1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,920 We're continuing our sermon series in Nehemiah and we have 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:08,360 heard from how at the start, God burdened Nehemiah's heart with 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,680 the need to go and address the problem in Jerusalem. 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,400 For Nehemiah, this was a physical journey to undertake, 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,480 but it was also a journey of the heart. 6 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:22,280 It was first the journey of going to Jerusalem to rebuild 7 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,480 the wall, then also journey of the heart and soul and bringing 8 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,600 the people back to their roots, to who they were, the people of 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,960 God, to be the people God had called him to be. 10 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:35,760 In our sermon series so far, we've learned how Nehemiah was 11 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:37,720 up to the task. He undertook the project and 12 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,880 moved it forward and completed it in a record time, a matter of 13 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,800 less than two months. In all of that, we also learned 14 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,000 how the whole process, there were obstacles to overcome. 15 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:50,640 There were challenges in the community. 16 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:53,840 There were serious opposition from out, from, without and 17 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,160 within. But in all of these challenges, 18 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:01,080 he never once became distracted. He kept His focus, but then 19 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:02,600 there was another matter to deal with. 20 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,480 And so far we've not touched on that a lot, just a little bit in 21 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,120 chapter 1, verse 6. But in Chapter 9, this really 22 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,520 comes to the surface. Building the wall was a very 23 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,720 important matter, but the reason for building the wall was more 24 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:21,800 important than the wall itself. God wanted this wall to be 25 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,920 rebuilt because He wanted His name to be glorified, and He 26 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,760 wanted His name to be glorified through these people, His chosen 27 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,560 people, the Jews. Just building the wall was not 28 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,400 what God had in mind. God wanted the wall, yes, but He 29 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,680 wanted it for the purpose of lifting the reproach against His 30 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:40,440 people. He wanted His people again to be 31 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:43,400 able to glorify and honor Him as they had in the past. 32 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,360 But to do that, there was more work to do than just building 33 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:50,720 the wall. What happened next? 34 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:52,640 We're going to go in, in, in the next thing here. 35 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,560 What happened next is what we want to look into this morning. 36 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,480 This morning we come to Chapter 9 of Nehemiah, and here in the 37 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:04,360 passage of Scripture, we have the most difficult and the 38 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,400 hardest work of all. Our title. 39 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,759 This morning of title, the hardest work of all. 40 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:13,960 You see, the most difficult work is not out there somewhere. 41 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,280 The most difficult work in life is always in the heart. 42 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,200 The hardest work of all is always the work of the heart. 43 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:28,240 There's no more difficult, more challenging work than the work 44 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,840 of the heart. The heart is where the battles 45 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,120 of life are fought and won, are lost. 46 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,120 The heart is where God wants to have first place, but Satan 47 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,160 tells us we should have first place. 48 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:46,280 We deserve the best. It's easy to work on and try to 49 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:51,120 change and deal with the outside stuff, the physical, but when it 50 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,360 comes to dealing with the heart, that's a different matter. 51 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:55,960 And the story of Nehemiah. The wall was built, great. 52 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:58,680 The reproach was removed from the Jews, great. 53 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:01,920 The enemies of the Jews recognize this is the work of 54 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:03,240 the God of the Jews. Great. 55 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,920 But we must think back. What was it that had caused all 56 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:11,040 the destruction and the catastrophe in the 1st place, a 57 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:15,520 problem of the heart. What could have prevented the 58 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,120 disaster? What could have prevented all 59 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:19,880 this? Had their hearts been right with 60 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,880 God to begin with, all this stuff could have been avoided. 61 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,080 The destruction happened because their hearts were wrong. 62 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:29,080 That forgotten, God turned back on him. 63 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,560 They had rebelled. God sent prophets, they rejected 64 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:35,560 them, they spurned them, they ignored them, and they just kept 65 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:40,680 rebelling and on and on. Sure, now on the surface it 66 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:42,280 looked great. The wall was rebuilt. 67 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,760 You could wrap it up, right? Would not be mission completed. 68 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,920 Physically speaking, yes, but spiritually, the true work still 69 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,080 needed to be done. It's a valid question to ask 70 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,880 what would need to happen in this community of people in 71 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,200 order to not have a repeat experience. 72 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,800 What had gotten them into trouble as a nation in the 1st 73 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,080 place was a matter of the heart. It would be a matter of the 74 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,320 heart that would keep them out of trouble moving forward. 75 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:15,920 It would be a matter of the heart that would keep them 76 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,920 connected with God and so not to have a repeat or again a 77 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:23,800 catastrophe, repeat performance, repeat disaster. 78 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,800 They had to do something. And before we could go in 79 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,440 today's chapter, I want to ask ourselves here this morning, how 80 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:36,040 ready, how willing or how surrendered are we and prepared 81 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,440 to deal with the matters of the heart. 82 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,520 Often times it's so easy to point out where elsewhere, 83 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,000 anywhere except here, where the problem begins in the first 84 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,520 place. At the end of the day, if 85 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,920 repentance does not happen, if we don't own the sin, if we 86 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,800 don't confess and repent, all that outward stuff may look 87 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,840 nice, but it's just behavior modification that doesn't last. 88 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:01,320 And all the old stuff keeps cropping up and cropping up and 89 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,280 keeps repeating itself. What our relationship with God 90 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:08,760 really boils down to is that we must repent. 91 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:13,560 We must connect with the heart. Repentance is something we must 92 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,400 want, not just reluctantly and hesitantly agree. 93 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:22,240 Oh well, OK, I'm sorry. No, it must happen in the heart, 94 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,480 with full intention, with all of our heart. 95 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:27,360 There's no room for half hearted, watered down 96 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,400 repentance. It must be total and complete. 97 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,800 In our time and our culture, a lot of people have this idea, oh 98 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,880 just say sorry and then that's all OK and nothing changes. 99 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,200 A repentant person will focus inward and face the pain they've 100 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:47,440 caused. When a person's truly repentant, 101 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,360 they don't frantically engage in damage control, isn't trying to 102 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:55,880 evade consequences. True repentance will not try to 103 00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:00,920 explain away or rationalize what happened. 104 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,720 True repentance is simply a simply is ownership of the sin, 105 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,680 the confession of the sin in a turning away from the sin. 106 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:15,400 True repentance has no defenses and true repentance makes no 107 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:19,440 demands. True repentance is willing to go 108 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,200 the distance and take responsibility for the pain that 109 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,760 was caused. We find that in Nehemiah 9 last 110 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,280 Sunday, Pastor Joe preached out of Nehemiah chapter 8 and how 111 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:30,840 the people were together and they rejoiced and they, they 112 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:33,760 listened and they celebrated, which was all good and they 113 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,040 needed to and they should, they should worship God that way. 114 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:37,720 They had celebrated and so they should. 115 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,560 But the the work was not done, not wasn't complete yet. 116 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,440 There were things that had not been dealt with, things that had 117 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,120 not been addressed yet. Now they're together in Chapter 118 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:50,720 9 as an assembly before the Lord. 119 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:51,920 And I want us to take our Bibles. 120 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:53,480 Read Nehemiah beginning verse one. 121 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,720 We'll read the first 3 verses and then we'll stop Nehemiah 122 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,720 chapter one, verse one to three. Now on the 24th day of this 123 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,760 month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in 124 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,560 sackcloth and with dust on their heads. 125 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,800 Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all 126 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:18,160 foreigners, and they student confessed their sins and the 127 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,480 iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place 128 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,400 and read from the book of the Law of the Lord their God for 129 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:27,960 1/4 of the day. And for another fourth, they 130 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:36,000 confessed and worshipped the Lord their God. 1st we want to 131 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,120 see the word of God made a difference. 132 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,400 It impacted them. What they heard made them 133 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:43,840 change. They had heard the word of God 134 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,040 and had fallen on fruitful soil in their hearts. 135 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,560 It was producing fruits, fruits of repentance as in Jesus 136 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:51,080 parable of the sore and the seed. 137 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,640 The seed in this case in Nehemiah 9 was doing what it 138 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,840 should do. Their hearts were prepared. 139 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:59,360 They had been through a lot of hardships. 140 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,040 They had been in captivity, they had a difficult life behind them 141 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:06,280 and still a difficult life ahead of them. 142 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:15,260 But now they were ready. They were thirsty. 143 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,960 James Chapter 1 writes Be doers of the word, not hearers only 144 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:30,080 deceiving yourselves. For anyone's a hearer of the 145 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:37,000 word and not a doer. He's like a man observing 146 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,799 himself in a mirror. If he observes himself goes away 147 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:43,039 immediately forgets what kind of man he was, that that happens a 148 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:45,440 lot. But it was not happening here. 149 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:47,960 These people had shown their outward appearance. 150 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:53,520 They they wore sackcloth, they had ashes on their heads or dust 151 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,760 on their heads. That was a way of showing in 152 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,640 those days that they were sorry, they were remorseful, they were 153 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,760 mourning, they were grieving. They took it seriously. 154 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:06,400 They had intermingled with foreigners what God had clearly 155 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:08,320 commanded them not to do. In the book of the law. 156 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,880 Ezra talks about that as well. It goes into much more detail 157 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,520 than Ezra, but here they separated themselves from those 158 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,480 it says in verse 2. They stood and confessed their 159 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,720 sins. They Nick and the iniquities of 160 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:20,400 their fathers. We'll read read that chapter a 161 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,240 bit later on, but not it was just their sins they dealt with 162 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,760 also the sins of their fathers that have gotten them into 163 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,360 trouble in the first place. And after they confessed these, 164 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:31,960 they read the book of the law. And that's at this point they 165 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,920 were doing the right thing and true healing and restoration 166 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:36,600 could begin here. So let's continue reading 167 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:41,800 Nehemiah chapter 4 nine verse 4 rather Nehemiah 9 verse four and 168 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,640 on He says. Then Yeshua Benai, Cadmium, 169 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:51,080 Sheba Naya, Booni, Shahabaya, Bani and Chen and I stood on the 170 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,640 stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the 171 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,960 Lord their God. And the Levites, Yeshua Cadmil, 172 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:02,480 Benaiah and Hashabah, Hashabaya, Shahabaya and Hudajah Sheba Naya 173 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:07,000 and Pathayaha said Stand up and bless the Lord your God forever 174 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,560 and ever. Blessed be your glorious name, 175 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,560 which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 176 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:16,440 You alone are the Lord. You've made the heaven, the 177 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:19,800 heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and everything 178 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:21,680 on it, the seas and all that's in them. 179 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,440 You preserve them all. The host of heaven worship you. 180 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,440 You're the Lord of God who choose Abraham and brought him 181 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,520 out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name of Abraham. 182 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,720 You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant 183 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,280 with him to give him the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, 184 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,000 the Amorites, the parasites, parasites, the Jebusites, and 185 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,240 the Girgashites, to give it all to his descendants. 186 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,160 You've performed your words, for you are righteous. 187 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:47,480 You saw the affliction of your of our fathers in Egypt. 188 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,000 You heard their cry by the Red Sea. 189 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:53,320 You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his 190 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,960 servants, against all the people of his land, for you knew that 191 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:00,320 they acted proudly against them. So you made a name for yourself 192 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,600 as it is this day, and you divided the sea before them, so 193 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,000 that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and 194 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,960 their persecutors you threw into the deep as a stone into the 195 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:12,400 mighty waters. Moreover, you led them by day 196 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,160 with a cloudy pillar, and by night with a pillar of fire, to 197 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:17,520 give them light on the road which they should travel. 198 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,640 You came down also on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from 199 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,840 heaven and gave them just ordinances and true laws, good 200 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:26,320 statutes and commandments. You made them to know. 201 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:28,680 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and your command. 202 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:31,640 You commanded them precepts and statutes and laws by the hand of 203 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,600 Moses, Your servant. You gave them bread from heaven 204 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,080 for their hunger, brought them water out of the rock for their 205 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,040 thirst, and told them to go in to possess the land which You 206 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,800 had sworn to give them. Let's stop there. 207 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,840 We see in these verses how they came before God. 208 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:50,400 The Word had impacted them. Now they were worshiping. 209 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,920 Now they were praising. They recognized God for who He 210 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:54,400 was. The Word of God made a 211 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:55,920 difference. And as a result, they came 212 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,120 before God and worship, and they began with worship. 213 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,440 Let me ask this question. When we come before God in our 214 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,600 need, what is our first focus? Is it ourselves? 215 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,640 I'm not saying we shouldn't focus on our pain and our 216 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,040 problem, but is that our starting point? 217 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,080 When we become, when we come before God, we must first come 218 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,360 before God because of who God is and what He is. 219 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:22,080 It never starts with me and you are us. 220 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,400 It always begins with God. At all times. 221 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,720 The focus is God and remains God. 222 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:32,720 It's always 1st about God and all of life. 223 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,120 In our prayers of pain and sorrow and worship and 224 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:36,480 rejoicing. Always. 225 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,000 God is the focus. It doesn't mean that our 226 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,520 problems don't matter or that we shouldn't pray about them. 227 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,800 We should and we do. But we must always begin with 228 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:46,520 Him. Our hearts must always be 229 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:50,720 pointed to Him, not to ourselves or to anything else. 230 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:56,080 Notice how often they reference God and mention the word you as 231 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,480 in addressing God. In my translation, the new King 232 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:04,960 James, it's 26 times you or your is mentioned as as God. 233 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,800 The focus in their praise was totally focused on God and what 234 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:15,520 God had done. Repentance begins with worship. 235 00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:19,120 This was a reminder for the people to think back, to 236 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,560 remember the history, how God had worked, what he had done, 237 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:25,320 and and through the stories of who he had been to them. 238 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,920 He'd been faithful right from the start with Abraham, the 239 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,440 generations that followed, all the trials and challenges that 240 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,400 they had met in Egypt and onward. 241 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,560 God had LED them out to the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, had given 242 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:41,440 them his laws, the Sabbath of rest, the commandments had fed 243 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,080 them with mana. Now here in Nehemiah 9, they 244 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:50,520 worshipped in prayer and as they prayed, as the prayer continued, 245 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,880 there was a shift in the prayer. The worship did not end with 246 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:58,600 just acknowledging God from worshipping and praising God, 247 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:04,760 what God had done. They went into naming what had 248 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:06,520 gone wrong. So let's continue reading 249 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:12,720 Nehemiah chapters 9 verse 16 and onward. 9 verse 16 says but 250 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,200 but's a keyword here. My translation says but, but 251 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:22,560 they, our ancestors and our fathers acted proudly, hardened 252 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:24,800 their necks, and did not heed your commandments. 253 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:27,440 They refused to obey, and they wouldn't. 254 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,280 They were not mindful of your wonders that you did among them, 255 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:32,360 but they hardened their necks, and in the rebellion they 256 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,320 appointed the leader to return to their bondage. 257 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,600 But you are God ready to pardon gracious and merciful, slow to 258 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,760 anger, abundant and kindness, and did not forsake them, even 259 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,360 when they made a molded calf for themselves and said, This is 260 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,040 your God that brought you up out of Egypt and worked great part 261 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,800 provocations. Yet in your manifold mercies you 262 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:54,440 did not forsake them in the wilderness. 263 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,480 The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day to lead 264 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,520 them on the road, on the pillar of fire by night to show them 265 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:02,240 light and the way they should go. 266 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,360 You also gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not 267 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:07,880 withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for 268 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,960 their thirst. 40 years. You sustained them in the 269 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:12,320 wilderness. They lacked nothing, their 270 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,440 clothes did not wear out, their feet did not swell. 271 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:17,360 Moreover, he gave them kingdoms and nations and divided them 272 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:19,520 into districts. So they took possession of the 273 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:22,680 land of Sihan, the land of the king of Heshpin, the land of of 274 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:25,480 AG, king of Bashan. You also multiplied their 275 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:28,240 children as the stars of heaven. They brought them into the land 276 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:30,320 which You and brought them into the land which you had told 277 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:33,960 their fathers to go and possess. So the people went in, and they 278 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:35,960 possessed the land. You subdued before them the 279 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,680 inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into 280 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,040 their hands with their kings and the people of the land, that 281 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:43,440 they may do with them as they wished. 282 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,000 And they took their strong cities in a rich land, and 283 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,680 possessed houses full of goods, cisterns already dug in, 284 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:51,440 vineyards and olive Groves and fruit trees and abundance. 285 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,920 So they ate and were filled and grew fat, and delighted 286 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:55,320 themselves in your great goodness. 287 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,160 Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against 288 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,880 you, cast your law behind their backs, and killed your prophets, 289 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,600 who testified against them, to turn them, to turn them to 290 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:04,920 yourself. And they were great 291 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,080 provocations. Therefore you delivered them 292 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,760 into the hand of their enemies, who oppressed them in the time 293 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:11,560 of their trouble. When they cried to you, You 294 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,120 heard from heaven, and according to your abundant mercies, you 295 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:16,440 gave them deliverers, who saved them from the hand of their 296 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,840 enemies. But after they had rest, they 297 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,920 again did even before you. Therefore you left them in the 298 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,560 hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. 299 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,200 Yet when they returned and cried out to you, you heard from 300 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,360 heaven. And many times you delivered 301 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,520 them according to your mercies, and testified against them, that 302 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,000 you might bring them back to your law. 303 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,360 Yet they acted proudly. It did not heed your 304 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:39,080 commandments, but sinned against your judgments, which, if a man 305 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,280 does, he shall live by them. And they shrugged their 306 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,840 shoulders, stiffened their necks, and would not hear. 307 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,320 Yet for many years you had patience with them and testified 308 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:48,400 against them by your spirit and your profits. 309 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,640 Yet they would not listen. Therefore you gave them into the 310 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:53,240 hands of the peoples of the lands. 311 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,120 Nevertheless, in Your great mercy you did not utterly 312 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:00,400 consume them nor forsake them. For you are a gracious, for you 313 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:08,760 are God gracious and merciful. We see here a naming of the sins 314 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,040 of the past, the history. So they acknowledged and owned 315 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:16,359 the sins of their fathers for that community of that it was 316 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:18,920 going to go. They had to go back and retell 317 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,040 the story. They did not retell the story to 318 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,720 remind God as if God had. Some have forgotten history. 319 00:17:25,079 --> 00:17:27,800 They needed to retell the story because they needed to be 320 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,600 connected to that history in order to bring it to the surface 321 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:36,200 and to break free from it. A person can never become free 322 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,240 from what is buried and not addressed. 323 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:43,880 It was the sins of the past still impacting them on that day 324 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,520 that to acknowledge and address the connections of their present 325 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:50,040 situation to where it all came from. 326 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,280 I've said this in the past and it bears repeating, and I've 327 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:54,960 heard this from a counselor who said this buried pain never 328 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:59,160 dies. Here the Jewish people 329 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,400 acknowledged what had happened and what had gone wrong. 330 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,800 They were assembled before God and they remembered, and they 331 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:06,680 prayed in repentance in order to break free. 332 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,680 That is hard work all among all the blessings of God. 333 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,760 These people, their forefathers, they had not obeyed even in this 334 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:16,320 chapter. They separated themselves from 335 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,240 the foreigners that they had been aligned with and and 336 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:20,800 connected with it. They shouldn't have been. 337 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:25,760 They had at times when things went well, they had turned away 338 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,840 from God and had rebelled. That paid the price 339 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,480 catastrophically. Here in this state, they reflect 340 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,160 on the past and they recognize the sins of their fathers and 341 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,080 they named them and see this is so very key. 342 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,360 You see what they did not do, just as important, what they did 343 00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:40,880 not do. They did not deal in 344 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,200 generalities. They did not go over their sins 345 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,520 of their fathers lightly, as if they were not so serious. 346 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:51,240 They called it what it was. And for me, it's worth noting in 347 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,600 the new King James translation that I read the numerous times 348 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,240 they and them and their talking about their fathers. 349 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,000 Perhaps you've noticed in the reading how this is a constant 350 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,880 theme coming through. Their fathers had committed the 351 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,800 sins and they were part of it and had created this, this 352 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:10,640 situation, and they were not innocent. 353 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,120 Their fathers are not innocent. They had inherited it. 354 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:17,480 They were part of it. Here's a picture of a community 355 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:24,240 in repentance. They were experiencing a 356 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:28,160 revival, coming back to God and doing it collectively. 357 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,880 You know, churches have had revival meetings in the past, 358 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,240 and I've been part of them and they're great and it's all good. 359 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:39,560 I don't hear of repentance meetings. 360 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,560 Think about that. It's hard to get people to come 361 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,960 to a prayer meeting. How difficult would it be to 362 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,960 come to a repentance meeting to deal with the heart? 363 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,200 I've been to two such meetings in my lifetime and all my years 364 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,960 of living. Powerful, very powerful. 365 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,440 They can only happen when the burning desire for it comes. 366 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:20,560 It's hard work. To be unrepentant is to be 367 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:24,640 rebellious. And these people wanted to break 368 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:33,840 free. What is it that drives this 369 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:40,120 prideful resistance to repent? Our flesh doesn't want to Our 370 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:43,800 flesh will fight to the NTH degree whatever we need to do. 371 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:45,480 I'm not guilty. I'm innocent. 372 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:50,720 I only But to repent, we have to let go of our pride. 373 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:53,400 It has to break. The story of the prodigal son is 374 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,520 an excellent example of this in Luke chapter 15. 375 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,720 The younger son despised his father, had no use for him 376 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,360 except he wanted his father's money and his father complied 377 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:04,200 and gave him the money. He's proud and he's arrogant, 378 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,840 has a life all figured out. And his father gives him the 379 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:11,120 money and he left home not knowing the disaster he was 380 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:14,800 creating for himself. He's told he squandered his 381 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,480 father's money. And the famine comes in the land 382 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:19,400 he hires himself with to a pig farmer and he becomes hungry 383 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,160 even in that job. And it's at that point the man's 384 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:28,200 pride breaks. He's ready to come home, He's 385 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:32,320 repentant, surrenders himself. Let me ask this question. 386 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:34,760 What road do you think was easier or more difficult for the 387 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,600 young man? The road to run into the 388 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:38,840 wildlife or the road to come home and repent? 389 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,800 I believe you know the answer. The road to repentance is always 390 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,040 a hard Rd. but it must be travelled. 391 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:48,640 Well he did. This guy did repent in the 392 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:50,080 parable. He travelled the road of 393 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,920 repentance, literally came home and was restored. 394 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,200 But how many people today live for whom it takes their whole 395 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,560 lives before they ever get to the point where they come to the 396 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:04,080 point where they break, they confess, and they get right with 397 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:09,160 God? They have to hold on, they have 398 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:11,400 to be in charge, they have to be in control. 399 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,480 And I'm concluding myself in this here in Nehemiah 9, the 400 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,760 story was read. The law of God had been read. 401 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:19,880 The people understood, they worshiped as they commanded, 402 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,960 they looked and they saw, and they named what had happened. 403 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:26,160 The next step here now is a request. 404 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:28,760 Let's read Nehemiah 9, beginning verse 32. 405 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:33,480 Now, Now, therefore, see, now it shifts here, Now therefore, our 406 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,400 God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps covenant 407 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,160 in mercy, Do not let all the troubles seem small before you 408 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,440 that has come upon us, our kings, our Princess, our 409 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,320 priests, and our prophets, our fathers, and on all your people, 410 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,200 from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day. 411 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,720 However, you are just in all that has befallen us, for you've 412 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,120 dealt faithfully, but we've done wickedly. 413 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,600 Neither our kings nor our Princess, our priests nor our 414 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,320 fathers, have kept your law, nor heeded your commandments and 415 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,520 your testimonies which you testified against them. 416 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,600 For they have not served you in their Kingdom, nor in the many 417 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,680 good things that you gave them, or the rich, large and rich land 418 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:12,960 which you set before them, nor did they turn from their wicked 419 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,520 works. Here we are servants today. 420 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,480 And in the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and 421 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,480 its bounty, here we are servants in it. 422 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,640 And it yields much increase to the kings you've set over us 423 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,280 because of our sins. Also they have dominion over our 424 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:27,920 bodies and our cattle at their pleasure. 425 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,720 And we are in great, in great distress. 426 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,440 And because of all this we make sure a sure covenant and write 427 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,640 it, our leaders, our Levites, and our priests, to seal it. 428 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,400 The next step here is a request. They make the request with 429 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,480 brokenness and humility, and that's the final one. 430 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,400 God's Word brought them to humility and surrender. 431 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:53,800 They make the request. The people come to the point 432 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:57,600 where they had nothing to prove, nothing to look to in their own 433 00:23:57,600 --> 00:23:59,280 lives. They saw the simplest just 434 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:01,920 surrendered. No more resisting, no more 435 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:06,840 fighting, just surrender. They were now at the point where 436 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:08,880 they needed to be in order to receive help. 437 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,960 They were needy, they were broken, they were done. 438 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,320 All that was left Now, Lord, here we are. 439 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,600 We've hit rock bottom, and that's where sometimes we need 440 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,040 to go to come to the end of ourselves. 441 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:25,080 And for some people, that's where things have to come to 442 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,240 before they are ready to listen. Let's note again this last 443 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,280 passage especially. Notice their words. 444 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,440 Do not let all the troubles seem small before you that has come 445 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,520 upon us, our kings, our Princess, our priests, our 446 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:37,880 prophets, our fathers, and on all your people from the days of 447 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:39,480 the kings of us here until this day. 448 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:41,240 Notice they're pleading, they're begging. 449 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:44,920 It was everybody, everybody's involved. 450 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,800 The acts of rebellion by their nation had come full circle and 451 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,400 the consequences had been and were still painful. 452 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,960 A question that comes to my mind is I'm pondering this and 453 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:56,920 reading this, looking ahead into our own future. 454 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,160 What future hardship will the generation of tomorrow 455 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:04,160 experience because of our sins as a church, as a community? 456 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,040 Are we living today so that when our grandchildren look back, 457 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,560 will they be able to say that we were people of integrity, godly 458 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:12,080 character? Will they see that? 459 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,760 Or will they say our fathers went wayward, they rebelled and 460 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,640 we're paying the price and as a result, they're in it as well? 461 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,600 And Nehemiah's time, it was that generation who had fell to to do 462 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:25,840 the hard work of owning, confessing, and repenting of the 463 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:27,240 sins of their fathers and their own. 464 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,200 It was that generation that looked back and recognized and 465 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:31,600 took ownership of what had happened. 466 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,440 And God was gracious to them. Just notice the complete 467 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:37,720 acceptance and complete surrender of these people. 468 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,560 They had done the hard work of owning and and confessing and 469 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,040 repenting. Notice their words again in 33. 470 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,320 You are just meaning God and all that has to befallen us, for 471 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:51,200 you've dealt faithfully. But we we have done wickedly. 472 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,120 They accepted it. God's not wrong and punishing 473 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:55,480 evil. He's just in doing so. 474 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,800 But he wants to show mercy and it had been hard for them. 475 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,360 He said we are servants today in this country that you've blessed 476 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:04,040 us, our fathers with, to eat its fruit and its bounty here. 477 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,480 We are servants in it. It gives much increase to the 478 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,840 kings, not us, who you said over us because of our sins. 479 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,440 Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle at their 480 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,520 pleasure, and we are in great distress. 481 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,480 The bounty that could have been theirs was not theirs because of 482 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:22,440 their sins. There's a metaphor here for us 483 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,960 to learn from. We never know what may happen 484 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,480 once we start on a path of sin, no matter how light, how 485 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,000 innocent, benign we may think it is actions of consequences. 486 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:36,440 The people who led this repentance assembly wrote this 487 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:39,360 down in final verse 8 and says and because of all this, we make 488 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:41,920 a sure covenant and write it. Our leaders, our Levites and our 489 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,840 priests seal it. This was a covenant and they 490 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,200 sealed it in writing. And correct me if my information 491 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,040 is wrong, but as far as I know in in reading history, I love 492 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:58,120 history, we never again find the people of the Jews ever again 493 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:02,000 going to idol worship. Not ever, not ever. 494 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:06,600 They were cured. They did a lot of things wrong, 495 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:10,960 but idol worship was never a part of their lifestyle again, 496 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,520 ever. They kept it out. 497 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:21,040 Let's wrap this up. I believe the work of repentance 498 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:25,080 is the most difficult journey because means death to self. 499 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:37,960 We don't want it. Our earthly nature wants to 500 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:43,640 live. I want to close with this little 501 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:45,000 bit of an illustration of my own life. 502 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:47,840 I was 17 when I gave my life to Christ. 503 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,240 And that was the biggest part of my challenge was the repentance 504 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,400 part. Oh, I wanted to, I wanted to 505 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,320 follow Jesus like like a lot of young men did. 506 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:57,880 But the journey of repentance was the most difficult. 507 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,000 I had to come to a point where I just surrendered and was willing 508 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,320 to own it. I had offended God had broken 509 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,800 his laws and I was responsible. And I remember it was January, I 510 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,440 think January of 1982 was the first one up in our family that 511 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,760 morning before before sunrise. And I was outgoing and and 512 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:16,160 meditating, walking, and I remember the agony. 513 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:25,040 Pastor Joe Reddest the verses out of Psalm 51 and that verse, 514 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,680 and I have it in my notes here. We didn't talk about this 515 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,480 beforehand. That verse popped into my mind 516 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:37,480 as I was going for a walk. The sacrifices of God are broken 517 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,920 spirit, a broken contrite heart. These are God you'll not 518 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:49,200 despise. When I came to that point, I 519 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:55,240 didn't care anymore. I just want to be free. 520 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:01,800 David did not write this Psalm from the mountaintop. 521 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:06,240 He wrote them when he was in the valley of of of of pain and 522 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:08,320 agony of what he'd done as a as a king. 523 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:10,600 He had killed Uriah. He had he had committed adult 524 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:12,080 with Bathsheba, killed her husband. 525 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:19,760 He's confronted and he repented. You see, we cannot avoid 526 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,680 repenting if we're going to get right with God. 527 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:28,000 We can we can sin and think that's going to be easy. 528 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,000 No, it won't be. Sin means death every time 529 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:38,160 someone once thought you can't, you can't talk your way out of 530 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:41,880 what you behaved yourself into. We can be thankful God has 531 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,720 provided a way out of salvation. We heard that this morning in 532 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:46,600 our prayers. All sin carries the death 533 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:48,320 penalty. Jesus died for that. 534 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:50,680 That's taken care of. But where are we today? 535 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:54,680 I want to close with the following verse of the 536 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,280 Philippians. And this is what Jesus did on 537 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,320 our behalf. He says, Let this mind be in 538 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,880 you, which is an awesome Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of 539 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,480 God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made 540 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,640 himself of no reputation. Taking the form of a 541 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,880 bondservant, coming in the likeness of men, and being found 542 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:13,040 in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became 543 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,360 obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. 544 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:17,880 Therefore God has exalted him and given him the name which is 545 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:20,760 above every name. But at the name of Jesus, every 546 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,200 knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and of 547 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,720 those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that 548 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,960 Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 549 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,400 The work that we have to do is hard, but he has been an even 550 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:36,000 harder task. And as an innocent man dying for 551 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:41,080 the sins of sinful people, and we are offered that gift today, 552 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,840 we need to repent, come to Christ and receive forgiveness. 553 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,160 Jesus did the hard work, but it's not going to be easy for 554 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:49,520 our flesh. It's going to be hard. 555 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:53,240 It's the hard work of the heart. So let's surrender ourselves in 556 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:57,120 repentance, ever sins, embrace the gift of forgiveness and 557 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:00,000 mercy for us, and let's walk in freedom and newness of life in 558 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,240 relationship with Jesus and with one another. 559 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:08,320 Bow with me for prayer. Lord, we don't know what journey 560 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:11,360 yet you may have for us as individuals and as a church. 561 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,320 We know that in and of ourselves we all stand guilty and 562 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,720 condemned. We have nothing to give to you 563 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:20,480 except our sinful broken hearts. Lord, we know that we need to be 564 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,560 reminded of this. We need to live and practice 565 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:24,840 this a privilege. You'll have mercy and grace. 566 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,600 You'll show us your grace and give us the strength to do the 567 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,720 hard work of denying yourselves, letting go over pride and 568 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,200 humility and repentance. Turn to you and walk with you in 569 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:35,880 Jesus name, Amen.