WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.199 Well again, good morning. 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:02.879 Um, again, happy memorial day. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:05.200 In many circles, it's known as Youth Pastor Sunday. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:06.799 So, welcome to Youth Pastor Sunday. 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:12.800 Uh, my name is Sam, and I am the Youth Pastor here, and I'm honored to be with you this morning and to bring God's word to you. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:17.120 Uh so if you do have your Bibles, would encourage you to turn to Nehemiah 9. 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:19.760 That's gonna be where we're camped out this morning. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:25.199 And as you turn there, I want to open up our time together with this question for us. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:31.039 When you have an experience of something amazing, what do you do? 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:36.079 If you're anything like me, you'd probably answer something along the lines of, I want to get back to that. 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:39.039 Whatever it might have been, I want to get back to that. 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:40.799 I want more of that. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:51.600 Some of the best examples are when maybe you're traveling and you're in a new city and you just randomly pick a new restaurant on a map, and you go there and it turns out to be amazing, and you're like, I just can't wait to get back there. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:57.520 You rave about it to people, you can't wait to get back and visit that city and visit that restaurant again. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:12.719 Or maybe, maybe your marriage has been in a bit of a dry spot, and you and your spouse are having trouble connecting on any deep level, and then to the surprise of both of you, you you go on a walk or you go to dinner together, and then you share laughs, you share deep joy together. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:17.359 Joy that you haven't experienced in years, maybe, and you're like, man, where has this been? 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:19.840 And so maybe you long to return to that. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:27.280 Maybe you even carve out a night to go on a walk again or go on a date night, or maybe you've been in a season of deep suffering. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:34.319 And maybe it's been hard to get out of bed, and then maybe you wake up one morning and for whatever reason the sun is shining a bit brighter. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:39.439 The colors of the world are more vibrant again, and you're like, okay, I can I can keep going. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:40.959 I can keep doing this. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:47.760 The sting of suffering is certainly still there, but maybe there's just a tinge of hope giving you life. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:52.799 Well, the Israelites here in Nehemiah 9, they've tasted something amazing. 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:56.480 They've tasted something amazing because they have been far from the Lord. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:04.799 They were exiled in Babylon because of their own covenant unfaithfulness, and yet God, through this man Nehemiah, has brought the people back. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:11.599 They've rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, and here they are back in the city again, back in their promised land. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:19.599 And then as Russ hit last week, the people's first response once they get in the walls of the city is to return to the word of the Lord. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:22.560 Where else would we go, O Lord? 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:30.960 They had for many years forgotten it, left it behind them, and as the priest stands before them, reading God's word to them, they weep. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:33.039 Maybe you've been there. 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:45.039 Maybe when you stumbled in that sin again, maybe when you relapsed or when you sinned in maybe a surprising way, maybe you found yourself weeping as you return to the Lord. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.000 And that's where God's people find themselves here. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:55.919 The priest Ezra is reading the stories of old to them of Moses and Jacob and Isaac and Abraham, and they weep. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:02.240 And yet, God's priest Ezra says this in Nehemiah 8 This day is holy to the Lord your God. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:04.159 Do not mourn or weep. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:14.319 For all the people wept as they heard the words of the law, and he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet wine, and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:21.840 For this day is holy to the Lord, and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:23.759 They just entered the gates. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:27.039 They are soul crushed over their own sin. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:32.400 And yet the priest Ezra says, Don't weep, feast today. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:35.120 In other words, Israelites, today is a party. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.560 And it's not because you hold yourselves together, it's because God is merciful. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:41.439 So, hey, come and feast upon him. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:46.879 They feasted for seven days, savoring the mercy of their Lord and beloved. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:52.479 Our great high priest, the greater Ezra, stands offering the same thing to you today. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:54.000 Come and feast. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:00.719 Don't weep and mourn, but Jesus, the risen priest, says, Come and feast on me. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:03.680 Come and eat your fill. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:11.520 The Israelites have tasted something amazing, and they are returning over and over again. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:14.879 So the people feast for seven full days. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.639 And then on the eighth day of their party, they finally hold a fast. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:23.439 And it's on this fast day that we pick up here in Nehemiah 9. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:25.839 Look at verses 1 through 5 with me. 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:33.600 Now on the twenty-fourth day of the month, the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with earth on their heads. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:41.040 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:46.879 And they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of their Lord their God for a quarter of the day. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:50.800 For another quarter of it they made confession and worship the Lord their God. 00:04:50.959 --> 00:05:00.160 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Sheboniah, Abunai, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chennani, and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:01.759 Then the Levites, we're going to do it again. 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:11.600 Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:16.399 Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:21.040 Megan, I almost had you read that, but then I didn't want to put you through that, so we chose the last instead. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:27.839 But in these first five verses, there's a lot we could glean, but I'm just going to pull out three points from this first paragraph to start. 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:32.560 So, point one, the church leads the charge of repentance. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:34.319 We see that in verses one and two. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:39.680 And you notice there, the word says that the people separated themselves from the foreigners. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:43.199 And that's not because the people thought they were better than the foreigners. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.439 No, it's because they were God's people. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:47.199 They had received God's word. 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:49.519 God had spoken covenant to them. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:54.160 And so they're owning up to all the ways that they had fallen short. 00:05:54.720 --> 00:06:02.800 And so this is them knowing, hey, if we want the city of Jerusalem to experience spiritual awakening, revival has to start within the doors. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:05.600 We don't point in judgment upon the culture. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:14.240 Culture change happens as the church owns up to the sins within the walls and then move out in grace and love. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:31.680 One of the best ways the church today can look attractive to the world and especially younger generation is not by being a judgy finger-pointing group of Christians on sinners, but rather to have a brutal honesty that we need Jesus and are not perfect. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:33.680 That's why I love what we say every week, right? 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:34.639 What Russ just said. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:37.199 We are more broken than we originally thought. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:41.839 But in that more loved in Jesus and on his cross than we could dare to dream. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:46.560 So therefore, churches are the places where people don't feel like they need to clean themselves up. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:53.519 But churches ought to be the place where people can come, like a hospital in need of healing, right? 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:57.759 Number two, confession and worship go together. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:06:59.439 We saw that from verse 3. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:04.879 So when we say confession, we're saying the act of bringing our sin and unbelief to the Lord. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:10.000 And then when we say worship, we're saying placing our weight of affections on another. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:16.480 So when we say confession and worship go together, we're saying that it's in the act of confession that we are worshiping. 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:21.920 Because we're saying, Lord, I am trusting to you the sin that you have placed upon yourself. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:28.879 I'm trusting that I can't hold it, so Lord, here is all of me, and I know that all of you is enough for me. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:32.079 Again, that's why I love what we say in our confessional prayer. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:34.160 This isn't us needing to grovel and guilt. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:37.920 What that means is it's not like if you feel bad enough, then God will forgive you. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:42.399 No, his cross is far sufficient for you to be forgiven. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:49.279 Number three, and lastly, from this paragraph, confession, repentance, and worship starts with the leadership. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:59.120 There's a lot to be said here, but what I'll say primarily is that the leaders and pastors of a church or community should be the forerunners of confession and repentance. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:03.519 And that's not to say that the pastors and leaders of a church should be the most perfect. 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:08.879 What that's to say is that they should lead the charge of saying, I need Jesus. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:11.759 Paul was an amazing example of this. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:17.759 The older he got in his ministry, the more aware of his sin and shortcomings he became. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:20.240 Look at this progression from the New Testament. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:26.720 In 55 A.D., Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, for I am the least of all the apostles. 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:28.480 And then in 60 A.D. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:31.439 he goes on to say, For I am the least of all God's people. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:39.440 And then in 63 A.D., near the end of his life, he says, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:43.279 So it's not to say that Paul became more sinful as he grew older. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:48.320 No, it's to say he grew more aware of the standing in his heart. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:54.480 And more and more aware over the time of his life of him saying, Man, I just need Jesus so desperately. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:59.600 He goes from the least of the apostles to the least of all God's people to the least of all human beings. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:02.480 That's the progression we see in Paul. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:07.679 And it's hard to look down on others when you view yourself as the chief of sinners. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.559 The charge of the confession here in Nehemiah is led by the religious leaders. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:16.559 It's not led by the lay people, it's led by the priests. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:20.399 Paul David Tripp wrote in this book called Lead, which I would commend to you. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:25.440 It's a really accessible, helpful book on Christian leadership and serving. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:32.159 And you might not be here today as a pastor or leader of a big ministry, but all Christians are leaders to some degree. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:36.879 And so I think this quote is really helpful in light of Nehemiah 9. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:38.559 Listen to what Paul Tripp says. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:50.240 Humility means that each leader's relationship to other leaders is characterized by an acknowledgement that he deserves none of the recognition, power, or influence that his position affords him. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:56.399 It means knowing as a leader that as long as sin still lives inside of you, you will need to be rescued from you. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.320 Humility means you love serving more than you crave leading. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:04.720 It means owning your inability rather than boasting in your abilities. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:07.759 It means always being committed to listen and learn. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:14.080 Humility means seeing fellow leaders not so much as serving your success, but as serving the one who called each of you. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:20.960 It means being more excited about your fellow leaders' commitment to Christ than you are about their loyalty to you. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:24.559 It's about fearing the power of position rather than craving it. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:28.559 It's about being more motivated to serve than to be seen. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:35.840 The religious leaders of Nehemiah 9 are not pointing fingers of judgment and shame upon the culture. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:44.720 No, they have themselves come face to face with the beauty of God's word and are leading the charge of returning to his face. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:49.519 So the question is: how will this confession and repentance begin and look? 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:52.399 Look at verses six through eight with me. 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:55.759 They begin with the subject, you. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:07.279 You are the Lord, you alone, you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve all of them. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:09.679 And the host of heaven worships you. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:16.080 You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:26.480 You found his heart faithful before you and made with him the covenant to give his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amrite, the Parasite, the Jebusite, and the Gergeshite. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:30.720 For you have kept your promises, for you are righteous. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:42.639 From these verses all the way to the end of the chapter, these people will retell their entire story, beginning with creation and going all the way through the prophets. 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:48.240 In the rest of chapter 9, there are around 40 direct references to past events. 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:50.320 And this only makes sense, right? 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:58.080 The people just spent seven days hearing their story told over and over and over again. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.639 So it was just overflowing out of them. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:02.320 It was fresh on their minds. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:04.399 And think about how important that is. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:10.960 In our lives, how easy is it to forget the big story that God is weaving us into? 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.960 We get caught up in the day by day, and then we come back to church on Sunday, maybe collapsing into it. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:19.519 And then we remember, yes, the cross is enough for me. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:20.240 I am beloved. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:22.240 And all the ways I fell short. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:27.360 And then to go again, seven days just sort of forgetting what the story is. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:40.240 And that's especially true when you have a hard day, when your kid is struggling, when you lose your job, when you suffer, when you doubt, when the family drama comes up again. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:44.159 The Israelites, too, have forgotten their story. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:50.879 And it's right in this place that when Ezra reads it over them, it is like the sweetest honey to their souls. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:54.080 I think about the end of the book of Job. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:56.320 This man who lost everything. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:04.240 He spent then about 40 chapters dialoguing with God and kind of yelling at him and getting yelled at by his friends and all the all the things. 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:10.879 And finally, at the end of the book, Job gets a glimpse of the love of God more deeply than he had ever before. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:13.120 And this is what Job says at the end of the book. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:14.080 I love this. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:18.960 He says, I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:20.240 Isn't that rich? 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:21.200 I'd heard of you. 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:22.559 I knew all about you, Lord. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:26.399 I heard the stories, but Lord, now my eye sees you. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:29.360 And this is where the Israelites are again. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:34.799 They had years of wandering, years of maybe never even hearing their Bibles again. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:38.720 And this is why their confession starts with their Maker. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:44.639 Because they're finally seeing him, the treasure of their souls, their beloved. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:51.279 They move from hopeless to hopeful the more they gaze upon the beauty of their Maker. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:53.919 Hopefully because God kept his word to them. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:56.960 He is creator, he made all things. 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:01.679 And remember, Israelites, he made a covenant with us, so God's not gonna give up on us. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:04.799 And then they close verse 8 with the promise of hope. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:08.720 You have kept your promise, for you are righteous. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:11.039 They are overflowing with hope. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:16.480 We live in a unique moment of time right now in the church in America. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:23.679 People in the younger generation are growing super uh interested in spiritual things, especially in the church. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:28.480 Uh I don't know if you knew this, there are revivals breaking out all over college campuses right now. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:38.720 There's a sermon I would encourage you to listen to uh called Revival by Matt Chandler, who did it uh yeah, about two months ago, and where he kind of explains a lot of these revivals and he he jokes about it. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:43.759 It's not just like SEC schools, it's like all over the country, uh, which I think is helpful. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:54.799 Um but I think that's I think the sermon is insightful to what's going on in our moment right now because the church is becoming increasingly more in the the rhythm of the culture. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:15:00.960 Christian influences, influencers, and apologetic leaders are growing more and more in the scene. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:05.120 So much so that one of them, his name's Wesley Huff, he was on Joe Rogan's podcast. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:09.279 He's a Christian apologetic, and that is the most streamed podcast on Spotify. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:15.759 And he spends three hours defending the validity of the Bible on the most streamed platform on Spotify. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:24.320 And I think one of the biggest reasons why our culture is shifting in this way is this the hopefulness of Christianity is beautiful and attractive to the world. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:26.559 And I think America is starting to get it. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.440 I think Western Christianity is starting to get it. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:36.159 Christianity, for her entire history, has been marked by a radical hope in spite of suffering. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:38.720 That's what she's been marked by for 2,000 years. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.440 And hope is not blind optimism. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:43.600 Hope is rooted in reality. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:46.480 I mean, think about the Israelites. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:51.200 They had spent years enslaved in Babylon. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:54.639 Think about the generational trauma they had experienced. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:00.159 The hurts, the wounds that they were presently walking in, and it was due to their own failings. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:08.559 And so when this leader, Nehemiah, rebuilds their walls, many of them, for the first time in their life, heard the word of the Lord. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:16.159 And after they had steeped in it for seven full days, all they have left to do is pour out their story back to the Lord. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:24.080 But remember, this wasn't just an individual person doing it, it was a cry of the people together doing it. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:32.080 What's so cool is that the people of God can endure unimaginable things together when hope is the well that they drink from. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:34.240 Here's the thing about hope. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:38.240 Hope is future-oriented but rooted in history. 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:43.840 Meaning, hope exists because of past promises kept and future promises to look forward to. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:48.639 So therefore, in Christ, we are set free to be a people of hope. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:52.320 Hope can be hard, though, and hope is hard. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:17:04.079 We are gospel amnesiacs, meaning we forget it so quickly, and that's why the story of God's one-way love to us in Jesus is so vital to retell to ourselves. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:10.319 We must remind ourselves of the love that has poured itself upon our souls in Jesus. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:29.920 We, like the Israelites, can look back on our own stories and trace all the different ways that we saw the hand of God in these different moments, bringing people into our lives, bringing us surprising joy in the face of grief, opening our eyes more deeply to maybe something in the Bible. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:38.640 Or maybe hope could be when you lose the words to pray, and there's a really great worship song that is the only thing holding on to you. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.440 And in all of it, hope is rooted in verse 8. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:46.079 Again, you have kept your promises, for you are righteous. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:50.799 They say trust can take a lifetime to earn and a moment to lose. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:59.359 And so Paul says in Romans 5, 7, for one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would even dare to die. 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:06.079 But God shows his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:13.519 So how confident can we be to be hopeful, maybe in spite of looking ridiculous for having hope? 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:17.039 Well, that God would write himself into the story. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:28.720 That God is not some faraway master, but that he would become a human, that he would go through all the hardships and weirdness of being a human, and then that he would die on the behalf of his beloved. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:34.559 That, beloved, is how confident we can be to have hope for the future. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:40.319 Every other religious system in the world says, hey, if you're good enough, maybe God will approve of you. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:44.480 Christianity is the only one that says, I see that you're not good enough. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:45.599 Can I help? 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:47.759 And actually, it's even better than that. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:57.839 Christianity says, in all the places you fall short, all the places you sin, all the places where you don't keep his commandments, God says, Can I stand in your place? 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:02.079 That is good news to bring hope to our soul. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.960 So the rest of the confession unfolds. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:09.119 And you remember the people start by staring at God in all his beauty. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:19.759 They remember the covenant to Abram, the promise to bless him, and then they confess that God has kept his promise on one basis, that God is righteous. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:23.759 So I'm gonna kind of outline the rest of the chapter for us here. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.079 This is kind of the people retelling their story. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:36.640 It begins with the Exodus, which is when God sees his suffering people, he frees them from Egypt, parts the Red Sea, gives them the Ten Commandments, and remains with them. 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.200 They go on, the wilderness wanderings. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:45.599 Even though the people were freed, they kept sinning, and yet God kept being faithful. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:50.960 Then at part three, it seems like God's covenant to Abraham is fulfilled. 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:53.599 The people are conquering other nations. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:56.240 They're filling the earth and blessing it. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.799 But then again, sin part two. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:07.359 The people keep sinning, they kill their prophets, they're conquered, and yet God would not stop being merciful. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:09.519 Honestly, I was thinking about it this week. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:13.920 If like an alien came to me and said, Sam, what's the Old Testament about? 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:16.480 I would truly point them to Nehemiah 9. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:18.319 It is a rich outline. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:23.119 So if you're like, hey, I want to know more about what the Old Testament is all about, I would just say read Nehemiah 9. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:27.279 It is a rich history of the whole of the Old Testament. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:29.839 It covers creation. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:32.480 It goes back to Abraham, to Moses. 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:38.720 Gets the prophets, the golden calf, so many moments in their story. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:40.559 It is their whole story. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:45.279 And in all of it, the reason I love it so much is because God is the main character. 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:47.920 The main character is God and his mercy. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:52.480 And this is out of all of this where we get back to our scripture reading again. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:54.240 The big ask of God. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:58.079 Look at verses 32 through 38 as we finish out the chapter. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:11.839 And all this in mind, now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:20.960 Upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:28.079 Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully when we have acted wickedly. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:36.319 Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:46.559 Even in their own kingdom, amid the great goodness that you gave them, and in the land large and rich land you set before him, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:49.680 Behold, we are slaves this day. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:56.400 In the land that you gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.599 And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.440 Us because of their sins. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:06.799 They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:12.480 So, because of all this, we make a firm covenant in writing. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:17.759 On the sealed document are the names of our princes, our priests, and our Levites. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:20.799 They're saying, Lord, it's like we're back in Egypt. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:22.799 We're slaves. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:25.680 And Lord, we're not even slaves in a foreign land. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:28.000 We're slaves in the promised land. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:30.319 And Lord, it's our fault. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:31.920 You've been righteous. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:33.359 We've been wicked. 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:34.640 You've been faithful. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:35.759 We've been unfaithful. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:36.640 And so I love this. 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:40.720 Lord, they say, let not this hardship seem small to you. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:43.200 I love the way it closes. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:48.240 Because in this, in other words, Lord, you have been so stubbornly faithful to us. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:49.920 We're going to make the covenant. 00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:52.240 We're going to renew our covenant back to you. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:55.359 We have tasted and seen, Lord, your mercy. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:58.160 And so, Lord, where else would we go? 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:02.000 And this would seem like a great way to end the book of Nehemiah, wouldn't it? 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:04.799 But there's one big problem. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:10.480 The Israelites, even the leader, Nehemiah, they're too much like me. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:18.160 And so what we're going to see, in the words of Pastor Matt, what he said a few weeks ago, is that the book of Nehemiah ends with us waiting for another. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:20.480 Nehemiah is not enough. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:24.400 The walls being rebuilt are simply not enough. 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:32.079 But the good news is that the another that they were waiting for, and that this book leads us looking to, has come. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:34.880 I love how the book of Hebrews opens. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:42.960 Hebrews 1, 1 and 2 says, Long ago, at many times and in many ways, like Nehemiah, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.200 But in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:49.920 The greater Nehemiah is here. 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:53.599 And he did not come just to rebuild the walls of an earthly kingdom. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:24:00.079 No, he came to look at the rubble of your heart and rebuild it himself. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:02.960 So remember my initial question. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:11.200 They sprinted back. 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:16.480 And then they would fall away just like us, even just like a chapter or two later. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:28.319 And what Jesus, by his death and resurrection, is offering to you and to me is to make you whole, for your restless heart to be rested, to be in relationship with your Maker. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:42.160 When you no longer have to live your life in fear or hopelessness or having no meaning, where you're no longer defined by your success or suffering, but where you're defined by your maker who loves you. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:44.960 We say this all the time at youth on Sunday nights. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:46.240 I think it's helpful. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:53.599 But it's just this maybe growth in Christ isn't sinning less, but running into the arms of Jesus faster when you do. 00:24:54.240 --> 00:25:06.079 Maybe growth in Christ, by his grace and his word in us, is seeing him as more sweet, more accessible, more beautiful, and something we long to return to. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:10.000 I'll close with this quick story from the Gospels. 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:16.799 In John 6, Jesus is teaching some really hard things because he wasn't interested in building a big crowd. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:21.039 And John tells us that a lot of the disciples start leaving, like a noticeable amount. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:27.039 And so Jesus looks at the 12 disciples, his boys, he's like, hey, they're all leaving. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:28.880 You guys going too? 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:38.559 And then Peter, God bless him, this might be his peak, before he would go to make a mess of things, he says, Lord, to whom shall we go? 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:42.160 You have the words of eternal life. 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:44.880 Lord, where would we go? 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:48.240 So you have a choice this morning, beloved. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:54.079 You can keep pretending that everything's okay when below the surface there is mess. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:59.119 You're struggling maybe with an addiction, with an ongoing struggle, with a piercing doubt. 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:03.759 One way to go about that is just to suppress it, to pretend like it's not there. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:15.119 Or you can bring yourself to the Lord who loves you today, the Lord who died for you, in your full mess, to the one who has the words of life for you. 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:18.559 There is a feast of grace waiting for you, beloved. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:21.279 There's no doors to come through. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:22.799 There's nothing lacking. 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:25.759 So come and feast this morning. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:35.119 If you have any questions about this sermon or the text or anything about the Lord Jesus, there will be a pastor up front after the service and would love to talk with you and pray with you. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:36.400 Let's pray together. 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:44.240 Lord, thank you that you meet us as we are this morning. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:48.960 Thank you for this word from Nehemiah 9. 00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:57.519 Lord, we see an invitation not to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, but an invitation to collapse. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:03.839 So, Father, we all come into this room this morning with mess, with sin, with doubt. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:07.839 And yet, Lord, it's in that place that you meet us. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:16.079 So, Father, I pray for each person in this room that they would feel the great relief of the cross of Christ. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:21.359 Father, thank you for loving us, for meeting us this morning. 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:23.680 And in all of it, I pray in Jesus' name. 00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:24.160 Amen.