INTRODUCTION
SLIDE #1
We are going to look at the story of a great nation who was in the throws of despair that was about to be put on the path of restoration.
Nehemiah was a layman, cupbearer to the great “Artaxerxes,” who ruled Persia from 464 to 423 B.C. Nehemiah’s name means “The Lord has comforted.”
A cupbearer was much more than our modern “butler” (see Gen. 40). It was a position of great responsibility and privilege. At each meal, he tested the king’s wine to make sure it wasn’t poisoned.
A man who stood that close to the king in public had to be handsome, cultured, knowledgeable in court procedures, and able to converse with the king and give advice if asked (see 41:1-13). Because he had access to the king, the cupbearer was a man of great influence, which he could use for good or for evil.
The nation of Israel was not very strong after the return from captivity, the morale was low. The opposing nations wanted to keep Jerusalem in bad shape.
In 538 B.C., Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return home.
536 B.C., about 50,000 returned from captivity to Jerusalem.
535 B.C., the Temple reconstruction began.
515 B.C., the Temple was completed.
458, Ezra returned
445, Nehemiah returned to rebuild the walls of the city.
In Nehemiah’s strong, tall city walls were all that kept the city from being overrun by the enemy.
Nehemiah gave up a lot to do what was best for his county. It takes sacrifice to restore a great nation. It took the same sacrifice to build our great nation!
Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Their conviction resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families.
Of the 56 men, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Today our nation is at a crossroads.
I fear over the last 40 plus years we have been going down a path that is robbing America of some of her greatness. Something has to change.
Will you be one of those great people who make a difference, or will you be one of those pessimists who complain, but do nothing to make things better? Even with all the problems our society has, it is still the greatest nation on earth in which to live. Let’s work to keep it that way!
Restoring a great nation takes:
SLIDE #2
SERMON
I. PEOPLE WHO CARE. C-1
• Sometime comfort can be the worst enemy of caring. Nehemiah was in a position of comfort. It would have been easy for him to forget what was once his great homeland. Nehemiah though was not that type of person, he cared, and he cared enough to ASK.
• SLIDE #3
1. Nehemiah cared enough to ask. 1:1-3 (READ)
• SLIDE #4
• Nehemiah 1:1-3 ( ESV ) The words of Nehemiah the son of Hac-aliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, that Ha-nay-na, 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. 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.”
• Brother came back from a visit. Sometimes we just turn a blind eye to what is going on around us. We need to care enough to ask how things are going before we can do anything about it.
• The report caused Nehemiah to go to the next step.
• SLIDE #5
2. Nehemiah cared enough to weep. 1:4 (READ)
• Nehemiah 1:4 ( ESV ) 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.
How many times have you been heartbroken over what is going on around you? Difference makers are the ones who are driven by the passion to make things better.
SLIDE #6
3. Nehemiah cared enough to pray. 1:5-10
Nehemiah 1:7-9 ( ESV ) We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your dispersed be under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
In Nehemiah’s prayer he asked for God to remember His promises and Nehemiah acknowledged the sins of the nation to God.
Before we take off and act, we must take the time to pray. He prayed for over 4 months before he got any kind of answer from God. The answer was not what he may have expected. Notice that
SLIDE #7
4. Nehemiah cared enough to volunteer. 1:11 (READ)
After much prayer Nehemiah comes to the realization that he needed to be part of solution.
Look at verse 11
SLIDE #8
Nehemiah 1:11 ( ESV ) O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah was going to use his influence to get something started!
A lot of people proclaim to care, but few are willing to be a part of the solution.
Restoring a great nation takes:
SLIDE #9
II. Great faith. C-2
• Great faith manifests itself in many ways. Let us observe 3 ways Nehemiah’s great faith was exhibited.
• SLIDE #10
1. Nehemiah had the faith to wait on God. 2:1-3
• SLIDE #11
• Nehemiah 2:1-3 ( ESV ) In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
• Nehemiah stated praying in November/December and now we are in March/April and he is going to take action.
Nehemiah had been praying for a solution to the problem. Now he is before the king. The king is going to provide him an answer to his prayer. I do not believe this is what Nehemiah envisioned when he started praying.
Some of you here today may so passionate about our country that you will run for a political office in order to help make things better. Whatever you choose to do, have the faith to wait on God!
SLIDE #12
2. Nehemiah had the faith to speak with the king to fixing the problem. 2:4-8
In verses 4-8 we have Nehemiah praying once again for guidance. Is this what I have been praying for?
The king grants Nehemiah’s request! Many times we lack the faith to speak to the right people to get things fixed.
SLIDE #13
3. Nehemiah had the faith to challenge others to rise to the occasion. 2:11-18a
The plan is in motion, but for great plans to take place, it takes the ability to motivate other people to act along with you. The job could not be done alone!
Nehemiah assesses the situation and then recruits help. READ 17-18
SLIDE #14
Nehemiah 2:17-18 ( ESV ) Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
Nehemiah needed help and he inspired others with his vision!
Restoring a great nation takes:
SLIDE #15
III. Hard work. C-3-6
Edmund Burke said All that is necessary for evil to prevail is that good men do nothing
Throughout chapters 3-6 we have the rebuilding of the wall.
The task was a daunting one. When we look out and see some things we do not like, we must not get discouraged at the size of the task. We have many laws on the books that are there because one person saw an injustice and sought to fix it.
The work was hard; there was a lot of opposition. Whenever you are trying to change things, there will be opposition.
The founding fathers faced what seemed like an impossible task when they took on the greatest military power on the earth at the time. We face many challenges today, are we willing to put in the work needed to initiate restoration.
Restoring a great nation takes:
SLIDE #16
IV. The ability to deal with obstacles. C-4,6
Trying to invoke change or restoration can cause us to face many types of obstacles.
As Nehemiah worked on restoring the nation, he faced many obstacles. We see these from chapters 4-6.
SLIDE #17
1. The obstacle of Verbal assault. 4:1-3 READ
Look at 4:1-3 with me.
Nehemiah 4:1-3 ( ESV ) Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”
San Bal ut Am mon ites
SLIDE #18
2. The obstacle of intimidation. 4:7-9
SLIDE #19
Nehemiah 4:8 ( ESV ) And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.
When verbal assaults did not stop the work, then the opposition resorted to intimidation. We must be prepared for this when we are trying to make things better.
SLIDE #20
3. Discouragement. 4:10
This was a big task!
SLIDE #21
Nehemiah 4:10 ( ESV ) In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.”
Sometimes the task can be overwhelming. The criticisms and intimidation takes its toll.
SLIDE #22
4. Fear. 4:11-23
In verses 11-23 we see the fear starting to set in. Nehemiah sees this and formulates a plan to combat the problem. When we face fear, we must overcome it. Nehemiah had one half of the servants work and the other half were to carry spears.
We cannot allow fear make us quit our calling!
SLIDE #23
5. Deception
When intimidation, slander and other methods do not keep us from doing what we are called to do, then we can expect some deception to take place.
Compromise. 6:1-4. Sanballat and Tobiah wanted to try to get Nehemiah to compromise what he was doing or they wanted to take his life, without Nehemiah the work would stop.
Slander. 6:5-9, when this did not work, they resorted to lying about what was going on. We see this today in politics. If one side does not like what the other is going to do, then they will stretch the truth about it.
Twisting of truth. 6:10-14 (Shemaiah the prophet)
CONCLUSION
In 1790 John Philpot Curran said, “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.” Thomas Jefferson condensed Curran’s advice with the familiar “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
We see the wisdom of this advice in many areas of our lives. Careful, regular maintenance of the family car can help to insure our family’s freedom from possible injury or death.
Years before Nehemiah and the Jews returned to Jerusalem, their ancestors had failed to be vigilant against the threats of idolatry and other forms of ungodliness.
They eventually paid the price through their captivity in a foreign land. Now, to retain their newly gained freedom, they had to do their work with vigilance, always being ready to fight off an attack from their enemies.
The same vigilance is needed by the people of God today: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
If we are going to restore our nation to its greatness, it is going to take Christians who care. People who care enough to come out of the comfort of our homes and do something about the decline of society.
If we are going to restore our nation, it is going to take people who have enough faith in God, not to write off the society.
If we are going to restore our nation, it is going to take people who are willing to work for change.
If we are going to restore our nation, it is going to take people who are willing to stand up against many of the unrighteous causes. It is going to take people who are willing to stand for righteousness.
It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! Patrick Henry.
