back to index2016-01-17 Nehemiah's Prayer For The Nation PT1
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>>Thank you Andrew. And again I actually asked him not to 00:00:07.440 |
speak too much about the particulars about Japan because 00:00:11.380 |
he was so eager to present. He had slides and he wanted to do 00:00:14.820 |
like, "Hey, let's go evangelize Japan." And I said, "Because 00:00:17.920 |
it's Sunday worship we have to kind of limit it to just your 00:00:20.060 |
testimony." In the future when we have more time we want to 00:00:23.300 |
give him an opportunity to share with us because there is a lot 00:00:26.840 |
more that they desire to share if you ask him. We're hoping and 00:00:31.300 |
praying possibly in the future because they are going to 00:00:33.940 |
continue their relationship out in Japan. And so they are going 00:00:37.640 |
to, at least they are planning to go back there as often as 00:00:40.840 |
they can to continue the work that they were part of. And so 00:00:44.180 |
maybe in the future God would open the door that that may 00:00:47.080 |
happen. One of the things that I was kind of surprised about 00:00:51.320 |
Japan, and again along with their testimony and other people 00:00:55.860 |
that have shared with us about sharing the Gospel in Japan is 00:00:58.160 |
the persecution that happens in Japan. You know you think about 00:01:01.300 |
persecution, you think about the Middle East, or North Korea, 00:01:03.800 |
or maybe even India. But you know there is a saying in 00:01:07.940 |
Japan like, "The nail that sticks out is the one that 00:01:10.780 |
gets hammered." So, if you are different than the people 00:01:14.540 |
around you, you kind of get persecuted. And the more 00:01:17.580 |
stories I hear about Japanese Christians and how they get 00:01:20.820 |
shunned from society, and even from parents, and brothers, and 00:01:23.780 |
sisters. And so it is a big, big decision for a Japanese 00:01:27.220 |
person to come to Christ. And so again that was kind of an 00:01:30.560 |
eye opener to me in seeing why it is so hard to share the 00:01:33.500 |
Gospel with them. Because it is kind of like they have this 00:01:35.940 |
national identity, it is kind of hard for them to break out of 00:01:39.000 |
that individually. But again I was very thankful for their 00:01:42.800 |
testimony and for the work that they were doing. And again 00:01:45.940 |
they are going to be gone for about seven months and then 00:01:47.820 |
they'll be back. And they'll be back here permanently. But the 00:01:50.380 |
things that they learned, again it is not just for them, but 00:01:55.520 |
for all of us that we would have that kind of mindset. 00:01:59.020 |
We are missionaries. We are not certain people who said, 00:02:01.660 |
"I'm going to go overseas," are the only missionaries. Every 00:02:05.400 |
Christian who has been saved by the blood of Christ, wherever 00:02:08.000 |
we are to live as missionaries. And so that's why I thought it 00:02:12.640 |
would be encouraging to kind of hear their testimony. This 00:02:15.540 |
morning if you can turn your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 1, 00:02:18.240 |
1-11. And as I mentioned last week I want to kind of give a 00:02:21.820 |
push and a foundation for the need for prayer in our church 00:02:26.520 |
for 2016. And I want to look at just this first portion of 00:02:32.120 |
Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter 1. And I'm going to read through 00:02:35.260 |
verse 11 and then we'll jump into the message this morning. 00:02:38.800 |
"The word of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah, now it happened in 00:02:44.440 |
the month of Chislev. In the twentieth year, as I was in 00:02:47.500 |
Susa the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with 00:02:51.080 |
certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews 00:02:54.280 |
who escaped, who had survived the exile and concerning 00:02:57.220 |
Jerusalem. And they said to me, 'The remnant there in the 00:03:00.280 |
province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and 00:03:03.160 |
shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are 00:03:06.420 |
destroyed by fire.' As soon as I heard these words I sat down 00:03:10.640 |
and wept and mourned for days. And I continued fasting and 00:03:14.440 |
praying before the God of Heaven. And I said, 'O Lord God 00:03:17.580 |
of Heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and 00:03:20.280 |
steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His 00:03:23.140 |
commandments. Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to 00:03:27.180 |
hear the prayers of your servant that I now pray before 00:03:30.820 |
you day and night for the people of Israel, your servants. 00:03:33.260 |
Confessing the sins of the people of Israel which we have 00:03:36.760 |
sinned against you, even I and my Father's house have sinned. 00:03:40.040 |
We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept 00:03:43.640 |
the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you 00:03:46.400 |
commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you 00:03:49.380 |
commanded your servant Moses saying, 'If you are unfaithful 00:03:52.280 |
I will scatter you among the peoples. But if you return to 00:03:56.180 |
me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts 00:03:59.520 |
are in the uttermost parts of Heaven, from there I will 00:04:02.260 |
gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen 00:04:04.960 |
to make my name dwell there. They are your servants and your 00:04:08.620 |
people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by 00:04:11.520 |
strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayers 00:04:14.940 |
of the servants and to the prayers of your servants who 00:04:17.440 |
delight to fear your name and give success to your servant 00:04:20.940 |
today. And grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I 00:04:25.080 |
was cupbearer to the King." Let's pray. Gracious and loving 00:04:31.680 |
Father, we praise you and we thank you for your goodness. We 00:04:37.080 |
pray to you and we worship you Lord God because you are truly 00:04:40.400 |
worthy. We desire to confess our love to you in our singing, 00:04:44.700 |
in our giving, and in your word that we may respond 00:04:48.860 |
reasonably as people who have seen the light, who love Jesus, 00:04:54.980 |
who love the Gospel, who love the calling. We are eagerly 00:04:59.980 |
waiting for his return. Help us Lord God that we would not live 00:05:05.180 |
day to day purposelessly. Help us Lord to run this race to 00:05:10.260 |
win. Desiring with all our heart Lord to hear, "Well done my 00:05:14.320 |
good and faithful servant." We pray Father God that your word 00:05:17.620 |
would go forth and will not return until it has accomplished 00:05:20.700 |
its purpose. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You know I'm going 00:05:27.940 |
to spend about a couple of weeks in this book in Nehemiah, 00:05:30.500 |
just the first 11 verses because Nehemiah is really about 00:05:34.740 |
revival. If you've ever heard a revival message, if you've ever 00:05:38.780 |
heard, went to a revival or read a book on revival it's 00:05:41.380 |
hard to neglect the book of Nehemiah because Nehemiah is a 00:05:44.860 |
book about revival. It's about how there was a need in Israel, 00:05:51.160 |
Nehemiah sought out God and prayed and God answered. And as 00:05:54.500 |
a result of that a big revival breaks out in the land, in 00:05:58.960 |
Jerusalem as a result of it. Obviously we are not going to 00:06:02.200 |
have time to go through all of it. We've gone through this 00:06:04.500 |
many years ago, but for this portion of it we are just going 00:06:07.740 |
to be spending our time in the first chapter, verse 1-11. You 00:06:14.080 |
know typically I'm not a pessimist person. If somebody 00:06:19.080 |
told me that there is a 50/50 chance of something I usually 00:06:21.760 |
think that I'm going to win. You know what I mean if there is 00:06:24.460 |
50/50 I'm more of a positive outlook. And even if you lose 00:06:30.900 |
it's not that big of a deal. But when it comes to the things of 00:06:35.240 |
the Church and spiritual there are some things that there is a 00:06:39.680 |
constant concern in my heart. And I've had many conversations 00:06:44.520 |
with people before and sometimes I have to kind of catch myself 00:06:48.080 |
because I have to tone it down a bit. But there is a constant 00:06:52.160 |
concern. The concern is the spiritual state of, you know 00:06:58.600 |
I'm not going to talk about the whole nation, I'm talking about 00:07:00.500 |
our generation. In particular this area. To be even more 00:07:05.300 |
particular our Church. And to be more particular than that 00:07:09.440 |
ourselves individually. What is going to prevent us from 00:07:15.080 |
sliding down to become a country club? What is going to prevent 00:07:20.120 |
us from doing that? Because I've seen greater churches than 00:07:23.080 |
ours fall apart. Churches that were admired from a distance, 00:07:28.280 |
where a pastor is well known. And we think well that's a 00:07:32.260 |
church, that's a really biblically sound, God loving, 00:07:35.200 |
Gospel preaching church fall apart. What is going to prevent 00:07:39.860 |
us from sliding down and become a country club? Just kind of 00:07:44.000 |
like we are gathered together but true worship is not taking 00:07:46.940 |
place. We are more concerned about the friendships that are 00:07:50.040 |
around us, about certain programs, the facilities, than 00:07:54.240 |
we are about genuinely loving Christ and spreading that love. 00:07:58.780 |
People's soul come into Christ. What will keep us from having a 00:08:04.320 |
heart that is deceived? To live our lives just going through 00:08:09.220 |
the motion. And when the scripture warns about having a 00:08:12.060 |
form of godliness and yet having no power. And the scripture 00:08:17.100 |
says, "I'm not sharing the Gospel for it is the power of 00:08:20.940 |
God unto salvation." Not just a security blanket, not just a 00:08:26.380 |
doctrinal statement, but it is the power of God unto 00:08:28.980 |
salvation. And He said, "We are warned that at the end times 00:08:32.480 |
that there is going to be a form of godliness and very little 00:08:37.120 |
power, no reality. Just go to church." Kind of like sometimes 00:08:42.400 |
we go to church out of superstition. That if you don't 00:08:45.560 |
go to church God is not going to bless your family. That maybe 00:08:48.160 |
you guys are trying to have kids and maybe if I'm not 00:08:50.900 |
faithful God is not going to bless me with a child. Or maybe 00:08:54.000 |
you're trying to get into a certain school, or a certain 00:08:56.740 |
job. And maybe because I didn't tithe, maybe because I wasn't 00:09:00.640 |
serving the church. And sometimes our worship is 00:09:04.020 |
nothing more than superstition. Kind of like the reason why 00:09:06.880 |
people worship Buddha or any other religion. What's going to 00:09:11.280 |
prevent us from sliding into that and being ok with it? I 00:09:18.360 |
mean in some sense you feel defeated. You know? After, in 00:09:24.700 |
fact there was a period in my life where I was actually 00:09:27.540 |
considering just walking away from ministry because I 00:09:30.000 |
thought there's nothing I can do. I mean I don't think 00:09:33.180 |
anything I do is going to matter. All the time that I 00:09:37.140 |
spend in you know studying the Word of God, discipleship, 00:09:40.740 |
everything I do in the end, the end result almost seems like 00:09:43.880 |
it just we keep slipping. But what is going to prevent us 00:09:47.820 |
from slipping into that? You know as our church grows it 00:09:52.000 |
gets harder. People kind of get lost in the crowd. And of 00:09:55.600 |
course friendship is important. Who's going to say friendship 00:09:59.260 |
isn't important? But where friendship is more important 00:10:02.640 |
than your love for Jesus, then we've slipped. Where we're more 00:10:08.540 |
concerned about facility, about gatherings, about whatever it 00:10:13.180 |
is that we get so caught up in. And not be consumed with the 00:10:17.520 |
thought of, "Am I meeting Christ?" The only answer that I 00:10:24.220 |
have to any of that, the only answer that really is provided 00:10:27.900 |
in Scripture is prayer. That we become desperate enough that we 00:10:33.860 |
come before God and cling to Him. See, Nehemiah is faced 00:10:39.100 |
with a serious problem. You know he's living a pretty 00:10:43.140 |
comfortable life. Nehemiah is a cup bearer. Now you have to 00:10:46.640 |
understand a cup bearer, you know in our minds a cup bearer 00:10:49.340 |
is a guy who drinks whatever he's going to drink and see if 00:10:52.380 |
he dies. If he doesn't die the king gets to drink it. So, it 00:10:56.420 |
sounds like a lowly job, right? A cup bearer had to be the most 00:11:01.300 |
trusted person in the kingdom. Because the king basically says, 00:11:06.100 |
"Well he drank it, I trust him, so I trust that he's not going 00:11:09.540 |
to kill me." So, imagine if you were a cup bearer at that time 00:11:12.840 |
you were basically the most trusted person in that kingdom. 00:11:15.540 |
The Scripture says Nehemiah was a cup bearer for the biggest 00:11:20.380 |
superpower nation of that time, the king of Persia. Now all of 00:11:26.920 |
this, Nehemiah and this revival breaks out because he's asking 00:11:31.020 |
a question about a land of his ancestors about 800 miles away 00:11:37.700 |
from where he is. And he asks, "What's going on over there?" 00:11:42.340 |
Because he's curious and the report comes back in verse 3, 00:11:45.200 |
"They said to me, 'Those who survived the exile and are back 00:11:48.240 |
in the province are in general in great trouble and disgrace. 00:11:52.280 |
The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been 00:11:56.080 |
burned with fire.'" Now that was the report that he got. And as 00:11:59.960 |
a result of that it says in verse 4, "When I heard these 00:12:02.560 |
things I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned, and 00:12:07.100 |
fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven." Again I want 00:12:12.040 |
you to understand the historical context of Nehemiah's 00:12:16.700 |
crying out before God. Nehemiah's needs are all met. 00:12:20.200 |
As far as his family is concerned they are multi- 00:12:24.080 |
millionaires. I mean this guy is a cup bearer. Not only him, 00:12:28.340 |
his wife, his children, his grandchildren, great-grand 00:12:31.620 |
children, and many generations to come he's going to have 00:12:34.820 |
more than enough money to live peacefully. And yet he hears 00:12:39.660 |
about this land 800 miles away. It's probably about two 00:12:44.200 |
generations removed already probably. And because he hears 00:12:48.100 |
this terrible report, and I want you to understand what 00:12:51.200 |
this report is. It didn't say that these people are getting 00:12:54.480 |
slaughtered. It didn't say that there is infighting and 00:12:59.320 |
all kinds of debauchery. All they said was they are in 00:13:02.320 |
trouble, their gates are broken, and they are burned 00:13:04.960 |
down. And that led him to weep before God. In Nehemiah 00:13:12.400 |
1.6 it says, "Let your ear be attentive God, and your eyes 00:13:16.940 |
open to hear the prayers your servant is praying before you 00:13:19.580 |
day and night for your servants, the people of Israel." 00:13:22.880 |
Why did that report of a broken gate, and a wall that 00:13:30.720 |
burned down, or the gate that burned down, why did that 00:13:33.520 |
cause this kind of weeping before God? Especially since 00:13:38.000 |
he was so well off. You have to understand that the nation 00:13:42.440 |
of Israel was not an average nation. It was not one of 00:13:45.200 |
many nations. It was the nation at this time. God chose 00:13:48.580 |
His people. He made a covenant with them. Again we may ask 00:13:53.780 |
the question, you know, Jacob and Esau. They say Esau was 00:13:58.020 |
actually evil because he gave up his birthright so that he 00:14:01.580 |
could have a bowl of soup. I mean think about it if you 00:14:05.560 |
were in that position, I mean you are starving to death. 00:14:07.560 |
You went out hunting and your younger brother is 00:14:10.160 |
conniving, "Give me your birthright." What is a 00:14:13.200 |
birthright to me? I'm about to starve. I can see myself 00:14:15.400 |
saying that. I mean I'm hungry. But what was unique 00:14:22.140 |
particular family was because God made a covenant with His 00:14:25.540 |
forefathers that I'm going to bless you, and that you are 00:14:30.340 |
going to be a blessing to many nations. And that 00:14:32.480 |
inheritance wasn't just about money and land. It's about 00:14:37.480 |
the covenant that God made with His forefathers that God 00:14:40.160 |
is going to bless them. And this is the line in which God 00:14:42.460 |
is going to bless them. See, Nehemiah wasn't simply 00:14:46.020 |
worried about a broken fence. He was worried about the 00:14:49.700 |
spiritual condition that Israel was in. I want to look 00:14:55.240 |
at two things in Nehemiah's prayer this morning, and then 00:14:58.700 |
we'll do the others next week. Two things that causes 00:15:02.700 |
revival prayer. One, Nehemiah's prayer was stirred 00:15:09.320 |
up because he recognized something was not right. 00:15:12.420 |
Nehemiah's prayer stirred up because he recognized 00:15:15.660 |
something was not right. You know I could sit here, or 00:15:18.460 |
stand here this morning, like last week, and tell you why 00:15:21.100 |
we need to pray. And I can expose it, and I can tell you 00:15:25.900 |
the need for it, and what the Scripture says. But until 00:15:28.700 |
you recognize that something is wrong, it just becomes 00:15:33.600 |
something you need to do to appease God. God died for us, 00:15:36.340 |
so therefore we should be a man of prayer, so we should 00:15:38.880 |
pray more because that's what good Christians do. 00:15:40.840 |
Right? We need to do that because that's what the 00:15:44.220 |
Scripture says. But until I can convince you that there 00:15:48.720 |
is something wrong, that there is a sense of urgency to 00:15:53.460 |
come and plead before God, your prayers will be nothing 00:15:58.560 |
more than a check off list, something that you need to 00:16:00.760 |
do. See, Nehemiah's prayer of revival was in response to 00:16:07.380 |
what he saw. See those broken fences, the fire 00:16:12.140 |
represented their spiritual condition before God. They 00:16:15.020 |
forgot, and it represented that though God desired with 00:16:18.480 |
all their heart to bless them, because of their neglect, 00:16:21.220 |
because of their spiritual condition, they were in the 00:16:24.720 |
condition that they were in. Do we recognize where we are? 00:16:31.800 |
Those of you who have been Christians for a while, 20 00:16:36.760 |
years, 30 years, maybe longer, I haven't met a single 00:16:40.640 |
person that I've talked to who has been a Christian for 00:16:42.740 |
more than 20, 30 years who says to me that the spiritual 00:16:45.780 |
condition today is much better than it was when they 00:16:47.740 |
were younger. I've never met a single person. And I can 00:16:53.080 |
probably say those of you who have been walking for 10 00:16:55.320 |
years that the condition that it is in now is better than 00:16:59.500 |
even 10 years ago. I don't think I'm being pessimistic. 00:17:04.200 |
I don't think I'm just being negative. I think that's the 00:17:07.300 |
reality. We have fallen and we are continuing to fall at a 00:17:12.780 |
much faster pace than before. What is spiritually normal 00:17:18.480 |
in our generation would have shocked people 30 years ago. 00:17:23.060 |
30 years ago certain things that Christians do, certain 00:17:26.220 |
things that are being said even up in the pulpit would 00:17:28.260 |
have been shocking to an average church 30 years ago. 00:17:32.420 |
We've become so accustomed to compromise and sin that it 00:17:38.060 |
is no longer shocking to put it up on Facebook for 00:17:41.700 |
everyone to see. And our greatest fear is not 00:17:46.040 |
offending God. Our greatest fear is that we may be called 00:17:50.480 |
a legalist, judgmental. We have become complacent. The 00:17:57.320 |
fire for God is not the same. So few people in our 00:18:02.760 |
generation evangelize. Yes, we talk about missionaries. 00:18:05.800 |
We talk about people who have gone overseas. And I know 00:18:08.240 |
many of you while you were in college sacrificed and went 00:18:11.680 |
overseas and went to different places and did difficult 00:18:13.680 |
things. But that was many years ago. It might have been 00:18:17.480 |
a year, two years, maybe more than a decade since the last 00:18:20.220 |
time you deliberately tried to share the Gospel with 00:18:22.640 |
somebody. And yet every week we open up the Bible, we say 00:18:28.280 |
that judgment is coming, that the Gospel is the only hope 00:18:32.220 |
of mankind. It just becomes something that we say. It is 00:18:36.980 |
a theology that we adhere to, but it is no longer the 00:18:41.460 |
power that transforms us. The lack of concern for 00:18:46.420 |
holiness in our lives. We are concerned about getting the 00:18:51.400 |
Gospel right. They are using the right terms, praying the 00:18:56.000 |
right way, using the right words, right phrases, having 00:18:59.800 |
the church organized in a certain way, and being 00:19:03.240 |
relevant. Yet we see the decline of holiness in our 00:19:07.280 |
generation and there is no sense of urgency. God loves 00:19:12.880 |
us. It is because He is gracious. It is because we 00:19:17.800 |
could not, He did. And we have these general, broad, 00:19:21.600 |
cliche things that we say to excuse sin. It is not a 00:19:27.500 |
source of power to pursue righteousness, it is to 00:19:31.240 |
excuse sin. Let's not get carried away. Let's not be 00:19:36.420 |
too harsh. Because Jesus loved us despite our sins. 00:19:40.180 |
All of these things are true. But in our generation the 00:19:44.460 |
brokenness over us. When was the last time you genuinely 00:19:48.260 |
repented for sin? Genuinely repented. Not, "Oh, I 00:19:55.300 |
shouldn't have done that. I felt so bad. I shouldn't do 00:19:57.300 |
it next time." Like I'm not talking about just kind of a 00:19:59.640 |
brushing off. I'm talking about grieving before God. 00:20:04.380 |
Because He sent His only begotten Son to deliver us 00:20:09.040 |
from an empty way of life. And He made us holy and says, 00:20:12.820 |
"Now live up to that holiness. Be holy for your 00:20:17.220 |
Heavenly Father is holy." When was the last time you 00:20:21.260 |
were so convicted that you actually repented in tears? 00:20:26.600 |
See Nehemiah comes before God and he sees the spiritual 00:20:32.300 |
condition of his people. His cupbearer, you know. Every 00:20:38.740 |
need that he has is met. And yet he grieves before God. 00:20:43.880 |
And he pleads and he weeps. And it is this prayer that 00:20:47.620 |
God answers that leads to revival in the land. You know 00:20:53.520 |
in many countries there is a thing called the Samaritan, 00:20:56.460 |
Good Samaritan Law. And the Good Samaritan Law basically 00:20:58.560 |
is it's illegal to pass by someone who is in dire need 00:21:01.900 |
and then just neglect them. It's actually a crime in 00:21:06.540 |
certain parts of the United States that if somebody gets 00:21:09.640 |
in an accident they are in dire need and you see that 00:21:11.680 |
there is something you can do and you just keep going. 00:21:13.640 |
You know the scripture, the word that is translated in 00:21:18.820 |
some cases for unbelief and disobedience is apotheos. 00:21:24.320 |
What does that word sound like? English word apotheos. 00:21:28.160 |
In your Bibles it is translated as unbelief or 00:21:31.740 |
disobedience. Apotheos, the root word is pathos and the 00:21:37.640 |
word pathos means to be persuaded. So when you put an 00:21:41.440 |
"ah" before it, it's a negation of persuasion. Meaning 00:21:44.580 |
that you refuse to be persuaded. Not necessarily in 00:21:49.960 |
your thoughts but your life. You can come to church all 00:21:53.060 |
your life and have different thoughts circling around 00:21:55.820 |
your head but your life is not persuaded. The way you 00:21:59.940 |
spend your finances is not persuaded. The way you, what 00:22:02.740 |
you pursue, what makes you happy, what makes you sad, 00:22:04.900 |
you are never persuaded. And we call again the scripture, 00:22:08.780 |
the word for that is apotheos. I remember years ago 00:22:12.640 |
there was a sister who was confessing her sins after 00:22:14.940 |
being convicted over certain sins in her life. And I 00:22:19.180 |
thought it was one of the most honest confessions that 00:22:21.060 |
I've heard. Her confession basically was, she said, "I 00:22:24.820 |
am ignorant of the suffering of the world because I have 00:22:28.260 |
chosen to be ignorant." And I thought that was really 00:22:31.660 |
insightful because she didn't just own up and say, "You 00:22:34.560 |
know what? I didn't know." You know? She didn't say 00:22:38.100 |
that. She said, "I didn't know because I chose not to 00:22:40.640 |
know. I deliberately gave myself to things that I 00:22:44.600 |
wouldn't be disturbed." So the reason why I was 00:22:48.940 |
apathetic because I didn't give any time to look into 00:22:51.580 |
that. When I heard of it, I said, "Oh, that's good." You 00:22:54.480 |
know? And that's where she left it because if you 00:22:57.180 |
pursue it any further it's going to disturb your life. 00:22:59.520 |
So, I remember her confessing, "I didn't know 00:23:03.060 |
because I chose not to know." Amos chapter 6 verse 1 it 00:23:08.560 |
says, "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion and to you 00:23:11.700 |
who feel secure in Mount Samaria, you notable men of 00:23:14.400 |
the foremost nations to whom the people of Israel come." 00:23:17.240 |
Verse 4, "You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge 00:23:21.580 |
on couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened 00:23:26.840 |
calves." You know when I read this for the first time I 00:23:30.980 |
was like, "Wow, this sounds exactly like today." You 00:23:34.520 |
know? This happened thousands of years ago. And God was 00:23:39.120 |
concerned about these things of the nation of Israel. 00:23:41.460 |
This sounds like today. "You strum away on your harps 00:23:46.740 |
like David and improvise on musical instruments. You 00:23:49.300 |
drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions. 00:23:53.380 |
But you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. 00:23:56.880 |
Therefore, you will be among the first to go into exile. 00:24:00.820 |
Your fasting and lounging will end." What a cut to the 00:24:06.260 |
heart to the nation of Israel. You know they are 00:24:08.960 |
going to temples making sacrifices and doing all 00:24:12.060 |
these religious duties and God looks through all of 00:24:14.300 |
that and said, "That has nothing to do with me." See 00:24:18.540 |
revival broke out in Nehemiah's prayer because he 00:24:21.780 |
recognized that something went wrong. So when we look 00:24:26.580 |
at something and say, "Oh, of course, you know, where do 00:24:28.740 |
you draw the line?" And as our brother Andrew shared 00:24:31.620 |
with us we kind of compare. And as long as we are not 00:24:34.420 |
like them, as long as we are not as bad as them. I 00:24:37.720 |
didn't get drunk last night like those people. I can 00:24:41.520 |
recite the Gospel. I read the Bible a little bit. And so 00:24:44.920 |
we are always comparing our righteousness with the 00:24:46.760 |
people around us. And as long as we are better than a few 00:24:50.140 |
people that we know around us, we are ok. Nehemiah saw 00:24:55.540 |
that something terribly went wrong. Spiritually the 00:25:00.040 |
nation of Israel went complacent. The Temple of God 00:25:03.980 |
was not what it ought to be. The gate that was supposed 00:25:08.760 |
to protect His people and the Temple was neglected. It 00:25:13.860 |
wasn't because of the attack. It wasn't because they ran 00:25:15.820 |
out of money. It was simply because of neglect. It just 00:25:18.520 |
wasn't important. They were busy taking care of their 00:25:23.100 |
own lives, paying their own bills. And they saw what was 00:25:25.940 |
happening at the Temple and they were just neglect. And 00:25:29.500 |
so what Nehemiah comes before God is crying out before 00:25:32.080 |
God was not deliverance from enemies. Was not more food 00:25:36.280 |
because they didn't have enough food. It was a 00:25:40.220 |
spiritual apathy of the nation of Israel. And that's 00:25:44.480 |
what caused this man to weep. And that's what caused this 00:25:49.020 |
man to cry out to God. Some of you guys make fun of me 00:25:56.460 |
every time I say my favorite musician is Keith Green. He 00:26:00.460 |
no longer lives physically but he lives spiritually. And 00:26:05.640 |
I've never bought a Christian tape ever in my life. Keith 00:26:08.180 |
Green is the only one I've ever purchased. And because 00:26:10.440 |
God used his lyrics and his music to really convict me 00:26:13.640 |
and revive me when I was kind of going astray. One of the 00:26:18.520 |
songs that even to this day I listen to, I get convicted, 00:26:20.980 |
it's almost like reading Scripture. Keith Green has a 00:26:23.760 |
song called, "A Sleep in the Light." And let me read you 00:26:27.160 |
his lyrics. It says, "Do you see, do you see all the 00:26:29.860 |
people sinking down? Don't you care, don't you care? Are 00:26:34.460 |
you going to let them drown? How can you be so numb not to 00:26:39.100 |
care if they come? You close your eyes and pretend the job 00:26:43.740 |
is done. Bless me Lord, bless me Lord. You know it's all I 00:26:49.180 |
ever hear. No one aches, no one hurts, no one even sheds 00:26:54.080 |
one tear. But he cries, he weeps, he bleeds and he cares 00:26:59.460 |
for your needs. And you just lay back and keep soaking it 00:27:03.160 |
in. Oh, can't you see it's such sin? Because he brings 00:27:08.540 |
people to your door and you turn them away as you smile 00:27:11.200 |
and say, "God bless you, be at peace." And all Heaven just 00:27:16.440 |
weeps because Jesus came to your door and you've left him 00:27:20.120 |
out on the street. Open up, open up, give yourself away. 00:27:24.720 |
You see the need, you hear the cries. So, how can you 00:27:27.780 |
delay? God's calling and you're the one. But like Jonah 00:27:31.460 |
you run. He's told you to speak but you keep holding it 00:27:35.300 |
in. Can't you see it's such sin? The world is sleeping in 00:27:39.700 |
the dark that the church just can't fight because it's 00:27:42.140 |
asleep in the light. How can you be so dead when you've 00:27:45.700 |
been so well fed? Jesus rose from the grave and you, you 00:27:51.240 |
can't even get out of bed. Jesus rose from the dead, 00:27:54.120 |
come on, get out of your bed. You know I feel like if 00:28:00.480 |
somebody wrote that today, it's like, "He's a legalist." 00:28:02.860 |
I think they would just write him off as a legalist. You 00:28:07.800 |
know, it's about grace. It's about love. Of course it's 00:28:12.100 |
about grace. Of course it's about His mercy. Of course 00:28:16.100 |
it's about the Gospel. But it's about the Gospel that 00:28:20.080 |
changes us. It's about the Gospel that renews us, 00:28:29.420 |
righteousness in life. The Gospel opens our eyes to see 00:28:33.220 |
the lost where we just saw them as people in the past, 00:28:35.720 |
but now we see them who are lost and in dire need of a 00:28:39.620 |
Savior. See we are not like the world. Winning the 00:28:46.060 |
lottery is not enough. If you are a child of God, your 00:28:52.000 |
bills being paid is not enough. Your child being 00:28:54.640 |
healthy is not enough. Being able to purchase a nice 00:28:58.000 |
home is not enough. Having a nice church and a bunch of 00:29:01.640 |
friends to share your life with is not enough. See in 00:29:04.980 |
this world, if you are a child of this world, all of 00:29:08.260 |
that, all of that should be enough for you to be able to 00:29:11.860 |
wake up and say, "Thank you." See, but if you are a child 00:29:15.220 |
of God, you could have all of that. And to be away from 00:29:20.760 |
the center of who He is and feel absolutely bankrupt. 00:29:25.760 |
Because we are. You can have all the money in the world 00:29:31.840 |
and all the safety and all the health and all the 00:29:33.880 |
friends in the world, and you don't have a personal 00:29:37.880 |
relationship with God, then we are bankrupt. See until we 00:29:45.180 |
recognize, until I can convince you that something 00:29:48.720 |
has gone wrong, we won't pray. Because prayer is just 00:29:55.200 |
a discipline. If prayer is just something that you need 00:29:58.300 |
to do, it seems like a waste of time because you read 00:30:01.300 |
the Scripture, you learn something. You come to 00:30:04.600 |
fellowship, you build friendship, you give money, 00:30:07.440 |
we can use that to do all these things. But prayer, 00:30:09.580 |
unless there is a need that we are desperate to bring to 00:30:14.380 |
God, we will never see the need to pray. See, Nehemiah's 00:30:19.820 |
prayer in his revival always breaks out because you see 00:30:23.000 |
the spiritual condition and we bring this to God. Are you 00:30:30.760 |
convinced? When you look at the spiritual condition of 00:30:37.100 |
where we are, does that concern you that if we've 00:30:42.480 |
slipped this far in such a short period of time, what 00:30:48.120 |
the spiritual condition will look like when your 00:30:50.120 |
children are your age? That scares me. If in the last 00:30:56.760 |
20 years, 30 years, if we've slipped this far, what will 00:31:00.400 |
it look like when my children are in their 40's? Would we 00:31:04.860 |
be able to go back, go I guess to the future, 30 years 00:31:09.600 |
from now and recognize the church that may be? Just 00:31:13.940 |
hoping, hoping that it won't be like this sliding won't 00:31:19.080 |
keep going. If it continues to go the way it goes, I'm 00:31:26.360 |
just again, just using logical deduction, we're going 00:31:31.660 |
to be exactly where Europe is in their faith in the 00:31:35.760 |
United States. That's exactly where it is. Some of you 00:31:39.160 |
guys, I'm not going to go into too much detail, you 00:31:41.040 |
guys know what it's like. Anybody who has visited 00:31:42.800 |
Europe you know exactly what it's like. It's almost 00:31:45.040 |
impossible to find a church that believes in the Gospel. 00:31:48.500 |
There are churches everywhere, ancient churches 00:31:50.880 |
everywhere. It's almost impossible to go and sit in a 00:31:54.380 |
church that preaches the Gospel over there. Do we see 00:31:58.780 |
the need? When does this start? We're just hoping and 00:32:00.920 |
throwing it down next generation, hoping that 00:32:02.720 |
revival will come in that generation. Or do we see the 00:32:05.520 |
need today? Do we see the slipping today? Do we see 00:32:08.560 |
our hearts hardened today? Do we see the lost today? 00:32:11.560 |
And does that cause us to come before God and weep as 00:32:16.240 |
Nehemiah wept to pray for revival? See Nehemiah if he 00:32:25.280 |
only saw the need, he would have wept and that would 00:32:29.020 |
have been it, despair. You know sometimes we get caught 00:32:31.260 |
up pointing out what the problem is and then that's 00:32:33.860 |
where it ends. We have issues and we see problems 00:32:36.520 |
with pastors and churches and gatherings and say, 00:32:40.020 |
"Ah, what's wrong with them? What's wrong with them?" 00:32:42.520 |
If that's where we stop all we do is to further the 00:32:46.520 |
problem. See, but that's not for Nehemiah. Nehemiah came 00:32:49.020 |
and the second thing about his prayer is he goes right 00:32:51.460 |
in and he recognizes there is a solution. And that 00:32:54.700 |
solution is recognizing the God that he worships in 00:32:57.860 |
Nehemiah 1, 5-6, "O Lord God of Heaven, the great and 00:33:01.900 |
awesome God, and keeps covenant and steadfast love 00:33:05.200 |
with those who love Him and keep His commands. Let your 00:33:08.080 |
ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayers 00:33:10.740 |
of your servant. And I now pray before you day and 00:33:13.880 |
night for the people of Israel, your servants." See 00:33:17.780 |
it could have easily just led to despair. It's like, 00:33:19.720 |
"Yeah, that's just the way it is." And we become expert 00:33:23.160 |
of critiquing what's gone wrong. But Nehemiah comes 00:33:29.260 |
before God and he prays, "O Lord." The answer is in Him. 00:33:34.100 |
He calls Him by His proper name Yahweh, even though it 00:33:38.940 |
is not written in your Bible. The word Lord in Hebrew is 00:33:41.380 |
Yahweh. If you guys remember the word Yahweh, the name 00:33:44.880 |
Yahweh is the formal name that God gives to Moses as He 00:33:48.580 |
drew near to His people. "Tell them, if they ask me 00:33:51.960 |
who sent me, tell them Yahweh has sent you." Exodus 3:14, 00:33:56.260 |
"The God of Moses, I am who I am. This is what you are to 00:33:59.620 |
say to the nation of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you.'" 00:34:03.200 |
God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The Lord 00:34:07.140 |
Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, 00:34:10.400 |
God of Isaac, God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my 00:34:14.180 |
name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered 00:34:16.980 |
from generation to generation. I am who I am." You know 00:34:22.780 |
that name, the name that He introduced Himself as I am. 00:34:25.620 |
You know the first few years as a Christian I never 00:34:30.060 |
understood I am. It's like Bob, John, you know like 00:34:34.520 |
there's a title, I am. Like who are you? I am. Right, and 00:34:39.460 |
you are. That's a strange conversation, right? I never 00:34:43.440 |
understood that. What does that mean I am? The more I 00:34:47.480 |
meditate, the more I wrestle with who He is in my life, I 00:34:53.580 |
can't think of a better name than I am. Because I am 00:34:56.980 |
basically means everything originates from Him. 00:35:00.560 |
Everything starts with Him. Your life starts with Him. 00:35:04.360 |
Your joy starts with Him. Your hope is in Him. 00:35:07.560 |
Everything is I am. It's not I will be. It's not I was. It's 00:35:13.100 |
I am. And that's exactly what it means in Deuteronomy 6:4 00:35:17.300 |
He says, "Tell this, repeat this, and tell this to 00:35:20.280 |
generations to come." The great Shema, "Hear O Israel, 00:35:23.740 |
the Lord our God, the Lord is one." He's not saying 00:35:28.680 |
quantitatively like there's all these but out of them 00:35:31.960 |
there's only one God. That's true. But along with that 00:35:36.260 |
when He says the Lord is one He's saying there is no one 00:35:39.060 |
like Him. There is no other. Just like when we talk about 00:35:42.640 |
holiness there's an aspect of holiness where we say He is 00:35:45.200 |
perfect morally. But the word holy basically means to be 00:35:48.540 |
set apart. He's unique. There's nothing and no one 00:35:51.700 |
like Him. So when Nehemiah is grieved over the spiritual 00:35:56.780 |
condition of Israel he immediately turns to the I am. 00:36:01.920 |
Yahweh. Because you're the answer. Not more people, not 00:36:07.520 |
more funding, not more organization, not more effort. 00:36:10.320 |
You. If we recognize the problem in our generation and 00:36:15.500 |
even in our life, the first and foremost, before we turn 00:36:18.700 |
to a counselor, before we turn to friends, do we turn to the 00:36:25.300 |
great I am? You know as a pastor I can't tell you like 00:36:29.040 |
you know preaching is easier. Because I'm dissecting the 00:36:35.380 |
Word and I'm just telling you. It's just one way. I don't 00:36:38.420 |
have to answer your questions. I just tell you. And then 00:36:41.120 |
when I'm done I just walk off. Counseling is hard. Some 00:36:45.920 |
people are better than others because counseling they're 00:36:47.860 |
coming asking questions and they're looking for answers. 00:36:49.800 |
Sometimes it's very easy. Just knock it off. And that's 00:36:54.460 |
the question. It's very easy to answer sometimes. And then 00:36:58.900 |
sometimes they come, you know you guys come and you have 00:37:01.100 |
these heartbreaking things and I want to give you the 00:37:04.640 |
answer but I don't have the answer. And I say, "Oh man, 00:37:07.840 |
where's the Bible? I've got to go get counseling and do all 00:37:10.880 |
this stuff." And I realize I don't have the answer. And it 00:37:15.580 |
took years of frustration until I realized God didn't give me 00:37:21.520 |
the answer. I don't have to have the answer. My job is to 00:37:27.260 |
tell you to go to the one who does have the answer. Right? 00:37:31.600 |
He's the answer. And isn't that all the I am statements in 00:37:37.360 |
the book of John? I am the bread of life. I am the vine. 00:37:41.740 |
I am the light. I am the good shepherd. I am the door. I am 00:37:46.200 |
the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the 00:37:48.180 |
Father but through me. All the I am statements is to get as 00:37:51.240 |
disciples and everybody to recognize it is not the temple. 00:37:54.120 |
It is not more of this. It is not the nation of Israel 00:37:57.980 |
becoming a superpower. He said, "I am." He was trying to get 00:38:03.660 |
people to come to me and recognize Him as the answer. 00:38:06.560 |
Not the counselors, not the organization, not the money, 00:38:09.760 |
not our circumstance, but Him. So when Nehemiah faced trouble 00:38:15.040 |
he didn't just fall into despair. He came before God 00:38:18.940 |
pleading with the great I am. Hebrews 11, 6 it says, "Without 00:38:23.540 |
faith it is impossible to please Him for he who comes to 00:38:26.180 |
God must believe that He is." I am. That He is and He is a 00:38:33.220 |
rewarder of those who seek Him. He's the rewarder, not me. Not 00:38:40.120 |
your counselor, not your wife, not your husband. Maybe some of 00:38:43.500 |
your frustration at home is because you're looking for 00:38:45.660 |
answers in your husband and your wife. Maybe the frustration 00:38:49.540 |
sometimes may be at church and you put your hope in the wrong 00:38:54.580 |
place. He is. He is God who keeps the covenant and 00:38:59.820 |
steadfast love. The reason why we are not consumed in 00:39:04.220 |
Lamentations 3, 22 it says, "Because of the Lord's great 00:39:07.720 |
love we are not consumed for His compassion never fails." If 00:39:14.520 |
Bill Gates came to you and said, "You know what I've 00:39:17.060 |
cleared my schedule. I've heard of your name. I heard your 00:39:19.300 |
need. I hear you're in great trouble. I cleared my schedule 00:39:23.540 |
for a month and I want you to give some good thought about 00:39:25.800 |
what I can do for you." Knowing who he is, you know, 00:39:31.220 |
either the richest man on earth or the second richest man on 00:39:33.840 |
earth, right? And he comes and says, "Ask." Right? "But I 00:39:37.960 |
want you to ask." I think we are going to take some time to 00:39:41.360 |
think about that. We are going to say, "I'm hungry." This is 00:39:45.460 |
Bill Gates. You can ask that of anybody. You can ask that of 00:39:48.700 |
your friends, your parents. I mean you can ask that. You can 00:39:50.900 |
think, considering what he has. And I think what I would be 00:39:53.740 |
thinking was, "A million? Is that too much?" It's not too 00:39:59.780 |
much to him, but it's too much for me. So, maybe, you know, 00:40:03.620 |
I don't want to look greedy. Two million? You know, how far? 00:40:07.860 |
How far can I stretch this without him being shocked? If I 00:40:10.660 |
say a million, he's like, "That's it?" I don't want that 00:40:13.760 |
either. So, you're going to get through it. Like, "Well, what 00:40:15.820 |
can I get away with? How much?" Because you know what he's 00:40:18.300 |
worth. And he said he's willing to do whatever. Right? If you 00:40:24.400 |
consider the content of our prayer, how much of it is 00:40:29.040 |
frivolous? Because we don't recognize who we're praying to. 00:40:34.240 |
Right? If you're about in me, my word's about in you, ask 00:40:39.880 |
whatever you wish. It shall be done for you. Right? The God 00:40:46.420 |
who sent his only begotten son died for us. He who did not 00:40:49.520 |
spare his own son, how will he not, along with him, freely give 00:40:52.760 |
us all things? So, ask of me. And I will give you nations 00:40:56.900 |
that maybe sometimes our faith is weak and futile because we 00:41:04.440 |
don't recognize who it is that we are praying to. That it is 00:41:09.320 |
not because our prayers are too difficult. That it may be 00:41:13.180 |
because our prayers are too trivial, considering who he is. 00:41:19.720 |
Our God could change the direction of history. And we 00:41:26.240 |
know that Scripture says that our God is a God of covenant. 00:41:31.040 |
And what he promised was, "I will build my church and the 00:41:33.900 |
gates of Hades will not prevail against it." Do we recognize 00:41:39.280 |
who it is that we're praying to? So, I'm going to just wrap 00:41:44.180 |
it up here for today. We want 2016, again for years to come, 00:41:51.420 |
to address the issue that I think is at the crux of our 00:41:56.260 |
issue. Is before we think about anything else, to establish his 00:42:03.360 |
presence in our lives, in our marriages, with our children, 00:42:08.500 |
with our church, with our gatherings. That everything 00:42:12.140 |
that we do, whether it's missions, whether it's Bible 00:42:14.940 |
study, whether it's family ministry, singles ministry, 00:42:17.540 |
college ministry, that we would saturate it first and foremost 00:42:21.480 |
by humbling ourselves before the throne of God saying, "Lord 00:42:25.580 |
help us." If you turn your Bibles with me to Psalm 136. 00:42:30.900 |
Psalm 136 and I want you guys, we want to have a responsive 00:42:38.180 |
reading. We never do this at church but I want to do this 00:42:40.840 |
with you this morning. In Psalm 136 basically the whole 00:42:45.580 |
chapter goes, "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for 00:42:48.120 |
His steadfast love endures forever." And so it's kind of a 00:42:51.420 |
refrain going back and forth, back and forth. So, what I 00:42:54.100 |
want to wrap up this morning doing is I'm going to read the 00:42:57.400 |
first line, "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His 00:43:00.600 |
steadfast love endures forever." Basically it's a 00:43:02.840 |
reminder to the nation of Israel and to us that all is in 00:43:07.680 |
Him. To come to Him, to praise Him, to worship Him, to plead 00:43:12.580 |
with Him because His steadfast love endures forever. So, as we 00:43:17.180 |
go through that, there are 26 verses and I want to go through 00:43:20.860 |
that again as a reminder that that would be embedded in your 00:43:24.020 |
mind and head. And that statement, that doxology would 00:43:29.420 |
go with us as we go to our homes and whatever it is that 00:43:34.300 |
we are doing that because His steadfast love endures forever 00:43:38.040 |
that we would pursue Him with all our might. So, I will read 00:43:42.500 |
one, you read the second, we'll go back and forth. "Give 00:43:44.580 |
thanks to the Lord for He is good." >>"For His steadfast 00:43:47.940 |
love endures forever." >>Ok, I think it takes about three 00:43:51.580 |
verses before you get it, right? "Give thanks to the God 00:43:56.020 |
of Gods." >>"For His steadfast love endures forever." >>"Give 00:44:00.460 |
thanks to the Lord of Lords." >>"For His steadfast love 00:44:03.360 |
endures forever." >>"To Him who alone does great wonders." 00:44:06.660 |
>>"For His steadfast love endures forever." >>"To Him 00:44:10.240 |
who by understanding made the heavens." >>"For His 00:44:13.100 |
steadfast love endures forever." >>"To Him who 00:44:15.940 |
spread out the earth above the waters." >>"For His 00:44:18.520 |
steadfast love endures forever." >>"To Him who made 00:44:21.640 |
the great lights." >>"For His steadfast love endures 00:44:26.260 |
forever." >>"The sun to rule over the day." >>"For His 00:44:28.800 |
steadfast love endures forever." >>"The moon and 00:44:31.040 |
stars to rule over the night." >>"For His steadfast love 00:44:33.680 |
endures forever." >>"To Him who struck down the first 00:44:36.640 |
point of Egypt." >>"For His steadfast love endures 00:44:39.480 |
forever." >>"And brought Israel out from among them." 00:44:42.160 |
>>"For His steadfast love endures forever." >>"With a 00:44:45.460 |
strong hand and an outstretched arm." >>"For His 00:44:47.820 |
steadfast love endures forever." >>"To Him who 00:44:50.720 |
divided the Red Sea into two." >>"For His steadfast love 00:44:54.000 |
endures forever." >>"And made Israel pass through the 00:44:56.660 |
midst of it." >>"For His steadfast love endures 00:44:59.340 |
forever." >>"But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the 00:45:04.600 |
forever." >>"To Him who led His people through the 00:45:07.440 |
wilderness." >>"For His steadfast love endures 00:45:10.040 |
forever." >>"To Him who struck down the great 00:45:14.720 |
forever." >>"And killed mighty kings." >>"For His 00:45:26.100 |
endures forever." >>"And gave their land as a 00:45:34.840 |
endures forever." >>"It is He who remembered us in 00:45:43.980 |
endures forever." >>"He who gives food to all 00:45:46.440 |
flesh." >>"His steadfast love endures forever." 00:45:49.780 |
>>"Gives thanks to the God of Heaven." >>"His 00:45:54.360 |
take a minute to pray with me as I invite the 00:46:08.160 |
there is nothing more pressing in our life than 00:46:11.880 |
to get right with God. To ask for revival in our 00:46:16.000 |
hearts, revival in our church, revival in our 00:46:22.120 |
safety, above work, even above our families. That 00:46:26.720 |
we would recognize that we are desperate without 00:46:29.360 |
Him. Let's take some time to come before the Lord in 00:46:32.420 |
urgent prayer that this urgency would not simply 00:46:35.060 |
be something that we hear about in the church, but 00:46:37.960 |
be convinced that God is calling us to prayer, that 00:46:41.760 |
we are in dire need of revival. So, let's take