious with God and His Word. Far too often we think and we act without God, without reference to Him and without reference to His Word.
#31 | 21:36 to 22:47 | cleaned
The truth is most professing Christians ignore Him, forget Him, and in essence deny Him. They deny that He exists practically. They deny that He has spoken practically. So the truth of the matter is many professing Christians are nothing more than what you and I would call practical atheists.
#32 | 22:47 to 23:12 | cleaned
Now, a theoretical atheist is someone in his mind, according to his own logic and his own reasoning, will say, "There is no God." But a practical atheist is someone who will confess that yes, God does exist, and yes, God has spoken, but I'm going to live my own life. I'm going to do my own thing. And that's how most professing Christians are living. They're just living their lives in total ignorance of God's Word and in complete violations of God's commands.
#33 | 23:13 to 23:43 | cleaned
I want you to look in your Bibles, hold me in Nehemiah, but I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Titus chapter 1 and look at verse 16. Titus chapter 1 and verse 16. Here is an amazing truth. First and Second Timothy and then Titus chapter 1. Look, if you would please, at verse 16, because here is where we are today. Titus 1, verse 16.
#34 | 23:43 to 24:11 | cleaned
The Bible says, "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." Note carefully, they profess that they know God. They acknowledge Him. They acknowledge His Word. But in works, that is the way they live, they deny Him. Consequently, they become abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
#35 | 24:11 to 24:44 | cleaned
Now that is exactly where we are today. We meet, we greet, we eat, we repeat, but we never obey. We have a good talk, but our walk reveals that our talk is nothing but hot air. Our walk really reveals that our profession is useless and worthless. You see, the truth of the matter is this: Most people want the blessings of the Lord, but they do not want to live the way He commands.
#36 | 24:44 to 25:19 | cleaned
Let me tell you, you cannot separate, you cannot divide the person and work of Jesus Christ. His title is the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, the word "Lord," Kurios, means boss, owner, master, sovereign. "Jesus" is from the Hebrew word Joshua, which means Savior. "Christ" refers to the Anointed One, the Messiah. And so what many people want to do is this: They want to take Jesus Christ as their Savior because they don't want to go to hell. They don't want to be punished. They don't want to face the wrath of God. But they want to deny Jesus Christ as Lord. You cannot do that. You cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so many people have tried, and I've even heard preachers. They'll look at someone and say, "Well, you're saved, but now what you need to do is to make Jesus Christ your Lord." You can't make Jesus Christ Lord. He already is. God beat you to that.
#37 | 25:21 to 26:41 | cleaned
In the book of Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, the Bible says this: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." God made Him Lord. God gave Him all power and all authority in heaven and earth. He is the boss. He is the owner. He is the master. He is the sovereign. And you cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ. You cannot say, "Well, I'll be saved by Him, but I don't want Him telling me how to live. I don't want Him telling me what to do. I don't want Him telling me how to act." No, no, no. It doesn't work like that. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
#38 | 26:43 to 27:35 | cleaned
And if He saves you, you bow to Him. You acknowledge His Lordship.
#39 | 27:36 to 27:43 | cleaned
Now, I want to show you something. I want you to think with me because every major revival, every major renewal in the Bible began with an honest and real and genuine confession of sin. And secondly, there was a real renewal of covenantal obedience. So I want you to look in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 23 and look with me at the revival under King Josiah. 2 Kings chapter 23, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings chapter 23.
#40 | 27:43 to 28:34 | cleaned
And let's begin reading there with verse 1. We'll read a pretty good way in this passage because I want you to see what is happening under Josiah.
#41 | 28:36 to 28:48 | cleaned
2 Kings 23, verse 1: "And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great."
#42 | 28:49 to 29:09 | cleaned
Now look what he did. "And he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord." Watch this covenant. What kind of covenant did he make? "To walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, that is Asherah, and for all the host of heaven."
#43 | 29:10 to 30:07 | cleaned
"And he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. Now watch. And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city."
#44 | 30:07 to 31:17 | cleaned
"Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. Now watch this if you would. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, or Molech, or Malcham, sometimes in the Bible, the abomination
#45 | 31:17 to 32:34 | cleaned
of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of
#46 | 32:34 to 33:09 | cleaned
the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant."
#47 | 33:09 to 34:06 | cleaned
"Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem."
#48 | 34:07 to 34:22 | cleaned
Now watch verses 24 and 25. "Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away." Why? There's a turning away from, there's a negative, "that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord." Now look what he said about Josiah: "And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him." Let me just summarize this by saying, here is exactly what Josiah did: He cleaned house.
#49 | 34:22 to 35:11 | cleaned
Anything and everything that was contrary to God, contrary to His Word, he got rid of. Now, obviously, we do not have the power or the authority of an earthly king like Josiah. We are not earthly kings, and therefore we do not have the right or the authority to destroy property. Neither do we have the right or the authority to execute people and simply put them to death. But just because we do not have the authority that King Josiah had does not mean that we're helpless and that we can do absolutely nothing.
#50 | 35:13 to 35:55 | cleaned
The truth of the matter is we may change things in our personal lives. We may change things in our family lives. We may change things in our ecclesiastical lives and our church lives. We may even change things in our communities because, you see, we can still preach. We can still teach. We can still witness. We can still speak. We can still help. We can still direct. We can still give counsel. We can do all of these things that most of the time we are not doing.
#51 | 35:56 to 36:30 | cleaned
Moreover, we could do something else that Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel did. And that is, we can not only confess our personal sins, but we can confess the sins of the nation. And there are plenty to confess. There are plenty to acknowledge. Moreover, we can go even further. We can learn to pray those imprecatory prayers that are listed in the Bible. I love that one in Psalm 9.
#52 | 36:31 to 37:02 | cleaned
"Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just." You know, I want to show you a verse. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Joel, the book of Joel. Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos. I want you to look in Joel chapter 2. Look, if you would please, at verse 17. In fact, let's read verse 16. We can start with verse 15. Watch this. Joel 2, verse 15.
#53 | 37:03 to 37:42 | cleaned
God says, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet."
#54 | 37:42 to 38:02 | cleaned
Now look what we're to do. "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?" Surely we can fast and we can pray and we can pray, "Spare thy people, O God, and let not the heathen have dominion over your people." Surely we can do that. We can learn the imprecatory prayers and we can pray them. And God says in the time of trouble, this is exactly what we should be doing.
#55 | 38:02 to 38:44 | cleaned
Now, let me show you one more very quickly. I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 29. 2 Chronicles 29. I want you to see the first 10 verses because here we're reading about godly king Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles chapter 29 and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Look what Hezekiah says. Verse 1, 2 Chronicles 29: "Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem."
#56 | 38:45 to 39:29 | cleaned
"And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs." That is, they gave God the back, not the face. "Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel."
#57 | 39:29 to 40:26 | cleaned
"Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble," the trouble we're in, "to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this."
#58 | 40:26 to 40:45 | cleaned
"Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us." And then he encourages them. And you need to read the rest of this chapter because God sent a wonderful revival, a tremendous revival. In fact, if you will look in the very last verse of 2 Chronicles 29, verse 36: "And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly."
#59 | 40:45 to 41:26 | cleaned
So let me point this out again. Every major revival, every major renewal in the nations of Judah and Jerusalem and Israel began with an honest and true confession of sin. And then next came an absolute renewal to covenantal obedience to the Word of God.
#60 | 41:27 to 41:54 | cleaned
Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews 13. In this passage, we're going to read about a covenant. This covenant, however, is the eternal covenant. Hebrews chapter 13, beginning there with verse 20, the Apostle writes: "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant." Now let me just pause right there. The everlasting covenant is the covenant that was made between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It was in this covenant that God the Father gave to God the Son a people. God the Son agreed to become their surety, their substitute, and their sacrifice. And God the Holy Spirit agreed to convict them, convert them, and regenerate them, and bring them back to God the Father through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse 20 again. He says, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant."
#61 | 41:54 to 43:16 | cleaned
What is the result or what is the end of this everlasting covenant? "Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." First, let me say, we cannot change this covenant. We cannot add to it. We cannot take from it. And let me say next, we do not want to change this covenant. It is absolutely perfect. And it is a covenant between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. What we should want, and what we should desire, is a greater obedience to this covenant because look, if you would please, at verse 21. It is God's will that we be made perfect in every good work to do His will. It is His will that we will be enabled for Him to work in us that which is well pleasing in His sight. It is His will that He do this through Jesus Christ so that Jesus Christ should receive the honor and the glory forever and ever.
#62 | 43:18 to 44:44 | cleaned
So what we should want is a greater obedience so that God would be pleased to work in us that which is well pleasing in His sight and make us fruitful unto every good work so that we could abound in honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me quote some scriptures for you. There will be one or two I want you to see, but I want you to think with me. Our Lord Jesus Christ made some very simple statements which are exceedingly revealing and they should really reach our hearts and minds. The first one is this. In John 14 and verse 21, our Lord said, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."
#63 | 44:45 to 46:00 | cleaned
But notice what He said: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." When you get to verse 24, He says this: "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings." "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." So He's just got out of His mouth: If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
#64 | 46:00 to 46:26 | cleaned
So here's someone who professes to be a Christian and yet his life is absolutely full of disaster. And when I mean disaster, I mean he's constantly and continually in violation of the Word of God. And yet he professes to be a Christian. Our Lord said, "No, if you love Me, you'll keep My commandments. If you don't love Me, you will not keep My commandments."
#65 | 46:26 to 46:54 | cleaned
Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 13. Watch this carefully. Romans chapter 13. And let's begin reading there with verse 8. There's some excellent economic counsel in the very first verse. Very first phrase of Romans 13, verse 8. Look what he says: "Owe no man any thing." That's good economic advice. Stay out of debt. Don't go into debt. But let's finish it. He says, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." "He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." Well, what is loving another?
#66 | 46:54 to 47:42 | cleaned
"For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Love is not emotion. Love is not sentimentality. Love is obedience. Love is keeping God's law.
#67 | 47:43 to 48:18 | cleaned
Now, I want you to turn to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. And look, if you would please, at verses 3 and 4. 1 John 2, verses 3 and 4. Here it is. Look in verse 3: "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." How do I know that I know God? Because He is enabling me by His grace and by His Spirit to be obedient.
#68 | 48:19 to 48:58 | cleaned
Now that doesn't mean that I'm perfect. It doesn't mean that you're perfect. But it does mean that obedience characterizes our lives. "Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." And that's simple. Our Lord said, "If you love Me, you keep My commandments. If you don't love Me, you won't keep My commandments. If you want to know whether or not you know Me, it's because I'm enabling you and empowering you to be obedient. If you say that you know Me and your life is characterized by sin, rebellion, wickedness, and disobedience, you're lying. You don't know Me." Now, once again, this doesn't mean that we're absolutely perfect.
#69 | 48:59 to 49:54 | cleaned
David was a man after God's own heart, and yet David committed some very awful sins. But those awful sins that David committed were exceptions. They were not the general rule of his life. I want you to look in 1 John 5 and verse 3, 1 John 5 and verse 3. If you really want to know what the love of God is, here it is. 1 John 5, verse 3. The Bible says, "For this is the love of God." This is it. This is the love of God.
#70 | 49:55 to 50:31 | cleaned
"That we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." So it does not grieve me that I can't commit adultery. It doesn't grieve me that I can't steal. Does it grieve me that I can't murder? I don't want to do those things anyhow. But this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous. In every major revival, not only in the Bible, but in history, there was always a real, genuine confession of sin.
#71 | 50:31 to 51:10 | cleaned
And secondly, there was a renewal of covenantal obedience. We will obey.
#72 | 51:10 to 51:18 | cleaned
Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. I'm not sure of the exact number. I think it was around 48,000, but the people who came back with Ezra and Nehemiah were a very small number, around 48,000. And so here, this little group of people is in the midst of the heathen and the pagans. Ezra was concerned with building the temple, building a wall, and helping to get all the trash out of Jerusalem and rebuild the city.
#73 | 51:20 to 52:05 | cleaned
And so you have them here. Obviously, that small number of people could not control or dominate that entire area, just were not enough people to do so, even if they wanted to do so, just an insufficient number. If each of us banded together, could we control Washington, D.C.? No. Could we control Tallahassee or Atlanta? No. If we can't control Washington and if we can't control the state capitals, obviously we can't control a continent. Okay. But just because we can't do those things does not mean that there's absolutely nothing that we can do. We can do something. We can control ourselves. We can control our families. We can control our churches in one sense of the word. We can even control a community. How?
#74 | 52:07 to 53:36 | cleaned
By speaking, teaching, reaching out, helping. Let me give you something to think about. Do you realize that God was going to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if He had found 10 righteous people? There's more than 10 in this room. Can you imagine what effect it would have upon your churches and your communities if you had 10 families that said, "We will dedicate ourselves to obey God in every area of our lives, every sphere, every venue, we will make sure that we are walking obediently according to the law of God. Whatever His Word says, that's exactly what we're going to do." Can you imagine the impact? If God was going to spare Sodom and Gomorrah with 10 righteous, you see, we need to start where we do have control, not where we don't have control. Okay. Here's the second one.
#75 | 53:36 to 55:01 | cleaned
We must understand that our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ is non-negotiable. Government contract or no government contract, multi-millionaires or no multi-millionaires, it's non-negotiable. We have to come to the place that we will obey.
#76 | 55:04 to 55:32 | cleaned
Now, we're living in a time right now where persecution is increasing. It's going to get worse. Christians are being singled out, and I'm not talking about in Africa. I'm not talking about in India or Pakistan, I'm talking about here in America. Christians are being singled out and it's going to get worse. So we have to make up our minds that persecution is not going to drive us into disobedience. Persecution is not going to drive us into disobedience. Threats of death are not going to drive us into disobedience.
#77 | 55:34 to 56:23 | cleaned
Have you ever stopped to think everybody's got to die? That's true. And everybody's got to die in some manner. I'll be honest. I don't want to die, but I had rather die a martyr than to live as a traitor and treasonous to the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm just simply saying we need to quit playing church. Christians have given up, given in, and given out for so long.
#78 | 56:25 to 57:06 | cleaned
It's now time that we come back and not only confess and acknowledge our sins, but renew our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. The way out of the trouble that we are in as individuals, as families, as churches, as a nation, the way out is through confession and renewed obedience to God. So the question has to be asked: Will you confess and acknowledge your sins? The sins of your family, the sins of your churches, the sins of your nation, and then will you give a renewed covenantal obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ by acknowledging Him as Lord, boss, owner, master, sovereign? You need to come to the realization
#79 | 57:07 to 58:15 | cleaned
that since He has all power in heaven and earth, He has the absolute right to tell us how to live, what to do, and what not to do. Because God hath made that same Jesus, Peter said, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, we do acknowledge the fact that we need to confess our sins and the sins of our nation. And we need a covenantal renewal of obedience to Thee and Thy Word. Speak to our hearts, grip our minds, turn us, O Lord.
#80 | 58:17 to 59:06 | cleaned
And we shall be turned; quicken us, and we shall call upon Thy name. We ask for Thy grace and Thy mercy in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose name we pray, Amen.
#81 | 59:06 to 59:19 | cleaned
so
#82 | 59:50 to 59:50 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T20:07:32Z

The Trouble We're In And The Way Out - Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver continues his message from Nehemiah 9, emphasizing that the way out of national and personal trouble is through genuine confession of sin and a renewed covenantal obedience to God's law. He illustrates the departure from biblical foundations in America, citing examples like Bethany Christian Services' compromise with LGBTQ adoption policies. Drawing from biblical revivals under Josiah and Hezekiah, he argues that every major renewal began with honest confession and a return to obedience. He stresses that love for Christ is demonstrated by keeping His commandments, and that Christians must start with personal and family obedience rather than despairing over national decline.

Introduction and Scripture Reading

Weaver reads Nehemiah 9:32-38, setting the stage for the message on confession and covenant renewal.

Scripture Reading — Nehemiah 9:32-38

"Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day." "Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly: Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them. For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins." "Also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests seal unto it."

America's Departure from Biblical Foundations

Weaver reviews how America has left its Christian foundation, embracing humanism and perversion, with government facilitating sin.

Compromise in Evangelical Institutions

Using Bethany Christian Services as an example, Weaver decries the compromise of biblical truth for government contracts, redefining family and parenthood.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 5:4-6

"For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee." "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man."

The Nature of True Confession

Confession means agreeing with God about sin, leading to repentance and turning from sin to obedience, as seen in Nehemiah's context.

Scripture Reading — Ezra 9:1-2

"Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass."

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 7

Now, all you have to do is read Deuteronomy chapter 7 and Exodus chapter 34, where God specifically said they were not to enter into any covenant with them. They were not to give their sons unto them or take their daughters for their sons. Obviously, they'd only sinned against God in failing to conquer the land, but now they've sinned against God by intermarrying these heathen from whom He said, "You shall not marry." And then, of course, on top of that, the violation of the Sabbath and the sabbatical year. So the very first step they took in getting themselves out of the trouble that they were in, and that's why he said there in verse 32, "Let not this trouble seem little unto you." They were in trouble, but the very first step they took was they had a real, genuine confession.

That is, they were siding with God. That is why in verse 33, he says, "Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly."

Renewal of Covenantal Obedience

After confession, the people in Nehemiah 10 made a covenant to obey God's law, separating from sin and committing to walk in His commandments.

Scripture Reading — Nehemiah 10:28-31

"And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims."

Now, the Nethinims were servants to the Levites,

Scripture Reading — Nehemiah 10:28-31

"and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God."

The Necessity of Obedience and the Curse of Disobedience

Weaver explains that disobedience brings God's chastisement, and that professing Christians often live as practical atheists, denying God by their works.

Jesus as Lord and the Inseparability of His Person and Work

One cannot accept Jesus as Savior without submitting to Him as Lord; God has already made Him Lord, and salvation entails bowing to His authority.

In the book of Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, the Bible says this:

Scripture Reading — Acts 2:36

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."

And if He saves you, you bow to Him. You acknowledge His Lordship.

Biblical Revivals: Confession and Covenant Renewal

Weaver examines revivals under Josiah (2 Kings 23) and Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29), showing they began with confession and led to cleansing and covenant renewal.

2 Kings 23, verse 1:

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great."

Now look what he did.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"And he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord."

Watch this covenant. What kind of covenant did he make?

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"To walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, that is Asherah, and for all the host of heaven." "And he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel. And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. Now watch. And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city." "Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. Now watch this if you would. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, or Molech, or Malcham, sometimes in the Bible, the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant." "Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem."

Now watch verses 24 and 25.

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away."

Why? There's a turning away from, there's a negative,

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord."

Now look what he said about Josiah:

Scripture Reading — 2 Kings 23:1-25

"And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him."

Let me just summarize this by saying, here is exactly what Josiah did: He cleaned house.

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 29:1-11

"Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble,"

the trouble we're in,

Scripture Reading — 2 Chronicles 29:1-11

"to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this." "Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us."

The Everlasting Covenant and Our Obedience

Hebrews 13:20-21 reveals God's purpose to make us perfect in every good work; our desire should be greater obedience to this eternal covenant.

Love Defined as Obedience to God's Commandments

Scripture (John 14, Romans 13, 1 John) defines love for God as keeping His commandments; disobedience reveals a lack of love and knowledge of God.

Practical Applications and Call to Action

Weaver urges starting with personal and family obedience, recognizing that even a small faithful remnant can impact a community, and calls for confession and renewed obedience.

And we shall be turned; quicken us, and we shall call upon Thy name. We ask for Thy grace and Thy mercy in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose name we pray, Amen.

The Trouble We're In And The Way Out - Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	X_yrjcMiazk
Subject	Covenant Theology
Course	Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: A Time Of Need
Genre	Sermon
Date	2021-03-29
Dictation Name
Book	Book 058: The Trouble We're In And The Way Out — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	82

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Scripture Reading: Weaver reads Nehemiah 9:32-38, setting the stage for the message on confession and covenant renewal.
America's Departure from Biblical Foundations: Weaver reviews how America has left its Christian foundation, embracing humanism and perversion, with government facilitating sin.
Compromise in Evangelical Institutions: Using Bethany Christian Services as an example, Weaver decries the compromise of biblical truth for government contracts, redefining family and parenthood.
The Nature of True Confession: Confession means agreeing with God about sin, leading to repentance and turning from sin to obedience, as seen in Nehemiah's context.
Renewal of Covenantal Obedience: After confession, the people in Nehemiah 10 made a covenant to obey God's law, separating from sin and committing to walk in His commandments.
The Necessity of Obedience and the Curse of Disobedience: Weaver explains that disobedience brings God's chastisement, and that professing Christians often live as practical atheists, denying God by their works.
Jesus as Lord and the Inseparability of His Person and Work: One cannot accept Jesus as Savior without submitting to Him as Lord; God has already made Him Lord, and salvation entails bowing to His authority.
Biblical Revivals: Confession and Covenant Renewal: Weaver examines revivals under Josiah (2 Kings 23) and Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29), showing they began with confession and led to cleansing and covenant renewal.
The Everlasting Covenant and Our Obedience: Hebrews 13:20-21 reveals God's purpose to make us perfect in every good work; our desire should be greater obedience to this eternal covenant.
Love Defined as Obedience to God's Commandments: Scripture (John 14, Romans 13, 1 John) defines love for God as keeping His commandments; disobedience reveals a lack of love and knowledge of God.
Practical Applications and Call to Action: Weaver urges starting with personal and family obedience, recognizing that even a small faithful remnant can impact a community, and calls for confession and renewed obedience.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

America's departure from biblical foundations has led to moral and societal decay.

Weaver argues that the nation has forsaken the Bible and biblical principles, resulting in government-sanctioned sin and perversion.

He states, 'we have left the foundation upon which this country has been built. We have forsaken the Bible, biblical principles, truth and righteousness that undergirded our nation.'

Compromise with sin for financial or political gain is a betrayal of the faith.

Using Bethany Christian Services as an example, Weaver contends that prioritizing government contracts over biblical obedience is treason against God.

He comments, 'it is not the faith that matters to Bethany Christian Services... it is money that matters. Because if they do not compromise, then obviously they're going to lose their government contracts.'

True confession must lead to a tangible renewal of obedience to God's law.

Weaver insists that biblical confession is not mere words but results in a covenant to walk in God's commandments, as in Nehemiah 10.

He notes, 'they had repented of their sins and now what they're doing is they are renewing their covenantal obedience to God.'

Disobedience brings God's chastisement, while obedience brings blessing.

Drawing from Hebrews 12 and the law's sanctions, Weaver argues that God disciplines His children and that curses follow disobedience.

He says, 'curses always follow disobedience and blessings always follow obedience... if we sin against God, He's going to chastise us.'

The biblical pattern for revival is confession of sin followed by covenant renewal.

Weaver demonstrates from the reigns of Josiah and Hezekiah that national renewal began with acknowledging sin and committing to obey God's Word.

He summarizes, 'every major revival, every major renewal in the nations of Judah and Jerusalem and Israel began with an honest and true confession of sin. And then next came an absolute renewal to covenantal obedience.'

Love for Christ is proven by keeping His commandments.

Weaver uses John 14 and 1 John to argue that obedience is the evidence of love and knowledge of God; disobedience reveals a liar.

He quotes, 'He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.'

Scripture References

Nehemiah 9:32-38: Read as the primary text, describing Israel's confession of sin and covenant to obey God.
Psalm 5:4-6: Cited to show God hates workers of iniquity, contradicting the idea that God shows love and compassion to those in open rebellion.
2 Kings 21: Referenced regarding King Manasseh allowing sodomites in the temple.
1 Thessalonians 1:9: Used to illustrate turning from idols to serve God as a model of repentance.
Ezra 9:1-2: Read to show the specific peoples Israel intermarried with, whom God had commanded to destroy.
Deuteronomy 7: Mentioned as a command not to intermarry with the heathen.
Exodus 34: Mentioned alongside Deuteronomy 7 as forbidding covenants and intermarriage with pagans.
Nehemiah 10:28-31: Read to show the covenant the people made to obey God's law, including not intermarrying or violating the Sabbath.
Leviticus 26: Referenced as containing sanctions for disobedience.
Deuteronomy 28: Referenced alongside Leviticus 26 regarding blessings and curses.
Galatians 3: Cited for the curse on those who do not continue in all things written in the law.
Hebrews 12: Used to teach that God chastises every son He receives; lack of chastisement indicates illegitimacy.
Titus 1:16: Quoted to show that some profess to know God but deny Him by their works.
Acts 2:36: Quoted to prove that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ.
2 Kings 23:1-25: Read extensively to illustrate Josiah's revival: reading the law, making a covenant, and purging idolatry.
Joel 2:15-17: Read to call for fasting, prayer, and intercession for God's people in time of trouble.
2 Chronicles 29:1-11: Read to show Hezekiah's revival: opening the temple, confessing sins, and making a covenant.
Hebrews 13:20-21: Read to describe the everlasting covenant and God's work to make believers perfect in every good work.
John 14:21, 24: Quoted to show that keeping Christ's commandments is the proof of love for Him.
Romans 13:8-10: Read to demonstrate that love fulfills the law through obedience to the commandments.

Historical References

New Haven Colony (1639): Cited as an example of America's Christian foundation, where laws were based on the laws of God given through Moses.
Congressman Jerry Nadler statements (February 25 & 27, 2021): Quoted as saying God has no authority in the House and God's will is of no concern for Congress, illustrating governmental rejection of God.
Bethany Christian Services policy change (2021): Described as a major evangelical adoption agency deciding to serve LGBTQ parents nationwide to avoid losing government contracts.
King Manasseh: Mentioned as the king who allowed sodomites in the temple, referenced in 2 Kings 21.
King Josiah's revival: Detailed from 2 Kings 23 as a model of covenant renewal and purging idolatry.
King Hezekiah's revival: Detailed from 2 Chronicles 29 as another model of confession and covenant renewal.
Return from Babylon under Ezra and Nehemiah: Context of the passage, with about 48,000 returning exiles rebuilding Jerusalem and confronting sin.

Important Quotes

The only thing that our government has made better is the ease and the ability to sin and to violate the Word of God.

Summarizes Weaver's critique of government's role in facilitating moral decline.

God has no authority in the House of Representatives.

Quoted from Congressman Nadler to illustrate the explicit rejection of God's authority in government.

We will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today.

Quote from Bethany Christian Services' CEO used to show the redefinition of Christian love to include affirming sin.

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Key verse (Titus 1:16) used to define practical atheism among professing Christians.

You cannot separate the person and work of Jesus Christ. You cannot say, 'Well, I'll be saved by Him, but I don't want Him telling me how to live.'

Central argument that salvation necessarily includes submission to Christ's Lordship.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1 John 2:4 quoted to emphasize that obedience is the test of genuine faith.

I had rather die a martyr than to live as a traitor and treasonous to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Expresses the call to unwavering faithfulness even in the face of persecution.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean to 'confess' sin in the biblical sense, and how does this differ from merely admitting wrongdoing?

[Context]

Weaver defines confession as agreeing with God and viewing sin as He does.

[Question]

How should Christians respond when evangelical organizations compromise biblical truth for financial or political reasons?

[Context]

The example of Bethany Christian Services is used to illustrate such compromise.

[Question]

In what ways do professing Christians today live as 'practical atheists,' and how can we avoid this?

[Context]

Weaver describes practical atheism as professing God but living in disobedience.

[Question]

Why is it impossible to separate Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord, and what implications does this have for salvation?

[Context]

Weaver argues from Acts 2:36 and other passages that Jesus is both Lord and Christ.

[Question]

What can we learn from the revivals under Josiah and Hezekiah about the steps to personal and corporate renewal?

[Context]

Weaver examines 2 Kings 23 and 2 Chronicles 29 as patterns of confession and covenant renewal.

[Question]

How does the Bible define love for God, and how does this challenge common cultural understandings of love?

[Context]

Weaver uses Romans 13 and 1 John to show love is obedience to God's commandments.

[Question]

What are some practical ways we can 'start where we have control' in pursuing obedience to God in our personal lives, families, and churches?

[Context]

Weaver encourages beginning with areas under our direct influence rather than despairing over national issues.

[Question]

How should the reality of potential persecution shape our commitment to obedience?

[Context]

Weaver states that threats of death should not drive us into disobedience.

Applications

Format deepseek deepseek-v4-pro structured study JSON | Source Commentary.net transcript enrichment

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T12:45:44Z