1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,240 We love you and thank you in Jesus name, Amen. 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:08,600 Well, will you guys, will you guys stand with me for the 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,240 reading of of the the word this morning? 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:15,960 So we're going to be in in Nehemiah chapter one. 5 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,200 Let me just read it. I don't I don't have it there. 6 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:20,320 Let me let me read it right here. 7 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:24,960 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hakaliah. 8 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,200 Now it happened in the month of of kids Live. 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,159 In the 20th year, as I was in Susa, the capital, that Hannah 10 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,680 and I, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah, and 11 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:39,000 I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped who had survived the 12 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,720 exile, and concerning Jerusalem. They said to me, the remnant 13 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,480 there in the province who had survived the exile is in great 14 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:49,840 trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken 15 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,360 down and its gates are destroyed by fire. 16 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,120 As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned 17 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:58,720 for days. And I continued fasting and 18 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:00,920 praying before the the God of heaven. 19 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,160 And I said, Oh Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome 20 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,440 God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who 21 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:09,120 love him and keep his commandments. 22 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,120 Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the 23 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,360 prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and 24 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,560 night for the people of Israel, Your servants confessing the 25 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,600 sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against 26 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:23,840 you. Even I and my Father's house 27 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,560 have sinned. We have acted very corruptly 28 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,000 against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes 29 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:32,960 and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 30 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,160 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, 31 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,360 saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the 32 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:41,560 peoples. But if You return to Me and keep 33 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,960 My commandments and do them though Your outcasts are in the 34 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:48,000 uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and 35 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,240 bring them to the place that I have chosen to make My name 36 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:53,840 dwell. There they are Your servants and 37 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,960 Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power and 38 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,000 by Your strong hand. Oh Lord, let your ear be 39 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,840 attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to the prayer of 40 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,840 Your servants, who delight to fear Your name. 41 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,400 And give success to Your servant today, and grant him mercy in 42 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,200 the sight of this man. Now I was cup bearer to the 43 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,600 king. This is the word of the Lord, 44 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,560 Amen. You guys can can have a seat. 45 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:29,720 Well, today we are we are going to start a new sermon series on 46 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,400 the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. 47 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,880 Now we will still be working through the book of Matthew when 48 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,160 Eric preaches, but I'll be taking us through this, this new 49 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,800 study and I'm excited about this study. 50 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,200 I even have a, a tattoo on my, on my arm that is based on an 51 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:53,400 important part of, of this book. So, so today this message is, is 52 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:59,640 in is titled Nehemiah's prayer. And we'll see how he sets the 53 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:05,960 tone. He, he sets the tone for, for, 54 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,360 you know, the whole book right here at at the outset. 55 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,120 So let's start with a little bit of a back story to, to set the 56 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,840 context here. Throughout the Old Testament, we 57 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:22,120 see that, that Israel, that's God's chosen people, has 58 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,560 repeatedly disregarded the will of God. 59 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,960 God sends prophets to tell the people what's expected of them 60 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,440 and what the consequences are of disobedience. 61 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:37,520 And, and often we see demonstrations of, of glimpses 62 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,880 of God's wrath poured out on them for that disobedience. 63 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,400 Sometimes it's on individuals, sometimes on whole groups of 64 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,720 people. Scripture gives us many examples 65 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,840 of, of God punishing his people for disobedience. 66 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:58,320 And then we see stories of redemption when the people 67 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:03,240 repent. And here is the prophet Jeremiah 68 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,800 telling us this same thing. And Jeremiah 25, verses 4 69 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,920 through 7, it says you have neither listened nor inclined 70 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,880 your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent you all 71 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,440 his servants, the prophets saying, turn now everyone of you 72 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,880 from his evil way, his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon 73 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,040 the land that the Lord has given to you and your father's from 74 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,080 old and forever. Do not go after other gods to 75 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,960 serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the 76 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,840 work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm. 77 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,160 Yeah, you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, that you 78 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:41,440 might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your 79 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:46,520 own harm. So the books of Ezra and 80 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:50,560 Nehemiah were most likely written as a a single book. 81 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:55,320 They contain a series of parallel stories about three men 82 00:04:55,320 --> 00:05:00,840 with similar missions to to work to rebuild a part of the temple 83 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:04,840 while facing various kinds of hardship. 84 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,200 See the temple had been destroyed by by King 85 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:13,520 Nebuchadnezzar after a 2 year siege of Jerusalem that had 86 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,720 caused a famine. And when the army finally 87 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,120 conquered the city, they destroyed the temple, tearing it 88 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,440 down completely. And all of the, the, the 89 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,320 treasure and all of the religious artifacts were, were 90 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,960 taken as, as like loot. And some of the pieces were, 91 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,600 were so big that they had to, they had to cut them into pieces 92 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,800 or, or they had to melt them down to be able to ship them 93 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:42,520 away. The ruling elite from Jerusalem, 94 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,760 we're all put to death. But the, but the, the wealthy, 95 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:51,240 the educated and skilled Jews had been taken captive to be 96 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:56,520 slaves for the Babylonians. All that was left were some 97 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:01,520 farmers, the sick and the poor, and this was meant to be a 98 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:06,720 complete physical dismantling of the spiritual and cultural 99 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,760 identity of the Jews. In the book of Ezra. 100 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,360 Again, this is before our study, before our book. 101 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:19,360 The book of Ezra tells the story of of these two men, Zerubbabel 102 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,480 and Ezra. Zerubbabel is 1st and he goes to 103 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:24,840 Jerusalem to rebuild the temple itself. 104 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:30,560 In the book of Zechariah in chapter 4, there's a prophecy 105 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:35,640 that that named a man that that a man named Zerubbabel would 106 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,080 rebuild the temple. So when Zerubbabel comes along, 107 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,440 he is obedient to what he sees in scripture to God calling him 108 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,600 by name to do this several decades later. 109 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:51,560 Ezra scribe and priest, he goes back to Jerusalem to rebuild the 110 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,760 community of the Jews. The rubble was building the 111 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,320 temple itself. Ezra goes back to to rebuild the 112 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:03,440 community and he was sent by the Persian king Artaxerxes to help 113 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:08,680 stabilize the region. In In Ezra Chapter 7 verse 23, 114 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:13,600 we see that our Artaxerxes, even though he's a Pagan king, he 115 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:18,360 feared God and he feared the God of the Jews and he did not want 116 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:23,400 to face his wrath. So he was recognizing God at the 117 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,160 God of the Jews and and his power and he didn't want to he 118 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,240 didn't want to have to deal with being punished. 119 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,600 Then in the book of Nehemiah, we see a third man, Nehemiah, who 120 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,360 who goes to rebuild the walls around the temple after getting 121 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,160 permission to do so from a king named Cyrus. 122 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,360 Now, amazingly, in the book of Isaiah in chapter 45, we see 123 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:53,120 another prophecy that names a future Pagan king named Cyrus 124 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,040 that God would use to rebuild his temple. 125 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:02,600 And this is 150 years before Cyrus that in our story with 126 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:07,600 Nehemiah before he's even born. So these three stories follow a 127 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,160 a similar arc, right? Each man is is granted 128 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,480 permission and support from the king to go rebuild parts of the 129 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:20,160 the city or the temple and then as they begin begin having 130 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,360 success, they start to face opposition. 131 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,920 Now in your personal studies, reading Ezra will will help both 132 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:33,919 in setting context and because these three men and their 133 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:38,799 stories are very similar. But we are going to focus on on 134 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:43,679 this third man in the book of Nehemiah and on his quest to 135 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:45,760 rebuild the wall around the city. 136 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,040 Throughout this book. I think that we're going to see 137 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:52,400 some parallels that are applicable to us today. 138 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:56,040 So I'm going to start off, my first point here is about 139 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:01,960 Nehemiah's broken heart. And, and in verses 3 and 4 of of 140 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,680 chapter 1, it says, and they said to me, the remnant there in 141 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:08,560 the province who had survived the Exiles in great trouble and 142 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:11,880 shame, The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are 143 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:14,840 destroyed by fire. As soon as I heard these words, 144 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,000 I sat down and wept and mourned for days and I continued fasting 145 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,840 and praying before the God of heaven. 146 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,520 So Nehemiah is a cup bearer to the king. 147 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,280 That's his that's his job. That's his, his role. 148 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,120 The cup bearer is very, very important. 149 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:36,080 He's very valuable and trusted by the king in in our modern 150 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,880 culture, you could liken it to the president of the United 151 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:44,040 States is what do you call him the the chief of staff, right? 152 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,200 Somebody who is in all of the meetings, he's in everything and 153 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:49,440 and helps him rule, but he's not the guy. 154 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:56,960 So Nehemiah gets a report from his brother Hannah and I, who 155 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:00,800 has just made this long trip from Judah, and he asks about 156 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,520 news from Jerusalem. How are the how are the Jews 157 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:08,440 doing that, that that weren't exiled and, and who are still 158 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,600 the remnant there? And then, and then how has Ezra 159 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:15,480 succeeded in, in, you know, building or rebuilding the, the 160 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:19,160 community of them there? And Hannah and I tells him that 161 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,640 the remnant are in a bad way. He says that they are in great 162 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,720 trouble and shame, right. They're in very real danger 163 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:32,200 because the walls are completely destroyed and the gates are are 164 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,920 non existent. And many of these people that 165 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:37,800 are there. You guys got you got to remember 166 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:42,160 many of these people are the ones that were so bad off that 167 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:43,960 they weren't even worth kidnapping. 168 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,120 They weren't worth kidnapping by the the Babylonians who were 169 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:53,560 taking everything, and they're left wide open to continued 170 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:58,680 raids and attacks. The rest of them are the ones 171 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:02,880 that Ezra had been trying to raise up by teaching scripture 172 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,840 to. But see, this isn't, this isn't, 173 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:11,520 you know, like breaking news that the temple and its walls 174 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:15,480 had been destroyed 140 something years previous. 175 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:19,960 In fact, Nehemiah never knew a day in his life before this that 176 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:24,720 the temple wasn't in ruins. And yet he mourns for days over 177 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,080 it. Be like us getting worked up and 178 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:32,800 and sobbing for days when we hear about the the Krakatoa 179 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,600 volcanic eruption back in 1883, which it is. 180 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:41,080 It is certainly tragic and sad, but but we're not all breaking 181 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,320 down over it, right? I mean, other than Ron, not one 182 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,640 of us, you know, was personally affected by the Krakatoa 183 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:51,840 volcano. Pay attention, Ron, I was 184 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:59,880 talking to you still. His heart is, is breaking here, 185 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,160 right? And it's breaking in in a couple 186 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:07,480 of different ways. One, it's his heart is broken 187 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:11,320 for the community that the damage to the walls and the and 188 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,800 the gates, they present a very real threat of, of violence and 189 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,160 continued raids for these hurting people. 190 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,480 Again, Nehemiah is a high-ranking government 191 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,840 official, so he would be keenly aware of the need to have a 192 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:31,640 fortified, safe community for the people to be able to to 193 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:37,080 thrive, especially for a a people who have been subjected 194 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:41,960 to conquest for so long. And we can and, and in fact, we 195 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:47,120 should have a similar desire for the prosperity of the people in 196 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,960 our communities too. Our hearts should be broken for 197 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,600 what's happening outside of, of these doors here. 198 00:12:55,600 --> 00:13:00,560 There's war, poverty, drug abuse, political violence. 199 00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:05,120 And, and, and guys, I just, I think that this concept is lost 200 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:11,080 on, on many Christians today. Too many of us are, are far too 201 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:16,480 quick to disregard our responsibility to care for the 202 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:21,120 hurting or, or to be a part of, of of the building and 203 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:27,920 rebuilding of our community. And 1st John 3 verses 17 and 18 204 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,360 it says, it says. But if anyone has the world's 205 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:35,280 goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart 206 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:38,040 against him, how does God's love abide in him? 207 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:43,760 Little children let us not love in Word or talk, but in deed and 208 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,560 in truth. So guys, I think we can easily 209 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:53,280 see our brothers in need, but we but we recognize little or no 210 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:57,040 responsibility to be a part of helping them. 211 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:01,480 And in fact, our system will do a real good job of trying to 212 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,520 convince you that it's better to let the professionals handle it 213 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:07,920 right. If you've ever, you know, been 214 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,280 walking around downtown Salt Lake, you've probably seen their 215 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:14,760 signs up down there that tell people not to give money to pan 216 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,600 handlers directly, but to give to a government organization 217 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,440 that handles that. Or if you were to turn on the 218 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:26,640 news, you'd see maybe a story of a, of a guy who, who chased down 219 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,680 and, and stopped someone from beating up a woman to steal her 220 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:32,520 purse. And then you'll see on this, on 221 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:35,200 this interview, or you'll see an interview with a police chief 222 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:37,600 and, and he'll be on there saying, well, it worked out OK 223 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,640 this time, but in the future, just call 911 and let the 224 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,680 professionals handle it. And I, I totally get the 225 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,640 sentiment here. And and there might be people 226 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:52,680 better trained to handle these situations, but God's word calls 227 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:59,040 us to be people who do. Years ago, I used to work with 228 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,560 a, a para ministry that was out in the in the ghettos and in the 229 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,800 most dangerous places in our cities trying to combat human 230 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:15,640 trafficking where he's abused, drugged out, almost nude. 12 and 231 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:18,960 13 year old girls were forced to stand out on the street corners 232 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:24,640 all night and wait to be rented out to one of the many perverts 233 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,800 lined up around the corner to continue to use and abuse them. 234 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,280 And I'd come back and I'd tell my friends, you know, I used to 235 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,360 be a police officer. I'd come back and tell my 236 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,320 friends that are that are still in law enforcement about that. 237 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,840 And sometimes they would get very uneasy when they learn 238 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:44,440 about a, a bunch of of Christians that were out in the 239 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,680 streets doing these investigations and these 240 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,280 tactical rescues instead of letting the police do it. 241 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:54,280 But the fact is the police often times would just drive right by 242 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,080 and when they when they'd see them out there. 243 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:01,440 Our, our system that we rely on isn't designed or capable of 244 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:08,480 helping these kids often times. But besides that, I read verses 245 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,200 like Isaiah 117, the verse right before the one that John read 246 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:14,400 from our assurance of pardon just a little bit ago. 247 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:19,760 In verse 17 it says learn to do good, seek justice, correct 248 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,840 oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's 249 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:29,920 'cause this is this is written to God's people in Judah. 250 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:32,480 It's not just to a government official. 251 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:37,760 This is this is our job. Now there are some of you who 252 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:43,960 might be squirming in your seats at the thought of this good get 253 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,200 up and and get involved in helping people. 254 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,160 If you're if you're not comfortable in your seat, stand 255 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:50,800 up. Let's go, let's go do the work. 256 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:54,600 We shouldn't be comfortable sitting around while others need 257 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,160 our help. Our our hearts should be broken 258 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:06,319 for our hurting communities. But Nehemiah's heart was also 259 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:12,079 broken for God's people, right for the church. 260 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:16,960 Our our hearts should be broken for the state of God's people. 261 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,400 When we look around at the at the state of the church across 262 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,599 the world, it is heartbreaking. And here's what I mean. 263 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:28,000 We have we have many churches that that that claim with their 264 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,680 mouths to be followers of Jesus, but their hearts and their 265 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,240 actions are far from it. Churches that affirm sin and 266 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,560 debauchery to remain culturally relevant. 267 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:43,040 Churches that exist to to greedily serve themselves 268 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:49,240 through conquests of money or power or political 269 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:53,560 grandstanding. And worst of all, churches that 270 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,920 abdicate their responsibility to properly feed and shepherd the 271 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,240 flock amongst them. Now in in two weeks, Eric is is 272 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,960 going to go much deeper into this topic when he teaches on 273 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,760 the on the sheep without a shepherd in in Matthew 9. 274 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:12,240 But being a part of a healthy church with proper shepherding 275 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,200 is very important. So I don't want to skip over it 276 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:19,760 when the the text that we're in brings it up to be discussed. 277 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,880 And here's why there is a there's a scary warning to 278 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:30,280 pastors in Ezekiel 34 where God tells them that that they, the 279 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:35,520 shepherds, have done a terrible job of caring for the flock and 280 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:37,760 they will face an accounting for it one day. 281 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:42,600 And far too few pastors or those pretending to be them pay 282 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,600 attention to this warning these days and it would behoove them 283 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,400 to go back and study it. And here's a part of what it 284 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,320 says again in Ezekiel 34. This is an in eight says as I 285 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,800 live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have 286 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:00,880 become a prey and my sheep have become food for all the wild 287 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,840 beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my 288 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:07,000 shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have 289 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,920 fed themselves and have not fed my sheep. 290 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:17,200 Friends, it is my responsibility to tell you that the sin in your 291 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:21,040 life is keeping you susceptible to Satan. 292 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:27,080 It is turning you into pray for wild beasts and worse than that, 293 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,560 you're continuing in your sin dishonors God. 294 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:38,800 If you are a professing follower of Jesus, then you are a part of 295 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,520 the the bride of Christ, his church. 296 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:47,680 And in Revelation 18 and 19 it tells us that that as that bride 297 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:52,320 we are either a drunken whore giving into the passions of our 298 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:57,680 immorality, or we are every day preparing ourselves for our 299 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:03,680 bridegroom church. You, you need to be about 300 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:09,160 preparing yourselves for Jesus return, purifying yourself 301 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,320 through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit and the Word. 302 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:18,080 And by God's grace, that will be the the message that you will 303 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:22,560 hear consistently preached. From this pulpit, we should be 304 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:29,400 passionate about being prepared and sanctified to meet Jesus one 305 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:34,800 day soon. Here's what Paul said to Corinth 306 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:38,600 in his second letter. Chapter 11, verses one through 3 307 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:42,080 says, I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. 308 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,200 Do bear with me, for I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I 309 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:51,280 betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to 310 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:53,680 Christ. But I'm afraid that as the 311 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,760 serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be 312 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:01,800 LED astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 313 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:09,600 This is why Nehemiah's heart is crushed because he recognizes as 314 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:14,360 as he, as he considers and he thinks about these broken down 315 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:18,920 walls and burned up gates in in Jerusalem, as he considers that 316 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:24,160 they are representative of the state of so many of God's 317 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:28,280 people. And it puts them in danger, not 318 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:33,320 only of being deceived again, as we, as we saw Paul's letter to 319 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:39,240 Church of Corinth, but of dishonouring our Almighty God. 320 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:49,160 He realizes that this city in ruin represents the sinfulness 321 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,960 of mankind. And, and, and as he thinks on 322 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,400 and considers this reality, his heart also breaks. 323 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:03,120 As he considers his sin, Nehemiah begins to to pray as 324 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:07,640 well and realizes why God's people are in this terrible 325 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,000 situation. And that's our our second point 326 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,680 here is Nehemiah's prayer of confession. 327 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:20,240 And in verse 5 through 7 it says, and I said, Oh Lord God of 328 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:22,840 heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and 329 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,320 steadfast love with those who love him and keep his 330 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,080 commandments. Let your ear be attentive and 331 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:32,320 your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I 332 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:36,280 now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel, 333 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,640 Your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, 334 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:41,600 which we have sinned against You. 335 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:44,280 Even I and my Father's house have sinned. 336 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:49,000 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept 337 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:53,880 the commandments, the statutes, excuse me, and the rules that 338 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,240 you commanded your servant Moses. 339 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,720 Well, this could have been subtitled establishing a, a 340 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:05,760 baseline because Nehemiah clearly states in this, he 341 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:10,680 clearly states who God is and who man is, right. 342 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,320 That's our starting point here. As we, as we go forward, he's 343 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:15,320 telling us who God is and who man is. 344 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,200 And as he begins to pray, he, he comes right out of the gate with 345 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,840 a declaration of God's greatness. 346 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:28,480 He, he recognizes God not only as a God, but as the God of 347 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,720 heaven, right? In scripture, we often see this 348 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:36,560 phrase God of heaven when Jews are interacting with non Jews. 349 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:41,040 And this guys, this is huge because as we read through the 350 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:46,040 Old Testament, we see that that God allowed the Babylonians to 351 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,120 capture Jerusalem and to imprison and and to exile the 352 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:54,080 Jews because they had become polytheistic, right? 353 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,400 They believed in, in many gods. They, they had become a 354 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:02,480 polyistic society and they had broken their part of the 355 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,480 covenant with God to worship him only. 356 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:10,080 So Nehemiah comes to this prayer with a a proper heart 357 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,320 inclination. He's not minimizing his sin or 358 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,760 or even that of of his his loved ones. 359 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:22,920 He said, in fact, he says me and my family are are all sinners 360 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,200 and he describes it and says that they have acted very 361 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,480 corruptly. He says so he's he's not 362 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:33,080 minimizing their sin or or the extent of it at all. 363 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:41,440 Nehemiah acknowledges also hear that he is speaking to the great 364 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:46,280 and awesome God. Have you guys ever given any 365 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,920 thought to how overused that word awesome is? 366 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,400 We describe everything that way, right? 367 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:03,600 Barney's Bronco is awesome. You know, the instruments up 368 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:08,400 here, they sound awesome, right? My, my shoes are awesome. 369 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,240 You know, whatever it is, like we, we describe everything that 370 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:12,280 way. It's like, you know, when 371 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:15,120 you're, when you're, your kid comes up to you for the 10 372 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:18,320 thousandth time and, and it's like, you know, hey, dad, did 373 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,480 you know that the, the, the male ringtail lemurs compete for 374 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,480 breeding rights by out stinking each other? 375 00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:27,760 And you're, you're like, Yep, that's, that's awesome, buddy, 376 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,800 right. I mean the the fact is lemur 377 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,920 stink outs aren't awesome. They're weird. 378 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:40,800 But but our God is awesome. Our God who spoke the universe 379 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:46,840 into existence, who can name the stars and whose thoughts 380 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:53,320 outnumber the grains of sand, God who who exists outside of 381 00:25:55,160 --> 00:26:01,120 time and and space is awesome. He really is awesome. 382 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:05,880 And Nehemiah is genuinely expressing that here with 383 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:11,800 honesty as he considers the the reality of what he can 384 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:16,320 comprehend about God. He mentions God who who keeps 385 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,320 covenant. We'll get to that here in in a 386 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:21,000 minute. And and God who keeps steadfast 387 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:26,520 love with those who love him. Both of those descriptions, they 388 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:32,280 depict something of the the, the eternality and the all 389 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,760 sufficient grace of God. A couple months ago in our 390 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:40,040 Sunday school class, we studied God's attributes and and in this 391 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:45,520 study we saw how truly awe inspiring God is he, he he is 392 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:50,320 existing for eternity. He's all powerful, he's all 393 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:55,640 knowing. He is the definition of love and 394 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,080 and that's how Nehemiah approaches this prayer. 395 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:05,480 But then, but then he switches from recognizing God's goodness 396 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:13,920 to owning man's wickedness. And at first, you know, his, his 397 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:18,400 first reference is in general terms, he the sins of the people 398 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:23,680 or recognition that humanity as a whole is sinful and separated 399 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:26,360 from God. Theologically, this is a a big 400 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:29,840 thing because he he isn't dividing people into the 401 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,760 righteous ones over here and and the sinners here. 402 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:37,160 His recognition of the sinfulness of all people is a 403 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:41,960 reminder that even those that we might try to convince ourselves 404 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:46,840 are innocent like like babies and children are in fact sinners 405 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:51,000 from conception even before birth. 406 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:56,920 They have a sin nature. But then he gets personally 407 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,800 responsible. He says even I and my father's 408 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,040 house have sinned. He doesn't pretend that those 409 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:07,080 close to him are are are less culpable either. 410 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,760 He he owns it and then he goes. He goes further in that passage 411 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:15,200 to admit that he knew about the statutes that God had commanded, 412 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:21,280 so he can't claim ignorance. Nehemiah recognizes the calamity 413 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,360 and the ruin of the walls and gates of Jerusalem as being 414 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:28,880 representative of his own sinful life. 415 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:34,120 And that realization evokes this, this powerful emotional 416 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:38,440 outpouring. Imagine how wrecked you you are 417 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:43,640 to cry and mourn for for days on end over something that you 418 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:49,480 didn't necessarily witness. There's this other example, 419 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:54,880 another example of this, this heart cry in Isaiah 6, four 420 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,880 through 7, where the prophet Isaiah had a a vision of angels 421 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:06,560 singing about God's holiness. And then just God's voice causes 422 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,320 him to understand the magnitude of his sin. 423 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,000 This is what it says in Isaiah 6. 424 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:16,120 It says and the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice 425 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:18,640 of him who called and the house was filled with smoke. 426 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:23,840 And I said, woe is me, for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean 427 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,320 lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. 428 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,240 For my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. 429 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:34,720 Then one of the seraphim that's that's an Angel flew to me, 430 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:37,920 having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken from 431 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,760 tongs with the altar. And he touched my mouth and 432 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,040 said, behold, this has touched your lip. 433 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:51,280 Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for a burning 434 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:58,720 coal here is it's representative of of the purification process, 435 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:07,320 similar to the way that gold is refined by fire, drawing out the 436 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:12,280 impurities that process, guys, that process is, is harsh. 437 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:17,800 There is, there is violence, there is pain, there's trauma, 438 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,560 but the finished product is, is is far better. 439 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:27,000 It is becoming pure. So this whole prayer attitude is 440 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:33,040 something that the world is tragically missing and we we 441 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:40,600 need to know that God exists and he is good, a recognition that 442 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:45,680 there is a God and that he is the very standard of goodness. 443 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,760 We need to know that sin separates mankind from God. 444 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:55,120 The the sin that every one of us is born with and every one of us 445 00:30:55,120 --> 00:31:00,760 chooses to commit separates us from his goodness, does not 446 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:05,840 separate us from his his wrath, but it does separate us from his 447 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:09,560 goodness. We need to know that 448 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:16,960 disobedience demands punishment. Now, when we break the law, we 449 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:22,040 expect mercy, but when someone else breaks the law that affects 450 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:27,680 us, we demand justice because guys, because we know that that 451 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:33,480 makes sense. We need to know that God keeps 452 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:37,600 his promises. That means that when He says He 453 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:42,160 will punish our rebellious transgressions, we must believe 454 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,920 him. When I was when I was young, and 455 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:48,680 I'm talking like probably 6 or 7, my little brother was 2. 456 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:53,040 He's two years younger than me. We were outside playing one time 457 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,560 and he was being a jerk as he does. 458 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,280 And, and whatever was he was, he was giving me a hard time. 459 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:02,000 And I remember my mom calling out the window and and saying, 460 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,280 Jason, you knock it off, you leave your brother alone. 461 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,920 And he kept doing it. And at some point, at some 462 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,000 point, she said, you know, one of these days I'm going to, I'm 463 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:14,680 going to let, I'm going to let Mike turn around and, and smack 464 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:16,480 you for the way that you, you act to him. 465 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,600 Well, in my mind, I thought I had it now a coupon for that. 466 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:24,560 I, I felt like this was a credit that I had and I hung onto it 467 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:26,920 for dear life for a couple of years. 468 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:30,560 And I remember years later when again, you know, he was giving 469 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,400 me a hard time. I remember going to my mom and I 470 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:37,000 said, Hey, remember, remember when you told me that I could, I 471 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,160 could turn around and punch him in the face or whatever. 472 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,840 And she's like, no, no, I know I would never say anything like 473 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:42,920 that. Absolutely not. 474 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:48,160 Well, my mom was not a keeper of promises, apparently, when it 475 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,960 came to justice. And she's listening online right 476 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:52,480 now. So mom, you remember that? 477 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:56,920 I know you do so, but we know about that. 478 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:02,440 God does keep his promises when it when it comes to justice for 479 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:07,560 wrongdoing. But that's not all that Nehemiah 480 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,040 says in our passage, is it? He? 481 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,800 He doesn't just say that God keeps his promises regarding 482 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,440 punishment. He goes a bit further. 483 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:22,600 And that's not a part of the of the story that we want to skip. 484 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:29,880 And so our Third Point here is Nehemiah's solid foundation in 485 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:34,320 verses 8 through 11. This finishes out the that 486 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:36,720 chapter. It says, Remember the word that 487 00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:40,320 you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are 488 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:42,880 unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. 489 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:47,040 But if you return to Me and keep my commandments and do them 490 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,200 though you're outcaster in the uttermost parts of heaven, from 491 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:54,040 there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I 492 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:56,680 have chosen to make my name dwell. 493 00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:01,000 There they are your servants and your people, whom you have 494 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,920 redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 495 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:07,320 Oh Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your 496 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:10,600 servant and to the prayer of your servants, who delight to 497 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:13,719 fear your name. And give success to your servant 498 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:17,040 today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. 499 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:20,000 Now I was cut bearer to the king. 500 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:28,080 Although he acknowledges that God is a promise keeper who has 501 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:33,239 promised justice and wrath regarding disobedient sinners, 502 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:39,840 God has also promised mercy to those who repent of their sin. 503 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:46,600 He says, remember, remember Lord, you said that if we return 504 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:52,520 to you that you'd return to us. Now You know, often times we see 505 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:56,560 people pray to God by reminding him of who he is. 506 00:34:56,560 --> 00:35:01,080 Now this isn't because God is forgetful like my mom and it's 507 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,680 he. He is omniscient and all 508 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:08,040 knowing. Even when we read that God 509 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:12,240 forgets our sins, He doesn't actually forget anything, but he 510 00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:18,160 forgives us of everything and chooses not to look on our sins 511 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,240 any longer. Here's what it it says in Isaiah 512 00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:25,840 4325I. I am He who blots out your 513 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:30,120 transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your 514 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,600 sins. When we pray to God and remind 515 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:41,240 Him of who He is, we are aligning our hearts about God 516 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:45,440 with who He tells us in scripture that He is. 517 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:50,120 See none of us guys, none of us comes to our comprehension of 518 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:57,400 God with any any real credible ideas outside of what we learned 519 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:01,240 based on scripture. The world will come up and has 520 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:04,840 come up with thousands of ideas about God. 521 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:09,440 That there are multiple gods, that we are gods, or that we 522 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,400 could become gods. That God is exists as the rock 523 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:18,760 or as the tree, or as the sun. Scripture though tells us who 524 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:23,400 God actually is and how to align ourselves with Him. 525 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:30,200 Nehemiah reminds God that he keeps promises and that and that 526 00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:34,960 God has promised if you return to me and keep my commandments 527 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:39,080 that they will be blessed. Specifically that God would 528 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:43,280 gather them back to the place that he's given them. 529 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:46,800 Now guys, we have to understand that this does not mean that we 530 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:50,960 can manipulate God. He's not a holy ATM machine. 531 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:56,400 See, all too often people think that that the the the dynamic 532 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:00,960 with God is that if we do something like that, he likes, 533 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,000 he blesses us or or we if we do something he dislikes and he and 534 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:11,080 then he takes away from us. This this errant thinking causes 535 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:14,880 us to believe that we have the ability to will God into 536 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:21,360 reacting the way we want him to, or that God needs something from 537 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:25,400 us. Paul clears this up directly in 538 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:29,840 Romans 11 verses 34 through 36. For who has known the mind of 539 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:32,920 the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has given a 540 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:35,880 gift to him, that he might be repaid? 541 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:41,400 For from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be 542 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,800 glory forever. Amen. 543 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:52,160 We need to understand that what we are given by God is up to and 544 00:37:52,160 --> 00:38:00,360 dependent only only it is dependent on only his good grace 545 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:07,520 and what He gives might not be what you want. 546 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:13,760 Matthew 5 verse 45 says for he makes the sunrise on the evil 547 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:19,440 and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 548 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:23,000 Guys, this is a crucial thing for us to understand here 549 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:28,920 because often we want to put God in a box and demand that that he 550 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:33,320 comport to our sense of what is is good. 551 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:38,880 In Isaiah 45 seven it says I form light and create darkness. 552 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:42,920 I make well-being and create calamity. 553 00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:46,560 I am the Lord who does all these things. 554 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:51,320 Now guys, we, we can, we struggle to believe that God 555 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:55,480 would allow bad things to happen to us and we get twisted out of 556 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:58,360 shape. When someone says that God 557 00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:02,280 brings it about intentionally, we say something like, Oh no, 558 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:07,000 not my God, right. See, the problem is we 559 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:12,920 misunderstand the motive for it. Satan is the the father of of 560 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:16,400 evil. He does evil for the sake of 561 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,200 evil. God brings about disaster and 562 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:25,840 calamity as punishment for evil. That evil that he's punishing is 563 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,680 our disobedience. Where most of us run into a 564 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:33,120 problem with this is that we put ourselves in the camp of the 565 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:37,520 righteous, not in the camp of the disobedience. 566 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:43,960 In the book of Habakkuk chapter 1, we see this very interesting 567 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:48,480 back and forth, right where Habakkuk complaints to God about 568 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:53,920 the bad things that that happen and, and he's, and he's, you 569 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:56,280 know, complaining about the evil in the world and how it 570 00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:58,640 continues to seem to, to, to win. 571 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,040 And, and he kind of demands to know why God isn't fixing 572 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:05,680 things. And then in the book, he writes 573 00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:09,000 out God's response to him. And we see this in Habakkuk 574 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:13,400 chapter 1 verses. 5 through 5 and 6, it says this is God's 575 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:15,200 response. He says, look among the nations 576 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:20,360 and see wonder and be astounded for I am doing a work in your 577 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:24,440 days that you would not believe if told or behold, I am raising 578 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:27,560 up the Chaldeans. Those are the bad guys, that 579 00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:31,000 bitter and hate that bitter and hasty nation who marched through 580 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:35,040 the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. 581 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,440 He's he's saying, guys pay attention, right? 582 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:42,840 Like pay attention, you're not going to believe it anyways, 583 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:44,320 even though it's, it's written here. 584 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:45,720 You're not going to believe this. 585 00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:51,360 But but those, those bad people, I am raising them them up. 586 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:53,200 Those people who steal stuff, right? 587 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:56,080 Who sees dwellings not their own? 588 00:40:57,240 --> 00:41:01,720 God controls the political scene and uses nations for his own 589 00:41:01,720 --> 00:41:03,600 purpose. We, we, we struggle to 590 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:07,600 understand that to, to see the, the big picture here. 591 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:11,160 But he uses those nations for his own purposes. 592 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:16,480 He goes on describing God, goes on describing their sin and, and 593 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:19,400 then says in verse 11, which I don't have up here, it says then 594 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:23,480 they sweep past like the wind and go on guilty people whose 595 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:27,960 own strength is their God. So God is saying, yeah, they are 596 00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:32,400 really bad and their success has, has gone to their heads. 597 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:35,520 They think that they're powerful because they prosper through 598 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:39,680 their military strength. And so Habakkuk he comes, he 599 00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:43,280 complaints again because he says that's not fair, right? 600 00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:47,600 And then he tries to do the math for God in and in and in verse 601 00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:53,760 13, he says you who are of purer, purer eyes than to see 602 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:58,640 evil and cannot look at wrong. He's saying, God, you are so 603 00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,560 pure that you can't even look upon sin. 604 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:04,080 And here you are giving it a pass and even allowing it to 605 00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:07,880 prosper. And then in chapter 2, God 606 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:13,360 answers him again and he says, write down the revelation and 607 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:16,240 make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 608 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:19,840 That's a really nice way of saying, let me put this in the 609 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:22,320 clearest way possible for you simpletons. 610 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:27,840 He says, for the revelation awaits an appointed time. 611 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:31,760 It speaks of the end and will not prove false, though it 612 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:34,040 linger. Wait for it, it will certainly 613 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:39,840 come and will not delay. The dynamic here of God causing 614 00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:43,840 the rain of blessing on the just and the unjust alike is 615 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:48,800 according to His will for His good reasons. 616 00:42:49,320 --> 00:42:52,760 He's telling us it will make sense in the end. 617 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:58,960 None of this is for us to fully understand our role guys. 618 00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:03,080 Our role in that is to simply obey. 619 00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:10,160 We aren't owed blessing. We are owed punishment. 620 00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:16,600 So the way we avoid that punishment is to avoid 621 00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:21,360 disobedience. Nehemiah gets this. 622 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:24,880 He finally gets this. The walls of Jerusalem were 623 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:29,960 destroyed and the gates burned because God's people turned away 624 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:33,640 from Him. God was not on the side of the 625 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:36,360 Babylonians. He was allowing their debauchery 626 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:40,960 to serve His glory and majesty through the eventual 627 00:43:41,240 --> 00:43:45,200 demonstration of His wrath and justice. 628 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:48,720 He is. He is refining His people and 629 00:43:48,720 --> 00:43:52,320 giving them 'cause to turn back to Him. 630 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:58,000 Because when we turn back to God, when we turn away from our 631 00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:04,400 sinful disobedience, God is faithful to forgive. 632 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:11,640 He redeems us and shows us mercy that we don't deserve. 633 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:15,320 We can let God worry about Babylon. 634 00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:23,800 Nehemiah knew that Zerubbabel was obedient to what the 635 00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:27,760 prophecy said. He knew that Ezra was sent by a 636 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:32,280 Pagan king that recognized God's supremacy and demand for 637 00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:35,600 obedience. So as Nehemiah considered the 638 00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:41,920 calamity of of the the world and the and the the destruction of 639 00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:45,760 the walls of Jerusalem and the and the gates around it, and he 640 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:51,560 considers the nature of God. He knew that the answer was in 641 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:58,840 the people turning back to God. So as we close here today and 642 00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:03,600 think about this lesson, how do we look at the the calamity in 643 00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:07,560 the world around us and the bad things that we experience and 644 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:14,680 keep that in perspective? When we consider the way God 645 00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:19,680 created the world, we should be reminded that it was perfect. 646 00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:28,240 It it it was sin that corrupted paradise, that sin that still 647 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:33,040 exists in your life and in all of our lives ought to break your 648 00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:38,040 heart. But guys, you have to admit it. 649 00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:40,440 You have to admit that it's there. 650 00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:44,520 You have to stop making excuses for it and pretending that it 651 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:47,120 isn't there. Your status in the in the 652 00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:53,440 community or your quaint life will not get you out of hell is 653 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:58,120 only through repenting of your sin and and trusting Jesus alone 654 00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:01,400 for the forgiveness of your sins that you can be saved. 655 00:46:03,400 --> 00:46:07,320 And we can trust that Jesus is exactly who he said He is. 656 00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:11,840 And we'll keep that promise that Nehemiah reminded him of. 657 00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:16,960 When we turn back to him, away from our sinful ways, God will 658 00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:21,080 gather us and bring us to the innermost parts of heaven with 659 00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:22,480 him. Will you guys pray with me, 660 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:30,320 Lord? I think for me, Lord, as I look 661 00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:36,120 around the world, it is easy to to see evil people prosper. 662 00:46:36,720 --> 00:46:43,640 We see we there are there are investigations that that with 663 00:46:43,640 --> 00:46:47,280 names, Lord, that every one of us knows exactly what what we're 664 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:51,280 talking about, where we feel like bad people have gotten away 665 00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:54,000 with horrendous things and they profited from it. 666 00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:58,120 And yet, Lord, we hear about the victimization of otherwise quote 667 00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:01,680 UN quote good people. And so Lord in her, in our 668 00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:07,480 humanity, it just, it doesn't, it doesn't make sense until we 669 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:11,800 have this, this moment of clarity as as you've given us 670 00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:17,280 this demonstration through Nehemiah of, of recognizing the 671 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:22,640 sin in our life and our need to turn back to you and to to to 672 00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:27,440 worship you and you only Lord, there are there are professing 673 00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:34,360 believers here in this room who in our hearts, Lord, know that 674 00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:39,000 that you are not the the God of their life, that you that, that 675 00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:43,120 have turned from you or that that are are even far from you. 676 00:47:43,120 --> 00:47:45,800 And there are people, Lord, who who have never made a decision 677 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:47,800 about you that are here today listening as well. 678 00:47:47,800 --> 00:47:53,200 Lord, that that I I pray, Lord, that you would help them to 679 00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:56,760 realize that the sin about them separates them from your 680 00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:59,960 goodness. And that there is a demand for 681 00:47:59,960 --> 00:48:04,480 justice that exists, Lord, and that, and that that the only way 682 00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:08,400 to avoid that is to turn from that sin and to and to 683 00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:13,560 understand that, that you made a way for us to be back in a good 684 00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:16,640 relationship with you through the the sacrifice of your son on 685 00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:20,040 the cross and through his resurrection 3 days later, 686 00:48:20,040 --> 00:48:23,160 defeating sin and death. And Lord, I just ask that you 687 00:48:23,160 --> 00:48:27,240 would like Nehemiah came to this understanding after he was 688 00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:30,200 wrecked emotionally. Lord, help all of us to be like 689 00:48:30,200 --> 00:48:32,280 that, that we are wrecked emotionally, that we would 690 00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:37,440 understand this, this dynamic that exists between man and God, 691 00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:41,560 between US and you, or that it would it would wreck us and it 692 00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:47,080 would bring us to a place of days and weeks of of crying and 693 00:48:47,080 --> 00:48:50,120 mourning as we as we reconcile with that. 694 00:48:50,120 --> 00:48:52,360 But ultimately, Lord, there would bring us to a place of 695 00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:56,080 repentance so that we can be gathered back to you. 696 00:48:56,840 --> 00:49:00,080 God, I I hope that you have been blessed and honored in this in 697 00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:03,720 this lesson and we thank you in Jesus name, Amen.