WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:00.959 Amen. 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:03.040 Man, you may be seated. 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:04.400 Well, good morning. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:05.839 Welcome to life. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:06.559 My name's Andrew. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:09.199 I'm one of the pastors here, and it's an honor to have you with us. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:10.160 It's good to see you. 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:13.919 If you're a guest with us, let me add my welcome to that which has already been extended. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:18.800 Chuck already welcomed you, I know, but let me just say we're glad you're here, and we would love to know you. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:19.839 We would love to meet you. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:21.519 I would love to know you and meet you. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:24.800 Sometimes I sit back here and I think I don't know that I've met that family. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:30.399 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. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:37.920 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. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:44.000 Well, God meets with his people, we know that, and when he does, good things happen, and we're gonna expect that again today. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:47.520 And one of the things we do when we meet is we open God's word. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:54.399 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. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:55.520 That's not how this works. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:03.920 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. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:09.920 Uh we let the scripture guide us, what the scripture says we want to say, where it guides, how it structures, how it flows. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:10.799 We want to flow with that. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:22.959 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. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:28.000 And now today we are starting a new series through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:30.799 So if you have your Bible, turn there to Nehemiah. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:35.200 We are, if you have not received one yet, we have these available out in the lobby. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:37.120 This is such a cool resource. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:44.640 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. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:46.400 And so we'd encourage you to grab one of these. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:48.959 They are for sale, but they're not for sale for profit. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:51.439 Uh they are sale just to cover the expense of this. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:52.560 It's such a cool tool. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:56.480 We want you to have this and put this uh in your library or on your stand. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:01.920 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. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:08.319 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. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:10.400 And we think these are great tools for you to do that. 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:12.719 If you have another system, great, use that system. 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:17.680 This is just one of the options that we want to make available to you out there in in the lobby. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:22.400 Nehemiah chapter one, we're starting it today, and what an incredible book this is. 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:30.400 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. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:41.680 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. 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:52.240 Reading about Samuel Langley uh in the early 1900s, he was determined to be the first man to achieve powered flight. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:53.360 He was determined. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:56.000 In fact, from what I understand, he was brilliant. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:58.080 I didn't know him, I wasn't alive back then. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.240 If you know him, let me know how brilliant he was. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:05.840 But he was a brilliant scientist and he had written extensively on aerodynamics. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:07.680 Uh, he had government funding. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:11.360 He even sat on the board or was over the Smithson Institutes. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:14.319 Uh, he had an elite team working alongside of him. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:23.759 But after years of prototypes and failure after failure, Langley eventually gave up and he declared that flight was impossible for humans. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:37.039 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. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:42.080 It's interesting because they didn't have any scientific training or at least nothing to noteworthy. 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:53.919 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. 00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:02.479 But the Wright brothers had something that Samuel Langley eventually lost, and that was a conviction that flight was possible. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:11.680 So they kept going, and on December 17th, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright lifted off the ground and made it history. 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:19.600 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. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:27.600 As one man wrote, they had a vision of what could be coupled with a conviction about what should be. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.720 We could do this and we should do this. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:43.759 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. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:48.959 And in many ways, that's where the story of Nehemiah begins. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:05:00.800 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. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:04.639 What it begins with is a man with a burden. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:15.040 Nehemiah hears that Jerusalem is broken, and he becomes convinced that something should be done. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:22.959 That burden that he was given by God becomes a vision, and the vision moves him into action. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:30.079 And through this one man's burden, Nehemiah's burden, God is going to accomplish an incredible work. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:31.680 Nehemiah's interesting. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:38.480 In some of the oldest uh versions of the Bible compiled, Ezra and Nehemiah were considered one book. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:41.680 And I'll explain to that in a speak to that in just a second. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.720 But I want you to understand the history of how we got here. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:46.079 We've got to understand the history. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:47.199 This is a great book. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:50.000 There's a lot to be learned here, but how did we get here? 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:54.480 We have to place Nehemiah in the larger story of Scripture. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:58.800 Now, Jerusalem's broken walls, that's what we're gonna see again and again. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:00.639 We're gonna talk about broken walls. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:05.199 It's it's really about much more than a neglected construction project. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:09.439 It wasn't an economic downturn that left a building project half done. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:21.040 The ruins of the walls represented centuries of rebellion and judgment and covenant faithfulness and the mercies of God. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:28.959 So just to take a journey back as quickly as possible, let's go all the way back to when God called out Abraham. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:40.079 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. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:46.959 Now, fast forward a little bit, Israel, the people of Israel, ended up in Egypt because of the leadership of Joseph. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.199 The end of Genesis explains that. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:53.199 And then Egypt began to be oppressive on the people of Israel. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:07:02.399 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. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:09.600 And he entered into a covenant with them and he gave them his law, and he brought them into the promised land. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:17.920 And eventually, after a pretty bad king who was pretty tough and strong looking named Saul, David became the king of Israel. 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:19.839 Jerusalem became the capital. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:30.160 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. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:33.120 But Israel repeatedly rebelled. 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:42.480 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. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.879 And God warned them repeatedly. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:51.920 Deuteronomy 28 makes it clear that covenant rebellion would eventually uh result in judgment and exile. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:54.480 And God sent prophet after prophet. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:56.000 That's what the prophets are all about. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:00.399 The prophet after prophet after prophet came, calling his people to repentance. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:09.600 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. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:14.560 So he sent prophet after prophet because he loved them and he uh had compassion on them. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:20.319 But God's warnings were evidence of his compassion, and every prophetic word was another expression of mercy. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:22.720 Turn back, come back home, return to me. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:31.600 But 2 Chronicles 36, 16 says they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.120 Eventually judgment came, and that led to the fall. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:42.639 In 586 BC, we know that Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem. 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:45.600 2 Kings 25 describes it. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.879 The temple was burned, the palace was burned. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.440 This is known as the Babylonian captivity. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:57.679 The important buildings were burned, the city walls were torn down, the people were carried away. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.080 Jerusalem became a ruin. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:04.559 And the problem wasn't Babylon, the problem was sin. 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.120 The problem was brokenness in the people. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:12.399 The broken wall was the visible evidence of a deeper spiritual brokenness. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:15.679 And now the people were living in captivity. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:17.200 Israel had rejected God. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:20.879 Jerusalem's ruins represented the consequences of their rebellion. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.080 And yet even then God was not finished. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:30.000 Jeremiah had prophesied after 70 years God would bring his people back. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:32.559 And God did exactly what he said. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:40.559 Here's what happens: Babylon, which is like modern day Iraq, is is taken over, conquered by Persia. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:45.840 That's the rise of the Persian Empire, which is kind of like modern day Iran and the surrounding areas. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:47.679 And Cyrus became king. 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:54.399 And amazingly, you can read this: Cyrus allowed Jewish exiles to return to their homeland. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:10:01.039 Now there are three major movements you should keep in mind as we study Nehemiah and keep in mind Ezra. 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:04.480 There's the first movement, which is the movement and return of Zerubbabel. 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:13.279 Zerubbabel leads a group back to Jerusalem, and eventually the temple is rebuilt after some prophesying and work. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:17.200 The second wave of return is led by Ezra. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:28.399 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. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:31.120 And it's a great read, and we will study it one day. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:37.039 But the third wave of return is led by Nehemiah, and that's in the fifth century BC. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:37.679 We meet him. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:39.519 The temple has been rebuilt. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.639 Jewish people are now living in Jerusalem. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:48.480 Worship has been restored in some measure, but the city remains vulnerable. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.000 It remains disgraced because the job's not done. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:11:00.159 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. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.840 And Nehemiah is about 900 miles away or so. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:08.240 He's in a place called Susa, one of the capitals of the Persian Empire. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.080 This is where chapter one begins. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:13.120 You just got a snapshot history of Israel in the Old Testament. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:15.120 So hopefully you remember all of that. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:17.120 Listen, this is where we are. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:23.679 So Nehemiah now is in the Persian Empire, and he is experiencing the burden that God gives him. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:28.720 Now, before we unpack that burden, I want you to think about what I think John MacArthur rightly says here. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.080 Just quote from his book. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:45.919 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. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:47.200 I love that. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:54.960 Deep trust and unflinching obedience to Almighty God results in the accomplishment of the impossible. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:12:11.120 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. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:12.879 That's what we're about to study. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:15.360 So we're not just studying a construction project. 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:19.840 We're studying much more than that, preserved for us, written by God in our Bible. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:33.039 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. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:35.039 So I want to unpack this together with you this morning. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:40.240 So let's get our understanding now, understanding where the history is of what Nehemiah chapter 1 is teaching us. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:42.080 I'm going to read verses 1 through 11. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:44.159 So if you have your Bibles open, let's read it together. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:44.960 I'll read out loud. 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:46.320 You follow along silently. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:48.960 And these are God's words for us today. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.960 The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah. 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:56.080 Now it happened in the month of Chislev. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:01.360 In the 20th year, I was in Susa, the citadel. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:07.039 That Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:15.200 And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, or who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:25.200 And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:31.039 The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire. 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:37.600 As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:45.440 And I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven for days, days, weeks probably is what we understand. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:53.840 And I said, This is probably the prayer on repeat that he said over those weeks of fasting and praying and weeping and mourning. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:03.200 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. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:19.759 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. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:23.120 Even I and my father's house have sinned. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:31.759 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:41.360 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are faithful, I will unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:55.120 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. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:02.080 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:15.519 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. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:20.080 Now I was cupbearer to the king. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:23.440 Great start. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:34.000 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. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:35.679 It begins in the heart. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:40.240 And over the top of our text today sits this big idea. 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:41.039 Jot this down. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:50.720 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. 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:59.679 Before there was ever a wall built around Jerusalem, there is a burden built inside Nehemiah. 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:08.240 And before God works through a man, most often, if not every time, God begins to put a burden in that man. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:13.600 Very often, when God intends to do a work through one of his people, he first does a work in that person. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:17.360 Before God uses our lives, he burdens our hearts. 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.519 And that's that's what's happening here. 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:35.600 And here he is about to move, but before he moves, he experiences this burden God placed in him. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:46.559 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. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:53.759 How should we respond when God gives us a burden, a clear weight, a clear call? 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:55.039 How do we respond? 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:55.759 What do we do? 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.840 What's the proper way to think about this? 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:02.159 And how does that lead to the discovering of God's will and plan for our lives? 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:09.759 And so from Nehemiah, I want us to see four reactions to the burden that God gives Nehemiah. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:13.359 That I hope you and I will take today, that we can learn from today. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:15.759 So here's how we'll do it. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:22.160 When God burdens your heart, there are four reactions we we must have. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:26.400 Number one, when God burdens your heart, see the need. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:30.480 When God burdens your heart, see the need. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:33.599 Now here's what's interesting. 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.000 Nehemiah cared enough. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:41.200 He was interested enough in what God was doing and what God's people were doing. 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:48.640 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. 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:49.680 He was in Susa. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:55.519 Susa was not Jerusalem, it was not Judah, it was a royal city, and it was the center of Persian power. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:57.200 Now set the scene here. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:01.359 Nehemiah is serving as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:03.839 So understand the contrast. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.000 Jerusalem is in ruins. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:08.400 Nehemiah is in a palace. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:10.640 Jerusalem is vulnerable. 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:12.559 Nehemiah is secure. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:15.279 Jerusalem is experiencing disgrace. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:19.039 Nehemiah has achieved a respected position. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:27.200 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. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:29.519 What can I do from here? 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:34.640 He had never personally experienced the destruction of Jerusalem. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:36.799 It happened generations earlier. 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:39.039 He was born into exile. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.680 Persia was the only home he had ever known. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:50.640 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. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:19:01.359 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. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:02.960 He asked the question. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:07.039 The entire book begins with a question. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:09.279 And Nehemiah wanted to know. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:14.880 He did not remain intentionally ignorant, because ignorance would have been much easier. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.680 And here's the principle I think we gather from that. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:23.359 Sometimes we never receive the burden because we have intentionally avoided seeing the need. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:25.359 We don't ask. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:26.880 We don't look. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:28.640 We don't listen. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.759 Because once I know, I might have to care, and once I care, I might have to act. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.640 And Nehemiah asks, How are the people? 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:38.400 How's Jerusalem? 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:46.960 And Han and I answers, verse 3 the remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:56.640 Trouble and shame because the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:58.799 And we need to understand why this matters. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:00.559 Why did the wall matter? 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:06.400 When we hear about a wall, we tend to think about a broken fence, a damaged property line. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:11.039 Maybe you got a cinder block wall that a tree's uprooted and cracked, and that's kind of what you have in mind. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:12.720 Like, oh no, that wall's about to fall. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:14.799 Don't jump on that wall, kids, because it's gonna fall. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:19.039 And we kind of think that kind of way, maybe, or we think maybe the fence has been cut. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:24.880 But ancient cities were not just walls to make sure that our neighbors couldn't peep in on our activities in the backyard. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:27.039 These were places of protection. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:28.960 This was security. 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:30.160 This was order. 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:32.319 This was a sign of strength. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:37.599 A city without a functioning wall could not control who came in or went out. 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:39.680 It was an exposed city. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:43.359 It was a vulnerable city to raiders and enemies. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:48.480 But Jerusalem's wall carried an even greater significance that we need to understand. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:50.319 This was Jerusalem. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:52.559 This was the city of David. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:57.839 This was the place associated with the temple of God and the worship of God. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:01.759 So the city connected with God's covenant promises. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:04.400 So this was more than an infrastructure problem. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:05.839 It was a reproach. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:07.519 It was a shame. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:11.359 It was supposed to testify of the greatness of God. 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:15.680 Instead, the city was a visible reminder of Israel's devastation. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:18.720 This was the city of our God according to Psalm 48. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:24.480 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? 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:28.000 Now people could look at Jerusalem and see rubble. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:36.880 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. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:43.039 The people had become complacent and were now neglecting God's city and God's temple and God's people. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:48.799 They had become more interested in personal pursuits, in making secure places for themselves. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.759 You can read this throughout the minor prophets. 00:21:51.920 --> 00:21:57.279 They neglected the work that God had delivered them for, and there began to be this erosion. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:21:59.839 And this is true physically in Jerusalem. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.839 Jerusalem, which is a representative of oftentimes the posture of our hearts. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:06.400 It's a very real threat in the lives of any person. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:07.839 Erosion is. 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:11.279 Where we once stood strong, we can begin to waver. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:16.559 Where we had firm convictions and dedicated commitment, we now waver and we compromise. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:18.240 This is the case for anything. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:23.680 Marriages erode and churches erode and Christian faithfulness erodes and countries erode. 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:34.000 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. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:38.319 So God's people had returned, but restoration was incomplete. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:41.359 And now Nehemiah sees the need. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:43.119 Burden was placed in his heart. 00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:46.319 And there's a difference, by the way, between looking and seeing. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:50.000 We can look at the same people every day and never really see them. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:53.680 We can look through the same neighborhood and never really see it. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:57.759 We can live with the same family and miss what is happening in our family spiritually. 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:01.119 We can attend the same church and never see where people are hurting. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:05.759 We can live in the same city and never really see the lostness in our city. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:07.359 And that's what Nehemiah did. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:07.920 He saw. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:09.519 He saw like Jesus saw. 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:13.440 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, Matthew 9.36. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:17.519 He didn't merely see bodies of people, he saw sheep without a shepherd. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:20.799 He saw beneath the surface, he saw their brokenness. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:23.039 This is the kind of sight Nehemiah has. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:25.119 And here's the point I want us to get. 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:28.799 We will rarely be burdened by something we refuse to truly see. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:36.400 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. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:47.359 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. 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:52.000 You will never be burdened by your own spiritual place if you never really stop to see. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:56.559 And so perhaps the prayer that Nehemiah is praying is, God, open my eyes. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:58.000 That's what we need to pray. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:00.880 Not God, show me what's wrong with the world. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:03.440 We got enough news to tell us that, right? 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:05.519 But help me see with eyes. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:07.680 Help me see what you want me to see. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:09.839 Help me see what actually is happening. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:11.279 Help me see the brokenness. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:12.319 Help me care. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:15.920 Ask the question what might God be trying to show me today? 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:17.519 That's what Nehemiah does, right? 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:18.720 He says, How's it going? 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:19.920 What's happening there? 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:29.440 He wanted to see, and then what he saw didn't just explain Nehemiah, because information alone didn't turn Nehemiah into this man. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:30.640 Something else happened. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:33.119 The need moved from his head into his heart. 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:37.039 So when God burdens your heart, you need to see the need for sure, see it. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:43.440 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. 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:44.559 That's number two. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:46.960 When God burdens your heart, feel the weight. 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:47.839 See the need? 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:48.400 Yes. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:50.240 Number two, feel the weight. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:50.880 Let's put that up. 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:51.279 There it is. 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:51.680 There it is. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:52.559 Feel the weight. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:54.319 That's verse four. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:58.480 As soon as I heard these words, notice what he did. 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:01.279 I sat down and wept and mourned for days. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.039 Did you notice the progression? 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:04.319 He sat down. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:06.319 The report stopped him. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:07.759 And he wept. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:09.680 And he mourned. 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:13.119 And he fasted and he prayed. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:15.759 Not, well, that's too bad. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:17.119 That's how we are, right? 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:17.680 How are you? 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:21.759 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. 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:23.119 I hope that gets better for you. 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:25.039 That's not Nehemiah. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:27.519 Nehemiah was broken by the need. 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:30.880 He was broken by the shame and disgrace that God was experiencing. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:33.680 And he didn't say someone should really do something about that. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:38.000 See, a need is something you know, a burden is something you carry. 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:40.079 There are thousands of needs you know about. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:41.359 You know that there is poverty. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:42.960 You know that there are hurting marriages. 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:45.759 You know that there are brokenness, uh, that there are lost people. 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:47.759 You know that there are missionaries who need workers. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:49.119 You and I know this. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:51.920 You know that students are walking away from the faith. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:54.960 You know that the city we live in is in a spiritual brokenness. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:59.759 But occasionally, God takes something you know and makes it something you feel. 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:02.640 You feel the weight, and you can't just dismiss it. 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:05.039 I'm not talking about anxiety, that's different. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:09.440 I'm not talking about this dependent on you try to figure it out anxiety. 00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:16.160 I'm just talking about a deep uh burden that God wants to do something in you and through you for. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:36.480 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. 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:38.720 God, how can I be a part of this? 00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:42.240 Godly people are a moved people. 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:52.880 Sometimes Christians unintentionally treat emotional detachment as some form of maturity, as though deep feeling is somehow less spiritual. 00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:54.640 Like we better not feel this. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:56.400 And that's just not what happens. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:03.039 In fact, if you look throughout scripture, men of God regularly felt an emotional, real, and spiritual burden. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:07.839 Think about Moses in Exodus 2, says he looked upon the burdens of his people. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:13.039 Hannah said she wept before God because of the deep longing of her heart. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:18.720 Jeremiah the prophet said, Oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:26.240 Paul said, I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, because he longed for his fellow Israelites to be saved. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:29.279 And in Acts 20, he said he warned them with tears. 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:35.839 Jesus says of him in Luke 19, 41, that when he drew near he saw the city and he wept over it. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:40.799 There was something he saw that moved in his heart, a burden. 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:44.559 And I think that's a good place for the church to be, don't you? 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:48.720 That's a great place for the church to be, that we would see the brokenness of our world. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:53.279 And not, I'm not talking politics and I'm not talking who you vote for or any of that stuff. 00:27:53.359 --> 00:28:07.359 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. 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:10.079 That's what God does when God burdens your heart. 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:17.039 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. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:18.799 Nehemiah is comfortable. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:23.440 He's in Susa, he's in the powerhouse of the world, he's in a superpower. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:27.680 He refuses, though, to allow his comfort to kill compassion. 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:30.000 Comfort can do that. 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:31.920 Comfort says, My family's okay. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:32.880 I don't gotta worry about it. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:33.680 My family's okay. 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:36.079 I don't know about that family, but mine's okay. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:38.160 My bills are paid. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:42.000 My church is okay, the air conditioner mostly works. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:45.440 My kids are fine, my life is busy. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.160 I don't have time to think deeply about what is broken. 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:57.279 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. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:00.240 And other people's spiritual darkness never bothers us. 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:04.400 The Christian life, though, is not a call to see how comfortable can I make my life. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:10.559 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. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:12.640 That's what we're called to. 00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:17.039 See, the difference is between seeing and carrying. 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:23.920 My son is, and again, you guys always warn me, don't use your kids too much as illustrations, but how do I not? 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:26.319 They're just like living illustration factories. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:27.119 So here it is. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:41.440