Untitled Sermon

General recap-

The Lexham English Bible (Chapter 2)

2 It happened in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I carried the wine and gave it to the king. And I had never been sad before the king. 2 So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad since you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” And I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city of my ancestors’ burial site is ruined and her gates are consumed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What is your request?”

So I prayed to the God of the heavens. 5 Then I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your presence, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ burial sites, so that I may rebuild it.”

This morning we continue with our series Destination Restoration

In this series we are finding Biblical breadcrumbs for rebuilding.

We are learning that with God all things are possible and three things are practical.

We can :

Repair

2. Rebuild

3. and Reinforce what has been ruined or wrecked in our lives.

My statement to Gospel Way and to God’s people is:

God is still in the business of happy endings. He still takes shattered lives and rebuilds them to His glory.

Edward E. Hindson

God can take the what looks impossible and make is possible.

God can take the improbable and make it practical.

Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the wall, but beyond that objective he had the far more significant objective of rebuilding the nation.

James Montgomery Boice

In this series I want to convey an idea shared by Erwin W. Lutzer

That God ,” is not interested in merely applying a new coat of paint, imposing a new set of rules. He wants to rebuild our minds and give us new values.

Erwin W. Lutzer

We learned in chapter one of Nehemiah that in the 20th year in the month that corresponds to our late (November and early December) Nehemiah hears that Jerusalem- His homeland is still divided and devastated , despite the fact that a rebuilding campaign was began 13 years earlier on their behalf.

He like so many others were under the assumption that things were going well only to find out that they were not.

And through that personal brokenness God began to put the pieces together for DESTINATION RESTORATION.

In chapter 2:1 we learn that he would spend the next four months in prayer with intermittent fasting trying to feel after God and find his perfect will and a way to get the work done.

There are moments in life that we do not know what or how to pray. Nehemiah has been praying for 4 months. And in an instant, at the just the right moment, with just the right man, Nehemiah is about to demonstrate how secret prayer pulls God’s power and provision into the present.

Charles Spurgeon when speaking on prayer said,”

987”God the Holy Ghost writes our prayers, God the Son presents our prayers, and God the Father accepts our prayers. And with the whole Trinity to help us in it, what cannot prayer perform?—54.342, 343

Charles Spurgeon

He was saying when we set ourselves in agreement with God anything can happen.

When ever we start to believe that we are what He says we are! That we can do what He says we can do!

Then Heaven comes to earth!

Nehemiah knew he was nothing without God.

God creates out of nothing. Therefore until a man is nothing God can make nothing out of him.

Martin Luther (Founder of the German Reformation)

Nehemiah found that newness begins with nothingness.

PRAYER IS THE ESSENTIAL PRICE THAT IS REQUIRED TO FIND THE MISSING PIECES NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH GOD’S PURPOSE.

It is said in chapter one that Nehemiah, when he heard that (the nearest thing to God’s heart- Gods people- had a problem and were in need of provision and protection, he put aside his own comfort and personal security aside and introduced himself to sacrifice.

Self-denial is not so much an impoverishment as a postponement: we make a sacrifice of present good for the sake of a future and greater good.

George Müller (Philanthropist and Preacher)

All along the Christian course, there must be set up altars to God on which you sacrifice yourself, or you will never advance a step.

Alexander Maclaren (Preacher and Expositor)

Nehemiah 1:4 “When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.”

He put away:

Food

Friends

& Fun

To find a way for God to do what only God could do.

A SEEKING MAN IS A SUCCESSFUL MAN!

1. During that 4 month season of seeking- He fought and overcame 2 temptations that are common to all of us when faced with real struggles.

He did not become bound with excuses.

Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure.

Unknown

Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.

George Washington

He did not allow himself to become incarcerated with complacency.

Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.

A. W. Tozer

Nehemiah developed that attitude that the BUCK STOPS HERE!

Responsibility

I believe that there are three kinds of people.

Those that look for an exit.

Those that look for an excuse.

Those that look for an entrance.

WHICH ONE ARE WE? THAT IS THE QUESTION BEFORE US.

The optimist recognizes a responsibility in every crisis; the pessimist sees a crisis in every responsibility.

Anonymous

There was a certain preacher years ago that was preaching a campmeeting and thousands were in attendance. He said that as he was seeking God, he became desperate as to why God was not moving today as he was in the yesterday’s. He said that he called to God in prayer and said, The Bible declares that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that you change not. I am calling out to you and asking where is the God of Elisha.

He said that God answered him back, “Where are the Elisha’s of God?

Men who prayed fire down.

Men who repaired the broken down altars.

Men that stood up for God.

Men that were not afraid to say, “ Thus saith the LORD!

God called, and Nehemiah answered!

I came to tell you when he sat down in grief on God’s behalf- God stood up on the other end for his behalf.

When God got his attention- He got God’s attention.

Let me say that another way- When he started looking up- God started looking down.

When we really get serious about serving God- then we will start seeing God show up.

WHEN FAITH GOES UP- FIRE COMES DOWN!

I came to remind the church of 2 Chronicles 7:14

“That, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and will pray and will seek my face and will turn from their evil ways, then I myself shall hear from the heavens and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

Nehemiah stepped off the sideline and got serious with God. AND PRAYER PULLED HIM INTO THE PURPOSE OF GOD!

Life always gets harder toward the summit—the cold increases, responsibility increases.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (German Philosopher)