Zealous for God's Glory!

Welcome

Psalm 115:1–3 ESV

1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! 2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

Good Morning! I’m Pastor Wayne and I’d like to welcome you all to the gathering of Ephesus Baptist Church.

Today, you are here to serve God; to give glory to His name! He does all that He pleases from His throne in Heaven.

He was pleased to send Jesus Christ to offer us His salvation.

May you revel in the love God showed humanity as we worship Him together.

If you are visiting with us this morning, we want you to know that Ephesus is an active faith community on a mission with Jesus.

We don’t all share the same story; in fact, we come from many different paths. But here, we are one people giving our all to love God, love others, proclaim Jesus, and make disciples in our generation.

We have a connect card in the pew in front of you. I invite you to take one and fill it out! If you have prayer needs, you can let us know about those as well.

I promise, our prayer team will lift you up soon. You can place those cards in the offering plate when it comes around.

Scripture Memory

Nehemiah 9:6 ESV

6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

Opening Scripture

1 Peter 1:13–25 ESV

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Opening Prayer

580 words (5 minutes)

Introduction

Last week we began a new series of sermons from the Book of Nehemiah. We talked about who he was, what he did, and where he was.

We discovered that Nehemiah was an ordinary guy who was full of character and virtue. He was comfortable in his career as the Cupbearer of the King of Persia.

Nehemiah gives us a valuable lesson on rebuilding, refocusing, renewing and revitalizing not just individuals but whole communities and cultures.

Last week, I asked you to begin answering the following questions in your hearts:

1. What are the things in your life that are broken and in need of God, the Master Re-builder, to repair or revitalize?

2. What things are there in the church that are broken and need to be restored, or reclaimed for the glory of God?

3. Do you consider yourself ordinary?

4. What is your character quotient?

5. Do you have a special empathy and compassion for your fellow man?

6. Do you have a passion for the Glory of God?

As we will see throughout our study, Nehemiah wrestled with similar questions in his own life as he sought to serve the King of kings!

Nehemiah through God rebuilt a city and its walls, God through Nehemiah rebuilt a people for His glory!

Nehemiah was called to a ministry of revitalization! Revitalization is a work of rebuilding something. Giving it new life!

Any contractor will tell you that rebuilding something is often a bigger challenge than building something new from scratch.

For years, the exiles had seen the need to rebuild the broken walls and the burned down gates of Jerusalem.

Some tried to rebuild them, but they failed to complete such a large and difficult task because they didn’t start the project in the right way.

Nehemiah accomplished what others could not, and he did it in less than two months (52 days to be exact). And a huge factor in his success was in the way he got started.

Today, we are going to see that true revitalizers, like Nehemiah, know how to get things started in the right way.

Join me in Nehemiah 1, we are going to read verses 1-4.

Nehemiah 1:1–4 ESV

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.

Prayer

Whenever we seek to rebuild anything (whether it be a vintage car, a house, a business, a career, a marriage, or a church), we discover that there are not just things that need to be done, but there are things that need to be undone as well.

Rust is present that needs to be removed.

Old electrical wires need to be replaced.

The old customer base has vanished.

Habits exist that need to be broken.

Unrepentant fault prevents the forgiveness of a receptive heart.

Some church people love their church more than they love their God.

Some people believe it is easier to simply walk away and start over than it is to invest the effort and energy needed for rebuilding.

Nehemiah was zealous for the Glory of God! I believe that it was that zealousness that allowed God to use him to rebuild and revitalize Israel.

Today, I want to share with you two questions our passage raises that will guide us toward being more Zealous for God’s Glory! Maybe then, God can use us in mighty ways as well.

1. Do you realize the need for a regular, honest assessment of your current reality?

Nehemiah had every reason not to be concerned with the condition of Jerusalem.

Let’s not overlook the fact that he had been born into captivity and had never even been to Jerusalem, which means he had never worshiped in the temple.

He was the Cup-bearer to the King of Persia. He had a comfortable, although ordinary life. I am sure he had great benefits serving the king in that capacity.

Why was He so concerned about a broken-down city over 800 miles away that he had never seen? Two reasons:

a. God’s Word directed His affections and as a result His life.

The exiles did not have a copy of the Law. They may not have had any Scripture in their captivity, but they had passed down a plethora of Scripture they had memorized. Especially, verses that spoke of the Glory of God resting in Jerusalem.

As a result, for Nehemiah:

Jerusalem was the prescribed place for fellowship with God. It was the place to offer sin atoning sacrifices.

Jerusalem was the appointed place of blessing. It was the place that provided the blessing of freedom and renewal of life for which the exiles longed to return.

Jerusalem, the city of David and the place of Solomon’s temple, was recognized as the place where God had chosen “to put his Name,” that is, it was Israel’s appointed worship center, where the presence of God be sought and enjoyed.

Another verse he surely learned was the Shema

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 ESV

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

The exiles also passed down to him a lifestyle of prayerful dependence.

b. Through prayer, God changed Nehemiah’s heart as he sought God’s will daily.

Nehemiah 1:2 ESV

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.

Nehemiah asked his brother, Hanani, questions that would lead to an honest assessment of the current reality of Jerusalem.

He asked about the exiles who escaped captivity and survived. He asked about Jerusalem. He knew that his boss had stopped work there a few years earlier due to uprisings (see Ezra 4).

He was curious about if the restoration was being hampered or if it was progressing. He wanted to know the truth even if it hurt him.

O.S. Hawkins described three approaches people take when seeking to rebuild something that is broken in their lives in His book, “The Nehemiah Code.”

One is the way of the “superficial optimist.”

The superficial optimist will resist making any semblance of an honest evaluation, wishfully thinking that if he or she just waits long enough or hunkers down deep enough then everything will eventually be made right.

Another is the way of the “busy optimist.”

They admit there is a problem, but they attack it by trying to get everyone around them to be as busy as they can be.

They attempt to find inspiration and motivation with all types of positive-thinking techniques. But they never get around to honestly evaluating and addressing their real needs.

3. The way of the “honest optimist.”

There are those like Nehemiah, who make an honest evaluation of the situation right from the beginning. They have the strength and patience, as well as the wisdom and understanding, to address the systemic issues and actually work to correct them.

Those who make such honest assessments are not afraid of offending others or making enemies. They are not intimidated by threats, and they cannot be formed and fashioned into someone else’s mold.

Nehemiah was just such a person. He made an honest assessment. He asked questions. He listened. He learned.

What did He learn?

Nehemiah 1:3 ESV

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.”

Nehemiah hears from his brother, Hanani, that Jerusalem’s walls are down and its gates have been burned. The remnant is experiencing great trouble and shame.

Nehemiah realized that as bad as their current reality was upon his honest assessment, the worst thing about it was the way his people had become a reproach to their God.

Nehemiah realized that Jerusalem no longer revealed the Glory of God. God’s glory, God’s name was being shamed and ridiculed.

As painful as this was, it was exactly what he needed to know in order to soon be on the road to revitalization.

The Wall

The first thing Nehemiah works on when he gets to Jerusalem is the rebuilding of the walls. Why?

Today, we do not depend on gates and walls for our protection (except on our southern border and those who live in gated communities), but in this period of human history, gates and walls were as important as the king’s army.

A city without walls and strong gates would be at the mercy of any hostile group in the area.

Any evil force could just come in and take what they wanted, and there would be no way to slow that enemy down. Even Chuck Norris wouldn’t be able to defend a city without walls. This is why proverbs 25:28 says,

Proverbs 25:28 ESV

28 A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

So the Bible says that a city with no walls is like a man with no self-control.

Nehemiah was changed by this honest assessment in a way that humbled him, but also in a way that prepared him to be used greatly by God.

That leads us to our second question.

2. Are you broken over the lack of influence the Church exerts on our society today?

Nehemiah 1:4 ESV

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.

Because of his Zeal for the glory of God, Nehemiah was devastated by this news. It knocks his knees out from under him. He sits down and weeps about the walls and the gates being destroyed. He mourned and fasted and prayed for days because, for him, the Glory of the Lord was at stake.

In fact, he would continue mourning from Chislev until Nisan the Scriptures tell us. That is from December to April. That is a deep, sorrowful mourning that lingers on and on.

We live in a culture today that seems to have lost our ability to weep and mourn. Do we even produce tears anymore?

E.M. Bounds, quoted in A Passion for Faithfulness by J.I. Packer, writes:

How few the men in these days who can weep at the evils and abominations of the times! How rare are those who are sufficiently interested and concerned for the welfare of the church to mourn! Mourning and weeping over the decay of religion, the decline of revival power, and the fearful inroads of worldliness into the Church are almost an unknown quantity.

Can you imagine weeping, mourning, fasting, and praying for four hours? What about four days?

Can your mind conceive of fasting four weeks? Imagine: praying, weeping, mourning, and fasting for a period of four months. It is almost inconceivable, but his burden was just that heavy—his grief was that great.

Nehemiah was so burdened for the glory of God to shine from Jerusalem, for the people of God to be restored to honor, and allowed to worship the only true and living God in the Holy City! Sipping the king’s wine had suddenly lost its charm.

Church, Nehemiah is a model of personal zeal. His zeal for the glory and honor of God’s name is amazing. The strength of his passion to magnify the Lord is very inspiring.

Such zeal, as Nehemiah displays, is rare today. J.I. Packer speaking about Nehemiah’s zeal said that,

“most of us are more like the luke-warm Laodiceans, drifting along very cheerfully in becalmed churches, feeling confident that everything is all right, and thereby disgusting our Lord Jesus, who sees that, spiritually speaking, nothing is right (see Rev. 3:14-22).1”

Do we know what real zeal is?

True zeal is a humble, reverent, awe-inspired single-mindedness to do the will of God and thereby to bring Glory to His Name.

J. C. Ryle rightly described a zealous man when he wrote,

A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He only sees one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives, or whether he dies—whether he has health, or whether he has sickness—whether he is rich, or whether he is poor—whether he pleases men, or whether he gives offence—whether he is thought wise, or whether he is thought foolish—whether he gets honour, or whether he gets shame—for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing; and that one thing is, to please God, and to advance God’s glory.2

Nehemiah was sensitive to situations in which God’s truth and honor were being jeopardized; situations that would harm God’s name and dim His glory.

When Jesus cleansed the temple....

John 2:17 ESV

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

So like Jesus, Nehemiah was zealous for the glory of the Lord. He was passionate about bring honor to his God.

Before Nehemiah ever began to rebuild, he first recognized the brokenness that no human power could remedy, and he then released his burden to the One whose power could resolve the problem.

If we love God and the advance of His glory, we will feel deep sorrow when the advance of the gospel is halted, and we will be disciplined and diligent to fast and pray.

Conclusion:

Have you sincerely asked yourselves those two questions.

1. Do you realize the need for a regular, honest assessment of your current reality?

Is there any unfinished business in your life? Are there any walls that need rebuilding? Any relationships that need restoring.

Some of you may be trying to fix your problems on your own. Nehemiah, upon learning of his people’s needs went straight to the Lord. That is what you need to do as well.

If you don’t know Him, it is not too late for a new beginning. Won’t you follow Christ today!

2. Are you broken over the lack of influence the Church exerts on our society today?

Donald K. Campbell wrote in Nehemiah: Man in Charge,

“A burdened God is at work in the world. He searches for burdened believers through whom He may work.”

Church, all of us need to be fasting and praying, some of us need to weeping and mourning.

Next week, we will examine Nehemiah’s actions following the brokenness he experienced after learning the results of his honest assessments.

Prayer

Hymn of Invitation

Hymn No. 290

I am Thine O Lord

1 J. I. Packer, A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom from the Book of Nehemiah (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1995), 33–34.

2 J. C. Ryle, Practical Religion (London: James Clarke, 1959), 130.