When Kingdom Opportunity Knocks

Good morning Harmony!

Last week we looked at the very first thing that we should be doing when the church is in trouble - we should be concerned enough to pray for her. That was all of chapter one - Nehemiah was concerned enough to pray for the city of Jerusalem.

Today we are going to be in the first 10 verses of chapter 2 of Nehemiah, and we are going to see how that prayer impacts Nehemiah and the actions he takes.

So, here’s the question - when you pray, are you prepared to act? When you ask others to pray, are you prepared for an answer?

During a time of great drought, the Scottish preacher Dr. Guthrie prayed for rain in the morning service. As he went to church in the afternoon, his daughter, Mary, said, “Here is the umbrella, Papa.”

“What do we need it for,” he asked.

“You prayed for rain this morning, and don’t you expect God will send it?”

They carried the umbrella, and when they came home they were glad to take shelter under it from the drenching storm.

When you pray, are you prepared for the response? Is your faith bold enough to take action and demonstrate your faith?

Our main point for today is:

Main Point: Prioritizing the success of God’s church requires bold faith in God’s plan of restoration.

If you say that you are a believer in Christ, if you say that you are a Christian, if you say that you believe in the King of kings and the Lord of lords returning again, are you prepared to step out in bold faith to participate in what you say that you believe?

You’ve been praying for someone to know Christ as their Lord, have you told them about Him?

You’ve been praying for an opportunity to talk to the boss about having a prayer meeting at work - have you been looking for that opportunity?

Last week we talked about that prayer of Nehemiah, and prayer is probably the most important thing you can do in any situation - and yes, you need an answer to that prayer before you step out and do something, but I think a lot of us, we’re scared to take that next step when God does give us an answer.

And so when God gives us an answer, we shy away from it.

It’s like praying “Lord, I pray for little Johnny to know you as their Lord. Send someone to lead them to a relationship with you.” It’s like praying that and then God answers you that He is sending someone, and that someone is you, you continue to pray for an answer that He has already given you.

Or “Lord, please send someone to start a prayer meeting at work” and when God says you know how to pray and you are someone, you have an answer, but it isn’t the answer that you wanted.

You say you’re a believer, but you aren’t willing to use that bold faith that you so often say that you believe in.

Prayer is a priority, it is the most important first thing we should all be doing before taking any action to start or stop doing Kingdom-level things.

So yes, you should pray for the lost. You should pray for the church. You should pray for the ministries that glorify God and that spread the gospel. You should pray for our nation.

And when God provides you with an opportunity to do something about those things that you are praying for, you should take action as God uses you to answer your prayers.

Nehemiah in the first chapter says the month is Chislev, today as we begin in Nehemiah chapter 2, time has passed. Four months of praying, fasting, and weeping has led to the events that take place in Nehemiah chapter 2.

Beginning in verse one, we read:

Nehemiah 2:1–10 CSB

During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence, so the king said to me, “Why do you look so sad, when you aren’t sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” I was overwhelmed with fear and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king asked me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of the heavens and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I may rebuild it.” The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me. I also said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let me have letters written to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah. And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress, the city wall, and the home where I will live.” The king granted my requests, for the gracious hand of my God was on me. I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent officers of the infantry and cavalry with me. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to pursue the prosperity of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.

Prayer.

Last week we ended chapter one with “at the time I was the king’s cupbearer” there at the end of verse 11. And these two things really lead into chapter two - one, it’s been four months, and two, he’s the cupbearer.

The cupbearer is not this lowly person dressed in rags or just some simple servant like some of us may think.

A cupbearer, at that time, they would have been a high level official - yes, they rise and fall based upon what is in the cup, but this person is known by the king. They are trusted, they are seen as someone that the king can allow to be close without a fear of being killed. There is a relationship that is going to develop, you’re that close to the king of a massive empire, and he is going to notice when something is off.

And so, when your close, trusted cupbearer enters the room in a different attitude, a different demeanor, you probably would be a little concerned too. After all, this is the guy that is trusted to keep you alive, so concern for him means concern for you.

Nehemiah is so concerned for the city of Jerusalem, it’s begun showing when he enters the presence of the king. He’s been praying and fasting and weeping for the city, and this particular time, he’s unable to hide his emotional status.

And God provides this opportunity, using Nehemiah, to present His plan for restoration to a pagan king.

And from this passage today, we’re going to take a look at how we should respond when God drops opportunity into our laps as believers to present God’s plan of restoration to those around us. We are going to see:

Four actions believers should prioritize when God provides opportunity for the church.

The first action we should take then, is found in verses one through three, where we see that:

1. We should WATCH for opportunity for the Kingdom, vv. 1-3.

And here’s where I think many of us are at. In verses one through three Nehemiah says that four months later, he was placing wine before the king, and he was sad in the king’s presence.

Many of us are sad for the state of many of our friends and co-workers. We’re sad for the state of the world. We look at the world, at our friends and neighbors and coworkers and we pray for them to be saved.

The king notices, and says you aren’t sick, so what’s wrong? The king acknowledges that there is something that is causing this sadness, it’s not sickness that has Nehemiah this way, and so the king asks what is wrong?

Maybe some of the people that you are close to have noticed - you’re praying for them, you’re saddened by the state of the world, you want them to know Christ so that they can know His salvation and mercy and grace in their lives - and in the conversation that you are having with them, an opportunity presents itself.

And you know this person is not a believer - you know that they are one who would say that they don’t like talking about two things, they don’t like talking about religion or politics.

Yet here you are, with an opportunity that has just fallen into your lap.

And the end of verse 2 says that Nehemiah was overwhelmed with fear.

That’s a lot of us today, right?

We may have been praying for months or even years for God to send someone to that person to share the gospel with them, or to go and plant that church or to be that pastor or that missionary that reaches those people, and then God says I am - and He says that He’s sending you!

And you know, maybe that’s you today - and maybe you’ve even tried before, but failed, and now you’re scared to ever try that again.

You’re scared of rejection and ridicule, you’re scared to lose your job, you’re scared to be seen differently, but there God is, He’s not going to back down, He’s not going to change His mind - He’s sending you.

Nehemiah was overwhelmed with fear at the inquiry of the king, why are you so sad? He has prayed and fasted and wept for the city Jerusalem, now an opportunity has presented itself to Nehemiah. He’s overwhelmed with fear, the king has noticed, and even though he’s a close person to the king with a high ranking position, he knows that the next words out of his mouth could change his fate, they could change how the king sees him, how the court sees him. These words could end his service to the king, they could even end his very life.

Are you overwhelmed with fear today about sharing the gospel?

Has God called you to be more involved in the ministry?

Verse 3 says he replied to the king, and he tells him what’s going on. I’m sad because my city is broken, she’s vulnerable, the walls are down and the gates are burned.

Are you sad for the state of the Church today Christian?

This is going to hurt some of y’all’s feelings, but the church’s biggest problem is not the media, it’s not the prosperity gospel, it’s not even false preachers. The church’s biggest problem is us.

Too many of us are complacent in the church today. We’ve convinced ourselves that the work of going and making disciples is someone else’s job. We aren’t convicted enough to overcome the fear of this world to go ourselves to share Christ.

You’re praying for someone else to do something that God has called you to do.

“Not my job” does not work when it comes to being a believer and a follower of Christ, and until that reality sinks in for believers everywhere, this is where we will stay.

We will stay sad. We will stay complacent. We will stay disobedient to the call of Christ to go and make disciples, to go and be that pastor, to go and be that missionary, to go and be the hands and feet of Christ, all because we are scared of offending someone or changing our lifestyle.

And so when an opportunity plants itself right in front of us, instead of even testing the waters for action we will tell ourselves that this is a job for someone else.

We are running away from an opportunity that God has provided us.

Nehemiah says I’m sad for my city. He responds to the question.

Nehemiah sees an opportunity to start the conversation about the situation in Jerusalem, he’s been thinking about this for four months, it’s the only thing that has been consistently in his thoughts, and now the king has noticed and the opportunity drops right into Nehemiah’s lap.

If Nehemiah had lied, remember, they’re close, the king knows his cupbearer, if Nehemiah had lied, the king would have probably known. If Nehemiah said nothing or had told the king something else, the king would have known. So Nehemiah gives him the authentic answer.

We should watch for opportunity for the kingdom and be prepared to be authentic in our calling to spread the good news of Christ.

The second action we should take is:

2. We should ACT on the opportunity for the Kingdom, vv. 4-5.

In verses 4 and 5 we see Nehemiah gets another question.

In verses 2 and 3 the king asks what’s wrong, Nehemiah gives him a straight answer, and the king then asks “what is your request?”

And Nehemiah prays.

I doubt it was a long prayer, I doubt it was a prayer that the king even noticed, it may very well have been “Lord help me”, but Nehemiah prays and then he gives a response and asks the king to send him to the broken down city.

He could have asked that the king just send someone else. He could have asked that the king send just money, or just the orders to repair the wall, but he says “send me.”

And here’s another area where we tend to try to skirt around our calling, because we would rather that God send someone else to do the ministry work that we are called to.

Nehemiah prays, then acts on that prayer.

Yes he has prayed a lot before this, and I believe that he has prayed for this opportunity, as we all should be, and now that this opportunity has presented itself Nehemiah has seen this opportunity and prayed for strength and courage for this opportunity, and now he asks the king to send him.

In Luke 10 Jesus tells his disciples to pray for workers for the harvest. He says in Luke 10:2

Luke 10:2 CSB

2 He told them, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

And we are all about prayer. The harvest is abundant - there are a lot of people ready to know Christ, right now, the authentic, true gospel that you know, they are ready to know that gospel.

The workers are few. Pray for more workers.

And we like that idea. We like the idea of praying for workers. But the very next verse says:

Luke 10:3 CSB

3 Now go; I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves.

It’s all together - pray for more workers, because you are a worker and Jesus says I am sending you. There are plenty of people out there that are ready to know Christ, ready to know the good news, and you have that good news. If you are an authentic believer and follower of Christ today, you have the good news of Christ, what Christ did for you, and Christ sends you to go and tell others about that good news.

We want revival in the church, in our nation, it starts with all of us recognizing that the worker is us.

Instead of praying God send someone else to do this we should be praying God send me! I can’t do this myself God, but Lord send me with Your power so that I can be unstoppable for the Kingdom!

We should be watching for opportunities for the Kingdom, we should act upon opportunities for the Kingdom, and third:

3. We should PREPARE for opportunity for the Kingdom, vv. 6-8.

Notice in verses 6 through 8 Nehemiah had a plan.

He had been thinking about this for four months, so when the king asks how long he’s going to be gone and when will he return, Nehemiah had answers.

First he answered the king’s question - he had an amount of time in mind, and he gave an timeframe and this pleased the king it says.

But then notice verses seven and eight - first, he asks for more than just sending himself. He asks for letters to be sent with him, he asks for the protection of the king.

Then he asks for a letter for the resources of the king’s forest.

And the end of verse 8 says the king gave it all to him, and “the gracious hand of my God was on me.”

Nehemiah wasn’t going into this project blind or alone. He knew he needed protection and strength in order to be successful.

And so he was prepared for the opportunity when the time came to present his plan.

We can be prepared today when opportunities present themselves.

Look, there are a number of ways out there to present the gospel. You can share your testimony, telling others about how you came to know Christ. You can use a tract. You can have conversational evangelism - there are all sorts of ways and methods to be prepared, you just have to pick one and do it.

If you are living your life as a believer in Christ, chances are people will come to you because you’re different. You should be prepared in some way to present the gospel to them.

You should seek to be prepared for those Kingdom-level opportunities to share Christ. And it’s ok to ask for additional help, for additional resources, even for someone to go with you.

If you would like to learn more or would like some help with being prepared to share the gospel, write that on the connect card and send it with the offering plate later. We need to be prepared for opportunities. God’s gracious hand will be with you as you go and do what He has called you to do, and He has given you the tools necessary to be prepared.

We should be watching for opportunity, acting on opportunity, preparing for opportunity, and finally,

4. We should EXPECT opposition to the Kingdom, vv. 9-10.

Verses 9 and 10 tell us that there will be opposition when it comes to Kingdom work.

He asked for the letters in preparation for that opposition, and he has the king’s officers and infantry with him.

Nehemiah was all in on doing the work of the Kingdom. And the king sent him with reinforcements to see to it that the job was getting done.

Nevertheless, there are two governors that are greatly displeased, and we will see more of that later on.

But Nehemiah didn’t go out alone, he had the officers, the infantry, and the calvary of the king.

When you go out and you share the good news of Christ, if God is calling you to pastor a church, if God is calling you to be a missionary, then know that He isn’t sending you out alone. God has sent His officers, His infantry, and His calvary to go with you, and nothing this world has can defeat His army.

When we pray for revival or restoration in our churches, we should be watching for the opportunities he provides.

When we see opportunity for revival or restoration, we should be praying and acting upon that opportunity.

When we seek opportunity for revival and restoration, we should be preparing for it by knowing His Word and how He has given us the good news to share it with others.

When we face opposition to revival and restoration, we should be comforted in knowing that He has already won the victory, and He is with us every step of the way.

Are you prepared to boldly step out and actively participate in God’s plan of restoration?

That restoration begins with a personal restoration - being restored to Christ.

If you don’t know Christ the very first thing that I would compel you to do is to know Christ, who came so that you could know of His good news of salvation.

Jesus Christ came so that you would have the opportunity to know God’s plan for salvation and His plan for your life.

He came to save sinners, and that is everyone here - all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

The good news is that Jesus came to pay the penalty for our sin.

Jesus lived a perfect life as both God and man so that He alone could take on the penalty for sin for you.

To pay the penalty, He went to the cross of calvary, and died, for you to be able to know Him and be saved.

You can’t earn it, you can’t work for it, there is nothing you can do to repay the debt of sin, and yet, Christ died to satisfy the debt of sin.

Then three days later, He rose from that grave victorious over death, hell and the grave, so that we might have the hope of eternal life with Him in Heaven.

If you’re here right now and you don’t know Christ, you’re new to church or you’ve been faking it or whatever, if you are here and you don’t know Christ today, that can all change today. Come talk to me, talk to the person who invited you, fill out the connect card - we’d love to pray with you and show you what the Bible says about believing in Christ as Lord and Savior.

If you are here today and you are already a believer in Christ, are you demonstrating that by boldly living by faith and praying for opportunities to build the Kingdom? Are you sharing that faith and demonstrating the power of Christ in your life?

We must prioritize the Kingdom as individuals in order to see revival in churches. We must boldly live out our faith that demonstrates His plan for restoration.

Prayer.

Questions for the Week

1. What is one thing that stood out to you from this week’s message?

2. What opportunities has God placed in your path to reach others for Christ? Were you prepared? Were you able to act upon the opportunity?

3. What opposition have you faced with when taking action for the Kingdom? How did you over come that opposition?