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Text: Nehemiah 2:1
Intro: Last week we considered the patience of Nehemiah as he waiting those four months that are between Nehemiah 1:1 and Nehemiah 2:1.
I want to begin with a few things we see out of our first verse today…
First of all, Nehemiah being a cup bearer is not an excuse to be a drunk… I know he is in a pagan environment but so are we. It is acceptable for a CEO to arrive at work plastered? Of course not, neither was this king drinking on the job… I’m not saying he didn’t drink alcohol, but I am saying that every time we see the word wine in the Bible it isn’t talking about an alcoholic beverage.
An example, the butler in Genesis to Pharaoh, has a dream and in that dream he does what Joseph interprets as “after the former manner”. He was a cupbearer…
And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.
We should never be depressed in the presence of our KING!
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth:
For thy love is better than wine.
We never have to be depressed in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ because His love is enough!
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine;
Nor for princes strong drink:
Lest they drink, and forget the law,
And pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish,
And wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Let him drink, and forget his poverty,
And remember his misery no more.
The child of God never has to forget his misery, because God’s love for us is better than wine...
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
The child of God never has a need to have his senses dulled because the Spirit of God dwell within them! Listen you may have been rejected in everything else you face in this life, but if your a child of God, then you will never be rejected at the throne of grace!
Here is a day, that Nehemiah could not hide his sorrow of heart. The king noticed because this was an event that had never occured before. This was unusual for Nehemiah to be this way… Can I say this in love… That Nehemiah being sad, ultimately drew attention to God, and not to himself!
Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water:
He turneth it whithersoever he will.
This king could have acted in many other ways… This is still true today… God hasn’t changed...
Nehemiah wasn’t sick, he didn’t have covid, he had prayed, he waited, and here he stands before the Lord much in the way that Esther did for such a time as this… And Nehemiah get’s an open door to share his burden with the king of Persia.
Do you now why? He waited…
I waited patiently for the Lord;
And he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait,
And in his word do I hope.
In the meantime, James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
When you don’t know what to do, stop trying to figure it out and ask God! It is okay, men, for us not to have the answer!
As we prepare to rise up and build… We must have patience.
We must have petition:
And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
Nehemiah shares his burden with the king… Look at how the king responds to his petition.
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Do you know what was put into action?
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Think about this, when the king asks something… he expects an answer.
Send me - Verses 4-6
Nehemiah couldn’t leave his position of cup bearer without the permission of the king, nor could rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, without looking like he was planning a coup against Persia. So he makes his petition known.
You know what is amazing? Is that the king never told him to go… He asked how long shall thy journey be?
Here is something for us, if we want to rise up and build, ask God, petition to God, that he make you an intricate part of Cornerstone Bible Baptist Church… I want to challenge you, how many of you prayed yesterday or this morning for the services today? God help me receive the word that you have for me today, how often did you go to God instant in prayer this week, as you served Him? How many people did you pray into the church house this morning. Nehemiah understood the best thing he could do is pray, and he believed God in doing it!
If you want to rise up and build, seek the Lord, but it is more than that… We see here Nehemiah’s character… If we want to be used of God to build His church, we must represent Him well!
2. Planning - Plan to be used by God… Nehemiah had already planned out exactly what he needed…
Give me - Verses 7-10
He knew that he needed a letter of introduction from the king to guarantee safety, then letters of authority for materials!
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
The letters made it like the king was with Nehemiah every step of the way… When we go where the Lord wants us to go, the Lord goes with us!
Then we are immediately met with opposition… It is what happens in the book of Nehemiah, it is the same thing we run into, in our church…
Verse 9 - The king gave him what he didn’t ask for… Nehemiah didn’t ask for an army, but Nehemiah got an army…
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Nehemiah had authority… But that didn’t intimidate the enemy… Nehemiah is immediately is met with opposition.
Sanballat the Horonite,
Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite -
An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever:
What we will find is that Tobiah, the enemy of God’s people, has an in… He by marriage is related to some of the co-labourers that are working with Nehemiah. That didn’t mean that he had control over them, but it gave him a foothold to influence the people.
Whenever God is at work there is an opposing front. It comes from many different angles, but often times it comes from within. One person wronged me, so I have now become critical of these 6 people.
That should never be the case…
We must plan for opposition, but how do we do that? We prepare our hearts...
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Do you know that Matthew 12:36 “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Do you realize that when you judge your brother or sister in Christ, that you are judging the servant and child of the Most High and Living God?!? Be careful… Do you know what else you do them for naught, you rob God of the opportunity to make them stand. In your judgment, they respond and enact temporal change because of you. When God is trying to enact eternal change because of Christ.
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Opposition comes from within, but it also comes from without… How do we avoid that? We plan for it...
But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
We plan for it by being Biblically minded… It is written...
Nehemiah had a plan… A great example of how believers should relate to unbelievers. The king was unbelieving, but Nehemiah respected him and his authority. We should have a great testimony in the world, one that reflects Christ…
As a church we have a calendar every month… That’s so you can plan your calendar around the church calendar so that you can plan to be apart of what God is going here… If we are serious about being used by God, then we will plan out ways to be apart of it so that we can be used of God.
Vacation… All the planning that goes into it...
Restaurants, parking, hotel, what your going to do, we even plan our vacations around the weather…
When things are really important we plan to be apart of it…
Fail to plan, then you plan to fail…
Let all things be done decently and in order.
And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
The Christian life is one that we plan to be apart of… It is never something that we just fall into...