Complacency Leads To Broken Walls & Burned Down Gates!

In last week’s message we discussed the reality that God’s open doors for us do not mean that we can now move forward with the work of God unopposed. Nehemiah quickly learned that:

God’s Open Doors, Don’t Close the Door on the Enemies Opposition . And even though Nehemiah faced considerable opposition,

There is never any indication that Nehemiah was ever outside of the center of God’s will. In the first 2 chapters we saw that Nehemiah faced opposition on 2 fronts;

Opposition From King Artaxerxes .

Opposition From Surrounding Enemies .

But we also saw that despite his opposition,

1. God went above and beyond what Nehemiah had requested.

2. While God is unchanging, He doesn’t always operate in the same way.

In the end we were reminded that even in the midst of the opposition we face as devoted followers of Christ, we have a God Who Fights for us.

As we begin our study in Nehemiah this morning, there is an important back story we have not looked at yet that I believe is key for us today. The main reason we haven’t looked at this back story is it is not clearly seen in the beginning chapters of the Book of Nehemiah. Actually, to really understand the back story we have to go to the beginning of the Book of Ezra and even before Ezra. Now, before we go back to Ezra 1, let me take a moment to remind us all of the date of Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem. He returned in 445 BC. Now let’s look at:

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Ezra 1:1-2

Ezra 1:1–2 ESV

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: 2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Cyrus ascended to the throne in Persia in 538 BC and as we mentioned earlier, Nehemiah returned in 445 BC, don’t forget we are counting backwards. With that in mind around 107 years have come and gone since the first 50,000 returned at the beginning of the book of Ezra. Now let’s take a closer look at these 2 verses.

Since it has been a while since we looked at this passage I would like to do kind of a quick review of what is taking place and specifically what Ezra is talking about when he writes about the “mouth of Jeremiah”, but the most compelling part of the story takes place long before the days of Jeremiah, back to the days of Isaiah the prophet, which we will also look at this morning.

Historians believe that Jeremiah prophesied between 627 BC to 586 BC. The specific prophecy that Ezra mentions took place in Jeremiah 25 and again in chapter 29. In those prophecies Jeremiah stated that because of the Nation of Israel’s disobedience to the commands of God, God was sending King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to take them into captivity for a period of 70 years. Keep in mind a big part of their disobedience was things they did because they did not trust that the Hand of God was upon them. Within a short period of the time of Jeremiah’s prophecy, which took place in 607 BC, Nebuchadnezzar moved in with the first of 3 phases of overtaking the Nation of Judah. This particular phase was the one that included the captivity of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego.

Now I want to go back even further to around 688 BC. In 688 BC Isaiah made one of the more incredible and specific prophecies in all of Scripture. At the end of Isaiah 44 and into Isaiah 45, Isaiah literally names a man who wouldn’t even be born for another 150 years. Let’s look at what he says in Isaiah 44:28. Next Slide

Isaiah 44:28

Isaiah 44:28 ESV

28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’ ”

So, 150 years before Cyrus has even been born, God gives us his name through the prophet Isaiah and goes on in chapter 45 to give us specific details on what Cyrus will accomplish and how God specifically directed the hands of Cyrus to accomplish God’s perfect plan on earth. By the way, one of the reasons Isaiah gave this prophecy in Isaiah 44 & 45 is that in chapter 39 he prophesied that the Nation of Judah would be taken into captivity by Babylon.

So let’s review the timeline we’ve looked at this morning, and then I will let you know what is behind this little side journey we’ve taken. Next Slide

688 BC-Isaiah’s naming of Cyrus 150 years before his birth not long after he had prophesied they would be taken into captivity. Next Slide

607 BC-Jeremiah setting their captivity for 70 years-captivity soon followed. Next Slide

538 BC-Cyrus ascends to the throne, 538-537 first phase of captives return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of God. Next Slide

445 BC-Nehemiah returns to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

688 BC-Isaiah’s naming of Cyrus.

607 BC-Jeremiah prophesied 70 years of captivity.

538-537 BC-Cyrus begins to rule and captives return to Jerusalem.

445 BC-Nehemiah’s Return to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

Ok, so maybe right now you’re thinking,

“Great, thanks for the history lesson Jim, but what’s the point and how does this all fit with the Book of Nehemiah?”

Here’s the point, from even before Isaiah named Cyrus 150 years before he was born, even before the Exodus, but we will start with the Exodus. Way back then “The good Hand of their God was upon them”. Throughout all that time God led, fed, gave them water, protected, defended, for 40 years in the wilderness God prevented their clothes from wearing out, His miraculous Hand was always on them, yet much of the time they lived in the status quo and enjoyed lives of complacency.

Here we are in the book of Nehemiah. They had been back in the Land of Judah and in Jerusalem for 107 years and yet still Jerusalem was in ruins and the walls had not been rebuilt. Despite the fact that God had proved over and over again throughout their history and then in the Book of Ezra, that His Hand was on them, that He would give them victory, despite opposition. They never followed through with the rebuilding of the Walls of Jerusalem.

Do any of you remember what was on our first slide this morning? Next Slide

Complacency Leads To Broken Walls & Burned Down Gates.

Despite all that God had done for them and through them they continued to live lives of complacency. The Walls of Jerusalem should have been built decades ago, long before Artaxerxes was on the scene, long before Nehemiah’s return. But the Nation of Judah seemed content to live lives of complacency satisfied with the status quo.

That’s the challenge for us this morning, because we do the same thing.

Of the hundred or so people who have walked through the doors of Liberty Chapel this morning, and why stop with Liberty Chapel, we could include pretty much every church in this area, in this County, in this State, in this Country and yes in this world! The vast majority of believers who walk through the doors of churches week after week accomplish very little if anything at all of significance for the Kingdom of God. This is tragic, it’s tragic.

If you have come to the point where you have trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior then I want you, I want us to understand something this morning. Next Slides

God Has Huge Plans for you!

Change the “you” on the slide to “Me” in your sermon notes. God has big plans for Me, but God doesn’t force those plans on any of us. Next Slide

Too many of us are sitting around waiting for Nehemiah to come onto the scene before we move forward and accomplish great things for God.

Well guess what, who’s to say this rooms not filled with Nehemiah’s. Every pew, every seat, the adults and kids in children’s church. If there is one thing we have learned from the Book Of Nehemiah, we have learned that there was nothing special about him. He had the same struggles we have, struggles with insecurity, struggles with bouts of depression, struggles with fear. Nehemiah’s victories didn’t come from Nehemiah, his victories came from God, the very same God Who is here with us this morning, and our God’s power hasn’t diminished over time. What He accomplished then He can accomplish now.

What was true of Nehemiah was true of every individual who accomplished anything great for God in the pages of Scripture.

I’d like to close out our time this morning by looking at some of those ordinary people that accomplished extraordinary things for God. Turn with me in your copies of God’s Word to Hebrew’s 11. That is page 1283 in your pew Bibles.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” Next Slides

Noah-Hebrews 11:7

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Abraham-Hebrews 11:8, 12, 17, 19

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Moses-Hebrews 11:23, 24, 27, 29

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Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. Hebrews 11:32ff.

“33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two,[a] they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

So what is the lesson for us this morning? The lesson is this:

Do not be content living a complacent life enjoying the status quo. Follow the leads of Nehemiah, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, David, Peter, John, Steven, Paul, Barnabas, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham…seriously I could come up with an endless list of names of ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary thing for God becuase they refused to live complacent lives satisfied with the status quo.

We…right here in this room can set this world on fire for Jesus Christ if we will completely surrender our lives to God and yield ourselves into His Hands to be used as He see’s fit.

I want to end our time this morning slightly different than normal. Your sermon notes end with a prayer, with room at the end of the prayer to record some thoughts and dreams. For the next few minutes, I want all of us to quietly spend some time in prayer. For those that are physically able, I’d like you to turn and kneel at your pew or seat. For those that are unable to do that, just lean forward on the pew or seat in front of you. Then quietly pray and ask God to give you a few God things to write down. We’re not praying and asking God to provide anything for us, we are asking God to direct us to what we can do for Him. And don’t think small. No one in Hebrews 11 thought small.

After a few minutes, I will close our time in prayer.

Dear God, having surrendered my life completely to You and seeking Your Face for my future, I am asking You to accomplish Huge things through me...