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Text: Nehemiah 1:1-5.
Intro: We began with the first five verses of the book of Nehemiah as a refresh of where we were last week. Nehemiah is broken for the state of God’s nation, God’s city, God’s worship, and God’s glory! Nehemiah prays to the God of great power for help because of the large and great work that is before them. What I find remarkable is that the greatest part of Nehemiah’s prayer isn’t about the work, but the greatest portion of this prayer is dedicated to dealing with sin...
Nehemiah’s Prayer over sin: Vs. 6-7
Notice how Nehemiah lumps himself in with the sin of the nation.
O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
We looked a few weeks ago at Ezra’s prayer, and this prayer that Nehemiah prays is not unlike the prayers of those other men…
1 John 5:17 “All unrighteousness is sin...”
I think we could all argue that Nehemiah is not unrighteous, nor did he sin this great sin against his God, but by him lumping himself in with the lot of sinful men, he became as they were. In desperate need of God, forgiveness, and His restoration!
As a church, we have to understand this concept. I understand that the blessings from God are promised individually, but there are blessings that are related to the unity of His church! We must understand that sin is sin, and that we must call it what it is, and see it for what it is, and change because of it!
By Nehemiah calling himself a sinner he was not unlike Cain.
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
or
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.
You may think I’m crazy and that he wasn’t saying he was like any of them… Is sin sin? These men were sinners, and all sin is vial to God, so in fact he was saying he was no different then that murderer and those fornicators.
The problem today is that we don’t have Biblical view of sin...
We call sin:
Oopsies
Mistakes
Learning the hard way
Accidents
A moment of weakness
A lack of judgement
While God calls it...
Vomit
Wounds
Chains
Bondage
Leprosy
Death
The word sin appears 570 times and it is found in 40 of the Bibles 66 books.
Sin is as serious as a heart attack and it is about time that we respond to it like Nehemiah responds to it. Whether it is my sin, or sin in the church, we pray it up and we pray it out!
Nehemiah prayed believing God: vs. 8-9
For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee:
Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee,
Yet will I not make a full end of thee:
But I will correct thee in measure,
And will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord,
Until the day that I rise up to the prey:
For my determination is to gather the nations,
That I may assemble the kingdoms,
To pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger:
For all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle;
And the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished;
And half of the city shall go forth into captivity,
And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people:
All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces,
Though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
Nehemiah believed what God had said… So many times we get caught up in the situation forgetting what God has declared. May we remember the book. That is why men like Peter wrote to put us in remembrance, that is why God gave us the Holy Ghost, John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Let’s consider the weight of our sin when we consider the parable of the prodigal son...
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Do you remember how the father replied to his returning son? Let’s have a feast!
Nehemiah’s Prayer of Commitment: vs. 10-11
Do you know what we see in chapter 1? Is that through prayer, Nehemiah’s burden grew, and that through prayer Nehemiah’s vision became greater!
We live a life trying the die daily, and live! Prayer is where that is accomplished.
Prayer is where God balances our heart and our head…
The king needed someone he could trust, look at how Nehemiah ends… For I (was) the king’s cupbearer… Where does he get such understanding? Prayer… He hasn’t asked the king anything yet… Yet, through prayer he knows...
Nehemiah trusted God, He had confidence in what God was going to do, and the believed God would equip Him for the task!
He sacrificed his position, comfort and security to encourage a broken people to complete an impossible task. With God, nothing shall be impossible!
I want to remind us of some other men...
Abraham rescuing Lot from the kings.
Moses leading Israel out of Egypt.
David becoming king and leading Israel.
Esther risked her life for her people.
Paul preached the gospel through a Roman empire which eventually took his life.
Jesus died leaving His throne in heaven, that you and I might be saved.
Closing:
Yeah but, maybe someone else will do it...
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
God still uses men, to work through them, to perform his work!
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.