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Nehemiah 1:1-11 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Take out your copy of God's Word and turn to the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.
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Last week we began our new study as we've concluded our study of the book of Romans.
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!
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A lot of history you presented last week and I don't know that everyone's going to remember all those details throughout our study together.
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And I'll do my best to kind of pull back in the necessary parts of it as we go along.
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But I saw the benefit of that and as I sat down to write it, you must know that I'm not a fantastic writer.
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And so I copied and pasted this.
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Gave credit where credit is due.
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This is an introduction by John MacArthur as well as his outline.
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And then I included in it the four objectives, the things that I want to see accomplished in our time together in Nehemiah.
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So that's just there for you, for your resource.
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If you didn't get one, we'll have them out in the hallway on your way out.
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You can certainly pick one of those up.
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Let's begin this morning by reading, starting in verse 1 of chapter 1 of Nehemiah.
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The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah.
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Now it happened in the month of Kislev in the twentieth year as I was in Susa, the capital.
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That Hananiah, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah.
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And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.
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And they said to me,
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The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame.
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The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are destroyed by fire.
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As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days.
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And I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
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And I said,
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O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.
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Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you, day and night, for the people of Israel, your servants.
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Confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you, even I and my father's house have sinned.
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We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.
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Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying,
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If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples.
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But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen to make my name dwell there.
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They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
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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.
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Now I was cupbearer to the king.
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Let's pray together.
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Father God, we thank you for the great blessing of your word.
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It is a tremendous grace to us.
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And I pray that today, by your spirit, you will apply it to our hearts.
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That we won't just hear words, give some mental recognition to them, but that they will in fact change us.
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That we will become more like your son as a result of hearing the preached word this day.
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And we pray this in Christ's name.
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Amen.
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And Nehemiah, you'll notice here at the beginning, the circumstance is being set up.
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He's cupbearer for the king Artaxerxes, the king of Persia.
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He's quite a ways.
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He's in the city of Susa, which is where the king was wintering at the time.
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Many, many days journey from Judah.
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And his brother comes to visit him to say that the city is in calamity.
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It's shameful because the exiles have returned from captivity.
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Babylonia has flipped over to be a Persian rule.
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Persian king has allowed them to go back.
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And they've yet to build the wall.
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It's in shambles.
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They're a weak people.
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And therefore, the name of God has been made weak.
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And this is why he's distraught.
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Verse 4, this is why he sits down and he weeps and he mourns for days.
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It's very, very heavy on his heart, the circumstance here.
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And Nehemiah wants to see something reconciled in this way.
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He wants to see the wall built.
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He wants the glory of God to be proclaimed amongst his people.
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Remember that the visible outworking of God's glory at this time are his people, the state,
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the well-being of his people.
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And the fact that they've been returned from exile for so long and they're still in shambles
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is a great affront to God's glory.
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And this so presses on Nehemiah as he has such a zeal for God's glory that he mourns the condition of Israel.
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Now, we get to clues later on.
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We don't know at this point as we begin to read about his prayer.
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But we do find out later that the ambition that's laid upon him is to actually go back to Judah
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and to begin to build the wall, to lead the reconstruction.
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But you need to understand the task that was ahead of him before we move on.
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He's serving as the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes.
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Artaxerxes, you can read in Ezra chapter 4, has put out an edict to stop the building of the wall.
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The wall was being built some 20 years earlier.
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There was an effort being put forward to do it, but some people of the land, as they're called in Ezra,
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some people who were not Israelites,
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seeing that the glory of the Almighty God could supplant the glory of King Artaxerxes,
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write a letter to him.
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And in response, he issues an edict, forcing the building of the wall to stop.
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So here is Nehemiah serving under a king who has already made a command that the wall should not be built.
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And in this day, for a king to reverse an edict would be to say that he's powerless,
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that he was unwise to begin with.
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And it did not happen often that this would take place.
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Know also that the wall itself, we'll talk more about this in some of the coming weeks,
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was four and a half miles in circumference, 15 feet tall and 15 feet thick.
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It was a huge, huge project that was ahead of him.
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And so what do we find Nehemiah doing?
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He prays.
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And I have to tell you honestly, as I searched out what we ought to do next,
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moving beyond Romans,
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the impression on my mind for Nehemiah was that it was about a group of people
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building something to the glory of God.
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That's one of my desires, that we will see as a church,
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that that's what we're here to do together.
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That it's going to be a hard work, that we're going to have to press into it.
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I did not realize, having read Nehemiah numerous times,
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what an incredible book of prayer that it is.
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Nehemiah begins with prayer.
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Charles Spurgeon once said,
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if any of you should ask me for an epitome, a perfect example of the Christian religion,
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I should say that it is one word, prayer.
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I learned a new Latin phrase today.
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And I don't use Latin to just sound really intelligent.
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I think I know maybe ten Latin phrases now at this point.
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But I want to kind of plant this one in your mind.
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And it is sine qua non.
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S-I-N-E-Q-U-A-N-O-N, if you're taking notes.
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Sine qua non.
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Which means, without which, nothing.
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Prayer is not just a part of our Christian living.
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It's not a little thing we attach alongside our efforts.
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But it is the thing without which we can accomplish nothing.
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Sine qua non.
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Without which, nothing.
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Prayer is vital to any effort for the kingdom.
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Now, we all, I'm sure, grew up and have heard phrases like,
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Prayer is just talking to God.
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Trying to make it approachable.
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Something that even I could do.
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Prayer is just talking to God.
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And many of us have grown up with kind of a buddy Jesus mentality.
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You've seen the t-shirts, Jesus is my homeboy.
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He's my pal.
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I come alongside and I just chit-chat with him.
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About my life and what's going on.
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And don't be mistaken, certainly Jesus instructed us to pray for our daily bread.
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He's concerned about the details of our life.
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He cares about even the smallest of things.
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But we as Christians too often pray paltry prayers.
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Trite.
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Meaningless at times.
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Prayers.
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Think about many of the prayer meetings you've probably attended.
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And the vast majority of the requests have nothing to do with the kingdom of God or the souls of men.
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But are typically about health.
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Again, not that that's a bad thing.
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Don't catch the wrong end of the stick, so to speak here.
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God cares about those things.
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But how we speak to him matters.
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And praise God that there's room for maturation in our prayer.
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That we can grow up in our prayer process.
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And it would be wise of us to take an example.
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Take a look at how it is we are instructed to pray.
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Recognize that the apostles, men who were Jews, who had spent their life praying,
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asked Jesus,
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Lord, teach us to pray.
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Did Jesus respond to them?
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Prayer's just talking to God.
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Guys, do it.
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No, he gave them a very clear example of what prayer should look like in their lives.
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The men have been getting together on Friday morning and spending some time praying together.
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And I told them this last Friday that I'm so thankful to lead a group of men that pray God-honoring,
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biblically founded prayers.
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What an absolute blessing that is.
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We should be maturing in the way that we pray.
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And here is a great example of this.
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I, since a very early age with Cademan, who's three now.
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You guys, if you know me, I have another son named Judah.
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He's downstairs asleep right now.
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He's one.
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But I tell them that I love him with my hand.
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A little sign language.
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And I say, I love you with my hand.
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I love you.
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And it lets me do that when I can't speak to him.
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Quiet times, I can do that.
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And Cade gets it.
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He absolutely knows what I'm trying to tell him.
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But he has a really difficult time forming that shape with his hand.
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I've tried to show him how to do it.
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I've tried to show him how to hold his fingers down, hold his fingers up.
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He just can't quite pull it off.
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And so Cade's version of I love you is this.
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Right?
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Which I've just taken to mean I love you too.
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Right?
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He just gives it back.
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Recently, he's altered it to I love you with three fingers like this.
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Let's see what you can.
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Cade, man.
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I love you.
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There we go.
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There we go.
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Three fingers.
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Right?
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That's great, buddy.
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Thanks.
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Right?
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Is God satisfied simply with the intention of our prayers?
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And I would say to you, no.
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Right?
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If Cade, man, the rest of his life tells me that he loves me with words insufficient for that
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or a hand symbol that just doesn't quite mean that.
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Cade continues to do this.
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At some point, I'm going to go, Cade, man.
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That means peace, pal.
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It doesn't mean I love you.
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Right?
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Like, it's time.
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It's time for you to shift the way you tell me that you love me.
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Right?
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We should be maturing in the same way.
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I want to show you four observations concerning Nehemiah's prayer.
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And I have to tell you that probably the most important thing we can learn today,
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the most important thing we can learn today,
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is that Nehemiah had a holy ambition.
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He had a task ahead of him,
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which all of us have ahead of us as Christians.
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As ministers of the gospel,
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we all have tasks laid out before us.
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God has prepared good works for us in advance.
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The most important thing that we should learn today
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is that it should be preceded by prayer.
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Right?
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Sine qua non.
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Without which nothing.
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Right?
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Prayer should precede all of that.
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So I want you to keep that in mind
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as we're moving quickly past that point
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to talk about Nehemiah's prayer itself.
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Right?
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If I had to say one thing to you this morning,
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I have already said it.
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Right?
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Prayer must precede our work.
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Right?
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But I want to bring you four observations this morning.
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Firstly,
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Nehemiah prayed persistently.
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Nehemiah prayed persistently.
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So notice in verse 4,
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he sits down,
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he weeps and he mourns for days,
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and he says,
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and I continued fasting and praying
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before the God of heaven.
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We see also later on
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that he prayed down in verse 6,
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day and night.
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So we see an example of his prayer here.
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Right?
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We see maybe a noted time,
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but this was the thrust of his praying
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and it happened consistently.
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It's important to know
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that this report of what was going on in Judah
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was brought to him in the month of Kislev,
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which is approximately November, December.
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When does he actually get to speak
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to our exerxes in chapter 2?
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In the month of Nisan,
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which is approximately March or April.
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So catch that,
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roughly four months has passed in this time.
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He recognizes this great task
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that's ahead of him
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and he sets himself to prayer.
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He says here,
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he continues,
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and he does it day and night.
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There's a fervency here in prayer
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because Nehemiah recognizes
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that the task ahead of him
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is not something he can accomplish on his own.
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So he is persistent in his prayer.
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Believe that he understood
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what John 15, 5 says
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when Jesus says,
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apart from me,
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you can do nothing.
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This is a lesson for us.
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So often we rush into things.
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We don't ask God
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to move and to act,
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to come along at all
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for the ride.
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I do this all the time.
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I use my business savvy
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to try to get things accomplished.
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And apart from prayer,
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I can accomplish nothing.
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I try in my sermon preparation
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to be incredibly prayerful
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before I ever even come
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to the text for the week,
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try to pray God's blessing on it
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that he'll open up my mind,
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help me to see,
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help me to study,
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find the right resources
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to pull it all together.
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And I'll tell you this week,
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I did that well.
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I let this text run through me.
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And then yesterday morning
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when I sat down
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to take all those things
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that were running around
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in my head and in my heart
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and put them on a piece of paper
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so that I could make
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an organized presentation
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of what was going on
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here in this text,
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I just rushed right into it.
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And I struggled.
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This is like the fourth outline
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I wrote of this.
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If you noticed that I double checked
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when I said I had four points,
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I wanted to make sure
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that I actually did have four points
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and I didn't change that
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at some point along the way.
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And I recognized yesterday
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that just the conviction
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that I had prayerfully prepared
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my mind and my heart,
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but I didn't prayerfully prepare
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to even put the notes down.
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I had to stop
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and I had to repent
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and ask God's blessing
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on even just typing it out
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on a piece of paper.
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We can do nothing apart from God.
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And there's a patience here.
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We've got Nehemiah.
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He's weeping and he's mourning for days.
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He is heartbroken over this.
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And yet for months he prays.
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He persists in prayer.
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Young people,
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I know your life just feels
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like it's passing by,
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that you've got to get in the mix
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so quick.
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You have such a desire
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to do mighty things for God
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and I pat you on the back for that.
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But be patient in prayer.
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Seek to know God's will
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for your life in prayer.
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So firstly,
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Nehemiah prayed persistently.
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Secondly,
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Nehemiah begins his prayer
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by proclaiming God's character.
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He roots his very prayer
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in who God is.
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Look at verse 5.
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He says,
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And I said,
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O Lord, God of heaven,
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the great and awesome God
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who keeps covenant
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and steadfast love
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with those who love him
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and keep his commandments.
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He ties it all in
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to who God is.
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His plea with God to act
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is requisite on God's character.
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He says,
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O Lord, God of heaven,
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in the Hebrew,
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this was an expression
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of God's sovereignty.
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That if God is the God of heaven,
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he is therefore the God
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of all kingdoms,
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the whole universe,
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God reigns over.
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This was a phrase
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that became especially precious
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to the Jews
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as they went off into exile.
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As they began to understand
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that God was not just
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the God of Israel
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reigning over them,
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providential in their lives,
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but also of the entire world.
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They saw the predicted judgment
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come to pass
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through the Babylonians.
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They saw that God
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used even wicked men
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to bring judgment upon them.
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They came to know
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this O Lord,
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God of heaven,
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that he is in fact
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sovereign over all things.
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Isn't it interesting
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in Matthew chapter 6,
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when the disciples
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asked Jesus how to pray,
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he begins,
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Our Father in heaven.
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This is the Greek version
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of this Hebrew phrase.
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Our Father in heaven.
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Him who reigns over all.
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Certainly,
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Nehemiah,
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as he's versed in his scriptures,
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would have been familiar
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with Proverbs 21.1.
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As he's thinking about
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approaching King Artaxerxes,
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the king,
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and asking him
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to go back on an edict.
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Asking him to not be him
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is essentially
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what he's asking him to do.
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Proverbs 21.1 says,
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The king's heart
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is a stream of water
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in the hand of the Lord.
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He turns it
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wherever he will.
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He begins his prayer
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proclaiming that God
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is the great sovereign
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of all things.
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And he calls him
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the great
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and the awesome God.
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Great speaking of his power.
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His ability to do anything
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that he wishes to do.
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To set his mind
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to do it
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and he will,
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in fact,
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accomplish it.
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And he calls him
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the awesome God.
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Here's a misused phrase
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in our language,
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is it not?
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It's kind of entered
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into our vernacular
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as something maybe
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just a bit cooler
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than cool.
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I misuse awesome
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all the time.
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The word awesome
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simply means
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to inspire awe,
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but it also carries with it
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the idea of dread.
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A fear of something.
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Something that's
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so mighty
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and so big.
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In the case of God,
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because of his majesty
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and his glory,
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that you shrivel at it.
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That you shrink
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at the awesomeness
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of God.
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I was trying to think
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of a practical example
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of a day-to-day thing,
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and I don't experience
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things that really
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could properly be called
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awesome,
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although I think
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I call things awesome
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all the time.
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But I thought about
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when I was a child,
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I grew up in Arizona
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and my dad took me
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to fish below Hoover Dam
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at a place called
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Lee's Ferry.
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Hoover Dam,
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700 plus feet tall.
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And we got to take
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a motorboat,
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I got to drive it,
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I was like eight,
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which is the coolest thing
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I've ever done,
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probably,
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in this cliff face,
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avoiding the sandbar.
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It was really fun.
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But we went up
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to the bottom
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of Hoover Dam
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and we began
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to fish down the river
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from that point.
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And I would say
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in human terms
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that was pretty awesome,
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being at the base
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of that 700 foot dam
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and the cliffs around it
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are the same.
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Awesome.
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But a better picture
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of that is
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what if that dam
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was beginning
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to crumble before me,
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right,
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and we're in the speedboat
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at the bottom
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and I know that
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at any moment
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the water's gonna
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burst forth
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and come rushing
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down that canyon.
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That maybe is the feeling
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that you might have,
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right,
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of the word awesome,
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the way in which
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we should think
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of our God.
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Right?
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That he inspires
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that kind of awe.
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This is how Nehemiah
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begins his prayer.
20:36
Recognize that in verse 11,
20:38
as you think about that,
20:39
you think,
20:39
wait a minute,
20:40
are we supposed to dread God?
20:41
Is that the way
20:41
we're supposed to react
20:43
to him?
20:43
In verse 11,
20:44
Nehemiah says,
20:45
talks of his servants
20:46
who delight to fear
20:48
his name.
20:50
They delight in the fear
20:52
of God's name.
20:54
He is this awesome God,
20:56
sovereign,
20:57
all-powerful,
20:58
able to accomplish
20:58
whatever it is
20:59
that he sets himself to.
21:01
Right?
21:01
That's the type of dread
21:03
that we're talking about here.
21:05
And then he goes on
21:06
to talk about his covenant
21:08
and his steadfast love.
21:12
He proclaims that God
21:14
is immutable,
21:15
meaning unchanging.
21:16
Right?
21:16
That if God has said
21:17
he will do something,
21:18
he keeps a covenant
21:19
with his people,
21:20
he makes a promise to them,
21:21
that he will,
21:22
in fact,
21:23
carry it out.
21:24
There's no changing our God.
21:25
He is immutable.
21:28
So Nehemiah begins his prayer
21:30
by proclaiming God's character.
21:33
And Nehemiah's prayer,
21:34
thirdly,
21:35
is motivated
21:35
by God's promises.
21:37
It's a nice connection there,
21:38
right?
21:39
We see that he praises God
21:42
for his covenant
21:43
and steadfast love,
21:44
proclaims that,
21:45
and then reminds him
21:48
of his promises.
21:49
We're doing a bit of a skip down here,
21:52
but verses 8 through 10,
21:53
and we'll come back up
21:54
to verses 6 and 7.
21:56
Right?
21:56
Let's read that together.
21:58
Remember the word
22:00
that you commanded
22:00
your servant Moses,
22:01
saying,
22:01
If you are unfaithful,
22:03
I will scatter you
22:04
among the peoples.
22:05
But if you return to me
22:07
and keep my commandments
22:07
and do them,
22:08
though your outcasts
22:09
are in the uttermost
22:10
parts of heaven,
22:11
from there I will gather them
22:12
and bring them to the place
22:13
that I have chosen
22:14
to make my name dwell there.
22:16
They are your servants
22:17
and your people
22:18
whom you have redeemed
22:19
by your great power
22:20
and by your strong hand.
22:23
Nehemiah's prayer
22:24
is motivated
22:25
by God's promises.
22:26
Why would Nehemiah
22:27
have any reason
22:28
to think
22:28
that God would
22:29
bring him before
22:30
King Artaxerxes
22:31
and change the heart
22:32
of this king
22:33
to send him back
22:35
to build an encampment,
22:38
a fortress,
22:39
against himself
22:40
and write the bill
22:41
for it?
22:43
Why would Nehemiah
22:44
ever think
22:45
that could ever
22:45
even be possible?
22:48
It's because he knew
22:49
God's promises.
22:52
Verse 8 starts out,
22:53
Remember.
22:53
Now, he is praying.
22:55
This is a record
22:55
of a prayer,
22:56
but don't think
22:56
that he's being irreverent
22:57
at this point.
22:59
This language is a plea
23:01
with God
23:01
to enact his word.
23:03
Right?
23:04
Please do the things
23:05
you said you would do.
23:08
Right?
23:08
And we see there
23:09
this promise
23:10
that was made.
23:11
He's loosely quoting
23:12
from Leviticus 26
23:14
and Deuteronomy 4.
23:16
He makes a covenant
23:17
with his people
23:18
that is conditional
23:18
on their obedience.
23:20
When they're disobedient,
23:21
he judges them,
23:22
sends them off
23:23
at the hands
23:23
of the Babylonians.
23:25
But at that time,
23:26
he says,
23:27
if they will repent
23:28
and turn back to me,
23:29
I will restore them
23:30
in their land.
23:32
And this is the promise
23:33
that Nehemiah
23:34
is calling on God
23:35
to fulfill.
23:36
Arturo Zerdia,
23:39
a pastor that I
23:40
particularly appreciate,
23:43
said,
23:43
our Heavenly Father
23:44
takes delight
23:44
when we stake
23:45
our confidence
23:46
in Him.
23:47
When we are so confident
23:49
in His eternal character
23:50
that we claim
23:51
the promises
23:51
He has made to us,
23:53
God is pleased.
23:56
Certainly,
23:57
Nehemiah was familiar
23:58
with Isaiah,
23:59
the prophet.
24:01
Chapter 43,
24:02
verses 6 and 7,
24:03
God says,
24:05
I will say to the north,
24:06
give up.
24:07
And to the south,
24:07
do not withhold.
24:08
Bring my sons from afar
24:10
and my daughters
24:11
from the end of the earth,
24:12
everyone who is called
24:13
by my name.
24:14
Now, this is pre-return,
24:15
right?
24:16
So we're quite a few years,
24:17
some 90 years beyond that.
24:20
But then certainly,
24:22
Nehemiah understood
24:23
that it goes on to say,
24:24
whom I created
24:25
for my glory,
24:27
whom I formed
24:28
and who I made.
24:29
You see that
24:30
as he begins to call
24:31
on God in verse 10,
24:32
they are your servants
24:34
and your people
24:35
whom you have redeemed
24:36
by your great power
24:37
and by your strong hand.
24:40
They are a picture
24:41
of your glory
24:43
here on this earth.
24:44
Act,
24:45
restore,
24:46
help us
24:47
build
24:47
the wall.
24:49
Now, just out of curiosity,
24:50
I got on the internet
24:51
this week
24:52
and I typed in
24:53
how many promises
24:54
does God make
24:55
in the Bible?
24:56
I found a lot of answers.
24:58
My favorite one
24:59
was from like a
25:00
wiki answers
25:01
or answers.com
25:03
or something like that.
25:04
And a person simply said,
25:06
I have no idea
25:06
but my father
25:07
once counted them
25:08
and said 7,487.
25:13
I don't know.
25:14
I don't know
25:14
if that's a real number
25:15
or not.
25:16
I would presume
25:17
it's probably getting close.
25:19
I have no idea
25:20
who this father is
25:21
that counted
25:22
these promises.
25:23
But the scripture
25:24
is riddled with them.
25:25
They saturate
25:26
this book.
25:29
How many promises
25:30
of God
25:30
do you know?
25:35
Fifty?
25:37
Ten maybe?
25:38
Can you think of a few?
25:40
Five?
25:42
One?
25:45
Could it be
25:45
that our prayers
25:47
are paltry
25:47
because we don't know
25:48
what God has promised
25:49
He will do?
25:50
So we are not
25:51
saturated
25:52
in the scriptures
25:53
the way we ought to be?
25:55
The word of God
25:56
and prayer
25:56
are mutually dependent
25:58
on one another.
26:00
You cannot rightly
26:01
understand the word of God
26:02
apart from prayer
26:03
and you cannot pray
26:05
as you should
26:06
without the promises
26:07
of God's word.
26:08
The two walk together
26:10
hand in hand.
26:12
So Nehemiah's prayer
26:13
is motivated
26:15
by God's promises.
26:19
Fourthly,
26:20
Nehemiah's prayer
26:21
is humble
26:22
and intercessory
26:24
in nature.
26:26
We're looking back up
26:27
at verses 6
26:28
and 7.
26:30
He says,
26:30
Let your ear
26:31
be attentive
26:32
and your eyes open
26:33
to hear the prayer
26:34
of your servant
26:34
that I now pray
26:35
before you
26:36
day and night
26:36
for the people
26:37
of Israel,
26:38
your servants,
26:39
confessing the sins
26:40
of the people of Israel
26:41
which we have sinned
26:42
against you.
26:43
Even I
26:43
and my father's house
26:44
have sinned.
26:46
We have acted
26:46
very corruptly
26:47
against you
26:48
and have not kept
26:48
the commandments,
26:49
the statutes,
26:50
and the rules
26:50
that you commanded
26:51
your servant,
26:53
Moses.
26:55
Notice that
26:56
following Nehemiah's
26:58
vision of God's character,
27:00
immediately following it,
27:02
he becomes very humble
27:03
in his prayer.
27:05
A vision of God's character
27:07
will always
27:08
make us painfully aware
27:10
of our own shortcomings.
27:13
When God shows up
27:14
in all of His majesty,
27:15
we become very,
27:17
very aware
27:17
of who we are.
27:18
This is why
27:20
all good praying
27:21
begins with God's character.
27:23
When we go to God,
27:25
we need to recognize
27:26
who He is
27:27
and who we are.
27:29
We're not going
27:30
to talk to buddy Jesus.
27:32
We're not chumming up
27:33
next to Him
27:34
to see what He may
27:34
pull off on our behalf.
27:37
He is God
27:39
and we are not.
27:42
But Isaiah,
27:43
when he sees Jesus
27:44
in all His glory,
27:45
what does he say?
27:46
Woe is me.
27:49
Peter,
27:50
when he finally,
27:51
fully realizes
27:52
that Jesus is the Messiah,
27:53
says,
27:53
depart from me, Lord,
27:54
for I am a sinful man.
27:58
John,
27:59
when he has this vision
28:00
of the resurrected Christ
28:01
in chapter 1 of Revelation,
28:03
he falls down on the ground
28:05
like a dead man.
28:08
This is the natural response
28:10
to a proper view
28:11
of God's character
28:13
and it ought to be
28:14
the way our prayers
28:15
proceed along.
28:19
Notice here
28:20
Nehemiah's
28:21
first person language.
28:23
He says,
28:24
I confess.
28:26
We have sinned.
28:27
I and my Father's house
28:29
have sinned.
28:30
We have acted
28:31
very corruptly.
28:32
It would have been easy,
28:33
I think,
28:34
at this point
28:34
for Nehemiah
28:35
to pray that
28:37
those other Jews
28:39
for the sins
28:41
that they committed
28:41
in the years past
28:43
that caused them
28:44
to come into
28:44
Babylonian exile
28:45
would be really easy
28:46
to push off,
28:48
to press it onto
28:50
the others.
28:52
But yet,
28:52
here he takes it
28:53
upon himself.
28:56
You remember
28:57
at the fall
28:57
after Adam and Eve
28:58
ate of the fruit
28:59
and God comes to them
29:00
and asks them
29:01
what they've done.
29:02
He asks this of Adam
29:03
and we see the very first
29:04
communication
29:05
of fallen man
29:06
and what does he do?
29:07
He blames it on Eve.
29:09
He says,
29:10
the woman
29:11
who you gave me.
29:13
Not only does he blame it
29:14
on Eve,
29:14
but he blames it on God,
29:16
his own sin.
29:17
And then Eve turns
29:18
and blames it
29:19
on the serpent.
29:20
It is part of our
29:22
fallen nature
29:23
to press blame
29:24
on others.
29:26
But here we see
29:26
Nehemiah takes
29:27
credit for it.
29:29
He says,
29:29
I and my Father's house
29:30
have sinned.
29:31
We are in the
29:31
continual process
29:33
of sinning against you
29:33
and not keeping your law.
29:36
This has been
29:36
going on
29:37
for all of these
29:39
generations
29:39
since the exile.
29:41
You sent us into exile
29:41
because of it
29:42
and yet here we are
29:43
still.
29:45
But he's repenting now
29:46
on behalf
29:47
of the people.
29:49
So he's humble
29:50
as he approaches God.
29:52
And his prayer is also
29:53
intercessory in nature.
29:54
He's also praying
29:55
on the behalf
29:56
of the nation
29:57
of Israel.
29:59
Is it possible here
30:00
for him to speak
30:01
and repent
30:02
to change the hearts
30:03
of the Israelites?
30:04
No.
30:05
But he prays
30:06
on their behalf
30:07
anyway.
30:07
God,
30:08
for your name's sake,
30:09
for your glory,
30:11
we have been evil
30:12
in your sight.
30:13
Restore us.
30:15
Send us back.
30:17
Roots it back
30:17
in his character
30:18
in this way.
30:21
And Nehemiah
30:21
in this way
30:22
is a type
30:23
of Jesus Christ.
30:26
Now,
30:27
I want to introduce
30:28
you to typology
30:29
if you're not familiar
30:30
with this.
30:31
So,
30:32
I've said
30:32
I recognize
30:33
through the past
30:33
years,
30:34
various people
30:35
throughout the scriptures
30:36
are types
30:37
of Christ.
30:38
And I don't mean
30:38
that in the way
30:39
that a Granny Smith
30:40
apple is a type
30:41
of apple.
30:42
Right?
30:43
I don't really like
30:43
Granny Smiths.
30:44
I think they should
30:44
be excluded
30:45
from the apple
30:45
category.
30:46
but I don't mean
30:47
it in that way.
30:48
Right?
30:49
We're not saying
30:49
that,
30:50
I'm not saying
30:50
that Nehemiah
30:51
is a type
30:53
of Jesus Christ
30:54
and that he's
30:54
a different version
30:55
of him.
30:56
Right?
30:57
But typology
30:57
references a person
30:59
who supersedes
31:00
the antitype
31:01
or the fulfillment
31:03
of it.
31:04
It's a shadow,
31:05
a presupposition
31:08
of something
31:09
that's later to come.
31:11
For example,
31:12
in that way,
31:12
David is a type
31:14
of Christ
31:15
when he takes
31:16
on Goliath.
31:17
Right?
31:17
And the picture
31:18
being shown here
31:19
is that one day
31:19
a greater king
31:21
will come
31:21
and defeat
31:22
death on our behalf.
31:24
Right?
31:25
That we're not
31:25
going to have to
31:26
fight that war
31:26
but he's going to
31:27
come and fight
31:27
it for us.
31:28
The one man,
31:29
that man being
31:30
Jesus Christ.
31:31
And the Old Testament
31:32
is just full
31:33
of typology
31:35
pointing us to
31:36
Jesus Christ.
31:38
We're meant to
31:38
look at a Nehemiah
31:40
and expect
31:41
something greater.
31:43
Pressing us
31:44
too.
31:45
And as Nehemiah
31:46
intercedes
31:47
for the people
31:48
of God
31:48
in the same way
31:50
Jesus intercedes
31:51
for us.
31:52
He is the
31:53
greater Nehemiah,
31:55
the antitype
31:56
to the type
31:57
that is
31:57
Nehemiah.
31:59
Romans 8
32:00
33 and 34
32:01
reads,
32:02
Who shall bring
32:03
any charge
32:03
against God's elect?
32:04
It is God
32:05
who justifies.
32:06
Who is to condemn?
32:07
Christ Jesus
32:08
is the one
32:08
who died.
32:09
More than that,
32:10
who was raised.
32:11
Who is at the
32:11
right hand of God
32:12
who is indeed
32:13
interceding
32:14
for us.
32:16
Notice here
32:17
that the tie-in
32:18
here is that
32:18
no one can bring
32:20
a charge against
32:20
God's elect.
32:21
No one can
32:21
convict us
32:22
of anything
32:22
because it is
32:23
Jesus Christ
32:24
himself who
32:25
intercedes for us.
32:26
Who leans over
32:27
to God and says,
32:28
Not that one.
32:30
Pass over him.
32:31
My sacrifice
32:32
was enough for him.
32:34
I took on
32:34
his punishment
32:36
and her punishment.
32:38
He intercedes
32:39
on our behalf.
32:41
So he is the
32:41
greater
32:43
Nehemiah.
32:44
Turn with me
32:45
from Nehemiah.
32:46
In closing,
32:47
we're going to look
32:48
at John
32:49
chapter 13.
32:50
I just want to
32:50
show you something
32:51
here.
32:53
This is Jesus
32:54
the great
32:55
interceder.
33:01
I miss this
33:02
until this week.
33:04
We see the
33:04
Last Supper
33:05
beginning in
33:06
chapter 13.
33:07
See Jesus
33:08
washing the
33:09
disciples' feet.
33:10
And throughout
33:10
this process,
33:11
he's teaching
33:12
them things
33:13
along the way.
33:14
And at the
33:15
end of chapter
33:15
14,
33:17
I just totally
33:17
read over this
33:18
so many times,
33:19
he says,
33:20
Rise.
33:21
Let us go
33:21
from here.
33:23
So in my mind,
33:24
I always pictured
33:24
Jesus talking
33:26
through chapter
33:26
15 and 16
33:28
and even 17
33:29
with the high
33:30
priestly prayer
33:30
of him sitting
33:31
in this upper
33:32
room around a
33:33
table.
33:34
But they
33:34
weren't.
33:34
They were actually
33:35
walking along.
33:37
At the
33:38
beginning of
33:38
chapter 17,
33:39
this is kind
33:40
of where this
33:41
caught my
33:42
attention.
33:43
The record is
33:44
when Jesus had
33:45
spoken these
33:45
words, he
33:46
lifted up his
33:46
eyes to heaven
33:47
and said,
33:48
and here's
33:48
where we have
33:49
the high
33:50
priestly prayer.
33:51
Him pouring
33:52
out his
33:53
desire for
33:54
the apostles
33:54
and those
33:55
who would
33:56
precede them.
33:58
But notice
33:58
at the beginning
33:59
of chapter
34:00
18,
34:01
when Jesus
34:01
had spoken
34:02
these words,
34:02
when he had
34:03
completed this
34:04
prayer,
34:05
he went out
34:05
with his
34:06
disciples across
34:07
the Kidron
34:08
Valley where
34:09
there was a
34:10
garden which
34:10
he and his
34:11
disciples entered.
34:12
This is the
34:13
garden of
34:13
Gethsemane.
34:15
He pauses
34:16
somewhere before
34:18
they go through
34:18
this.
34:19
Now this is
34:19
pure conjecture
34:20
on my part,
34:22
but I just
34:23
want to paint a
34:23
little bit of a
34:23
picture for you.
34:24
And this Kidron
34:25
Valley was the
34:25
brook of
34:27
Kidron,
34:27
and it was
34:28
used as a
34:29
drain from
34:30
the temple.
34:32
Recall that
34:32
we're in the
34:33
Passover week.
34:34
There was an
34:34
estimated six
34:35
million Jews
34:36
in Jerusalem
34:38
at this time.
34:39
And there's
34:39
sacrifice happening
34:40
that week on
34:42
and on and
34:43
on and on,
34:44
non-stop.
34:44
You could even
34:45
think of it,
34:46
the priest must
34:46
have been knee
34:47
deep in blood.
34:48
And where did
34:48
it all go?
34:49
It drained
34:50
through the
34:51
Valley of
34:51
Kidron,
34:52
down the
34:52
brook of
34:53
Kidron.
34:54
And this is
34:54
the brook
34:54
that they
34:55
pass over as
34:56
they're going
34:57
in to the
34:58
Garden of
34:58
Gethsemane.
34:59
And I just
35:00
imagine,
35:00
we don't know,
35:01
I mean,
35:02
please hear me
35:02
say,
35:03
I do not
35:03
know that
35:03
this is the
35:04
case,
35:04
but I
35:04
imagine that
35:05
this may
35:06
have been
35:06
what caused
35:07
Jesus to
35:08
pause,
35:09
to lift
35:09
his eyes
35:09
to heaven,
35:10
and to
35:11
pray.
35:13
Why?
35:14
He knew that
35:14
his blood was
35:15
about to be
35:15
spilt,
35:16
right?
35:16
He knew that
35:17
he was about
35:17
to make the
35:17
full and
35:18
final atonement.
35:20
All this
35:21
blood that was
35:22
pouring through
35:22
there,
35:23
that was
35:23
necessary for
35:24
the remission
35:24
of sins,
35:24
was just
35:25
meant to
35:25
show our
35:26
need of a
35:26
Savior.
35:27
And he
35:27
was that
35:28
Savior,
35:28
about to
35:28
make the
35:29
ultimate and
35:30
final sacrifice.
35:31
If you read
35:32
through the
35:33
high priestly
35:33
prayer,
35:33
I think also
35:34
he has in
35:35
mind the
35:35
suffering that's
35:36
going to
35:36
come to
35:37
his disciples
35:38
as a result.
35:39
The blood that
35:40
they will spill,
35:41
that they will
35:41
share in his
35:42
suffering in
35:43
that way.
35:44
And I believe
35:44
that he's moved
35:45
to pray at
35:47
that point.
35:48
So look back
35:48
at chapter 17,
35:49
just a portion.
35:51
It's really hard
35:52
for me to decide
35:53
what part of this
35:54
we would read
35:54
together.
35:54
But look at
35:55
verse 13.
35:57
Jesus here
36:00
praying to
36:01
God,
36:01
but now I
36:01
am coming to
36:02
you and
36:02
these things
36:03
I speak in
36:04
the world
36:04
that they
36:04
may have
36:05
my joy
36:06
fulfilled in
36:07
themselves.
36:07
I have
36:08
given them
36:08
your word
36:09
and the
36:10
world has
36:10
hated them
36:11
because they
36:11
are not
36:11
of the
36:12
world,
36:12
just as I
36:12
am not
36:13
of the
36:13
world.
36:13
I do
36:14
not ask
36:14
that you
36:14
take them
36:15
out of
36:15
the
36:15
world,
36:16
but that
36:17
you keep
36:17
them from
36:17
the evil
36:18
one.
36:18
They are
36:19
not of
36:19
the
36:19
world,
36:19
just as I
36:20
am not
36:20
of the
36:20
world.
36:24
Sanctify
36:24
them in
36:25
your truth.
36:25
Your word
36:26
is truth.
36:27
As you
36:27
sent me
36:28
into the
36:28
world,
36:29
so I
36:29
have sent
36:29
them into
36:30
the world,
36:30
and for
36:30
their sake
36:31
I consecrate
36:32
myself,
36:33
that they
36:33
also may
36:34
be sanctified
36:35
in truth.
36:35
He's
36:35
praying for
36:36
the apostles
36:36
here.
36:37
Then verse
36:37
30 he
36:38
says,
36:38
I do not
36:38
ask for
36:39
these only,
36:40
but also
36:41
for those
36:41
who will
36:42
believe in
36:42
me through
36:43
their word.
36:44
All of
36:45
us.
36:45
He expands
36:46
this prayer
36:47
to all of
36:47
us who
36:48
have placed
36:48
our faith
36:49
in Jesus
36:50
Christ,
36:51
the word
36:51
of God.
36:54
You see
36:54
here this
36:55
picture to
36:56
draw you
36:56
a connection.
36:57
We have
36:58
been sanctified.
36:59
We have
36:59
been set
37:00
aside from
37:01
the world
37:02
for the glory
37:03
of God.
37:04
The way the
37:04
Old Testament
37:05
Israelites
37:06
had been.
37:07
To be built
37:08
up into a
37:09
spiritual house,
37:11
not a
37:11
physical one.
37:12
We're not
37:12
set to the
37:13
task of
37:14
building
37:14
grandiose
37:14
buildings to
37:15
the glory
37:15
of God.
37:16
We're building
37:16
up a
37:17
spiritual house,
37:18
the church.
37:19
church.
37:20
This is
37:20
what has
37:20
been set
37:21
before us
37:22
and it
37:22
is an
37:23
immense
37:24
task.
37:26
It's not
37:26
something we
37:27
ought to
37:27
think we
37:27
can accomplish
37:28
on our
37:29
own.
37:30
And as
37:30
such,
37:31
we ought to
37:32
set ourselves
37:33
to prayer.
37:34
We have
37:34
Jesus as
37:35
our great
37:35
example,
37:37
teaching us
37:37
to pray in
37:38
Matthew 6.
37:39
And we'll
37:39
address that
37:40
some more
37:40
in the coming
37:42
weeks.
37:43
Let me close
37:43
with a quote
37:44
from Hudson
37:44
Taylor,
37:45
an English
37:47
Protestant
37:48
missionary to
37:49
China.
37:51
He says,
37:51
All God's
37:52
giants have
37:53
been weak
37:53
men who
37:54
did great
37:55
things for
37:55
God because
37:56
they believed
37:57
that God
37:57
would be with
37:58
them.
37:59
Let's pray
37:59
together.