WEBVTT 00:00:04.006 --> 00:00:25.608 They were continuing our sermon series on the book of Nehemiah, called the Passion Project, and, as you know, the Jews had been in captivity for a long time over 160 years in total with several different waves of opportunity for them to come back to the homeland, to their motherland, to Israel, and some of them had returned to Jerusalem. 00:00:25.608 --> 00:00:33.668 The temple had been rebuilt, but the walls surrounding Jerusalem were still in disarray and the gates themselves were destroyed completely. 00:00:33.668 --> 00:00:53.481 We've seen how Nehemiah, after receiving word of the condition of things in Jerusalem, was distraught, began to cry out to the Lord and ask for help, and God intervened and gave him a plan, and also King Artaxerxes, the Persian king, gave him permission to go back and even funded the project of rebuilding the wall. 00:00:53.481 --> 00:00:57.512 And we've seen Nehemiah do all of these great things with the people of God. 00:00:57.512 --> 00:01:13.432 By the way, the greatest resource in the kingdom of God, besides Jesus himself, are the people of God, and that's what we have seen over these last weeks, as God has chosen to use the people of God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 00:01:13.432 --> 00:01:24.439 And you know, scott did a great job last week of talking about different temptations and ways that we can confront those things, and he also read the verse that said that the wall was completed. 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:28.356 And he also read the verse that said that the wall was completed. 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:31.242 So the book of Nehemiah is about rebuilding the wall. 00:01:31.242 --> 00:01:31.784 So we should be done right. 00:01:31.784 --> 00:01:33.007 Seems like that would be accurate. 00:01:33.007 --> 00:01:34.411 So what was the point? 00:01:34.411 --> 00:01:38.186 There's seven more chapters. 00:01:38.186 --> 00:01:39.751 There's seven more chapters to go. 00:01:39.751 --> 00:01:41.322 The wall's built. 00:01:41.322 --> 00:01:42.987 So why are we still talking about this? 00:01:42.987 --> 00:01:49.007 See, god wasn't just interested in rebuilding walls, he was interested in rebuilding people. 00:01:49.007 --> 00:01:55.081 He was most interested in rebuilding the people of God. 00:01:55.081 --> 00:01:59.950 So the title of today's message is starting over, starting over. 00:01:59.950 --> 00:02:08.373 I'm going to start this message with a few verses from the end of chapter 6, and then go into a few verses from the beginning of chapter 7. 00:02:08.373 --> 00:02:10.587 So let's start in 6.15. 00:02:11.401 --> 00:02:19.203 So the wall was finished on the 25th day of the month Elul, which probably was sometime in October, in 52 days. 00:02:19.203 --> 00:02:33.110 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 00:02:33.110 --> 00:02:57.866 Moreover, in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah's letters came to them, for many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shekiniah, the son of Arah, and his son, jehoahanan, had taken the daughter of Meshulam, the son of Barakiah, as his wife Don't judge. 00:02:57.866 --> 00:03:06.722 Also, they spoke of his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him, and Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid. 00:03:06.722 --> 00:03:24.792 Now, when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors and the gatekeepers, the singers and the Levites had been appointed, I gave my brother Hananiah, and Hananiah, the governor of the castle, charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. 00:03:24.792 --> 00:03:43.287 And I said to them let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot, and while they're still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors, appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes. 00:03:43.989 --> 00:03:50.449 The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few and no houses had been rebuilt. 00:03:50.449 --> 00:04:17.526 Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy, and I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first and I found written in it, and from that point, we have about 70 verses of names, so I'm going to encourage you to read through the rest of that whenever you have the time to do. 00:04:17.526 --> 00:04:26.814 The names are important because the names represent people, right, and the people, again very important in God's perspective especially. 00:04:26.814 --> 00:04:30.086 So let's pray, father, we thank you for this time together. 00:04:30.086 --> 00:04:34.144 We thank you for your sweet spirit that has already infiltrated this place. 00:04:34.144 --> 00:04:39.742 We thank you, lord, that we look at you and we can call you by your many different names. 00:04:39.742 --> 00:04:48.384 Just as Mark was praying, lord, we ask that you would open our eyes, that we could see you as the one who gives us the ability to start over. 00:04:48.384 --> 00:05:04.771 You are the God of new beginnings, you are the God of a fresh start, and so, lord, we pray for faith to rise on the inside of each of us for that very thing today, and that we would see the areas in our life where we need to start over. 00:05:04.771 --> 00:05:09.586 And we thank you for it and we ask you for these things in the mighty name of Jesus. 00:05:09.586 --> 00:05:10.608 Amen. 00:05:12.531 --> 00:05:14.440 I don't remember my life without Jesus. 00:05:14.440 --> 00:05:31.990 I came to know Jesus at a very young age and I am so grateful that all of these years 52 years I was saved when I was about five, so about 47 years I have known Jesus as my Savior and Lord and I am so grateful for that. 00:05:31.990 --> 00:05:38.088 When I graduated high school, I got involved in a relationship that was not right. 00:05:38.088 --> 00:05:40.934 She was not a believer in Jesus Christ. 00:05:40.934 --> 00:05:47.283 Friends, and young people especially, I want to tell you, missionary dating is not a good thing. 00:05:47.283 --> 00:05:51.891 It does not work out the way that we intend for it to work out. 00:05:51.891 --> 00:06:01.848 I thought that if she was around me enough and around my family enough, that she would come to know Jesus as I know Jesus and that she would love him as I love him. 00:06:01.848 --> 00:06:03.833 But that did not occur. 00:06:03.833 --> 00:06:18.322 Instead, what began to happen was a steady progression of me walking further and further away from God, until two years later, I found myself feeling like I was on an island, all by myself. 00:06:18.322 --> 00:06:35.916 Nobody really knew fully what it was that I was experiencing on the inside how dead I felt, how worthless I felt, how extremely just, destitute and desperate I was. 00:06:37.161 --> 00:07:13.060 We had moved to Cleveland, tennessee, by that time, and there was a Christian drama company called New Life Drama Company, and some of the leaders from that ministry reached out to me and asked if I wanted to travel with them for the summer, and so I, trying to be as honest as I could, expressed to them my scenario and where I found myself in my relationship with the Lord, and, instead of showing me the exit door, they said to me is it possible that God might actually use this time in your life to bring you to a point where you could have a new beginning, a fresh start, where you could start over. 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:54.026 So that summer became 18 months and within that 18 months, I can honestly say that God did a renovation project, a restoration project in my heart and in my life that has never been equaled before that and since then and I am so grateful that God is a God of new beginnings, the end of that story God introduced me to a young lady named Amy French and by his grace yeah, whoo, that's right by his grace her dad said yes. 00:07:54.026 --> 00:08:22.134 When I asked if I could marry her it's a whole other story, we don't have time to go into that but he said yes and she said yes, and 32 years later, next month, we have seen the faithfulness of God in our lives, in our family's life, in the ministry that he's called us to, and it all began with me with a time in my life when God was faithful enough to give me a second chance. 00:08:22.134 --> 00:08:28.947 How many of you could say that part of your story includes something very similar? 00:08:28.947 --> 00:08:34.312 God is the God of a second and third and fourth chance. 00:08:34.312 --> 00:08:51.787 And this morning I believe that God is going to speak prophetically to some of you, that this is your day, that today is the day of new beginnings, that this is your day, that today is the day of new beginnings, that today is a day that God is calling you to begin again, to start over. 00:08:51.787 --> 00:08:55.533 And that's exactly what's happening here. 00:08:55.533 --> 00:09:01.648 Very similarly, god is using Nehemiah to give the people of God a chance for a redo. 00:09:02.831 --> 00:09:06.538 It's easy to look at their situation and to call them victims. 00:09:06.538 --> 00:09:10.030 They've been oppressed, they've been held in captivity. 00:09:10.030 --> 00:09:15.647 But how many of you know, as we're reading through the Old Testament, what do we discover about the nation of Israel? 00:09:15.647 --> 00:09:18.974 They're kind of like us. 00:09:18.974 --> 00:09:27.443 They have very high moments and high points where they're following after God and listening to his voice and serving him. 00:09:27.443 --> 00:09:29.769 And then those high moments are followed by what? 00:09:29.769 --> 00:09:45.731 Deep, deep low points where they move away from God and they follow after idols and they turn away from the very God that is with them and has provided for them every single thing that they have need of. 00:09:45.731 --> 00:09:47.562 And so what does God do? 00:09:47.562 --> 00:09:50.370 In his goodness, he doesn't wipe them off the face of the earth. 00:09:50.370 --> 00:10:13.854 Instead, he causes nations to rise up that would take them captive so that he could perform discipline in their lives, not to ruin them, not to destroy them, but to bring them to a point where he could bring a second act, a third act, a new beginning, a starting over in their lives and in their nation. 00:10:13.854 --> 00:10:19.445 His plan was to restore much more than buildings or walls. 00:10:19.445 --> 00:10:23.149 His heart was for the people to start over. 00:10:23.149 --> 00:10:28.115 You see, starting over begins and ends with the faithfulness of God. 00:10:28.115 --> 00:10:31.710 It begins and ends with the faithfulness of God. 00:10:32.081 --> 00:10:52.788 In our passage this morning, it's so interesting to me how the nations around the nation of Israel recognized that there's no possible way that they could have done the work that they did and finished it in 52 days on this wall and rebuilding the gates, unless what God was with them. 00:10:52.788 --> 00:11:01.451 It says that the nations were even filled with fear and pulled back because they saw the hand of God at work within the nation of Israel. 00:11:01.451 --> 00:11:09.691 Isn't it amazing how sometimes it's harder for us to see the hand of God moving in our lives than it is for other people around us. 00:11:09.691 --> 00:11:20.649 Isn't it amazing, sometimes in your workplace, when somebody will come to you and they'll say to you how is it that you have so much peace when you're going through such difficult circumstances? 00:11:20.649 --> 00:11:25.650 How is it that you can be filled with joy when there's not a reason to be joyful? 00:11:25.650 --> 00:11:36.966 My friends, sometimes those around us, those who don't even know Christ, see evidence or fruit in our lives when we don't see it in ourselves. 00:11:38.067 --> 00:11:41.975 The hand of God was working in the nation of Israel. 00:11:41.975 --> 00:11:44.227 The nation saw it. 00:11:44.227 --> 00:11:45.231 It was impossible. 00:11:45.231 --> 00:11:54.052 I mean, finishing the wall itself was difficult enough To finish it in 52 days impossible, impossible. 00:11:54.052 --> 00:11:56.221 And we read the list of the people that worked on the wall. 00:11:56.221 --> 00:12:03.195 There weren't that many Two miles of wall and all of the gates. 00:12:03.195 --> 00:12:06.234 We read I think there were 12 gates that were rebuilt. 00:12:06.274 --> 00:12:08.341 This was a project like none other. 00:12:08.341 --> 00:12:09.964 This was amazing. 00:12:09.964 --> 00:12:12.328 Make no mistake about it. 00:12:12.328 --> 00:12:16.802 The God of Israel is mighty and he is faithful. 00:12:16.802 --> 00:12:18.504 He is faithful. 00:12:18.504 --> 00:12:22.272 His faithfulness was on display in creation. 00:12:22.272 --> 00:12:38.779 His faithfulness was on display after the fall, when the first thing that he did was he promised that there would be a seed of a woman that would come, the enemy would attempt to crush or to bite at his heel, but that the seed would crush the head of the enemy. 00:12:38.779 --> 00:12:44.010 The faithfulness of God, even at the point of man's fall in the garden. 00:12:44.010 --> 00:12:47.801 How about calling Abram to be the father of many nations? 00:12:47.801 --> 00:12:50.807 The faithfulness of God in the Exodus from Egypt. 00:12:50.807 --> 00:12:54.422 The pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day. 00:12:54.422 --> 00:13:12.149 How about manna from heaven, the giving of the law through Moses, the words of the prophets, the tabernacle and the temple, the promised land that was entered into by Joshua we just read about that in our Bible reading plan and now the rebuilding of a wall. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:16.311 How faithful is our God? 00:13:16.311 --> 00:13:19.109 Is there anything that's too difficult for him? 00:13:19.109 --> 00:13:25.071 Well, most things are not too difficult for him. 00:13:25.071 --> 00:13:37.586 But you don't understand the condition of my life, the condition of my soul, the condition, the things that I've done, the sins that I've committed. 00:13:37.586 --> 00:13:39.482 I'm too far gone. 00:13:39.482 --> 00:13:43.972 Come on, cindy said never. 00:13:43.972 --> 00:13:45.240 Cindy said never. 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:45.982 Cindy said never. 00:13:46.264 --> 00:13:46.745 Amen. 00:13:46.745 --> 00:13:58.121 As long as you are living and breathing in this life, how many of you know, we have an opportunity for the faithfulness of god to be displayed in us and through us. 00:13:58.121 --> 00:14:07.456 Psalm 36, 5 says your steadfast love, oh O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 00:14:07.456 --> 00:14:09.582 It fills the atmosphere. 00:14:09.582 --> 00:14:14.091 The faithfulness of God fills the very atmosphere. 00:14:14.091 --> 00:14:19.408 The air that we breathe is a result of the faithfulness of God. 00:14:19.408 --> 00:14:24.057 Is there anything too difficult for him? 00:14:24.057 --> 00:14:37.951 Whatever area of your life and in my life that we need to start over, god is faithful and we need to put our faith in a faithful God that is giving us a chance to start over. 00:14:37.951 --> 00:14:47.000 He's doing that this morning and I believe that faith is rising on the inside of each and every one of us as we talk about these things this morning. 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:53.618 Now, how many of you know that just as faithful as God is that there is always resistance to starting over? 00:14:53.618 --> 00:14:55.962 Let's not fool ourselves. 00:14:55.962 --> 00:14:59.775 Let's not pretend like it's all roses and butterflies. 00:14:59.775 --> 00:15:23.183 Anytime that we begin to move toward God and we begin to respond to the grace of God, there's an enemy of our soul that attempts to knock us out at the knees, to do anything that he possibly can to distract us, to pull us away, to create other pathways, to show us what would look like greener pastures in other directions. 00:15:23.183 --> 00:15:26.035 We must be aware of these things. 00:15:26.979 --> 00:15:34.572 One of the reasons that Israel was judged by God was because they didn't obey his commands to eliminate the inhabitants of the promised land. 00:15:34.572 --> 00:15:36.135 We just read about this in Joshua. 00:15:36.135 --> 00:15:52.553 When the Gibeonites and one example is when they showed up like they had traveled from a long distance, and you know, they begged for the to be shown mercy and to be given a place, and so they gave that to them, and then they realized they're just from down the block, they're just from down the street. 00:15:52.553 --> 00:15:55.162 Wait a minute, didn't I see you in Walmart? 00:15:55.162 --> 00:15:58.133 I think I know you. 00:15:58.133 --> 00:16:04.855 So the children of Israel, as great as Joshua, did as a leader, and he did some great exploits. 00:16:04.855 --> 00:16:12.974 God used him tremendously, but they didn't fully obey God and it wasn't just about eliminating nations for the sake of killing people. 00:16:12.974 --> 00:16:14.139 How many of you know? 00:16:14.178 --> 00:16:15.965 God was interested in preservation. 00:16:15.965 --> 00:16:20.234 He was interested in preserving the line of Jesus Christ, the lineage of Jesus as we read the Old Testament. 00:16:20.234 --> 00:16:24.379 Jesus Christ, the lineage of Jesus, as we read the Old Testament. 00:16:24.379 --> 00:16:26.903 Don't lose sight of the string. 00:16:26.903 --> 00:16:28.985 There's a pathway. 00:16:28.985 --> 00:16:33.624 There's a reason why all of these people are being talked about over and over again. 00:16:33.624 --> 00:16:35.638 It's not just because of who they were. 00:16:35.638 --> 00:16:40.758 It's because of who would come from them Jesus, the savior of the world. 00:16:41.851 --> 00:16:46.631 So one of the reasons, again, that Israel was judged by God was because they didn't obey his commands. 00:16:46.631 --> 00:16:52.412 They didn't eliminate the inhabitants of the promised land and they also intermarried with them. 00:16:52.412 --> 00:16:56.341 They intermarried with the nations and with people from the different nations. 00:16:56.341 --> 00:16:58.754 Why did God not want them to do that? 00:16:58.754 --> 00:17:01.760 Why was he concerned about that? 00:17:01.760 --> 00:17:04.797 Why did he give specific commandments about that? 00:17:05.137 --> 00:17:12.025 Because God understood the propensity of fallen humanity to stray away from God and his ways. 00:17:12.025 --> 00:17:18.815 We, if we're not careful on the inside of us, we are idle factories. 00:17:18.815 --> 00:17:38.357 We love to worship other gods, we love to bow down, and we may not literally bow down, but we love to find places that we can grab a hold of, that seem like they're more close or more relevant or more important to us at times than God himself. 00:17:38.357 --> 00:17:47.423 And God knew that the people of God would, if they were given the opportunity, stray away and fall into idolatry. 00:17:47.423 --> 00:17:50.156 Many times Israelites did this. 00:17:50.156 --> 00:18:06.323 They fell into idolatrous ways based on being wrongly aligned with pagan cultures and in this story, the nobles of Judah Judah, the very line that Jesus was going to come from had an unhealthy alliance with a man named Tobiah, because he was related by marriage to them. 00:18:06.323 --> 00:18:13.611 They made an oath with him that they were holding up and above the oath that they had made with God himself. 00:18:13.611 --> 00:18:17.040 And how did they handle this? 00:18:17.501 --> 00:18:24.659 Even while some of them were listed among those who worked on the wall, they would say to Nehemiah oh, tobiah is great. 00:18:24.659 --> 00:18:26.142 We really love Tobiah. 00:18:26.142 --> 00:18:27.611 He's amazing man. 00:18:27.611 --> 00:18:29.316 He threw a party at his house last night. 00:18:29.316 --> 00:18:30.499 You should have been there. 00:18:30.499 --> 00:18:31.221 Nehemiah's like. 00:18:31.221 --> 00:18:32.712 I didn't get an invite. 00:18:32.712 --> 00:18:35.582 I don't think Tobiah likes me. 00:18:35.582 --> 00:18:41.075 And then they would run back to Tobiah and they'd say you should have seen what Nehemiah did today. 00:18:41.075 --> 00:18:42.438 It was amazing. 00:18:42.438 --> 00:18:45.143 It's incredible the work that's getting done on the wall. 00:18:45.143 --> 00:18:52.211 He's just, he's so, he's so great. 00:18:52.211 --> 00:18:53.113 And Tobiah's like oh, really, he's great. 00:18:53.113 --> 00:18:54.013 I think I need to write a letter. 00:18:54.013 --> 00:19:03.757 And so, while all of this was going on, unaware, as unaware as the nobles of Judah were, tobiah was writing letters, death threats to Nehemiah. 00:19:05.038 --> 00:19:14.496 Because Tobiah was about Tobiah, nehemiah was about the people of God. 00:19:14.496 --> 00:19:19.444 We have to be careful with how we are aligned. 00:19:19.444 --> 00:19:23.494 They will talk with him again. 00:19:23.494 --> 00:19:43.737 Like I said, all of this that was going on, the influence and this was an attempt to plague the progress of the people of God, to stop them in their tracks Again, to stop them with the wall being completed, and then they say, okay, project done, go back to normal, live like you were living before. 00:19:43.737 --> 00:19:47.800 God wasn't interested in them living like they did before. 00:19:47.800 --> 00:19:51.058 He had better things in store for them. 00:19:51.058 --> 00:20:01.583 So, having that as a kind of the backdrop, let's look at four ways that we can help in the process of starting over. 00:20:01.583 --> 00:20:06.097 So number one starting over looks like being watchful. 00:20:06.097 --> 00:20:09.993 Being watchful Four generations of people. 00:20:09.993 --> 00:20:10.655 Think about that. 00:20:10.655 --> 00:20:19.382 160 years, four generation of people had grown accustomed to living outside the bounds of God's ultimate design. 00:20:19.382 --> 00:20:22.369 They had grown used to it. 00:20:22.369 --> 00:20:23.771 They had grown accustomed to it. 00:20:23.771 --> 00:20:25.996 They were living outside of Jerusalem. 00:20:25.996 --> 00:20:27.919 They were living with broken down walls. 00:20:27.919 --> 00:20:31.545 They had become accustomed to it. 00:20:31.545 --> 00:20:32.551 It was normal to them. 00:20:33.012 --> 00:20:40.836 Nehemiah's task was to set things in place that would retrain the people of God to live as the people of God. 00:20:40.836 --> 00:20:45.965 How many of us need to be reminded of what it means to be the people of God? 00:20:45.965 --> 00:20:48.931 We are his chosen people. 00:20:48.931 --> 00:21:10.902 He has given us such an amazing gift in filling us with the Holy Spirit, and he has given us the ability to choose, to live differently than the rest of the world and, in so doing, to have the nations be able to acknowledge there is a God. 00:21:13.029 --> 00:21:16.601 Nehemiah's task was to set things in place, and he did that. 00:21:16.601 --> 00:21:21.498 One of the ways that he did that was by giving each of them tasks related to the protection of the city. 00:21:21.498 --> 00:21:25.178 So there would be gatekeepers that would stand at each of the gates. 00:21:25.178 --> 00:21:28.154 The gates were only to be opened when the sun was hot. 00:21:28.154 --> 00:21:29.416 What time is that? 00:21:29.416 --> 00:21:33.089 Maybe noon, something like that. 00:21:33.089 --> 00:21:42.855 It was to be open when they had clear sight lines, when there was no doubt that anybody could sneak in or anybody could pose a threat. 00:21:42.855 --> 00:21:54.179 We want to be able to clearly see everything that's going on, and when you can see that, the gatekeepers need to position themselves in front of the gates, and then only can they open the gates. 00:21:54.179 --> 00:22:01.079 And then the gates needed to be closed and locked before the sun set on the horizon. 00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:04.038 And so you had those people, the gatekeepers. 00:22:04.210 --> 00:22:13.692 And then he also designated people that would be on the wall, who would be all around the city and they would be watching, not to keep people out, necessarily. 00:22:13.692 --> 00:22:28.125 They would be watching so that they could be a warning system to all of the people who were inside of the walls of Jerusalem Danger, danger, watch out, pay attention, be vigilant, be watchful, be ready. 00:22:28.125 --> 00:22:31.375 And not only that, there's a third layer. 00:22:31.375 --> 00:22:39.838 Everyone was supposed to take post in front of their own home, beyond the gatekeepers and beyond those who were on the wall. 00:22:39.838 --> 00:22:45.921 You also were supposed to be vigilant and be watchful over your own house. 00:22:45.921 --> 00:22:48.978 Boy, could we take this in a lot of directions. 00:22:48.978 --> 00:22:52.278 I don't have the time to do it all, but you can see it. 00:22:52.278 --> 00:22:55.220 You can see it if you consider it and think about it. 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:57.856 This may seem like overkill. 00:22:57.856 --> 00:22:59.296 Why did they need so much? 00:22:59.296 --> 00:23:02.400 There's barely anything within the walls of Jerusalem. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:05.057 Why did they need so much? 00:23:05.057 --> 00:23:06.657 Why so much care? 00:23:07.483 --> 00:23:14.963 Nehemiah understood that starting over required radical vigilance in order to maintain the ground that had been retaken. 00:23:14.963 --> 00:23:19.759 They had to be radically vigilant, they had to retrain themselves. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:32.592 They had to learn again what it meant to live like the people of God, again what it meant to live like the people of God. 00:23:32.592 --> 00:23:34.415 You and I also face enemies from within and from without. 00:23:34.415 --> 00:23:46.061 We wrestle against the flesh, which is our own desire, that oftentimes finds itself against the desire of God, against the purpose of God. 00:23:46.061 --> 00:23:56.682 Also, we have the world and the culture of this world, that continues to scream at us that we should do anything that's in opposition to who Jesus is, what he says. 00:23:56.682 --> 00:23:59.498 And then also we have the devil himself. 00:23:59.498 --> 00:24:04.390 We are called, as the people of God, to radical watchfulness. 00:24:04.390 --> 00:24:07.980 If you want to start over, pay attention. 00:24:09.990 --> 00:24:14.137 1 Peter 5 says it this way Be sober-minded, be watchful. 00:24:14.137 --> 00:24:20.596 Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. 00:24:20.596 --> 00:24:24.700 Resist him, firm in your faith. 00:24:24.700 --> 00:24:26.455 Some of you need to hear that this morning. 00:24:26.455 --> 00:24:29.854 Stand up and resist the enemy. 00:24:29.854 --> 00:24:32.478 He has no authority over you. 00:24:32.478 --> 00:24:41.336 Jesus Christ, if he is your Lord and Savior, is Lord of all, including Satan. 00:24:41.336 --> 00:24:43.417 He is Lord of all. 00:24:43.417 --> 00:24:47.002 Satan has no power over Jesus Christ. 00:24:47.002 --> 00:24:57.678 We are to stand firm and we are to resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 00:24:57.678 --> 00:25:13.115 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace come on, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 00:25:13.115 --> 00:25:15.980 Who was ultimately responsible for their protection? 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:20.080 The God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob? 00:25:20.080 --> 00:25:32.176 But God was looking to partner with them in this relationship, and so he asks them to do some things in that vein and it's the same with us. 00:25:32.176 --> 00:25:35.839 My friends, do not give up your fight of faith. 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:42.298 Your victory is on the horizon, your victory is on its way. 00:25:42.298 --> 00:25:47.540 So if we want to start over, first of all we must be watchful. 00:25:47.540 --> 00:25:51.299 Secondly, starting over looks like being worshipful. 00:25:51.299 --> 00:26:02.921 Being worshipful After ensuring the security of the city of Jerusalem, nehemiah then does something radical he places worshipers and Levites around the city. 00:26:03.769 --> 00:26:04.720 Worshipers and Levites around the city. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:05.630 Worshipers and Levites around the city. 00:26:05.630 --> 00:26:07.115 Why is he doing that? 00:26:07.115 --> 00:26:20.839 Because he understands that the heart of the people needs to reconnect with the heart of God, and one of the greatest ways for that to happen is for them to continuously be hearing the song of the Lord being raised up. 00:26:21.111 --> 00:26:23.781 How many of you get slimed if you walk into a store and you hear a song on the, whatever it's not a radio? 00:26:23.781 --> 00:26:30.161 How many of you get slimed If you walk into a store and you hear a song on the, on the whatever the it's not a radio, but whatever on the intercom? 00:26:30.161 --> 00:26:34.180 You hear a song, and then you you walk out of the store and you find yourself singing that song. 00:26:34.180 --> 00:26:42.222 Anybody, some of you are so holy that even if you heard Elvis singing a song somewhere. 00:26:42.222 --> 00:26:45.536 That's just for a few among us here. 00:26:45.536 --> 00:26:57.800 But if you heard whatever Dolly Parton, whatever it was, if you heard Rocky Top right, mark said that earlier and some of you in your head were bump, bump, bump, it hits you. 00:26:57.800 --> 00:26:59.464 You were overtaken. 00:27:00.287 --> 00:27:06.082 There's something powerful about singing songs and listening to songs. 00:27:06.082 --> 00:27:09.641 Music moves us in ways that is powerful. 00:27:09.641 --> 00:27:13.199 My friends, don't lose the worship in your lives. 00:27:13.199 --> 00:27:16.815 Don't shut it down, don't turn it off. 00:27:16.815 --> 00:27:33.631 If all you're listening to is how your truck's broken down and your dog ran away, no wonder you're so depressed. 00:27:33.631 --> 00:27:37.035 Let's listen to some, as my granddaughter says, cc whiny inans. 00:27:37.035 --> 00:27:41.579 Let's listen to some good old gospel music, some worship music. 00:27:41.619 --> 00:27:43.122 And that's what Nehemiah did. 00:27:43.122 --> 00:27:51.894 He set up worshipers and servants of the house of God around the city of Jerusalem, within the walls. 00:27:51.894 --> 00:28:00.006 Man, it's so amazing to me the masterful strategy of all of this. 00:28:00.006 --> 00:28:12.683 See, the antidote to the counterfeit, the hearts of men being drawn to idolatry, was for them to magnificently display the character and nature of God through worship and service. 00:28:12.683 --> 00:28:17.519 You, being overwhelmed by this world, lift Jesus a little higher. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:20.247 Lift him up a little higher. 00:28:20.247 --> 00:28:24.546 Have his name be the first name on your lips. 00:28:26.375 --> 00:28:31.867 We have the benefit of one of these songs being recorded for us in the book of Psalm, psalm 126. 00:28:31.867 --> 00:28:43.161 This is one of the songs that these worshipers, these very worshipers around inside the walls of this city of Jerusalem, would have been singing when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion. 00:28:43.161 --> 00:28:45.106 We were like those who dream. 00:28:45.106 --> 00:28:49.787 Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy. 00:28:49.787 --> 00:28:54.446 Then they said among the nations the Lord has done great things for them. 00:28:54.446 --> 00:29:08.001 The Lord has done great things for us, we are glad. 00:29:08.001 --> 00:29:10.163 Restore our fortunes, o Lord, like streams in the Negev. 00:29:10.284 --> 00:29:16.448 If we want to start over, we have to change our focus, bringing his sheaves with him. 00:29:16.448 --> 00:29:33.483 If we want to start over, we have to change our focus, and one of the easiest ways to change our focus is to change the attention of our hearts, and worship is one of those ways that we can do that. 00:29:33.483 --> 00:29:35.861 Worship is more than a song. 00:29:35.861 --> 00:29:48.127 It's a state of mind that understands that God is greater than anything else, including myself, and he alone is worthy of all of me. 00:29:48.127 --> 00:29:54.067 Can you imagine if we lived our lives with that truth at the very forefront? 00:29:54.067 --> 00:30:00.204 God is worthy of our worship, and if you want to start over, we must be worshipful. 00:30:00.204 --> 00:30:03.799 Starting over looks like being accountable. 00:30:03.799 --> 00:30:07.407 It's eerie to me how much Nehemiah acts like Jesus. 00:30:07.407 --> 00:30:29.788 It's very, it's a little off-putting, and as we read the Old Testament we understand there are so many shadows, there are so many things that point to who Jesus is and who Jesus would reveal himself to be, and Nehemiah is one of those figures in the Old Testament that just paints so clearly an image, it's a foreshadowing, of what was to come. 00:30:30.230 --> 00:30:37.744 Nehemiah understood that the condition of the nation usually rose and fell based on the type of leadership that was in place. 00:30:37.744 --> 00:30:39.248 So what did he do? 00:30:39.248 --> 00:30:46.616 He chose very carefully those that he would put in charge over this fledgling, this new beginning, this starting over. 00:30:46.616 --> 00:30:50.065 He chose Hanani, which means gracious and remember. 00:30:50.065 --> 00:30:57.150 Hanani was the one in chapter one that met with Nehemiah and told him of the condition of Jerusalem and the condition of the walls. 00:30:57.150 --> 00:31:09.059 They shared a burden for the restoration, for passion to be restored right, and so Nehemiah remembered that and he placed Hananiah as one of the leaders. 00:31:09.059 --> 00:31:16.901 He also placed Hananiah Maybe there was something about that name, I don't know but Hananiah and Hananiah. 00:31:16.901 --> 00:31:22.343 Hananiah means God is gracious, yahweh is gracious. 00:31:22.683 --> 00:31:25.872 He was not classified as being smarter than the rest. 00:31:25.872 --> 00:31:31.625 He wasn't better looking, he wasn't more eloquent or the most talented among them. 00:31:31.625 --> 00:31:32.488 What was said of him? 00:31:32.488 --> 00:31:37.923 He was more faithful and God-fearing than many others. 00:31:37.923 --> 00:31:41.628 What did Nehemiah understand from history? 00:31:41.628 --> 00:31:46.463 He understood that the people rise and fall based on leadership. 00:31:46.884 --> 00:31:50.240 Accountability is something that's very, very important. 00:31:50.240 --> 00:32:12.987 I know that the current trend in our culture and society is to dismiss the church and those who are in authority as antiquated and unnecessary at best, and I understand and I grieve with the rest of you that unfortunately we have seen the very public undoing of leaders who failed miserably in their own need for accountability. 00:32:12.987 --> 00:32:20.648 It is unfortunate, it is sad, it is a scourge on the body of Christ, and I understand that. 00:32:20.648 --> 00:32:35.845 But the truth is the truth is that God has still ordained the church to be his vessel, his means of offering new beginnings and starting over. 00:32:35.845 --> 00:32:37.608 God loves his church. 00:32:37.608 --> 00:32:44.443 The truth is that another, greater than Nehemiah, gave his life for his church, and he is the one who sets things in order. 00:32:44.443 --> 00:32:52.863 In Ephesians 4, it says now, these are the gifts Christ gave to the church the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists and the pastors and teachers. 00:32:52.863 --> 00:32:59.897 Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 00:32:59.897 --> 00:33:08.964 God still has in his heart and in his mind that the church would be the vessel that he uses here in the earth. 00:33:08.964 --> 00:33:20.915 We, as church leaders, are called to lead, to care for, to protect and to feed the body of Christ, and we take that. 00:33:20.915 --> 00:33:23.019 The eldership here takes that very, very seriously. 00:33:23.019 --> 00:33:24.261 Do we always get it right? 00:33:24.261 --> 00:33:25.924 Absolutely not. 00:33:26.747 --> 00:33:29.643 If you follow me around long enough, I'm going to disappoint you. 00:33:29.643 --> 00:33:32.957 I'm not going to try to disappoint you, but I'm going to disappoint you. 00:33:32.957 --> 00:33:33.438 You know why? 00:33:33.438 --> 00:33:36.125 Because I am not perfect. 00:33:36.125 --> 00:33:41.240 I put on my jeans just like you put on your jeans, and I have to be a Christian. 00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:49.064 I have to choose to live as a Christian, just as you have to live as a Christian, and I face the same resistance and all of those things. 00:33:49.064 --> 00:33:58.442 The things that I'm telling you this morning are not things that I don't have to exercise in my own life, and accountability is one of those things. 00:33:58.442 --> 00:33:59.961 Who are you accountable to? 00:33:59.961 --> 00:34:18.827 I'm accountable to God, I'm accountable to my wife, I'm accountable to my family, I'm accountable to the elder team of this church, I'm accountable to the oversight team and I'm also accountable to each and every one of you who are partners of Trinity Community Church. 00:34:18.827 --> 00:34:23.543 Those are the layers of accountability in my life. 00:34:23.543 --> 00:34:27.496 If we want to start over, we must be accountable, and let's finish this up. 00:34:27.496 --> 00:34:30.202 Starting over looks like being counted. 00:34:30.985 --> 00:34:39.489 God put it on Nehemiah's heart to count the people of God who had returned to Israel during the different generations that were allowed by their oppressors to return. 00:34:39.489 --> 00:35:13.963 This would also provide what A means of deciding who it was that would be allowed to move back in within the walls of the city of Jerusalem, people that were of the people of God, that could trace their genealogy and could discover through that, through the things that had been written down because all of their names were written in the book of genealogy and could discover through that, through the things that had been written down, because all of their names were written in the book of genealogy, they could determine for sure that these were the chosen people of God and that they would have the right to enter Jerusalem and even to rebuild homes and to live within the walls of the city. 00:35:13.963 --> 00:35:16.949 These were the covenant people of God. 00:35:16.949 --> 00:35:21.438 They were the ones to be given the rights as God's children. 00:35:22.501 --> 00:35:27.637 How many of you know that there's another book that the Bible speaks about, called the book of life. 00:35:27.637 --> 00:35:38.244 In it are all the names of those, throughout all of the generations, who have put their faith and hope and trust in Jesus the Messiah. 00:35:38.244 --> 00:35:53.436 They believe that he was sent from heaven, that he was born of a virgin, that he lived a perfect life, that he spoke about the kingdom of heaven and backed up what he spoke by displaying signs and wonders and miracles in the earth and confirming his word. 00:35:53.436 --> 00:35:59.028 He willingly took the wrath of God upon himself as he took our sins to the cross. 00:35:59.028 --> 00:36:05.548 He was buried for three days and yet he rose again. 00:36:05.548 --> 00:36:25.300 He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God and he has been given the name that is, above every other name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:36:27.943 --> 00:36:31.108 Is your name written in the book of life? 00:36:31.108 --> 00:36:37.344 Are you counted among those who are chosen by God as the people of God? 00:36:37.344 --> 00:36:41.255 Revelation makes it very clear in chapter 20, verse 11. 00:36:41.255 --> 00:36:44.766 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. 00:36:44.766 --> 00:36:56.228 From his presence, earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them, and I saw the dead, great and small standing before the throne, and books were opened. 00:36:56.228 --> 00:37:08.199 Then another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done, and the sea gave up the dead who were in it. 00:37:08.199 --> 00:37:16.583 Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 00:37:16.583 --> 00:37:20.715 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. 00:37:20.715 --> 00:37:25.688 How many of you know there will be an end to the enemy that we face currently? 00:37:25.688 --> 00:37:38.362 This is the second death, the lake of fire, and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 00:37:38.423 --> 00:37:39.646 Let's not sugarcoat it. 00:37:39.646 --> 00:37:42.710 This is not something that you can just count on. 00:37:42.710 --> 00:37:45.121 Your parents' salvation or your grandparents' salvation. 00:37:45.121 --> 00:37:47.824 You can't say well, I've gone to church my whole life. 00:37:47.824 --> 00:37:54.001 How many of you know that just going to Chick-fil-A every day all of your life doesn't make you a cow. 00:37:54.001 --> 00:38:00.862 Standing in the garage day after day doesn't make you a car. 00:38:01.724 --> 00:38:25.384 We need to be transformed, we need to be changed, we need to have a chance for a new beginning, for a fresh start, to start over, and so, if you're here this morning, or if you're listening to this via internet, I beg of you, I plead with you, I implore you, I ask you to consider carefully the condition of your soul. 00:38:25.384 --> 00:38:34.664 Have you chosen, as an act of your will, to put your faith, hope and trust in Jesus Christ? 00:38:34.664 --> 00:38:50.284 Have you acknowledged your own need and recognize the fact that you are a sinner, that you have rebelled against God, that you have gone in your own ways and that you recognize that there is an enemy that wants you to stay in that place? 00:38:50.284 --> 00:38:52.668 He wants to take you to hell? 00:38:52.668 --> 00:39:11.719 And will you this morning acknowledge, with thousands and millions of people throughout time, that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Lord that all of us, whether we know it or not, have been wanting and looking for? 00:39:11.719 --> 00:39:20.798 In all of the things that we've tried, in all of the things that we've embraced, we've really been just looking for one thing, and that is Jesus. 00:39:20.798 --> 00:39:22.583 And how many of you know? 00:39:22.583 --> 00:39:26.036 He didn't leave us in the dark, he didn't leave us hiding. 00:39:26.036 --> 00:39:29.697 He came to rescue us. 00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:32.900 Let's pray together. 00:39:32.900 --> 00:39:53.393 Thank you, jesus. 00:39:53.393 --> 00:40:05.114 Father, god, we thank you that you care so deeply. 00:40:05.114 --> 00:40:12.146 We thank you that you love with an everlasting love. 00:40:12.146 --> 00:40:23.181 We thank you that John 3.16 says that you love so much that you gave your only son that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. 00:40:23.181 --> 00:40:36.715 And, father, I pray that you would give, by your spirit, the faith that's needed for people who don't yet know you, who have not been counted yet their names have not been written in the book of life. 00:40:36.715 --> 00:40:40.686 I pray that today would be the day of their salvation. 00:40:43.036 --> 00:41:02.918 And if that's you, this morning, I ask you, just in your own words, just call out to God, just acknowledge to him that you can't do it, you've tried and you failed and ask him to save you and transform your life, him to save you and transform your life. 00:41:02.918 --> 00:41:03.639 And, lord, for all of the rest of us. 00:41:03.639 --> 00:41:21.724 There are areas in each of our lives where we have lost passion for the things that you are passionate about, where our focus has been on ourselves or on our circumstances, or on the world, or on the world or on any other thing except for you. 00:41:21.724 --> 00:41:29.355 And so, father, I pray in the name of Jesus, and especially Lord, as we go into this time of prayer and fasting. 00:41:29.355 --> 00:41:51.608 Would you use this window of time to awaken our hearts, to cause us to see that you're giving us a chance to start over, to begin again, to stir up the coals that seem like they're out, lord, but there's still life in the coals. 00:41:51.608 --> 00:42:00.864 We ask that you would breathe the breath of God on the coals and cause them to burn Light the fire again within each and every one of our lives. 00:42:00.945 --> 00:42:25.668 Lord, and I start with me, I confess to you that I have been dry and weary at times and, lord, I pray that you would help me, father, to refocus, be watchful, be worshipful, be accountable and to be counted as those who are found faithful, enduring to the end. 00:42:25.668 --> 00:42:38.661 And, lord, we pray for all of those that are outside of this room, our family members and coworkers and friends, and even people that we have a hard time with. 00:42:38.661 --> 00:42:44.820 Lord, would you reach them with your kindness and compassion, your mercy and your love? 00:42:44.820 --> 00:42:50.244 Just show them who you are and draw them close to yourself. 00:42:50.244 --> 00:42:53.458 In Jesus' name. 00:42:53.458 --> 00:42:59.630 Thank you, lord, amen.