September 14, 2025 • 31 mins
Jason Sterling September 14, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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Speaker 1 (00:23):
If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me to
Nehemiah, chapter 1.
So Ezra, nehemiah, so you'llfind Nehemiah.
After the book of Ezra.
We've been in a series in Ezraand Nehemiah.
This fall, we've been learning.
The exiles have come back fromBabylon, they're in Jerusalem,
they have rebuilt the temple,but there was something that was
(00:47):
still missing the physicalwalls around Jerusalem that were
there to protect God's people.
They remained in ruins, andit's in that context that God
raises up a man named Nehemiah.
And so follow along with me.
Nehemiah, chapter 1.
(01:10):
This is the word of the Lord,the words of Nehemiah, the son
of Hakaliah.
Now, it happened in the monthof Kislev, in the 20th year, as
I was in Susa, the citadel thatHanani, one of my brothers, came
from, certain men from Judah,and I asked them concerning the
(01:31):
Jews who escaped, who hadsurvived the exile, and
concerning Jerusalem, and theysaid to me the remnant there in
the province, who had survivedthe exile, was in great trouble
and shame, and the wall ofJerusalem is broken down and its
gates are destroyed by fire.
As soon as I heard these words,I sat down and wept and mourned
(01:56):
for days.
I continued fasting and prayingbefore the God of heaven, and I
said O Lord, god of heaven, thegreat and awesome God, who
keeps covenant and steadfastlove with those who love him and
keep his commandments, let yourear be attentive and your eyes
open to hear the prayers of yourservant that I now pray before
(02:18):
you day and night for the peopleof Israel, your servants,
confessing the sins of thepeople of Israel which we have
sinned against you.
Even I and my father's househave sinned.
We have acted very corruptlyagainst you and have not kept
the commandments, the statutes,the rules that you commanded
(02:39):
your servant Moses.
Remember the word that youcommanded your servant Moses
saying if you are unfaithful, Iwill scatter you among the
peoples, but if you return to meand keep my commandments and do
them, though your outcasts arein the uttermost parts of heaven
.
From there, I will gather themand bring them to the place that
(03:02):
I have chosen to make my namedwell there.
They are your servants and yourpeople, whom you have redeemed
by your great power and by yourstrong hand.
Oh Lord, let your ear beattentive to the prayer of your
servant and to the prayer ofyour servants who delight to
fear your name and give successto your servant today and grant
(03:25):
him mercy in the sight of thisman.
Now, I was cupbearer to theking.
This is God's word.
Let me pray for us.
Let's ask the spirit to comeand be in our midst and to work
through the preaching of theword.
Let's pray together, father.
That is what we ask that youwould be among us, that you
(03:47):
would work.
You brought us here.
You have this word for us thismorning.
Speak, o Lord, for yourservants are listening.
In Jesus' name, amen.
We are in the midst.
If you're visiting with us,you'll notice our campus.
There's a lot of building goingon.
(04:07):
We are in the midst of agenerational building project, a
once-in-a-generation project,the All Generations Campaign.
We're building new children'snursery space, new sanctuary and
other new ministry space, andso there's a lot of physical
building going on.
But this is a new season ofministry that our church is
(04:32):
moving into and as we move intothat season, in the midst of all
the physical building, it'salso important that we build
spiritual foundations as we moveforward, and that's what we're
looking at.
In Ezra and Nehemiah We've seenthat we're building foundations
(04:52):
of hope and worship andrepentance and perseverance, and
this morning we look at anotherimportant foundation that we
need to carry with us andcontinue on as we move forward
in this next season of ministry,and it is the foundation of
prayer.
This morning, nehemiah shows ushow to move from burden to
(05:15):
prayer, to participation andtrust in God's purposes.
To build a foundation of prayer.
We look at three things in thispassage that we need.
We need to listen for God'sheart, number one.
Secondly, anchor our prayers intruth, so in the truth of God's
(05:35):
Word.
Lastly, trust God's timing.
Listen for God's heart, anchorour prayers in truth and trust
God's timing.
Let's look at those in turnthis morning.
First, listen for God's heart.
Have you ever found yourselfunexpectedly concerned about
(05:57):
something that really wasn'tyour problem?
Maybe you heard about a need inthe community, you heard about
a need in our city and you foundyourself losing sleep over that
.
Or maybe you heard about a needor something going on halfway
(06:18):
around the world, a crisis ofsome sort, and you were
compelled to pray.
You were compelled, maybe, togo or to get involved in some
way.
Most of us have experiencedsomething like that at some
point in time, and lots of timeswe struggle when we experience
(06:40):
that.
We struggle with what exactlyto do, to do.
Nehemiah was in one of thosemoments and let's look and walk
through it and see what he does.
Look at verse two and three.
One of his brothers comes fromJudah and I ask I think that's
(07:02):
important Nehemiah is asking hedidn't get this information.
He's asking for thisinformation concerning the Jews,
the exiles, the remnant, whoare left, and it says they are
in great trouble and shame.
The walls are broken down,destroyed by fire, and I want us
(07:24):
to get into this passage alittle bit, because I think this
is remarkable.
Think about who Nehemiah was.
He was an Israelite.
He was a successful cupbearerto the most powerful king on the
earth.
(07:44):
He had a great life.
He was living very comfortablyin Persia, 900 miles away from
Jerusalem.
He had security in his work,his calendar was full, he had a
bright future.
(08:04):
He had every reason to stayfocused on his life and on his
own responsibilities, and so whyin the world would he suddenly
care about Jews 900 miles away?
Well, when he gets thisdisturbing news, he doesn't just
(08:27):
express polite concern and moveon Again.
I think this is just remarkable.
He had never lived there, hedidn't know these people
personally, but he hears thisand God uses this moment to
shatter Nehemiah's comfortabledistance from the people's
(08:50):
devastation.
He couldn't get this off of hisheart and mind.
These ruined walls began todominate his thoughts and his
heart broke in a way thatchanged everything in his life.
Everything in his life.
(09:17):
Comfortable distance is one ofthe greatest enemies of
spiritual burden.
We live in a world full ofbrokenness.
We have seen that up close andpersonal in the last few weeks
and we've become experts atinsulation.
We scroll past, or at leastit's my tendency to scroll past
suffering, to drive around orpast problems maintain enough of
(09:48):
a distance in order to preserveour comfort and our peace of
mind, and it is so easy for usto hear about things and feel
something in the moment and feelsympathy and then move on.
But sometimes God wants tobreak through the comfort and
the distance in a supernaturalway that will not let us go.
(10:09):
That's what's happening here.
Jerusalem is a nobody to theworld.
They are on no one's radar.
They're politicallyinsignificant, economically
they're powerless, they'regeographically distant, and yet
(10:34):
God moved.
We've been seeing that all theway through this series.
God stirred in the heart of aman in the inner circle of the
king and moved him to startcaring deeply for the broken
walls around Jerusalem.
(10:54):
Look at verse 4.
He heard these words.
He wept and mourned for daysand continued fasting and
praying before the God of heaven.
The text indicates that thiswas four months.
If you look at Kislev through,look at chapter 2, verse 1,
nisan that would have been fourmonths and notice what Nehemiah
(11:18):
doesn't do.
He doesn't rush it's importantto see this to immediate action,
without preparation.
Nor does he let this burdenfade into the background.
And most of us, I think that weswing between one or the other.
We feel a need, we sense theurgency, and we don't prepare or
(11:40):
pray.
We just jump right in or we dothe opposite, which is it
affects us for a second and thenthe busyness of life comes and
then it becomes a distant memory.
Nehemiah is showing us adifferent way.
His burden is driving him tosustained prayer.
(12:01):
Real burden from God producessustained response, not fleeting
feelings.
It's something that won't letyou go.
You're not able to just feelbad and move on.
He was not think about.
Nehemiah was not just able toput this on the prayer list.
(12:25):
He entered into a season ofgrief, reordered priorities and
he was expending a lot ofemotional energy towards what
was burdening his heart.
When God burdens your heart,expect it to be costly.
Expect it to be costly.
(12:47):
Divine concerns concerns.
They are going to disrupt ourcomfortable routine.
It is going to make yourestless with the status quo.
It's going to create, as it'sbeen said, holy discontentment
inside of you that will noteasily be resolved.
And when you feel those, don'tdismiss those as mere emotion
(13:14):
and temporary distraction.
Ask yourself this question Couldit be that God has given me
eyes to see something thatbreaks his heart?
That breaks his heart.
(13:34):
Could it be that God is callingme to care about something that
seems distant but is reallyclose to his heart and precious
to him?
That is how God works.
He gives his people unexpectedburdens and places and burdens
(14:01):
for people in places that theworld considers unimportant and
insignificant.
And so when you find yourselfcaring about a situation that
doesn't directly impact you,when you find yourself praying
for and thinking about peopleyou've never met, when you find
yourself praying for andthinking about people you've
never met, or when you'refeeling burdened by problems
that aren't your directresponsibility, stop and start
(14:27):
listening.
That might very well be Godgiving you eyes to see what
matters to him.
What if God wants to break ourhearts over what breaks his.
God may be stirring hearts inthis congregation for ministries
(14:48):
, as we move forward as a church, that we haven't even thought
about yet, or for people in ourcommunity and in our city that
haven't yet been reached, or forneeds in our city that we
haven't yet seen.
God may be calling you to gooverseas and join his mission.
(15:11):
God may be calling you into theministry.
As we move into this new seasonin the life of our church, my
hope and prayer is that we wouldbe listening, would be
(15:34):
listening listening for what Godwants to do and the burdens
he's given us and the ways thathe is moving in our hearts and
in the life of our church.
Secondly, we want to anchor ourprayers in truth.
I love this.
We're actually doing this inour kingdom communities, our
Sunday schools.
We're going through prayer andbasically learning what it means
just to pray the Bible and prayGod's promises back to him.
(15:57):
We see Nehemiah doing the exactsame thing here.
He gives us a model for how toapproach God, how to pray, which
is oftentimes a struggle for us.
What does it look like?
How do I pray?
We see a profound model here inthis passage.
First, you see Nehemiah adoringGod.
He confesses sin and he claimsGod's promises.
(16:18):
Look at verse 5.
He receives this news and hedoesn't just pour out raw
emotion, he moves into prayerand his prayer begins and is
anchored in who God is.
Notice he starts with the Godof heaven.
I love that.
He's saying I serve the king,but he's not the king.
(16:42):
The God of heaven is the trueking.
And in verse five I love thiswe see this both, and he shows
us God's faithfulness and God'sgreatness, his awesome power and
at the same time, his covenantlove.
Charles Hodge was a theologianat Princeton for many years and
(17:04):
he had a study that had twoentrances to that one from his
house you could get in and youcould get into his study from
the seminary.
And the entrance from his housewas for his children and they
came in any time and they wouldbe in his lap as he studied.
(17:26):
They were unhindered.
And yet there was an entranceto his study from the seminary
and you had to have anappointment.
Or the faculty or the studentswould come in and they would
come in with deep respect forlearning and for his position.
The same man was basicallyapproachable and loving and he
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was deserving of reverence.
That captures, I think,nehemiah's approach to God
Confidence born out ofrelationship Think about Charles
Hodge's children and alsoreverence.
We don't have to choose, it'snot an either or it's a both.
And we approach God withreverence and intimacy and he
(18:17):
invites both, because God istranscendent and holy and he is
high and lifted up and he'spersonal.
He is awesome and accessible.
So that's the first thingNehemiah adores God.
Secondly, he moves intoconfession of sin.
We saw this a lot last weekwith Ezra.
(18:37):
Look at verses 6 and 7 with me.
Notice again, it's worthpointing out, notice the
pronouns we have sinned.
I and my father's house havesinned.
We saw it again with Ezra andwe see it this morning.
Nehemiah is 800 miles away, yethe doesn't distance himself
(19:02):
from Israel's failures and sin.
He owns the corporate guilt asif it were his responsibility.
Why does he do that?
Because God's people areconnected.
We are bound together.
You could say, put it moretheologically, bound together
(19:28):
covenantally, as God's peopleand Nehemiah notice.
He mentions Moses, and whathe's doing there is he's tying
all this back to violating thecovenant that was established
with God's people at Mount Sinai.
There's a commentator that saysthis what distinguishes us, the
church, from the, is not that weare less wicked, but that, by
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God's grace, we've learned tosee our wickedness and confess
our sins.
The church is the only body onearth that confesses sin.
Where confession dies out, thechurch is no longer the church.
The church is no longer thechurch.
Tim Keller has a book coming out.
(20:13):
People compiled some of hiswritings and studies and there's
a book being published at theend of October.
How timely the title of thebook is.
What is Wrong with the World?
I saw a quote this week onsocial media from the book and
(20:39):
Keller says healing starts whenwe stop pretending that we're
fine.
Where do we need we?
Where do we need to confess oursin?
Where do we need to ask God'sforgiveness, not just for
individual mistakes, but for thecorporate failures of God's
people?
Nehemiah didn't pretend thatIsrael was fine.
He owned their failure andtheir sin as if it were his own.
(21:05):
The last thing we see Nehemiahis he pleads, he adores, he
confesses and then he pleadsGod's promises.
Look at verses 8 and 9.
That is a quote fromDeuteronomy, chapter 30, verses
1 through 4.
He's saying God, you promisedthat you would scatter us, but
you also promised that you wouldrestore us, and so, basically,
(21:26):
he starts you would restore us.
And so, basically, he starts.
He takes God's promises and heturns them and starts praying
them back to God.
Look at verse 10.
I love this.
He appeals to God's historicalinvestment in his people.
He's referencing the exodusthere and that deliverance,
(21:52):
referencing the Exodus there andthat deliverance, and he's
essentially saying this God, youhave invested too much to let
us go now, to abandon us now.
You didn't choose us randomly.
We are your people and you haveredeemed us with great power.
You've invested in us and youwill not let us go.
It's like the child.
(22:13):
If you have children, you knowyour children.
Maybe you'll make a promise tothem.
If you do X, I'll get you icecream.
I'll do this.
You forget about it.
Do they forget about it?
They do not forget about it.
They'll come to you and they'llsay remember, you promised.
That's what Nehemiah is doingand that's what God wants us to
(22:38):
do as the church, as hischildren to pray his God.
You promised to pray hispromises back to him.
The Puritans called thispleading the promises, where
they would just take Scripture.
And we should be doing this aswe pray to God, taking the
promises of Scripture and boldlypraying Lord, do what you
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promise.
This is not presumption, thisis faith.
And so, as we move forward as achurch, we want to establish a
foundation of prayer like we seein Nehemiah, not where we, it's
just raw emotion, but we takethat burden and we move it into
(23:25):
prayer, anchored in God'scharacter, anchored in our own
need and anchored in thepromises of God.
Lastly, the timing.
God's trust is timing andcontrol.
Look at verse 11 with me.
This is the conclusion of theprayer.
Oh Lord, let your ear beattentive to the prayer of your
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servant and then notice it'srepeated, but notice it's plural
this time.
Did you notice that?
And to the prayer of yourservants.
What's the point?
This has become a prayermeeting.
Nehemiah, in these four months,has developed a prayer team.
And then he asked for successfor the day, and then mercy, and
(24:11):
I love this.
In the sight of this man, hedoesn't say in the sight of the
king of Persia, in the sight ofthis man.
And I love that because, again,nehemiah, yes, did he respect
the king?
Yes, but Nehemiah knew that hewas ultimately just a man,
(24:37):
because God was the true kingand God was the one in control
of all things.
And then we have this finalrevelation and don't miss this
Now.
I was the cupbearer to the kingand when we hear that, we think
(25:03):
that sounds really random and astrange way to end this chapter.
Did you know?
It's actually the point of thechapter.
We read this and, yes, pleasedo we have something to learn
about prayer from Nehemiah andleadership and faithfulness and
all the things.
Absolutely, but God is the mainpoint of the Bible.
(25:26):
Absolutely, but God is the mainpoint of the Bible and God is
the main point of this passage.
Nehemiah was the cupbearer andhe, as the cupbearer, was in a
position of enormous trust,because the cupbearer would take
the first sip of wine to makesure it was not poisonous wine,
to make sure it was notpoisonous, and then he would
(25:46):
serve the king.
And so, think about that he wasvery close and he determined
who approached the king and whenthey approached the king, he
(26:16):
had intimate access to the mostpowerful ruler on the earth.
Accident, coincident?
No, no way.
This was God at work, preparing.
Think about that GivingNehemiah the burden leading him
to prayer.
Your prayer is a means toaccomplishing God's purposes in
the world, leading Nehemiah topray and then giving him this
strategic opportunity which hehad placed them in.
And all of those convergetogether in this amazing God
(26:39):
converges all those thingstogether to accomplish his
purposes.
The cupbearer remark isNehemiah's way of saying God has
been at work in this far longerthan you think, orchestrating
all of this long before now.
(26:59):
Where has God placed you?
Where has God positioned you inthis life and in this world?
Maybe you're a school teacherin the local schools.
Maybe you own your own business.
Maybe you're a businessexecutive and in a boardroom.
(27:21):
Maybe you're a student.
Maybe you're a healthcareworker.
Maybe you're a stay-at-home momshaping the next generation.
Maybe you're a student.
Maybe you're a health careworker.
Maybe you're a stay-at-home momshaping the next generation.
Maybe you're a neighbor on astreet in a neighborhood or the
parent of a child in your school.
God has put you there and it isnot a coincidence, it is not an
(27:48):
accident.
We tend to get frustrated Iknow what I feel this but we can
get frustrated about our lifeand about our work and we can
feel like we're just spinningour wheels and wasting our time.
Don't despise where God hasplaced you.
Don't despise where God hasplaced you.
God has given you a sphere ofinfluence, however small it
(28:10):
might be.
Your position is intentional,it's not accidental.
Sometimes, the burdens Godplaces on your heart aligns
perfectly with the platform andinfluence he has given you.
And the key is to recognizethat that, however big or small
(28:31):
your influence is, it is bydesign and God has put you there
to be a part of accomplishinghis purposes in the world.
And Nehemiah this story pointsus to something far greater
(28:52):
story points us to something fargreater At just the right time
in history, god put Nehemiah asthe cupbearer so that he could
restore the walls for God'speople.
And that, friends, points tothe ultimate display of God's
perfect timing.
Because, centuries from thismoment, galatians, chapter 4,
verse 4, tells us that, in thefullness of time, at just the
(29:15):
right time, god sent forth hisson, jesus Christ, into the
world.
And Jesus, the greater andbetter Nehemiah, came exactly at
the right moment in history inorder to save his people from
(29:37):
sin and death.
Nehemiah think about it.
He risked his life tasting winefor an earthly king.
Christ took the cup of God'swrath and he drank it all the
way to the bottom.
For you when Nehemiah stood,between danger, and the king.
(29:58):
Christ stands between us andthe judgment that we deserve the
poison of sin and the deaththat we deserve, fell upon Jesus
so that you and I could havelife and have it abundantly.
We're moving into this nextseason of ministry and I've
thought about this a lot.
(30:19):
What a privilege, I know, Ifeel this to be here at this
church and be a part of what Godhas been orchestrating here for
50 years, since God plantedthis church in the mid-70s.
Nehemiah shows us that, thisfoundation here of prayer.
(30:44):
He shows us this and we want tobuild on this foundation of
prayer as we move towards thenext 50.
We want to have hearts thatlisten for what burdens God and
we want that to move us toprayer that's anchored in truth
and we want to trust in God'sperfect timing.
(31:05):
Let's move forward as a churchby faith, trusting God.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you that youallow us.
You don't need us.
You're accomplishing yourpurposes in the world, but you
(31:26):
allow us to be a part, and whata gift and a joy that is.
Would you forgive us for theways that we've ignored your
burdens, the ways that we relyon our own wisdom instead of
your truth and the ways that wedoubt your perfect timing in our
lives.
Holy Spirit, give us heartsthat listen, help us to pray and
(31:48):
help us to trust that you're incontrol of all things.
We ask these things in Jesus'name, amen.
If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me to
Nehemiah, chapter 1.
So Ezra, nehemiah, so you'llfind Nehemiah.
After the book of Ezra.
We've been in a series in Ezraand Nehemiah.
This fall, we've been learning.
The exiles have come back fromBabylon, they're in Jerusalem,
they have rebuilt the temple,but there was something that was
(00:47):
still missing the physicalwalls around Jerusalem that were
there to protect God's people.
They remained in ruins, andit's in that context that God
raises up a man named Nehemiah.
And so follow along with me.
Nehemiah, chapter 1.
(01:10):
This is the word of the Lord,the words of Nehemiah, the son
of Hakaliah.
Now, it happened in the monthof Kislev, in the 20th year, as
I was in Susa, the citadel thatHanani, one of my brothers, came
from, certain men from Judah,and I asked them concerning the
(01:31):
Jews who escaped, who hadsurvived the exile, and
concerning Jerusalem, and theysaid to me the remnant there in
the province, who had survivedthe exile, was in great trouble
and shame, and the wall ofJerusalem is broken down and its
gates are destroyed by fire.
As soon as I heard these words,I sat down and wept and mourned
(01:56):
for days.
I continued fasting and prayingbefore the God of heaven, and I
said O Lord, god of heaven, thegreat and awesome God, who
keeps covenant and steadfastlove with those who love him and
keep his commandments, let yourear be attentive and your eyes
open to hear the prayers of yourservant that I now pray before
(02:18):
you day and night for the peopleof Israel, your servants,
confessing the sins of thepeople of Israel which we have
sinned against you.
Even I and my father's househave sinned.
We have acted very corruptlyagainst you and have not kept
the commandments, the statutes,the rules that you commanded
(02:39):
your servant Moses.
Remember the word that youcommanded your servant Moses
saying if you are unfaithful, Iwill scatter you among the
peoples, but if you return to meand keep my commandments and do
them, though your outcasts arein the uttermost parts of heaven
.
From there, I will gather themand bring them to the place that
(03:02):
I have chosen to make my namedwell there.
They are your servants and yourpeople, whom you have redeemed
by your great power and by yourstrong hand.
Oh Lord, let your ear beattentive to the prayer of your
servant and to the prayer ofyour servants who delight to
fear your name and give successto your servant today and grant
(03:25):
him mercy in the sight of thisman.
Now, I was cupbearer to theking.
This is God's word.
Let me pray for us.
Let's ask the spirit to comeand be in our midst and to work
through the preaching of theword.
Let's pray together, father.
That is what we ask that youwould be among us, that you
(03:47):
would work.
You brought us here.
You have this word for us thismorning.
Speak, o Lord, for yourservants are listening.
In Jesus' name, amen.
We are in the midst.
If you're visiting with us,you'll notice our campus.
There's a lot of building goingon.
(04:07):
We are in the midst of agenerational building project, a
once-in-a-generation project,the All Generations Campaign.
We're building new children'snursery space, new sanctuary and
other new ministry space, andso there's a lot of physical
building going on.
But this is a new season ofministry that our church is
(04:32):
moving into and as we move intothat season, in the midst of all
the physical building, it'salso important that we build
spiritual foundations as we moveforward, and that's what we're
looking at.
In Ezra and Nehemiah We've seenthat we're building foundations
(04:52):
of hope and worship andrepentance and perseverance, and
this morning we look at anotherimportant foundation that we
need to carry with us andcontinue on as we move forward
in this next season of ministry,and it is the foundation of
prayer.
This morning, nehemiah shows ushow to move from burden to
(05:15):
prayer, to participation andtrust in God's purposes.
To build a foundation of prayer.
We look at three things in thispassage that we need.
We need to listen for God'sheart, number one.
Secondly, anchor our prayers intruth, so in the truth of God's
(05:35):
Word.
Lastly, trust God's timing.
Listen for God's heart, anchorour prayers in truth and trust
God's timing.
Let's look at those in turnthis morning.
First, listen for God's heart.
Have you ever found yourselfunexpectedly concerned about
(05:57):
something that really wasn'tyour problem?
Maybe you heard about a need inthe community, you heard about
a need in our city and you foundyourself losing sleep over that
.
Or maybe you heard about a needor something going on halfway
(06:18):
around the world, a crisis ofsome sort, and you were
compelled to pray.
You were compelled, maybe, togo or to get involved in some
way.
Most of us have experiencedsomething like that at some
point in time, and lots of timeswe struggle when we experience
(06:40):
that.
We struggle with what exactlyto do, to do.
Nehemiah was in one of thosemoments and let's look and walk
through it and see what he does.
Look at verse two and three.
One of his brothers comes fromJudah and I ask I think that's
(07:02):
important Nehemiah is asking hedidn't get this information.
He's asking for thisinformation concerning the Jews,
the exiles, the remnant, whoare left, and it says they are
in great trouble and shame.
The walls are broken down,destroyed by fire, and I want us
(07:24):
to get into this passage alittle bit, because I think this
is remarkable.
Think about who Nehemiah was.
He was an Israelite.
He was a successful cupbearerto the most powerful king on the
earth.
(07:44):
He had a great life.
He was living very comfortablyin Persia, 900 miles away from
Jerusalem.
He had security in his work,his calendar was full, he had a
bright future.
(08:04):
He had every reason to stayfocused on his life and on his
own responsibilities, and so whyin the world would he suddenly
care about Jews 900 miles away?
Well, when he gets thisdisturbing news, he doesn't just
(08:27):
express polite concern and moveon Again.
I think this is just remarkable.
He had never lived there, hedidn't know these people
personally, but he hears thisand God uses this moment to
shatter Nehemiah's comfortabledistance from the people's
(08:50):
devastation.
He couldn't get this off of hisheart and mind.
These ruined walls began todominate his thoughts and his
heart broke in a way thatchanged everything in his life.
Everything in his life.
(09:17):
Comfortable distance is one ofthe greatest enemies of
spiritual burden.
We live in a world full ofbrokenness.
We have seen that up close andpersonal in the last few weeks
and we've become experts atinsulation.
We scroll past, or at leastit's my tendency to scroll past
suffering, to drive around orpast problems maintain enough of
(09:48):
a distance in order to preserveour comfort and our peace of
mind, and it is so easy for usto hear about things and feel
something in the moment and feelsympathy and then move on.
But sometimes God wants tobreak through the comfort and
the distance in a supernaturalway that will not let us go.
(10:09):
That's what's happening here.
Jerusalem is a nobody to theworld.
They are on no one's radar.
They're politicallyinsignificant, economically
they're powerless, they'regeographically distant, and yet
(10:34):
God moved.
We've been seeing that all theway through this series.
God stirred in the heart of aman in the inner circle of the
king and moved him to startcaring deeply for the broken
walls around Jerusalem.
(10:54):
Look at verse 4.
He heard these words.
He wept and mourned for daysand continued fasting and
praying before the God of heaven.
The text indicates that thiswas four months.
If you look at Kislev through,look at chapter 2, verse 1,
nisan that would have been fourmonths and notice what Nehemiah
(11:18):
doesn't do.
He doesn't rush it's importantto see this to immediate action,
without preparation.
Nor does he let this burdenfade into the background.
And most of us, I think that weswing between one or the other.
We feel a need, we sense theurgency, and we don't prepare or
(11:40):
pray.
We just jump right in or we dothe opposite, which is it
affects us for a second and thenthe busyness of life comes and
then it becomes a distant memory.
Nehemiah is showing us adifferent way.
His burden is driving him tosustained prayer.
(12:01):
Real burden from God producessustained response, not fleeting
feelings.
It's something that won't letyou go.
You're not able to just feelbad and move on.
He was not think about.
Nehemiah was not just able toput this on the prayer list.
(12:25):
He entered into a season ofgrief, reordered priorities and
he was expending a lot ofemotional energy towards what
was burdening his heart.
When God burdens your heart,expect it to be costly.
Expect it to be costly.
(12:47):
Divine concerns concerns.
They are going to disrupt ourcomfortable routine.
It is going to make yourestless with the status quo.
It's going to create, as it'sbeen said, holy discontentment
inside of you that will noteasily be resolved.
And when you feel those, don'tdismiss those as mere emotion
(13:14):
and temporary distraction.
Ask yourself this question Couldit be that God has given me
eyes to see something thatbreaks his heart?
That breaks his heart.
(13:34):
Could it be that God is callingme to care about something that
seems distant but is reallyclose to his heart and precious
to him?
That is how God works.
He gives his people unexpectedburdens and places and burdens
(14:01):
for people in places that theworld considers unimportant and
insignificant.
And so when you find yourselfcaring about a situation that
doesn't directly impact you,when you find yourself praying
for and thinking about peopleyou've never met, when you find
yourself praying for andthinking about people you've
never met, or when you'refeeling burdened by problems
that aren't your directresponsibility, stop and start
(14:27):
listening.
That might very well be Godgiving you eyes to see what
matters to him.
What if God wants to break ourhearts over what breaks his.
God may be stirring hearts inthis congregation for ministries
(14:48):
, as we move forward as a church, that we haven't even thought
about yet, or for people in ourcommunity and in our city that
haven't yet been reached, or forneeds in our city that we
haven't yet seen.
God may be calling you to gooverseas and join his mission.
(15:11):
God may be calling you into theministry.
As we move into this new seasonin the life of our church, my
hope and prayer is that we wouldbe listening, would be
(15:34):
listening listening for what Godwants to do and the burdens
he's given us and the ways thathe is moving in our hearts and
in the life of our church.
Secondly, we want to anchor ourprayers in truth.
I love this.
We're actually doing this inour kingdom communities, our
Sunday schools.
We're going through prayer andbasically learning what it means
just to pray the Bible and prayGod's promises back to him.
(15:57):
We see Nehemiah doing the exactsame thing here.
He gives us a model for how toapproach God, how to pray, which
is oftentimes a struggle for us.
What does it look like?
How do I pray?
We see a profound model here inthis passage.
First, you see Nehemiah adoringGod.
He confesses sin and he claimsGod's promises.
(16:18):
Look at verse 5.
He receives this news and hedoesn't just pour out raw
emotion, he moves into prayerand his prayer begins and is
anchored in who God is.
Notice he starts with the Godof heaven.
I love that.
He's saying I serve the king,but he's not the king.
(16:42):
The God of heaven is the trueking.
And in verse five I love thiswe see this both, and he shows
us God's faithfulness and God'sgreatness, his awesome power and
at the same time, his covenantlove.
Charles Hodge was a theologianat Princeton for many years and
(17:04):
he had a study that had twoentrances to that one from his
house you could get in and youcould get into his study from
the seminary.
And the entrance from his housewas for his children and they
came in any time and they wouldbe in his lap as he studied.
(17:26):
They were unhindered.
And yet there was an entranceto his study from the seminary
and you had to have anappointment.
Or the faculty or the studentswould come in and they would
come in with deep respect forlearning and for his position.
The same man was basicallyapproachable and loving and he
(17:52):
was deserving of reverence.
That captures, I think,nehemiah's approach to God
Confidence born out ofrelationship Think about Charles
Hodge's children and alsoreverence.
We don't have to choose, it'snot an either or it's a both.
And we approach God withreverence and intimacy and he
(18:17):
invites both, because God istranscendent and holy and he is
high and lifted up and he'spersonal.
He is awesome and accessible.
So that's the first thingNehemiah adores God.
Secondly, he moves intoconfession of sin.
We saw this a lot last weekwith Ezra.
(18:37):
Look at verses 6 and 7 with me.
Notice again, it's worthpointing out, notice the
pronouns we have sinned.
I and my father's house havesinned.
We saw it again with Ezra andwe see it this morning.
Nehemiah is 800 miles away, yethe doesn't distance himself
(19:02):
from Israel's failures and sin.
He owns the corporate guilt asif it were his responsibility.
Why does he do that?
Because God's people areconnected.
We are bound together.
You could say, put it moretheologically, bound together
(19:28):
covenantally, as God's peopleand Nehemiah notice.
He mentions Moses, and whathe's doing there is he's tying
all this back to violating thecovenant that was established
with God's people at Mount Sinai.
There's a commentator that saysthis what distinguishes us, the
church, from the, is not that weare less wicked, but that, by
(19:53):
God's grace, we've learned tosee our wickedness and confess
our sins.
The church is the only body onearth that confesses sin.
Where confession dies out, thechurch is no longer the church.
The church is no longer thechurch.
Tim Keller has a book coming out.
(20:13):
People compiled some of hiswritings and studies and there's
a book being published at theend of October.
How timely the title of thebook is.
What is Wrong with the World?
I saw a quote this week onsocial media from the book and
(20:39):
Keller says healing starts whenwe stop pretending that we're
fine.
Where do we need we?
Where do we need to confess oursin?
Where do we need to ask God'sforgiveness, not just for
individual mistakes, but for thecorporate failures of God's
people?
Nehemiah didn't pretend thatIsrael was fine.
He owned their failure andtheir sin as if it were his own.
(21:05):
The last thing we see Nehemiahis he pleads, he adores, he
confesses and then he pleadsGod's promises.
Look at verses 8 and 9.
That is a quote fromDeuteronomy, chapter 30, verses
1 through 4.
He's saying God, you promisedthat you would scatter us, but
you also promised that you wouldrestore us, and so, basically,
(21:26):
he starts you would restore us.
And so, basically, he starts.
He takes God's promises and heturns them and starts praying
them back to God.
Look at verse 10.
I love this.
He appeals to God's historicalinvestment in his people.
He's referencing the exodusthere and that deliverance,
(21:52):
referencing the Exodus there andthat deliverance, and he's
essentially saying this God, youhave invested too much to let
us go now, to abandon us now.
You didn't choose us randomly.
We are your people and you haveredeemed us with great power.
You've invested in us and youwill not let us go.
It's like the child.
(22:13):
If you have children, you knowyour children.
Maybe you'll make a promise tothem.
If you do X, I'll get you icecream.
I'll do this.
You forget about it.
Do they forget about it?
They do not forget about it.
They'll come to you and they'llsay remember, you promised.
That's what Nehemiah is doingand that's what God wants us to
(22:38):
do as the church, as hischildren to pray his God.
You promised to pray hispromises back to him.
The Puritans called thispleading the promises, where
they would just take Scripture.
And we should be doing this aswe pray to God, taking the
promises of Scripture and boldlypraying Lord, do what you
(23:02):
promise.
This is not presumption, thisis faith.
And so, as we move forward as achurch, we want to establish a
foundation of prayer like we seein Nehemiah, not where we, it's
just raw emotion, but we takethat burden and we move it into
(23:25):
prayer, anchored in God'scharacter, anchored in our own
need and anchored in thepromises of God.
Lastly, the timing.
God's trust is timing andcontrol.
Look at verse 11 with me.
This is the conclusion of theprayer.
Oh Lord, let your ear beattentive to the prayer of your
(23:48):
servant and then notice it'srepeated, but notice it's plural
this time.
Did you notice that?
And to the prayer of yourservants.
What's the point?
This has become a prayermeeting.
Nehemiah, in these four months,has developed a prayer team.
And then he asked for successfor the day, and then mercy, and
(24:11):
I love this.
In the sight of this man, hedoesn't say in the sight of the
king of Persia, in the sight ofthis man.
And I love that because, again,nehemiah, yes, did he respect
the king?
Yes, but Nehemiah knew that hewas ultimately just a man,
(24:37):
because God was the true kingand God was the one in control
of all things.
And then we have this finalrevelation and don't miss this
Now.
I was the cupbearer to the kingand when we hear that, we think
(25:03):
that sounds really random and astrange way to end this chapter.
Did you know?
It's actually the point of thechapter.
We read this and, yes, pleasedo we have something to learn
about prayer from Nehemiah andleadership and faithfulness and
all the things.
Absolutely, but God is the mainpoint of the Bible.
(25:26):
Absolutely, but God is the mainpoint of the Bible and God is
the main point of this passage.
Nehemiah was the cupbearer andhe, as the cupbearer, was in a
position of enormous trust,because the cupbearer would take
the first sip of wine to makesure it was not poisonous wine,
to make sure it was notpoisonous, and then he would
(25:46):
serve the king.
And so, think about that he wasvery close and he determined
who approached the king and whenthey approached the king, he
(26:16):
had intimate access to the mostpowerful ruler on the earth.
Accident, coincident?
No, no way.
This was God at work, preparing.
Think about that GivingNehemiah the burden leading him
to prayer.
Your prayer is a means toaccomplishing God's purposes in
the world, leading Nehemiah topray and then giving him this
strategic opportunity which hehad placed them in.
And all of those convergetogether in this amazing God
(26:39):
converges all those thingstogether to accomplish his
purposes.
The cupbearer remark isNehemiah's way of saying God has
been at work in this far longerthan you think, orchestrating
all of this long before now.
(26:59):
Where has God placed you?
Where has God positioned you inthis life and in this world?
Maybe you're a school teacherin the local schools.
Maybe you own your own business.
Maybe you're a businessexecutive and in a boardroom.
(27:21):
Maybe you're a student.
Maybe you're a healthcareworker.
Maybe you're a stay-at-home momshaping the next generation.
Maybe you're a student.
Maybe you're a health careworker.
Maybe you're a stay-at-home momshaping the next generation.
Maybe you're a neighbor on astreet in a neighborhood or the
parent of a child in your school.
God has put you there and it isnot a coincidence, it is not an
(27:48):
accident.
We tend to get frustrated Iknow what I feel this but we can
get frustrated about our lifeand about our work and we can
feel like we're just spinningour wheels and wasting our time.
Don't despise where God hasplaced you.
Don't despise where God hasplaced you.
God has given you a sphere ofinfluence, however small it
(28:10):
might be.
Your position is intentional,it's not accidental.
Sometimes, the burdens Godplaces on your heart aligns
perfectly with the platform andinfluence he has given you.
And the key is to recognizethat that, however big or small
(28:31):
your influence is, it is bydesign and God has put you there
to be a part of accomplishinghis purposes in the world.
And Nehemiah this story pointsus to something far greater
(28:52):
story points us to something fargreater At just the right time
in history, god put Nehemiah asthe cupbearer so that he could
restore the walls for God'speople.
And that, friends, points tothe ultimate display of God's
perfect timing.
Because, centuries from thismoment, galatians, chapter 4,
verse 4, tells us that, in thefullness of time, at just the
(29:15):
right time, god sent forth hisson, jesus Christ, into the
world.
And Jesus, the greater andbetter Nehemiah, came exactly at
the right moment in history inorder to save his people from
(29:37):
sin and death.
Nehemiah think about it.
He risked his life tasting winefor an earthly king.
Christ took the cup of God'swrath and he drank it all the
way to the bottom.
For you when Nehemiah stood,between danger, and the king.
(29:58):
Christ stands between us andthe judgment that we deserve the
poison of sin and the deaththat we deserve, fell upon Jesus
so that you and I could havelife and have it abundantly.
We're moving into this nextseason of ministry and I've
thought about this a lot.
(30:19):
What a privilege, I know, Ifeel this to be here at this
church and be a part of what Godhas been orchestrating here for
50 years, since God plantedthis church in the mid-70s.
Nehemiah shows us that, thisfoundation here of prayer.
(30:44):
He shows us this and we want tobuild on this foundation of
prayer as we move towards thenext 50.
We want to have hearts thatlisten for what burdens God and
we want that to move us toprayer that's anchored in truth
and we want to trust in God'sperfect timing.
(31:05):
Let's move forward as a churchby faith, trusting God.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you that youallow us.
You don't need us.
You're accomplishing yourpurposes in the world, but you
(31:26):
allow us to be a part, and whata gift and a joy that is.
Would you forgive us for theways that we've ignored your
burdens, the ways that we relyon our own wisdom instead of
your truth and the ways that wedoubt your perfect timing in our
lives.
Holy Spirit, give us heartsthat listen, help us to pray and
(31:48):
help us to trust that you're incontrol of all things.
We ask these things in Jesus'name, amen.
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