Restored Hope

Nehemiah 1 Page 468 in pew Bibles

INTRODUCTION:

Today we continue Restoration - Our Ruins His Restoration our sermon series looking at the books of EZRA-NEHEMIAH.

In this series we have seen cycles

of ruin, return to God, renewal, and regression

as God’s people have moved from exile,

be set free by God for the purpose of restoring worship of God by God’s people for God’s glory and their joy.

Zerubbabel led the first cycle back for the purpose of renewed worship,

they laid the foundation of the temple,

but the tangible presence of God did not manifest.

Several generations pass, and Ezra comes leads a mission to restore focus on God’s word being studied, practiced, and taught.

This was/is a necessary part of how God has set about renewal to reorient His people to His word as a framework of Flourishing.

Sin is recognized and confessed,

but then is addressed in way that leads to more separation, not more restoration of relationships.

In these cycles we are reminded of the fundamental truth that our efforts are never enough to overcome our ruins.

Ezra showed us that more than our own efforts are needed.

We cannot return to god on our own merits or work.

There must be a outside work from God to bring true renewal and revival in our lives and our communities.

Now the third cycle begins with Nehemiah and a Ruined City

Read Nehemiah 1 Page 468 in pew Bibles

Who is Nehemiah?

If Ezra was to be seen as a second Moses leading the second Exodus,

specifically around the studying, doing, and teaching of the word/law of God;

Nehemiah is a second Joshua.

The guy after the guy.

Moses was used by God to help initiate the Exodus.

Joshua is the champion who leads people into and on a victorious God given mission he has inherited from the previous leader.

Joshua’s name means the “Lord Saves”, Nehemiah means “God comforts”

Ezra was a student of God who led by teaching.

Nehemiah is a follower of God who teaches by leading.

We will see in the coming weeks Nehemiah is both skilled and willing to lead with boldness and clarity; courage, and strength.

Nehemiah is a leader worth following, on a mission worth pursuing.

His leadership begins with being aware of a need.

We are now 13 years after the return of Ezra and His crew going to Jerusalem.

We’re now back in Persia where there is still a remnant that has not yet returned from exile.

Nehemiah is in the palace/fortress in Susa and he hears news from his brother from Judah regarding the state of God’s people who have left exile and the condition of God’s city.

These are a people and a place he’s never been to or known.

What is the state of the restoration?

Nehemiah 1:1-4 “1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, 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. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” 4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.”

Two words. Not good. Two more.

Trouble. Shame. Why great trouble?

We’ve seen back in Ezra there were the “people of the land” those were around Jerusalem but did not worship the God of the bible and were hostile to the mission of restoration, there has been local and governmental opposition.

Why shame? Cities were places of refuge and strength and Jerusalem was capable of neither of these.

The wall, the symbol of safety was broken and worthless.

The gates of the city are burned down.

As you enter and exit there is a tangible reminder that this is a city that has been previously destroy

and as of yet has not been returned to anything that looked like it’s former glory.

Upon hearing the walls were still down Nehemiah sat down and wept.

He mourned as if someone was dead.

For days he cried out to God, prayed fervently and fasted before God.

Those walls symbolized the lives, attitude, spirit and hope of the people ----

the walls symbolized the demoralized and hopelessness that was felt by the people.

The broken walls represented a broken people.

It represented how sin had broken the relationship between them and God.

The walls were a constant reminder for generations of Jews what sin does.

He knew, despite their return and the rebuilding of the temple they had yet to find their way.

Despite the brokenness....

There is Hope despite our Predicaments

Why did this matter to Nehemiah?

He did not live there.

He had an influential job - a touch dangerous - but influential nonetheless.

He was the King's cupbearer.

He would taste the wine and food before the King would drink or eat to ensure the king was not being poisoned by his enemies, a slight occupational hazard for Nehemiah to be sure.

He served in the king's presence.

Some historians say the cup-bearers also became trusted advisors for the King.

He would have been a listening ear and sounding board.

- Nehemiah had a lot going for him.

Nehemiah probably had some of the finer things in life,

With all of that in his favor, with all of that going for him, why did this matter to Nehemiah?

Nehemiah was not concerned about the aesthetics of the wall.

He was not a fussy homemaker disturbed by the mess of it all.

He knew the broken walls meant...

Frightening insecurity for the people because the downed walls placed them in a weakened condition.

No commercial development, a stalled economy.

We have seen what a sluggish economy can do to people, families and community relationships.

It mattered because it was His people.

This was not about construction.

It was about community. It was about the people.

Yes, there were economic, militaristic and political issues related to the wall that affected the lives of the people

but it mattered because he knew God's Word and the promises and plans and purpose God had for His people were going unfulfilled.

There are people, maybe in this room, whose life is like those old walls crumbling or destroyed and in desperate need of repair.

The walls of your spiritual life are down,

just remnants of a once vibrant relationship with God remain.

We all know what that is like.

Churches know what it is like to spend every week looking at the ruins of what was once a great ministry.

When we see needs in our lives, areas in need of repair,

we can stand by and do nothing or respond positively and proactively.

When we see needs in the lives of others or our community we can stand by and do nothing or respond with help.

When we see our church faltering and the only sign of life being charred remnants of the past we can do nothing or we can begin the hard work of rebuilding.

Nehemiah, who was a thousand miles away, living a good life, could have said,

''Man, I feel bad for them'' and then gone about his daily life as if the conversation never took place.

He could have thought, ''Serves them right.

They were given a great opportunity and they continue to blow it.

They never learn from their mistakes.

They made their bed. Let them sleep in it.''

He could have said, ''Those people have no vision, no drive, no desire and because of that things will never change for them. Glad I am not there. Not my problem.''

He could have responded that way but he didn't.

He was deeply moved.

His spirit was crushed.

He had great compassion for God's people in his heard.

He had a great passion for God and God's plan for his people.''

Nehemiah knew that despite their continued regression and ruin, there was hope, they just needed someone to lead them and show them the way.

Nehemiah was 1,000 miles away and could see what they did not...

their future, a better future, God's preferred future for their lives and he cared for them.

Nehemiah's journey begins with an unshakeable burden.

His heart was broken over what he heard but,

as we will find out, he had a vision for what could be.

Look how Nehemiah responded.

There is Hope in the Person of God.

Nehemiah 1:4-11 “4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 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. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,“9 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.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 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.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.”

Sometimes, we are struck by a need, caught up in a moment or weighed down by a burden and the first thing we do is jump into action when what we should do is full on our face before God.

What we think about the problem, or even how we feel, is not anywhere near as important as what God thinks and wants.

We take our thoughts and our feelings to Him and ask that the help us sort through our feelings and thoughts. We submit them to Him.

- Not every idea is a good idea. Not everything that pops into our heads is something we should act on or speak out loud.

- Not every good idea is necessarily God's idea

- Not every dream we hold in our heart is from God.

Nehemiah takes his hurts, fears, burden, feelings, thoughts, dreams and desires to God in prayer.

It is an expression of his dependence and reliance on God.

Someone has said, ''Prayer is the most eloquent expression of our priorities. It confesses total reliance on God and exercises our faith...''

Nehemiah's prayer not only shows his dependence on God but what he thinks and believes about God.

You can tell a lot about people by how they pray.

You can tell what they believe about God.

So, what does Nehemiah's prayer reveal about his belief in God?

He is Powerful.

Nehemiah 1:5 “5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,”

He prays to a God he sees as sovereign and in control over all things.

Nehemiah is 1,000 miles away.

He was a servant in the king's house.

He was but one person in a world filled with people.

He was but a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things

but He was praying to a God not limited by the miles.

He was praying to a God to whom the nations of the earth were but a speck of dust.

He is Loving.

Nehemiah 1:5 “5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,”

It’s lovely that the Mosaic covenant should be called by Nehemiah the covenant of love.

It’s rightly called a covenant of love,

and it provided the means under the stipulations of that covenant for people to be reconciled to God by virtue of the sacrificial system which,

in the whole scheme of things, points forward to something even greater.

Yet, at the end of the day, it was no final answer.

There is both promise in that covenant of love (

“Repent, and I will restore you to the land”)

and there is frustration,

because the cycles are so patent to a man like Nehemiah living as he does almost a millennium on from the establishing of the covenant.

- He sees God as a God who loves and cares for His people. He hears and is attentive to their cries.

God is always faithful when we are not.

He always is pursing us to return to him.

The exile was a loving discipline and pursuit.

The return was a sign of his pursing love,

Everything around them was a sign of God’s love for them.

He is Holy

Nehemiah 1:7-8 “7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,”

- He recognizes God as holy.

He comes in confession and repentance.

Sin has no place in the presence of God.

- He has a right to bless and to punish.

Nehemiah was realistic in assessing the problem.

He quickly realized that at the heart of things was not a lack of organization,

although they desperately needed someone to organize things,

which Nehemiah subsequently did.

The root problem was not a lack of resources,

although the project required resources.

The root problem was sin.

So he prayed, “confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses” (1:6b-7).

The Bible is clear that at the root of all our global and personal problems is sin.

Why are there wars and terrorist attacks? Sin.

Why are there famine and disease? Sin.

Why are governments and businesses riddled with greed and corruption? Sin.

Why is the mission task of the church not fulfilled? Sin.

On the personal level,

why do couples argue and have problems communicating? Sin.

Why do kids from Christian homes rebel against God and their parents? Sin.

Whatever the problem, you can trace its roots back to sin, either to the original sin of Adam and Eve, or directly to the sins of the people with the problems.

If God is going to use us to help alleviate any great need, we need to keep clear in our focus, that at the root of the problem is human sin.

There is Hope in the Promises of God.

Nehemiah’s prayer is based on the kind of teaching found in

Leviticus 26:40-42 “40 “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”

Nehemiah is living out the fulfillment of what God promised when He said He would scatter Israel, exiling them among the nations.

Nehemiah experienced the exile, and he prayed that he might experience what God promised would come after the exile, Restoration and renewal.

He prayed in order to live out the confessing of sin,

hoping to experience God remembering His covenant

When our spiritual and relational lives are in shambles,

we can relay on the foundation of all of God’s promises.

He is always faithful even when we are not.

Find Hope in the the person and Promises of God.

We Obtain this hope through Prayer.

We saw the content of His prayer lets see the composition of His prayer.

PRAY

Praise God

Start with God, Not the problem or petition (v5-6) -

Neh 1:5-6 “5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 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. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.”

Nehemiah does not proceed to the other elements of his prayer

until he has reminded himself of what he is doing

and the greatness and character of the God to whom he is directing his prayer.

Were do we find the characteristics of God, in His word.

So pause and think about who you’re talking to. And the Word helps us in this.

George Müller, a giant, in a sense, in prayer and Christian history, once said, “When I used to rise from bed, I would begin to pray as soon as possible. But I often spent a quarter of an hour to an hour on my knees, struggling to pray while my mind wandered.” Does that ever happen to you—your mind just wandering? Müller said, “Now I rarely have this problem and here’s why not. As my heart is nourished by the truth of the Word, I’m brought into true fellowship with God. I speak to my Father and to my Friend although I’m unworthy about the things that He has brought before me in His precious word.”

This is a declaration of God’s nature, character, and power. God,

The Creator of everything, you inspire Awe in who you are. You are good to your people.

You keep promises and your love endures.

You want to see change and have big issues, or injustices resolved

you better have a God big enough to deal with it.

Nehemiah’s response reveals his belief and faith in a God big enough and good enough to be willing and able to deliver.

Repent of your sin

Understand the source of the problem (v6-7)

Nehemiah 1:6-7 “6 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. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.”

Confession- The problem is not with God, it is with us.

Our sin is the cause of our ruin, not God’s reliability.

This confession is comprehensive in nature.

But it’s not just the sins of others that we need to be aware of.

We also need to be aware of and confess our own sins.

Nehemiah included himself with the sins of the people.

Staying aware of our own sins keeps us humbled before God and others so that we don’t sit in judgment on them.

We are sinners who have been shown mercy.

We go to other sinners and offer God’s mercy.

But we dare not get distracted from the root problem.

The root need is for repentance on the part of God’s people, who have forgotten His purpose and are living for their own purpose.

And lost people need repentance so that they can be reconciled to God.

Nehemiah’s burden stemmed from feeling the people’s great need. It was focused by seeing the people’s and his own great sin.

Ask God to work in specific ways.

God to make His character and Promises evident in the lives of specific Individuals.

Neh 1:8-11 “8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 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.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 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.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.”

Intercede for particular needs in your life and in other’s lives.

It just makes sense. You’ve seen who God is.

You’ve been reminded of how much you need Him,

and so you call out to Him.

You know He’s sufficient. You know He’s the provider. He’s the creator. He’s the Father. He’s in control of all things, and He has the power to provide—in your life and in others’ lives

So ask God to make his power and promise evident in your needs and desires.

Yield to God’s plan for you.

Nehemiah 1:11 “11 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.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.”

All of this leads us to the Y, to Yield.

Surrender your life to following Jesus, whenever and however He leads you.

You praised and repented and asked for things in your life, and things in others’ lives.

So now it just makes sense.

Your life is going to be different after this kind of time alone with God.

People talk about prayer and if it really changes things

Does prayer change things Yes, but still not the point.

Prayer changes you it changes me.

We’re in need of change, we’re in need of transformation … and prayer is transforming.

Pray what Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 10:6),

and realize, “Well, I’m on earth. Your will be done in my life as it is in heaven.”

After four months of prayer and planning, Nehemiah is ready to move to mission.God moved in the heart of a person who has the position to effectively enact change.

Nehemiah was looking for an opportunity.

He was clearing this calendar for God. If you make yourself available to God, He will use you.

Now I was the Cupbearer for the king.

Nehemiah is cupbearer of the king, royal wine taster, which beyond being a rad job, gives him both access and influence with one who has great worldly resources and authority

through prayer God reveled to him that he, nehemiah was the answer to the prayer.

God had given him access, positon, and desire to accomplish the next step in God’s plan.

Nehemiah 2:1-6 “1 In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time.”

Many times when you pray for something God is going to use you to accomplish that request.

Be willing to listen and sacrifice what ever is needed to accomplish what God is calling you to do through prayer.

Unsaved friend - You share the gospel with them.

Wayward family member - you lead and love them back to the straight and narrow

Some one is needing encouragement - You send them a card or take them out for coffee.

Some one needing help - send them some financial help.

John Piper-

What is God looking for in the world? Assistants? No. the Gospel is not a help wanted ad. It is a help-available ad.

Nor is the call to Christian service a help-wanted ad.

God is not looking for people to work for Him

but people who will let Him work mightily through them. '

Nehemiah’s response is to leave his comfort zone and go pursue a mission at great personal and corporate cost. When has your grief and mourning led you, guided by patient prayer, to decisive and bold action? For Nehemiah, his act of courage was to leave the comfort of where he was and move into where he was needed. Most of us are quick to leave when uncomfortable. We leave to pursue comfort when we’re called to stay where we are needed.