SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Man, you may be seated.
SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to life.
SPEAKER_00: My name's Andrew.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the pastors here, and it's an honor to have you with us.
SPEAKER_00: It's good to see you.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a guest with us, let me add my welcome to that which has already been extended.
SPEAKER_00: Chuck already welcomed you, I know, but let me just say we're glad you're here, and we would love to know you.
SPEAKER_00: We would love to meet you.
SPEAKER_00: I would love to know you and meet you.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I sit back here and I think I don't know that I've met that family.
SPEAKER_00: And uh if you want to be met by one of us, we would love to meet you, serve you, and care for you in any way that you can.
SPEAKER_00: We're interested in your discipleship, and we're excited to be able to participate in that uh with the Lord uh as we uh gather together.
SPEAKER_00: Well, God meets with his people, we know that, and when he does, good things happen, and we're gonna expect that again today.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things we do when we meet is we open God's word.
SPEAKER_00: It's imperative that we are not people who talk about God's word or uh try to apply God's word to our best thoughts.
SPEAKER_00: That's not how this works.
SPEAKER_00: I don't read into the text, I don't speak of uh develop a speech or a talk and then try to find scripture to support those things.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we let the scripture guide us, what the scripture says we want to say, where it guides, how it structures, how it flows.
SPEAKER_00: We want to flow with that.
SPEAKER_00: So we do uh most of the time, uh all of the time, we do exegetical preaching, and then a lot of the time, or most of the time, we're just gonna pick a book of the Bible and we're gonna go through it and get what God has for us in it.
SPEAKER_00: And now today we are starting a new series through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have your Bible, turn there to Nehemiah.
SPEAKER_00: We are, if you have not received one yet, we have these available out in the lobby.
SPEAKER_00: This is such a cool resource.
SPEAKER_00: And uh if you uh have this, you know that on one side, the left side is the text, and on the right side are notes that you can take.
SPEAKER_00: And so we'd encourage you to grab one of these.
SPEAKER_00: They are for sale, but they're not for sale for profit.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they are sale just to cover the expense of this.
SPEAKER_00: It's such a cool tool.
SPEAKER_00: We want you to have this and put this uh in your library or on your stand.
SPEAKER_00: It's important for you to keep notes, I think, because if you don't, if you don't write it down, you often forget it.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, we want you to keep those notes, maybe write in there some things that God wants you to learn and take away from a sermon.
SPEAKER_00: And we think these are great tools for you to do that.
SPEAKER_00: If you have another system, great, use that system.
SPEAKER_00: This is just one of the options that we want to make available to you out there in in the lobby.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah chapter one, we're starting it today, and what an incredible book this is.
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna read chapter one here in just a few minutes, but if you found your place there, be sure uh to hold it open there on your lap, and we'll get to it.
SPEAKER_00: Now you've probably, at least most of you, have never heard, or at least uh if you've heard it, you don't remember it very well, the name Samuel Langley.
SPEAKER_00: Reading about Samuel Langley uh in the early 1900s, he was determined to be the first man to achieve powered flight.
SPEAKER_00: He was determined.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, from what I understand, he was brilliant.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know him, I wasn't alive back then.
SPEAKER_00: If you know him, let me know how brilliant he was.
SPEAKER_00: But he was a brilliant scientist and he had written extensively on aerodynamics.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he had government funding.
SPEAKER_00: He even sat on the board or was over the Smithson Institutes.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he had an elite team working alongside of him.
SPEAKER_00: But after years of prototypes and failure after failure, Langley eventually gave up and he declared that flight was impossible for humans.
SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, basically near the same time in the early 1900s, there were two bicycle mechanics named Wilbur and Orville Wright who were pursuing the same dream.
SPEAKER_00: It's interesting because they didn't have any scientific training or at least nothing to noteworthy.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't have government funding, they didn't have any lead team, and they worked out of their bicycle shop and funded their experiments, from what I understand themselves, and they failed again and again and again.
SPEAKER_00: But the Wright brothers had something that Samuel Langley eventually lost, and that was a conviction that flight was possible.
SPEAKER_00: So they kept going, and on December 17th, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright lifted off the ground and made it history.
SPEAKER_00: The Wright brothers weren't the most qualified, they weren't the best funded, and they certainly were not the best connected, but they were convinced.
SPEAKER_00: As one man wrote, they had a vision of what could be coupled with a conviction about what should be.
SPEAKER_00: We could do this and we should do this.
SPEAKER_00: And now, because of that, you know do not remember the name Samuel Langley, but you do remember the Wright brothers and flight, and probably have experienced uh the benefits of their work.
SPEAKER_00: And in many ways, that's where the story of Nehemiah begins.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't begin with a man who has a plan, it doesn't begin with a man who has a construction crew, it doesn't begin with a man who has all of the resources he needed.
SPEAKER_00: What it begins with is a man with a burden.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah hears that Jerusalem is broken, and he becomes convinced that something should be done.
SPEAKER_00: That burden that he was given by God becomes a vision, and the vision moves him into action.
SPEAKER_00: And through this one man's burden, Nehemiah's burden, God is going to accomplish an incredible work.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah's interesting.
SPEAKER_00: In some of the oldest uh versions of the Bible compiled, Ezra and Nehemiah were considered one book.
SPEAKER_00: And I'll explain to that in a speak to that in just a second.
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to understand the history of how we got here.
SPEAKER_00: We've got to understand the history.
SPEAKER_00: This is a great book.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot to be learned here, but how did we get here?
SPEAKER_00: We have to place Nehemiah in the larger story of Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Jerusalem's broken walls, that's what we're gonna see again and again.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about broken walls.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's really about much more than a neglected construction project.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't an economic downturn that left a building project half done.
SPEAKER_00: The ruins of the walls represented centuries of rebellion and judgment and covenant faithfulness and the mercies of God.
SPEAKER_00: So just to take a journey back as quickly as possible, let's go all the way back to when God called out Abraham.
SPEAKER_00: He chose Abraham, he promised that through Abraham he would create a people, and through those people, all the nations of the earth would ultimately be blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Now, fast forward a little bit, Israel, the people of Israel, ended up in Egypt because of the leadership of Joseph.
SPEAKER_00: The end of Genesis explains that.
SPEAKER_00: And then Egypt began to be oppressive on the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: So God delivered Israel from Egypt and he brought them through the Red Sea, parted waters, dry ground, chariots crushed, all of that was happening there in Exodus.
SPEAKER_00: And he entered into a covenant with them and he gave them his law, and he brought them into the promised land.
SPEAKER_00: And eventually, after a pretty bad king who was pretty tough and strong looking named Saul, David became the king of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Jerusalem became the capital.
SPEAKER_00: Solomon built the temple there in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem became inseparably connected with the worship of God and the identity of God's covenant people.
SPEAKER_00: But Israel repeatedly rebelled.
SPEAKER_00: They worshiped other gods, they rejected God's commands, they oppressed the weak, and they trusted their political alliances instead of God far too often.
SPEAKER_00: And God warned them repeatedly.
SPEAKER_00: Deuteronomy 28 makes it clear that covenant rebellion would eventually uh result in judgment and exile.
SPEAKER_00: And God sent prophet after prophet.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the prophets are all about.
SPEAKER_00: The prophet after prophet after prophet came, calling his people to repentance.
SPEAKER_00: And it even says in 2 Chronicles 36, verse 15, that God sent persistently to them by messengers because he had compassion on his people.
SPEAKER_00: So he sent prophet after prophet because he loved them and he uh had compassion on them.
SPEAKER_00: But God's warnings were evidence of his compassion, and every prophetic word was another expression of mercy.
SPEAKER_00: Turn back, come back home, return to me.
SPEAKER_00: But 2 Chronicles 36, 16 says they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets.
SPEAKER_00: Eventually judgment came, and that led to the fall.
SPEAKER_00: In 586 BC, we know that Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Kings 25 describes it.
SPEAKER_00: The temple was burned, the palace was burned.
SPEAKER_00: This is known as the Babylonian captivity.
SPEAKER_00: The important buildings were burned, the city walls were torn down, the people were carried away.
SPEAKER_00: Jerusalem became a ruin.
SPEAKER_00: And the problem wasn't Babylon, the problem was sin.
SPEAKER_00: The problem was brokenness in the people.
SPEAKER_00: The broken wall was the visible evidence of a deeper spiritual brokenness.
SPEAKER_00: And now the people were living in captivity.
SPEAKER_00: Israel had rejected God.
SPEAKER_00: Jerusalem's ruins represented the consequences of their rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: And yet even then God was not finished.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah had prophesied after 70 years God would bring his people back.
SPEAKER_00: And God did exactly what he said.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what happens: Babylon, which is like modern day Iraq, is is taken over, conquered by Persia.
SPEAKER_00: That's the rise of the Persian Empire, which is kind of like modern day Iran and the surrounding areas.
SPEAKER_00: And Cyrus became king.
SPEAKER_00: And amazingly, you can read this: Cyrus allowed Jewish exiles to return to their homeland.
SPEAKER_00: Now there are three major movements you should keep in mind as we study Nehemiah and keep in mind Ezra.
SPEAKER_00: There's the first movement, which is the movement and return of Zerubbabel.
SPEAKER_00: Zerubbabel leads a group back to Jerusalem, and eventually the temple is rebuilt after some prophesying and work.
SPEAKER_00: The second wave of return is led by Ezra.
SPEAKER_00: This was years later, and Ezra is a priest and a scribe, and his major concern in the return is the spiritual condition of the people and their obedience to God's word.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a great read, and we will study it one day.
SPEAKER_00: But the third wave of return is led by Nehemiah, and that's in the fifth century BC.
SPEAKER_00: We meet him.
SPEAKER_00: The temple has been rebuilt.
SPEAKER_00: Jewish people are now living in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Worship has been restored in some measure, but the city remains vulnerable.
SPEAKER_00: It remains disgraced because the job's not done.
SPEAKER_00: The walls are broken down, the gates are burned, and Jerusalem is still not what it should be, not what God intends for it to be.
SPEAKER_00: And Nehemiah is about 900 miles away or so.
SPEAKER_00: He's in a place called Susa, one of the capitals of the Persian Empire.
SPEAKER_00: This is where chapter one begins.
SPEAKER_00: You just got a snapshot history of Israel in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: So hopefully you remember all of that.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, this is where we are.
SPEAKER_00: So Nehemiah now is in the Persian Empire, and he is experiencing the burden that God gives him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, before we unpack that burden, I want you to think about what I think John MacArthur rightly says here.
SPEAKER_00: Just quote from his book.
SPEAKER_00: He said, The book of Nehemiah is a wonderful primer for anyone who faces a daunting situation and needs to be reminded that deep trust in and unflinching obedience to Almighty God can result in the accomplishment of the impossible.
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
SPEAKER_00: Deep trust and unflinching obedience to Almighty God results in the accomplishment of the impossible.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah is a book about dreaming big dreams, about solving monumental problems, about the power of prayer, about standing strong in the face of harsh opposition, and about motivating people and leading groups to do great works for a great God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're about to study.
SPEAKER_00: So we're not just studying a construction project.
SPEAKER_00: We're studying much more than that, preserved for us, written by God in our Bible.
SPEAKER_00: So, Nehemiah, the story of a man who led a group of people into a revival that was manifested at the rebuilding of the walls and the rededication of lives to the work of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to unpack this together with you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So let's get our understanding now, understanding where the history is of what Nehemiah chapter 1 is teaching us.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to read verses 1 through 11.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have your Bibles open, let's read it together.
SPEAKER_00: I'll read out loud.
SPEAKER_00: You follow along silently.
SPEAKER_00: And these are God's words for us today.
SPEAKER_00: The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah.
SPEAKER_00: Now it happened in the month of Chislev.
SPEAKER_00: In the 20th year, I was in Susa, the citadel.
SPEAKER_00: That Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah.
SPEAKER_00: And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, or who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame.
SPEAKER_00: The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire.
SPEAKER_00: As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days.
SPEAKER_00: And I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven for days, days, weeks probably is what we understand.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, This is probably the prayer on repeat that he said over those weeks of fasting and praying and weeping and mourning.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Oh Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.
SPEAKER_00: Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel, your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you.
SPEAKER_00: Even I and my father's house have sinned.
SPEAKER_00: We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are faithful, I will unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples.
SPEAKER_00: But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there.
SPEAKER_00: They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
SPEAKER_00: O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.
SPEAKER_00: Now I was cupbearer to the king.
SPEAKER_00: Great start.
SPEAKER_00: What we see here is what I think is where the whole work of Nehemiah begins, and it doesn't begin with the forming of a plan, a blueprint, and a construction crew.
SPEAKER_00: It begins in the heart.
SPEAKER_00: And over the top of our text today sits this big idea.
SPEAKER_00: Jot this down.
SPEAKER_00: I think this is what Nehemiah is getting at, sharing with us, is that God's work through us most often begins with a burden in us.
SPEAKER_00: Before there was ever a wall built around Jerusalem, there is a burden built inside Nehemiah.
SPEAKER_00: And before God works through a man, most often, if not every time, God begins to put a burden in that man.
SPEAKER_00: Very often, when God intends to do a work through one of his people, he first does a work in that person.
SPEAKER_00: Before God uses our lives, he burdens our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And that's that's what's happening here.
SPEAKER_00: And here he is about to move, but before he moves, he experiences this burden God placed in him.
SPEAKER_00: So the question that I think Nehemiah is is answering and what he is showing us in chapter one is how to respond when God burdens your heart.
SPEAKER_00: How should we respond when God gives us a burden, a clear weight, a clear call?
SPEAKER_00: How do we respond?
SPEAKER_00: What do we do?
SPEAKER_00: What's the proper way to think about this?
SPEAKER_00: And how does that lead to the discovering of God's will and plan for our lives?
SPEAKER_00: And so from Nehemiah, I want us to see four reactions to the burden that God gives Nehemiah.
SPEAKER_00: That I hope you and I will take today, that we can learn from today.
SPEAKER_00: So here's how we'll do it.
SPEAKER_00: When God burdens your heart, there are four reactions we we must have.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, when God burdens your heart, see the need.
SPEAKER_00: When God burdens your heart, see the need.
SPEAKER_00: Now here's what's interesting.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah cared enough.
SPEAKER_00: He was interested enough in what God was doing and what God's people were doing.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 1, the words of Nehemiah the son of Hakaliah, it happened in the month of Chislev in the 20th year, as I was in Susa, the citadel.
SPEAKER_00: He was in Susa.
SPEAKER_00: Susa was not Jerusalem, it was not Judah, it was a royal city, and it was the center of Persian power.
SPEAKER_00: Now set the scene here.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah is serving as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes.
SPEAKER_00: So understand the contrast.
SPEAKER_00: Jerusalem is in ruins.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah is in a palace.
SPEAKER_00: Jerusalem is vulnerable.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah is secure.
SPEAKER_00: Jerusalem is experiencing disgrace.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah has achieved a respected position.
SPEAKER_00: And Nehemiah could have easily said, and we would not have balked at it at all, that's unfortunate to hear, but really that's not my problem.
SPEAKER_00: What can I do from here?
SPEAKER_00: He had never personally experienced the destruction of Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: It happened generations earlier.
SPEAKER_00: He was born into exile.
SPEAKER_00: Persia was the only home he had ever known.
SPEAKER_00: He had a career, he had influence, he had security, and yet Nehemiah still cared deeply about the people and purposes and glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so in verse 2, Han and I, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He asked the question.
SPEAKER_00: The entire book begins with a question.
SPEAKER_00: And Nehemiah wanted to know.
SPEAKER_00: He did not remain intentionally ignorant, because ignorance would have been much easier.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the principle I think we gather from that.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we never receive the burden because we have intentionally avoided seeing the need.
SPEAKER_00: We don't ask.
SPEAKER_00: We don't look.
SPEAKER_00: We don't listen.
SPEAKER_00: Because once I know, I might have to care, and once I care, I might have to act.
SPEAKER_00: And Nehemiah asks, How are the people?
SPEAKER_00: How's Jerusalem?
SPEAKER_00: And Han and I answers, verse 3 the remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame.
SPEAKER_00: Trouble and shame because the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire.
SPEAKER_00: And we need to understand why this matters.
SPEAKER_00: Why did the wall matter?
SPEAKER_00: When we hear about a wall, we tend to think about a broken fence, a damaged property line.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you got a cinder block wall that a tree's uprooted and cracked, and that's kind of what you have in mind.
SPEAKER_00: Like, oh no, that wall's about to fall.
SPEAKER_00: Don't jump on that wall, kids, because it's gonna fall.
SPEAKER_00: And we kind of think that kind of way, maybe, or we think maybe the fence has been cut.
SPEAKER_00: But ancient cities were not just walls to make sure that our neighbors couldn't peep in on our activities in the backyard.
SPEAKER_00: These were places of protection.
SPEAKER_00: This was security.
SPEAKER_00: This was order.
SPEAKER_00: This was a sign of strength.
SPEAKER_00: A city without a functioning wall could not control who came in or went out.
SPEAKER_00: It was an exposed city.
SPEAKER_00: It was a vulnerable city to raiders and enemies.
SPEAKER_00: But Jerusalem's wall carried an even greater significance that we need to understand.
SPEAKER_00: This was Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: This was the city of David.
SPEAKER_00: This was the place associated with the temple of God and the worship of God.
SPEAKER_00: So the city connected with God's covenant promises.
SPEAKER_00: So this was more than an infrastructure problem.
SPEAKER_00: It was a reproach.
SPEAKER_00: It was a shame.
SPEAKER_00: It was supposed to testify of the greatness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, the city was a visible reminder of Israel's devastation.
SPEAKER_00: This was the city of our God according to Psalm 48.
SPEAKER_00: And so, if the city of our God can't finish the work that needs to be done to protect it, what kind of God is that?
SPEAKER_00: Now people could look at Jerusalem and see rubble.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what is also true: the condition of the walls in Jerusalem was an indication of the condition of the hearts of the people in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: The people had become complacent and were now neglecting God's city and God's temple and God's people.
SPEAKER_00: They had become more interested in personal pursuits, in making secure places for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: You can read this throughout the minor prophets.
SPEAKER_00: They neglected the work that God had delivered them for, and there began to be this erosion.
SPEAKER_00: And this is true physically in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Jerusalem, which is a representative of oftentimes the posture of our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: It's a very real threat in the lives of any person.
SPEAKER_00: Erosion is.
SPEAKER_00: Where we once stood strong, we can begin to waver.
SPEAKER_00: Where we had firm convictions and dedicated commitment, we now waver and we compromise.
SPEAKER_00: This is the case for anything.
SPEAKER_00: Marriages erode and churches erode and Christian faithfulness erodes and countries erode.
SPEAKER_00: And I think Chuck Swindal said it well, the neglected heart, the life with crumbled walls, will soon be overrun by the world and chaos will prevail.
SPEAKER_00: So God's people had returned, but restoration was incomplete.
SPEAKER_00: And now Nehemiah sees the need.
SPEAKER_00: Burden was placed in his heart.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a difference, by the way, between looking and seeing.
SPEAKER_00: We can look at the same people every day and never really see them.
SPEAKER_00: We can look through the same neighborhood and never really see it.
SPEAKER_00: We can live with the same family and miss what is happening in our family spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: We can attend the same church and never see where people are hurting.
SPEAKER_00: We can live in the same city and never really see the lostness in our city.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what Nehemiah did.
SPEAKER_00: He saw.
SPEAKER_00: He saw like Jesus saw.
SPEAKER_00: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, Matthew 9.36.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't merely see bodies of people, he saw sheep without a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: He saw beneath the surface, he saw their brokenness.
SPEAKER_00: This is the kind of sight Nehemiah has.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the point I want us to get.
SPEAKER_00: We will rarely be burdened by something we refuse to truly see.
SPEAKER_00: We won't be burdened by the brokenness of the city in which we live if we don't actually see the problem with the city in which we live.
SPEAKER_00: We will never be burdened by the reality of the spiritual condition of our family if we're not willing to do the inventory and see what actually is the spiritual condition of our family.
SPEAKER_00: You will never be burdened by your own spiritual place if you never really stop to see.
SPEAKER_00: And so perhaps the prayer that Nehemiah is praying is, God, open my eyes.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we need to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Not God, show me what's wrong with the world.
SPEAKER_00: We got enough news to tell us that, right?
SPEAKER_00: But help me see with eyes.
SPEAKER_00: Help me see what you want me to see.
SPEAKER_00: Help me see what actually is happening.
SPEAKER_00: Help me see the brokenness.
SPEAKER_00: Help me care.
SPEAKER_00: Ask the question what might God be trying to show me today?
SPEAKER_00: That's what Nehemiah does, right?
SPEAKER_00: He says, How's it going?
SPEAKER_00: What's happening there?
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to see, and then what he saw didn't just explain Nehemiah, because information alone didn't turn Nehemiah into this man.
SPEAKER_00: Something else happened.
SPEAKER_00: The need moved from his head into his heart.
SPEAKER_00: So when God burdens your heart, you need to see the need for sure, see it.
SPEAKER_00: But then I think the next thing that I see from him in verse four is that he felt the weight, or we need to feel the weight.
SPEAKER_00: That's number two.
SPEAKER_00: When God burdens your heart, feel the weight.
SPEAKER_00: See the need?
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, feel the weight.
SPEAKER_00: Let's put that up.
SPEAKER_00: There it is.
SPEAKER_00: Feel the weight.
SPEAKER_00: That's verse four.
SPEAKER_00: As soon as I heard these words, notice what he did.
SPEAKER_00: I sat down and wept and mourned for days.
SPEAKER_00: Did you notice the progression?
SPEAKER_00: He sat down.
SPEAKER_00: The report stopped him.
SPEAKER_00: And he wept.
SPEAKER_00: And he mourned.
SPEAKER_00: And he fasted and he prayed.
SPEAKER_00: Not, well, that's too bad.
SPEAKER_00: That's how we are, right?
SPEAKER_00: How are you?
SPEAKER_00: And if somebody actually told you the truth and like, I'm not too good, we just kind of say, Well, that's too bad.
SPEAKER_00: I hope that gets better for you.
SPEAKER_00: That's not Nehemiah.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah was broken by the need.
SPEAKER_00: He was broken by the shame and disgrace that God was experiencing.
SPEAKER_00: And he didn't say someone should really do something about that.
SPEAKER_00: See, a need is something you know, a burden is something you carry.
SPEAKER_00: There are thousands of needs you know about.
SPEAKER_00: You know that there is poverty.
SPEAKER_00: You know that there are hurting marriages.
SPEAKER_00: You know that there are brokenness, uh, that there are lost people.
SPEAKER_00: You know that there are missionaries who need workers.
SPEAKER_00: You and I know this.
SPEAKER_00: You know that students are walking away from the faith.
SPEAKER_00: You know that the city we live in is in a spiritual brokenness.
SPEAKER_00: But occasionally, God takes something you know and makes it something you feel.
SPEAKER_00: You feel the weight, and you can't just dismiss it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about anxiety, that's different.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about this dependent on you try to figure it out anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just talking about a deep uh burden that God wants to do something in you and through you for.
SPEAKER_00: Like just to have just this awareness for and a desire for the glory and goodness and praise of God, that your burden when God's name is disgraced or when brokenness is a reality, you're not just seeing it and you're not uh self-centeredly carrying it as anxiety, but you're making it draw you to dependence on God and ask some big questions.
SPEAKER_00: God, how can I be a part of this?
SPEAKER_00: Godly people are a moved people.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes Christians unintentionally treat emotional detachment as some form of maturity, as though deep feeling is somehow less spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: Like we better not feel this.
SPEAKER_00: And that's just not what happens.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, if you look throughout scripture, men of God regularly felt an emotional, real, and spiritual burden.
SPEAKER_00: Think about Moses in Exodus 2, says he looked upon the burdens of his people.
SPEAKER_00: Hannah said she wept before God because of the deep longing of her heart.
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah the prophet said, Oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears.
SPEAKER_00: Paul said, I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, because he longed for his fellow Israelites to be saved.
SPEAKER_00: And in Acts 20, he said he warned them with tears.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says of him in Luke 19, 41, that when he drew near he saw the city and he wept over it.
SPEAKER_00: There was something he saw that moved in his heart, a burden.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a good place for the church to be, don't you?
SPEAKER_00: That's a great place for the church to be, that we would see the brokenness of our world.
SPEAKER_00: And not, I'm not talking politics and I'm not talking who you vote for or any of that stuff.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just talking about the spiritual darkness and the brokenness of the world in which we live, the city in which we live, that we should drive down these streets and see what's happening around us, and we should be able to say, I see it and I'm broken by it, and I'm burdened by it.
SPEAKER_00: That's what God does when God burdens your heart.
SPEAKER_00: And I think the danger is, at least I can say this for me and mine, that we have become a little bit too comfortable.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah is comfortable.
SPEAKER_00: He's in Susa, he's in the powerhouse of the world, he's in a superpower.
SPEAKER_00: He refuses, though, to allow his comfort to kill compassion.
SPEAKER_00: Comfort can do that.
SPEAKER_00: Comfort says, My family's okay.
SPEAKER_00: I don't gotta worry about it.
SPEAKER_00: My family's okay.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about that family, but mine's okay.
SPEAKER_00: My bills are paid.
SPEAKER_00: My church is okay, the air conditioner mostly works.
SPEAKER_00: My kids are fine, my life is busy.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have time to think deeply about what is broken.
SPEAKER_00: But following Jesus and the example set by Jesus means refusing to build a life so insulated that other people's pain can never reach us.
SPEAKER_00: And other people's spiritual darkness never bothers us.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian life, though, is not a call to see how comfortable can I make my life.
SPEAKER_00: It's a call to say how faithfully can I use the life God has given me for the purposes God is calling me to.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're called to.
SPEAKER_00: See, the difference is between seeing and carrying.
SPEAKER_00: My son is, and again, you guys always warn me, don't use your kids too much as illustrations, but how do I not?
SPEAKER_00: They're just like living illustration factories.
SPEAKER_00: So here it is.
SPEAKER_00: And my son's great for this because you could be uh you could be carrying, I could be carrying a couch through my living room, and my son's sitting there doing something, and he can look at me and be like, oh, that looks heavy, and then just go back to what he's doing.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, bud, see the need, take the lead.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
SPEAKER_00: I need some help here.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's one thing to see somebody carrying a big piece of furniture and stand in the room and say, Well, that looks heavy.
SPEAKER_00: And there's another thing for you to walk over, put your hand under the piece of furniture and say, I'm gonna carry that burden with you.
SPEAKER_00: And so Nehemiah is that he sees the need, yes, he sees it, but he doesn't just say, That that doesn't sound good.
SPEAKER_00: I wish that would be fixed.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody should do something about that.
SPEAKER_00: What Nehemiah does is he now feels the burden, he feels the weight.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's where we are and should be.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we should start start really thinking about the spiritual condition of our children and not just seeing it, but feeling the weight of it.
SPEAKER_00: Weeping over that.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe we should see the the marriages that are struggling in our church and in our city and in our world and be broken by it and say, How can I is there something, God, you want me to step into there?
SPEAKER_00: And it might not be, but there might be something.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have a burden for young people and you think the students are running from God far too quickly and far too often.
SPEAKER_00: I should step in and feel that burden and pray, God, do you want me to step into that?
SPEAKER_00: We could go on and on and on and on, and that's what Nehemiah does.
SPEAKER_00: So don't automatically suppress a holy burden simply because it makes you uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes discomfort is the beginning of obedience.
SPEAKER_00: God's work through us most often begins with a burden in us.
SPEAKER_00: So Nehemiah teaches us something critical here.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what happened.
SPEAKER_00: So these are gonna layer.
SPEAKER_00: These aren't, these aren't in silos, these are layered.
SPEAKER_00: He saw the need, but he didn't just turn his eyes and say, Well, that's too bad.
SPEAKER_00: He felt the burden and he wept, and for days he prayed and he fasted.
SPEAKER_00: And now, though his burden did not just become something he felt, it moved him into action.
SPEAKER_00: His burden uh to led him to dependence on the Lord, and that's the third element here.
SPEAKER_00: When God burdens your heart, seek the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I see it.
SPEAKER_00: I want to see it.
SPEAKER_00: How's it going?
SPEAKER_00: I'm interested.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not I'm not trying to get out of this really quickly and just make sure that we don't ask any tough questions.
SPEAKER_00: I want to know how is it?
SPEAKER_00: How's it going?
SPEAKER_00: I want to see it, and when I see it, I want to feel it, and when I feel it, I want to go to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Before Nehemiah made plans, he prayed.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 4: I continued praying and fasting, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Everything Nehemiah will accomplish publicly is rooted in what he does privately.
SPEAKER_00: The book contains a lot about leadership, planning, and organization and delegation and courage and conflict management and perseverance.
SPEAKER_00: But before any of that lays on the pages of our Bibles, there is prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah is not just a builder.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I don't even know that he is a builder.
SPEAKER_00: He's a cutbearer.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that that qualifies him to be a GC at a building project, but he is a praying man.
SPEAKER_00: He runs to prayer all throughout the whole book.
SPEAKER_00: He turns to God.
SPEAKER_00: And the first prayer sets the tone.
SPEAKER_00: So I want us to slow down, and I just want us to hear his prayer.
SPEAKER_00: So before he talks to the king, chapter two, he's gonna talk to the king, but before he talks to the king, he talks to the king.
SPEAKER_00: Before he talks to the king, he talks to the God of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah needs something from Artaxerxes.
SPEAKER_00: He needs permission and authority and resources and protection.
SPEAKER_00: But Nehemiah understands that Artaxerxes may sit on Persia's throne, but God sits on heaven's throne.
SPEAKER_00: So before Nehemiah approaches the earthly king, he approaches the heavenly king.
SPEAKER_00: And in verse 5, he begins, O Lord God of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I love that because he just distinguishes God to whom he's praying as separate from all other gods.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Nehemiah understands that the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And so Nehemiah needs Artaxerxes to say yes, but Nehemiah knows that the heart of Artaxerxes is ultimately in God's hand.
SPEAKER_00: So where does he go?
SPEAKER_00: To God.
SPEAKER_00: There's a principle here.
SPEAKER_00: Never allow the size of the person that you need something from to be bigger in your mind than the God who rules over them.
SPEAKER_00: Your boss is not sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: The government is not sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: The economy is not sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: Your circumstances are not sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: God is sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: And so look at the anatomy of this prayer and how he breaks it down.
SPEAKER_00: First, he remembers God's character.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love.
SPEAKER_00: It's an adoration.
SPEAKER_00: It's a our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, kind of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: First, I'm just gonna recognize that this is a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: This is a big deal, but I'm gonna first recognize that though the wall is broken, God is not.
SPEAKER_00: And though the city is weak, God is not.
SPEAKER_00: And though the people are in trouble, God is not confused.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah had no idea how the story yet would unfold, but God already knew.
SPEAKER_00: And prayer did not make God bigger.
SPEAKER_00: God was already infinite, but prayer was the reminder for us and Nehemiah who God is.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why that's important, because some of us stare at our problems so long that our problems have become enormous and our God has become small in our thinking.
SPEAKER_00: We let our God live in the shadow of our problems.
SPEAKER_00: We let our God live in the shadow of the brokenness of our world.
SPEAKER_00: We let God live in the shadow cast by the brokenness of our city, rather than saying, God, you're the one above it all.
SPEAKER_00: You're the one over it all.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm starting right there.
SPEAKER_00: So he he recognizes, he remembers God's character and he adores him.
SPEAKER_00: And then, verse six and seven, he confesses sin.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what he says.
SPEAKER_00: He says, We have sinned.
SPEAKER_00: Again and again, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned.
SPEAKER_00: Even I and my father's house have sinned.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7, we have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments.
SPEAKER_00: We have sinned.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah recognizes that the deepest problem was not the wall, and the deepest problem wasn't those people.
SPEAKER_00: Did you get that?
SPEAKER_00: This is what we call first person plural.
SPEAKER_00: We.
SPEAKER_00: Not they.
SPEAKER_00: God, would you be patient with them?
SPEAKER_00: They're just a bunch of dumb people.
SPEAKER_00: No, we have sinned.
SPEAKER_00: Even I and my father's house, the wall is broken.
SPEAKER_00: He knew because something deeper was broken.
SPEAKER_00: Israel's relationship with God had been shattered by sin, and the ruins of the wall were the external evidences of internal rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: So Nehemiah understood you cannot merely repair the consequences while ignoring the cause.
SPEAKER_00: We can't just fix the wall, ignoring why the wall is broken.
SPEAKER_00: We can't just deal with the brokenness of the wall without dealing with the sin problem.
SPEAKER_00: We can't just clean up the streets without dealing with the reason why the streets are a mess.
SPEAKER_00: We can't just fix the brokenness of marriages without first realizing that there's a problem that runs deeper.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the problem was never Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: Israel and Nehemiah could have blamed Babylon since Babylon did destroy the city.
SPEAKER_00: But Babylon was able to destroy the city because Israel had rejected God and God used Babylon to bring judgment.
SPEAKER_00: This is why Nehemiah confesses sin.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah was not ignorant to the real problem.
SPEAKER_00: The real problem wasn't a construction problem, the real problem was a spiritual problem.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why this is important because I and we humans are often more interested in fixing the consequences of sin than confronting the sin itself.
SPEAKER_00: We want fixed marriages without repentance.
SPEAKER_00: We want peace without forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: We want stronger families without spiritual leadership.
SPEAKER_00: We want healthier churches without holiness.
SPEAKER_00: We want a better culture without transformed hearts.
SPEAKER_00: This is the lie of the world.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just educate people better.
SPEAKER_00: That'll help reform the world.
SPEAKER_00: And the reality is that there's a bigger problem, and that's a heart problem, a sin problem.
SPEAKER_00: And Nehemiah notices that.
SPEAKER_00: So he adds himself we, not culture, not parents, not churches, not politicians, not my wife or husband, not our children.
SPEAKER_00: Me, we, even I and my father.
SPEAKER_00: And then in verse 8 and 9, he remembers God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses.
SPEAKER_00: Is this Nehemiah reminding God something God forgot?
SPEAKER_00: No, this is covenant prayer language.
SPEAKER_00: He is appealing in his prayer to what God had already promised.
SPEAKER_00: He essentially is saying, God, you told Moses that if your people were unfaithful, they would be scattered.
SPEAKER_00: But you also told them that if they returned to you and kept your commandments, though they were outcast to the uttermost parts of heaven, you would gather them together.
SPEAKER_00: So Nehemiah's prayer here is saturated.
SPEAKER_00: There's all sorts of theological things there, but his prayer is saturated with the word.
SPEAKER_00: So Nehemiah is saying, God, do what you said you would do.
SPEAKER_00: And this is how we should pray.
SPEAKER_00: This is how we should pray.
SPEAKER_00: One of the strongest prayer habits we can develop is learning to pray scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you pray scripture, your desires are shaped by God's desires.
SPEAKER_00: Your priorities become God's priorities, and your requests become rooted in truth.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of merely asking God to bless what you want, you begin wanting what God has revealed, and his word begins to shape your prayers and your asking.
SPEAKER_00: So you pray for marriages from Ephesians 5.
SPEAKER_00: You pray for your children from Deuteronomy 6.
SPEAKER_00: You pray for wisdom from James 1.
SPEAKER_00: You pray for spiritual strength from Ephesians 3.
SPEAKER_00: You pray for boldness from Acts 4.
SPEAKER_00: You pray for lost people from Romans 10.
SPEAKER_00: You pray for your church from Philippians chapter 1 and 2.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah's prayer is powerful because God's word has shaped Nehemiah's burden.
SPEAKER_00: And then notice what he does in verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: He remembers God's redemption.
SPEAKER_00: They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and your strong hand.
SPEAKER_00: This is Exodus language.
SPEAKER_00: This is you redeemed them.
SPEAKER_00: You heard their cries in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: You sent them Moses.
SPEAKER_00: You brought them plagues against Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: You delivered the people.
SPEAKER_00: You split the Red Sea.
SPEAKER_00: You brought them out of uh with your mighty hand.
SPEAKER_00: So Nehemiah looks back and says, God, these people belong to you because you redeemed them.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need to remind you that, but I'm just praying gospel redemption prayers.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a prayer to Israel's worthiness.
SPEAKER_00: Israel had already demonstrated they are unworthy.
SPEAKER_00: This is an appeal to God's grace.
SPEAKER_00: You redeemed us.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we do as Christians in light of not the exodus redemption, but in light of the better redemption, the redemption of Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: So what we do in our prayers is we recall, we recall that Christ redeemed us.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're appealing to you not on the basis of our merit, we're appealing to you on the basis of your grace.
SPEAKER_00: I'm asking and I'm praying, you put a burden in my heart, and we, your people, who you saved and who you redeemed through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, I'm calling on that covenant relationship that we have with you because of your redemption.
SPEAKER_00: Now he makes his request.
SPEAKER_00: Did you get that?
SPEAKER_00: He he first remembers who God is, he confesses sin, he latches on to some truths in the word, and then he reminds himself and he appeals to the redemptive position of his people.
SPEAKER_00: And now he makes his request.
SPEAKER_00: After worship, after confession, after scripture, after remembering the redemption, Nehemiah asks in verse 11 give success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.
SPEAKER_00: Now we discover that while Nehemiah has been praying, a plan has begun forming.
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to talk to the king.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if Nehemiah did I don't I don't want to read into this, but he doesn't say anything about talking to the king until after he prays.
SPEAKER_00: And he's just sitting there in prayer days, weeks maybe, fasting and praying and mourning and worshiping and probably praying scripture and remembering the redemption that we are your people.
SPEAKER_00: And in all of that, towards the end of his prayer, he's like, I think it's clear what I need to do.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm asking you, would you give success to your servant today and grant him mercy in the sight of this man?
SPEAKER_00: And that was his commitment in prayer that he's not just going to pray about it because prayer is not a substitute for action.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer prepares us for action.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah doesn't say, I prayed, therefore I've done my part.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we do, right?
SPEAKER_00: I'll pray about that.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray about it, and then that's it.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what did you do?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we prayed about it.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we did.
SPEAKER_00: All I can do is pray.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's the phrase, right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, all we can do is pray.
SPEAKER_00: And you're right.
SPEAKER_00: Certainly there's truth to that.
SPEAKER_00: But biblical prayer is not merely all we can do.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is the first and greatest thing we can do, and genuine prayer often leads to obedient action.
SPEAKER_00: And so this man, burdened with this need, there's a need, the glory of God is disgraced, the walls are broken down, my people are in trouble.
SPEAKER_00: There's a real spiritual need, so I see it.
SPEAKER_00: I see it, and what I see affects my heart.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm now burdened by it.
SPEAKER_00: And my burden is not anxiety, I'm bringing it to God in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And in my prayer, for God to do something and show me what he wants me to do, I am recognizing who he is, I am confessing my sin.
SPEAKER_00: I am calling on the promises of his word, and I am asking him to remember we are his redeemed people.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want you to see number four, because these stack, these aren't separate.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what I'll say it this way.
SPEAKER_00: When God burdens your heart, know your place.
SPEAKER_00: When God burdens your heart, see the need.
SPEAKER_00: Feel the weight, seek the Lord, and know your place.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I think the entire text gets us to.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we spent all the minutes I've given to you now to this point up to.
SPEAKER_00: He finishes with one sentence.
SPEAKER_00: Now I was the cupbearer to the king.
SPEAKER_00: Why mention that?
SPEAKER_00: Why end the chapter there?
SPEAKER_00: I think it's because the sentence reveals the providence of God.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah had just prayed, grant me mercy in the sight of this man, and the understanding is that this man is King Artaxerxes.
SPEAKER_00: So I need we, God's people need favor with this guy.
SPEAKER_00: And I think I think Nehemiah was probably like, who is uniquely positioned to talk to that guy?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, wait.
SPEAKER_00: I am.
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm a cupbearer.
SPEAKER_00: What's a cupbearer?
SPEAKER_00: It's not merely the person who poured drink.
SPEAKER_00: He's not a bus boy.
SPEAKER_00: It was a position of extraordinary trust.
SPEAKER_00: Ancient kings had enemies.
SPEAKER_00: Poison was a real concern.
SPEAKER_00: The cupbearer was had access to the king's food and the king's drink.
SPEAKER_00: This meant he had to be trustworthy and he had regular access to the king.
SPEAKER_00: So much so that we're gonna see in chapter 2 the king noticed when he was down.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah then occupies a position near the center of political power.
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly you begin to see the providence of God.
SPEAKER_00: Suddenly you begin to see that God had the Nehemiah in the palace before Nehemiah ever knew there was a problem with the wall.
SPEAKER_00: Before Hananiah arrived, Nehemiah was already the cupbearer.
SPEAKER_00: Before Nehemiah wept, he was already the cupbearer.
SPEAKER_00: Before Nehemiah began praying, he was already the cupbearer.
SPEAKER_00: Before the burden entered his heart, God had already positioned his life where it was.
SPEAKER_00: God was working before Nehemiah knew God was working.
SPEAKER_00: That's providence.
SPEAKER_00: God's providence precedes our awareness.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah may have thought, this is my job.
SPEAKER_00: God may have been saying, No, this is your assignment.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah may have thought, this is how I earn my living.
SPEAKER_00: God was using it as a strategic positioning.
SPEAKER_00: And that is where the fourth point really, really hits us.
SPEAKER_00: Know your place.
SPEAKER_00: You think you're a pilot, or you think you're a fireman, or you think you're a policeman, or you think you're a teacher, or you think you're a salesman, or you think you're a mother or a father.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what you do.
SPEAKER_00: Those are divine assignments that God in his gracious providence has said.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't coincidence.
SPEAKER_00: This is where I have you for a specific purpose.
SPEAKER_00: So when we say know your place, I'm not saying know your place, don't get out of line.
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying know where God has placed you.
SPEAKER_00: Recognize the people that God has placed around you, recognize the influence he has given you, recognize the experience he has allowed you to have, recognize the resources he has entrusted to you, the relationships he has built around you, and the opportunities already in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: You are where you are for a reason, as was said of Esther, for such a time as this, you've come to the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Or Joseph, who God meant it for good, what those meant for evil.
SPEAKER_00: And Joseph said, God sent me before you to preserve life, even though you sold me into slavery.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe you're a parent, don't underestimate your place.
SPEAKER_00: God has put children under your spiritual influence.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're a teacher and you're surrounded every day by young lives.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're a business owner and God has given you influence and resources and employees.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're a coach and God has placed around you people who you may uh who may listen to you that will listen to a few other people.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're a student and your high school is not merely somewhere you go, but it may be somewhere that God has sent you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're retired and you need to understand that you may have time, wisdom, and relationships and resources that God wants to use.
SPEAKER_00: Do not look at your life as I am coincidentally a cupbearer, or I'm just a cupbearer.
SPEAKER_00: No, you are a cupbearer, placed in the house of the king by the providence of God for such a time as this.
SPEAKER_00: So the question isn't, God, get me out of this.
SPEAKER_00: The question, rather, or the declaration is, God, is there something you want to do through me while I'm here?
SPEAKER_00: Know your place.
SPEAKER_00: The burden and the place, by the way, often connect.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes God places in you a burden that He has already provide in your heart a burden that He has already providentially placed you in a position to help meet.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it's if it's like the weight of the reality, but I feel like we need to feel that.
SPEAKER_00: Christopher Wright said, we often ask, where does God fit into the story of my life?
SPEAKER_00: When the real question is, where does my life fit into the great story of God's mission?
SPEAKER_00: So know your place.
SPEAKER_00: Know your place.
SPEAKER_00: I know where you've put me, I'm there.
SPEAKER_00: And I respond like Isaiah, when God asks, Whom shall I send?
SPEAKER_00: I say, Here am I, send me.
SPEAKER_00: Now I don't want to make Nehemiah the hero here because Nehemiah fails, and we're gonna see that throughout the study.
SPEAKER_00: Here he's acting noble and brave and valiant.
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the story, he's punching people and pulling out hair.
SPEAKER_00: And the reality is that Nehemiah here only models for us, but fails again as our ultimate savior, what only Jesus one day will fulfill.
SPEAKER_00: When he came, he intercedes, he sacrificed, he saw our need, felt our burden, and stepped into our world so that he might die for our sin, something Nehemiah never could do.
SPEAKER_00: And we need to remember that.
SPEAKER_00: So here's where we go.
SPEAKER_00: We come back to the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: How does the rebuilding of Jerusalem begin?
SPEAKER_00: Listen, the problem wasn't broken down walls, the problem wasn't a construction problem, the problem wasn't resources, and the problem wasn't crews, the problem was sin and brokenness, and it was a heart issue.
SPEAKER_00: And hundreds of miles away, one man asks a question, he hears an answer, he sees something broken, and he cannot shake it.
SPEAKER_00: So he sees the need.
SPEAKER_00: He feels the weight, he seeks the Lord, and he knows his place.
SPEAKER_00: God, you've placed me here.
SPEAKER_00: I can do something about that.
SPEAKER_00: The need is clear.
SPEAKER_00: I can see it.
SPEAKER_00: I feel it.
SPEAKER_00: I want to help into that.
SPEAKER_00: I want to step into that.
SPEAKER_00: Not every one of us can do everything or anything that maybe Nehemiah did, but we all have a part to play in the mission.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to ask you, would you see the need?
SPEAKER_00: Would you would you see the need with us that we are not a church that's just trying to hunker down until Jesus comes?
SPEAKER_00: But we live in a dark world, in a place that needs uh uh spiritual revival and new hearts.
SPEAKER_00: See the need and feel the weight.
SPEAKER_00: And then seek the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we we don't want to miss this.
SPEAKER_00: Use us.
SPEAKER_00: And you've placed me uniquely in this role, at this job, in this neighborhood, with these friends and these people, and I just want to represent you.
SPEAKER_00: I want to live as the King's Cupbearer because you've placed me there for a purpose.
SPEAKER_00: God's work through us, it begins most often with a burden in us.
SPEAKER_00: So let me give you three quick, I'll be quick.
SPEAKER_00: I know we're out of time.
SPEAKER_00: Three quick truth to life questions we need to take with us as we go.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, let me ask this, and you ask this of yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Who am I trusting to rebuild what sin has broken?
SPEAKER_00: Great lessons, great evidences of God are here for sure.
SPEAKER_00: Nehemiah is gonna be a savior, though he's not the ultimate savior.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, you need to know this that that Jerusalem had spiritual, had physical walls broken down that were indicators of spiritual conditions.
SPEAKER_00: And the reality is that every man born into our world, into this world, has a broken down spiritual condition caused by sin.
SPEAKER_00: And that sin needs a savior, and Nehemiah can't save you, and I can't save you, and this building can't save you, and no amount of good works can save you.
SPEAKER_00: What you need is the better Nehemiah.
SPEAKER_00: You need the one who completed the saving, who actually did not just rebuild walls, did not just reform living, but transforms hearts.
SPEAKER_00: That's our Savior Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And we see glimpses of him here in Nehemiah.
SPEAKER_00: We see the fullness of him revealed in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus died to save you from the brokenness caused by your sin in ways that Nehemiah never could.
SPEAKER_00: So trust him, run to him.
SPEAKER_00: He's your savior, he's worthy of following, and he will never punch you and pull your hair out like Nehemiah eventually will.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, what burden is God placing on my heart?
SPEAKER_00: What burden do I need to see and feel the weight of and seek the Lord for?
SPEAKER_00: What burden is God placing on my heart?
SPEAKER_00: Name it, name it in your mind, name it in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's my kids, it's my neighborhood, it's my home, it's students, it's young adults, it's small groups, it's marriages, it's the casino that I work in, or it's the place where I am.
SPEAKER_00: What is the burden?
SPEAKER_00: Name it, see it, follow the Lord to it.
SPEAKER_00: And lastly, do I see where God has placed me and why?
SPEAKER_00: Do I see it?
SPEAKER_00: Am I aware?
SPEAKER_00: Do I know my place?
SPEAKER_00: Listen, you may not know your place all the way.
SPEAKER_00: You may be like, I still don't know why I'm here, but I'm gonna trust that God has not lost me, that this isn't coincidental, but this is providential, and I'm going to use the circle God has given me and the influence God has given me to make an impact for the world around me.
SPEAKER_00: And I trust that God will use you in great, significant ways.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Father, help us.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the story of Nehemiah.
SPEAKER_00: We spent some time introducing it, yes, but I pray that it would help us as we gear up for the rest of the study to see what you want us to see through a man who you burdened.
SPEAKER_00: And we're not trying to make an extraordinary superhero out of him.
SPEAKER_00: He certainly had his failures, but we love to see how you work in your people when you burden them and call them and use them and providentially place them.
SPEAKER_00: And so help us to see that and help us to receive that burden, see it, feel it, trust you in it, and know that you have providentially placed us in a spot for it.
SPEAKER_00: We are thankful for that.
SPEAKER_00: We love you.
SPEAKER_00: Help us now.
SPEAKER_00: And if somebody here is trusting in something other than the perfect fulfillment as a Savior in Jesus Christ, I pray that you'd save them and help them to trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We love you and we thank you.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name I pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.