Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Preparation for a Tough Job Msg 316

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Preparation for a Tough Job Msg 316 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Let's open our Bibles today to the second chapter of
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Speaker 1: the book of Nehemiah. While Nehemiah was carrying his great
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Speaker 1: burden for the people and the conditions in Jerusalem, he
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Speaker 1: began the tough job of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem
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Speaker 1: by getting on his knees, asking God for compassion and
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Speaker 1: understanding in the heart of King Artaxerxes. Today we will
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Speaker 1: see God's gracious answer to that prayer of Nehemiah, and
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Speaker 1: how God launched an incredible reconstruction project. However, before we
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Speaker 1: read the passage, I want to comment on the obvious,
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Speaker 1: the great theological tension between God's sovereignty and our human responsibility.
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Speaker 1: Some ask, is God really sovereign? The answer, of course,
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Speaker 1: is yes. Well, the other question, are we really responsible
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Speaker 1: to act? Another, absolutely yes. But we can stretch this
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Speaker 1: tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility to its breaking
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Speaker 1: point if we try to fully comprehend the power of
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Speaker 1: prayer as it relates to God's predetermined plan. Today, from
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Speaker 1: the life of Nehemiah, we will learn what he learned,
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Speaker 1: that problem projects and problem people stand within the jurisdiction
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Speaker 1: of our sovereign God. God can soften the hardest heart
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Speaker 1: in answer to the prayers of his saints. And when
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Speaker 1: he does that, we must be ready and willing to act,
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Speaker 1: to step forward based on faith. to begin to accomplish
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Speaker 1: what the Lord sets before us, regardless of the opposition
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Speaker 1: we're facing. And now, follow along as I read for
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Speaker 1: you the first 11 verses of Nehemiah chapter 2. And
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Speaker 1: it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth
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Speaker 1: year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him. And
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Speaker 1: I took up the wine, and gave it to the king.
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Speaker 1: Now I had not been sad in his presence. So
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Speaker 1: the king said to me, Why is your face sad,
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Speaker 1: though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness
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Speaker 1: of heart. Then I was very much afraid. I said
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Speaker 1: to the king, Let the king live forever. Why should
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Speaker 1: my face not be sad when the city, the place
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Speaker 1: of my father's tombs, lies desolate? and its gates have
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Speaker 1: been consumed by fire. Then the king said to me,
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Speaker 1: What would you request? So I prayed to the God
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Speaker 1: of heaven. I said to the king, If it please
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Speaker 1: the king, and if your servant has found favor before you,
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Speaker 1: send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tombs,
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Speaker 1: that I may rebuild it. Then the king said to me,
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Speaker 1: The queen sitting beside him, How long will your journey be,
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Speaker 1: and when will you return? So it pleased the king
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Speaker 1: to send me, and I gave him a definite time.
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Speaker 1: And I said to the king, If it please the king,
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Speaker 1: let letters be given me for the governors of the
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Speaker 1: provinces beyond the river, that they may allow me to
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Speaker 1: pass through until I come to Judah. and a letter
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Speaker 1: to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he
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Speaker 1: may give me timber to make beams for the gates
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Speaker 1: of the fortress, which is by the temple, for the
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Speaker 1: wall of the city, and for the house to which
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Speaker 1: I will go. And the king granted them to me,
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Speaker 1: because the good hand of my God was on me.
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Speaker 1: Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond
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Speaker 1: the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the
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Speaker 1: king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.
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Speaker 1: When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard
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Speaker 1: about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone
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Speaker 1: had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.
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Speaker 1: So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days.
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Speaker 2: The official title of this morning's message is Preparation for
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Speaker 2: a Tough Job. The subtitle could be How to Get
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Speaker 2: Along with Your Boss or How to Live Happily with
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Speaker 2: an Unfair Superior. So I'd like to dedicate the message
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Speaker 2: to three different kinds of people here this morning, all
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Speaker 2: of whom are represented. Those of you that have had
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Speaker 2: trouble with your boss in the past, those of you
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Speaker 2: that are now having trouble, and those of you that
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Speaker 2: have plans in the immediate future to have trouble with
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Speaker 2: your boss. And some of you are not employed, and
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Speaker 2: therefore I must say this would apply to any stratum
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Speaker 2: of society. If you're a student, it could be your teacher.
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Speaker 2: If you're a teacher, it could be your principal. Your principal,
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Speaker 2: it could be the superintendent. If you're in the military,
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Speaker 2: it could be your commanding officer. If you're in some
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Speaker 2: Christian work, it could be the founder or president or
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Speaker 2: your immediate superior. Whoever it may be, it applies. If
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Speaker 2: you're not working, it could be your parent. I made
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Speaker 2: the statement in the early service that no matter what
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Speaker 2: area you may live or in which realm you may
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Speaker 2: be working, It is not always easy to work with
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Speaker 2: your superior. And Bill said, Amen. To which I replied,
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Speaker 2: as I put the book that the young lady sang
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Speaker 2: from a moment ago under this, under my breath, I thought, well,
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Speaker 2: there are other things that could be said, but I
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Speaker 2: won't say them. And at the time, I turned over
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Speaker 2: the glass of water that was sitting under this. and
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Speaker 2: the water drained on my shoes through the first service
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Speaker 2: and the water drained in the plugs underneath here and
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Speaker 2: had kind of a shocking time during the early morning service.
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Speaker 2: So I think God didn't want me to say anything
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Speaker 2: back to Bill. Now, whatever may be your realm of work,
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Speaker 2: you have come to the problem that we're going to
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Speaker 2: be talking about this morning. And that is facing a
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Speaker 2: difficulty with your superior. How do you handle it? I
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Speaker 2: want to begin by reminding you of the motto we
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Speaker 2: gave from Hudson Taylor's pen last Sunday. It goes like this.
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Speaker 2: It is possible to move men through God by prayer alone.
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Speaker 2: That appropriately fits all that I have to say today.
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Speaker 2: You will come to the place where you will face
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Speaker 2: the impossible inevitability that you cannot change your boss. The
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Speaker 2: only answer that God has for you at that point
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Speaker 2: is prayer. Let me show you why. Let's come to
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Speaker 2: Nehemiah 2 through the side door, Proverbs 21. Look at
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Speaker 2: the first verse with me from the 21st chapter of Proverbs.
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Speaker 2: This is an interesting proverb for a couple of reasons.
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Speaker 2: First of all, it is a comparative proverb That is,
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Speaker 2: in the Proverbs, something is likened to something else. And
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Speaker 2: most comparative Proverbs end with the comparison and leave it
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Speaker 2: at that. But this proverb comes to a conclusion in
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Speaker 2: what could be called the declarative part of the proverb.
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Speaker 2: The first part is comparative. The last part is declarative.
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Speaker 2: In other words, it concludes with a timeless conclusion. principle
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Speaker 2: that is appropriate for any age. Look at first the comparison.
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Speaker 2: The king's heart is like channels of water in the
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Speaker 2: hand of the Lord. The Hebrew sentence doesn't begin with
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Speaker 2: the king's heart, but begins with the word channels. But
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Speaker 2: the original term does not mean channels. Originally, the verb
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Speaker 2: means to split into several parts, to divide. And in
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Speaker 2: noun form, it has reference to small ditches that move
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Speaker 2: from a main reservoir of water out into flat lands
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Speaker 2: that need to be filled with water, they are thirsty.
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Speaker 2: We call these irrigation ditches or canals. Like irrigation canals
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Speaker 2: carrying water is the heart of the king in Jehovah's hand,
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Speaker 2: the original says. What does it mean? Well, the source
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Speaker 2: of all decisions in the heart of any superior is
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Speaker 2: his heart. And the writer says that heart that breathes
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Speaker 2: out and communicates decisions and attitudes, that heart is in
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Speaker 2: the Lord's hand. Just as if God would say the
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Speaker 2: main source of water that feeds the flatlands That main
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Speaker 2: source is in Jehovah's hand. In other words, wherever it
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Speaker 2: may go, God is involved in the direction. Now look
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Speaker 2: at the declaration. After the comparison, he declares something. He
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Speaker 2: turns it wherever he wishes. He, meaning not the king,
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Speaker 2: but Jehovah. Capital H is correct. Because the Lord has
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Speaker 2: in his hand the heart of a king, whether he
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Speaker 2: is saved or not isn't important as far as this
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Speaker 2: proverb is concerned. He, the Lord, because he has the
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Speaker 2: king's heart in his hand, bends it literally and it's
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Speaker 2: in causative stem and so it means he causes it
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Speaker 2: to be bent wherever he is pleased. So putting it
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Speaker 2: all together, it would read like this. Like irrigation canals
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Speaker 2: carrying water, so is the heart of the king in
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Speaker 2: Jehovah's hand. He causes it to bend and incline in
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Speaker 2: whatever direction he pleases. Now what is true of the
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Speaker 2: king is true of your superior. The first one we
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Speaker 2: have to become acquainted with and impressed by is Jehovah.
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Speaker 2: The Lord has the heart of your superior in his hand.
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Speaker 2: Nehemiah chapter 2 is a beautiful illustration of that truth.
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Speaker 2: Now that proverb in 21.1 is a perfect prelude for
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Speaker 2: Nehemiah 2. Because Nehemiah worked under a man who was
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Speaker 2: the king of Persia. We don't know a lot about Persia,
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Speaker 2: but we have a saying in America that goes like this.
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Speaker 2: Don't try to change it. It's like the law of
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Speaker 2: the Medes and the Persians. Meaning what? Meaning it's impossible
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Speaker 2: to change it. Now, Artaxerxes was the king of the
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Speaker 2: Medes and the Persians. In other words, he was, like
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Speaker 2: so many of them, he was impossible to change. Nehemiah
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Speaker 2: worked for him. He worked under him, as the last
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Speaker 2: verse of the previous chapter says. He was the cupbearer.
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Speaker 2: He served the king his meals. He tasted them to
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Speaker 2: be sure they were not poisoned. He was in the
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Speaker 2: intimate part of the king's life in that he was
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Speaker 2: able to frequent the private chambers of the king. As
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Speaker 2: we see him in this place in chapter 2. But
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Speaker 2: Nehemiah's heart was not in Persia, though he was there physically.
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Speaker 2: His heart was in Jerusalem. He wanted to go back
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Speaker 2: and rebuild those walls. But he couldn't just leave his job.
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Speaker 2: God had to work through the heart of the king.
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Speaker 2: Because Nehemiah knew the only way to move Artaxerxes, God's way,
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Speaker 2: is to pray for him, then most of the previous
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Speaker 2: chapter has been a prayer. Look at verse 11 of
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Speaker 2: the previous chapter. Lord, I beseech thee, may thine ear
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Speaker 2: be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and the
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Speaker 2: prayer of thy servants who delight to revere thy name.
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Speaker 2: Now look at the request. And... Make thy servant successful
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Speaker 2: today and grant him compassion before this man. I was
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Speaker 2: the cupbearer to the king. Lord, I ask you to
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Speaker 2: change the heart of the king. Move those events in
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Speaker 2: his life. Change the situation so that I might be
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Speaker 2: allowed to do your will with his pleasure. That is
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Speaker 2: the pleasure of my superior. He didn't rashly run to Jerusalem.
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Speaker 2: He laid it before God. Will you look right after
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Speaker 2: the period in verse 11? To the first word in
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Speaker 2: chapter 2 verse 1, there is a space, a blank space.
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Speaker 2: That's precisely what happened after he prayed. Nothing. In fact,
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Speaker 2: you look at verse 1 and you'll see how long
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Speaker 2: nothing happened. as far as Nehemiah was concerned. It came
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Speaker 2: about in the month Nisan in the 20th year of
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Speaker 2: King Artaxerxes. Hold your place and go back a page
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Speaker 2: to verse 1 of chapter 1. I want to show
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Speaker 2: you something. Now what happened in the month Chislev in
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Speaker 2: the 20th year while I was in Susa, the capital.
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Speaker 2: Chapter 2, verse 1. It came about in the month
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Speaker 2: Nisan in the 20th year. Chislev is December. Nisan is April.
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Speaker 2: What am I saying? Four months of waiting. That's what
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Speaker 2: we're saying. Nothing happened. Have you ever had that experience?
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Speaker 2: It's the most disillusioning thing in the world. You hear
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Speaker 2: on Sunday, the preacher says, pray to God, give him
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Speaker 2: this situation. And so you go home and you pray.
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Speaker 2: You know, the favorite American prayer. Lord, give me patience
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Speaker 2: and I want it now. And so you lay before
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Speaker 2: the Lord this situation. Lord, here's this situation. Take care
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Speaker 2: of it. Monday morning, nothing has changed. A month from then,
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Speaker 2: nothing has changed. Lord, are you awake? Do you hear me?
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Speaker 2: Another month passes and another month. That's what Nehemiah experienced.
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Speaker 2: Hand in hand with the prayer warrior is the patience
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Speaker 2: of waiting. And so he was. That kind of man,
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Speaker 2: in this diary that he has kept, nothing has been
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Speaker 2: entered in these four months because nothing has happened. He's waited.
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Speaker 2: Now let's look further. It was in the 20th year
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Speaker 2: of King Artaxerxes that wine was before him. And I
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Speaker 2: took up the wine and gave it to the king
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Speaker 2: I think the Living Bible puts it so well. One
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Speaker 2: day in April, four months later. And here he was
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Speaker 2: in this familiar situation. The king and his queen were
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Speaker 2: lying together and reclining together and finishing their meal. And
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Speaker 2: the sumptuous delight and the smell of this delicious meal
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Speaker 2: was all over. And he poured them some of their
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Speaker 2: favorite food. a vintage from the vine, and he brought
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Speaker 2: it to them. And it says, I took up the
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Speaker 2: wine and gave it to the king. I had not
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Speaker 2: been sad in his presence. Now that is remarkable. You
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Speaker 2: know how you can tell people that want you to
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Speaker 2: know they've been praying a long time? Look at them.
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Speaker 2: They want to show you how very spiritual they are,
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Speaker 2: and they show it in their face, usually a long face.
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Speaker 2: whatever may be called it, a spiritual look. They usually
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Speaker 2: wear that face. Now, Nehemiah didn't have that face. For
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Speaker 2: four months he didn't have that face. That's incredible, isn't it?
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Speaker 2: I mean, we wait three or four hours and we've
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Speaker 2: got the face worked out to a special kind of
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Speaker 2: look so that nobody can doubt that we are really
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Speaker 2: in prayer about something. Nehemiah left it with the Lord, said, Lord,
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Speaker 2: take over. At your timing. I'm going to rest it
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Speaker 2: with you. And he says, I had not been sad
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Speaker 2: in the presence of the king. Now, maybe this was
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Speaker 2: Blue Monday. And everybody, nobody's perfect. Everybody has a breaking point.
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Speaker 2: And Nehemiah had come to the place where he had
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Speaker 2: just begun to wonder, is it going to happen? So
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Speaker 2: he was sort of sad when he served him the wine.
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Speaker 2: And the king said to him, why is your face sad?
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Speaker 2: Though you're not sick, this is nothing but sadness of heart.
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Speaker 2: Then I was very much afraid. I appreciate the honesty
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Speaker 2: of Nehemiah. Most people, when they become leaders, will no
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Speaker 2: longer admit their human weaknesses. Not Nehemiah. He says, when
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Speaker 2: the king said that to me, I was scared. Why
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Speaker 2: was he afraid? Well, for one thing, when you're sad
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Speaker 2: in the presence of the king of Persia, you usually
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Speaker 2: are killed for it. So that was one thing that
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Speaker 2: would probably lead him to be a little bit afraid.
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Speaker 2: And then there were other things that were heavy on
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Speaker 2: his heart. He was sad. Benjamin Disraeli has said this,
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Speaker 2: everything comes if one will only wait for it. And
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Speaker 2: Nehemiah perhaps had begun to question Disraeli's words as he
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Speaker 2: began to work again, the beginning of the fifth month.
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Speaker 2: And the king says, why are you sad? Now, will
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Speaker 2: you notice the interchange in these verses? Look at verse two.
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Speaker 2: The king said, verse three, I said. Verse 4, the
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Speaker 2: king said. Verse 5, I said. Verse 6, the king said.
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Speaker 2: Verse 7, I said. Interesting message, isn't it? Back and forth,
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Speaker 2: back and forth. It's like reading a play where the
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Speaker 2: one who is speaking has his name underlined and then
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Speaker 2: he has his line. And then the next one has
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Speaker 2: his line. It's a diary. Nehemiah's recording for us in
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Speaker 2: his journal that has now been preserved through time Exactly
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Speaker 2: what took place back and forth. But what is interesting
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Speaker 2: is that before his lines are given, he tells us
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Speaker 2: the feelings. But he didn't know the feeling of the king.
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Speaker 2: All he could give us were the king's words. So
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Speaker 2: you have the king's words and then his feelings and
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Speaker 2: then his words. Then the king's response, his feelings and
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Speaker 2: then his line. Look at it again. The king said
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Speaker 2: to me, verse 2, Why is your face sad though
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Speaker 2: you're not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.
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Speaker 2: I was very much afraid. There are his feelings. Read
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Speaker 2: those feelings into that next verse. That's why he puts
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Speaker 2: them there. I said to the king, let the king
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Speaker 2: live forever. Why should my face not be sad when
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Speaker 2: the city, the place of my father's tombs, lies desolate
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Speaker 2: and its gates have been consumed by fire? Why shouldn't
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Speaker 2: I be afraid? Why shouldn't I be sad? Verse 4,
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Speaker 2: then the king said to me, what would you request?
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Speaker 2: That's the greatest moment in Nehemiah's life for the last
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Speaker 2: four months. That's what you call an open door, that
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Speaker 2: God is open. And Nehemiah instantly prayed. He asked, I'm sure,
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Speaker 2: for wisdom in knowing what words to use, how to
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Speaker 2: express his desire to the king. By the way, have
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Speaker 2: you ever been in the midst of answered prayer? You know,
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Speaker 2: you prayed and waited and prayed and waited and waited
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Speaker 2: and then finally the door is flung open. And there's
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Speaker 2: a moment that you stand there and you just can't
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Speaker 2: believe it. And so at that moment you say, oh God,
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Speaker 2: this is such a critical point. Help me to take
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Speaker 2: these steps very, very carefully. That's precisely where Nehemiah was.
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Speaker 2: God had thrown the door open. What is it that
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Speaker 2: you'd request? You see, the king's heart is in the
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Speaker 2: hands of Jehovah. And God had adjusted the thinking of
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Speaker 2: the king so that he was wide open. What do
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Speaker 2: you want, Nehemiah? What's worth getting sad over? And so
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Speaker 2: I prayed. And with a prayerful tone, he responds, verse 5,
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Speaker 2: If it please the king, and if your servant has
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Speaker 2: found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the
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Speaker 2: city of my father's tombs that I may rebuild it.
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Speaker 2: That's the statement. That's the answer. That's the request. He
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Speaker 2: had asked it of the Lord. And then he said,
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Speaker 2: change the heart of the king. Four months later, the
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Speaker 2: king says, what do you want? He names it before
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Speaker 2: the king. Now look at the response. Beautiful. The king
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Speaker 2: said to me, the queen sitting beside him. Why in
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Speaker 2: the world did he add that? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
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Speaker 2: It's not really the Hebrew word for queen. It's a
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Speaker 2: word that means a close, intimate friend, contact or consort.
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Speaker 2: One of those words. And maybe she leaned over and
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Speaker 2: said something. Maybe he talked with her. But anyway, the
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Speaker 2: response is, how long will your journey be? And when
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Speaker 2: will you return?
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Speaker 3: When?
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Speaker 2: The last part of verse 6 says, I gave him
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Speaker 2: a definite time. This tells me, first of all, that
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Speaker 2: they didn't want him to go. He was doing a
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Speaker 2: good job. His attitude was still positive toward being a cupbearer.
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Speaker 2: And that's a rare, rare person. When your heart is
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Speaker 2: somewhere else, it is really hard to do a job
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Speaker 2: where you are. And some of you are already nodding
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Speaker 2: in agreement. That's where you are perhaps right now. Your
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Speaker 2: heart isn't where you're working. It's somewhere else. But for
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Speaker 2: four months, he had faithfully done his job. So the
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Speaker 2: king didn't say, man, I've been looking for a way
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Speaker 2: to get rid of you. Thank God. Go on to Jerusalem.
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Speaker 2: He said, when will you come back? Look at this
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Speaker 2: marvelous response. I gave him a definite time. Oh, that's great.
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Speaker 2: I weary of people that call it faith when they
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Speaker 2: can't tell you their plan. Have you seen an individual
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Speaker 2: who said, no, we're not going to think through this.
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Speaker 2: Let's just go by faith. Let's just go on our own.
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Speaker 2: You know, God will lead us. And the calculating businessman says, mm-hmm, yeah,
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Speaker 2: you'll be back needing more before you're halfway there. What
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Speaker 2: is your plan? Oh, I don't have a plan. I
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Speaker 2: haven't thought it through. You know, God's led me. I
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Speaker 2: gave him a definite time. You know that God loves
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Speaker 2: and honors order and organization. Can you imagine what he
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Speaker 2: had thought through on the spot to say, you want
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Speaker 2: to know how long it'll take me? It'll take me
26:14
Speaker 2: this long. One, two, three, four, five. Because you see,
26:20
Speaker 2: Nehemiah had a plan. He had been doing more than
26:23
Speaker 2: praying for four months. He had been planning. There's a
26:28
Speaker 2: proverb that says, a man's heart devises his way, plans
26:33
Speaker 2: his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Going out
26:37
Speaker 2: by faith doesn't mean you go out in a disordered
26:40
Speaker 2: or haphazard fashion. You think through it. Listen to Jesus' words.
26:47
Speaker 2: Don't begin to build until you count the cost. For
26:51
Speaker 2: who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates?
26:56
Speaker 2: And then, checking to see if he has enough money
26:59
Speaker 2: to pay the bills. Jesus said this. Christ said this.
27:07
Speaker 2: Before you build, check. Check out your plan. Otherwise, he
27:14
Speaker 2: might complete only the foundation before he runs out of funds.
27:17
Speaker 2: And then everyone would laugh. See that fellow there? They
27:21
Speaker 2: would mock. He started that building. and ran out of
27:26
Speaker 2: money before it was finished. That's Luke 14, 28 to
27:34
Speaker 2: 30 in the Living Bible. What a beautiful expression of
27:38
Speaker 2: exactly what Nehemiah had done. When will you come back?
27:42
Speaker 2: He gave him a definite time. I want to pause
27:46
Speaker 2: and say something else. It is a great concern to
27:50
Speaker 2: me that so many people who enter the Lord's work
27:53
Speaker 2: enter without careful planning. Or enter a project without thinking
27:59
Speaker 2: through where will this lead us? For what must we
28:03
Speaker 2: trust God? How can I express this in clear, unmistakable,
28:09
Speaker 2: concrete terms? I could name on both hands the number
28:14
Speaker 2: of individuals and or families I know that entered the
28:18
Speaker 2: ministry in some work of God. But today they've left
28:21
Speaker 2: it because they didn't plan on what it would cost.
28:27
Speaker 2: The most disillusioned and discouraged people I know today are
28:31
Speaker 2: those in the Lord's work who pay the price for
28:35
Speaker 2: not thinking through the plan. You know, William Carey, the
28:42
Speaker 2: great missionary to India in various parts, practical-minded man, said this,
28:48
Speaker 2: I will go down if you will hold the ropes.
28:53
Speaker 2: And then he spelled out the ropes. One, two, three, four.
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Speaker 2: Nehemiah says that, and I think people could read this
29:03
Speaker 2: thinking that he's presumptuous. He's not presumptuous. He's practical. King
29:08
Speaker 2: Artaxerxes says, fine, you may go. Now, wait a minute, king,
29:12
Speaker 2: before I leave, a couple of other things I want
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Speaker 2: to talk about. Verse 7. If it please the king,
29:17
Speaker 2: I like the way he starts, always very gracious. If
29:20
Speaker 2: it please the king, let letters be given me for
29:23
Speaker 2: the governors of the provinces beyond the river. Who were they? Well,
29:28
Speaker 2: they were people that were going to stop him in
29:31
Speaker 2: his plan. So he says, now, King, I'll tell you.
29:35
Speaker 2: I've got the okay, but I need a little more
29:37
Speaker 2: than that. When I get a little further outside. this area,
29:40
Speaker 2: I'm going to run into some people that don't want
29:42
Speaker 2: me to travel across their land. It'll be great to
29:45
Speaker 2: have a letter from King Artaxerxes that says I can go.
29:49
Speaker 2: Would you send those? Yes. He says a little later,
29:51
Speaker 2: I'll send them. Well, now there's something else. He says,
29:55
Speaker 2: look at verse eight and the letter to Asaph. The
29:59
Speaker 2: keeper of the king's forest. You know how tired Asaph is?
30:03
Speaker 2: When I get over there and I need timber to
30:05
Speaker 2: build what needs to be built in Jerusalem, he won't
30:07
Speaker 2: let it go. Would you send a letter that says
30:10
Speaker 2: to Asaph, you can take the timber from the king's forest?
30:16
Speaker 2: Verse 8 says that. And a letter to Asaph, the
30:18
Speaker 2: keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber.
30:22
Speaker 2: What do you need timber for? I've got it thought through. First,
30:25
Speaker 2: I need to make beams for the gates. of the
30:28
Speaker 2: fortress which is by the temple, and for the wall
30:31
Speaker 2: of the city, and for the house to which I
30:35
Speaker 2: will go. What's he asking? He's asking for timber to
30:39
Speaker 2: build himself a house. I think that's fantastic. That is
30:45
Speaker 2: a practical mind. You see, during these four months of waiting,
30:50
Speaker 2: he was doing more than praying. He was planning. The
30:55
Speaker 2: old Revolutionary War veterans used to say, Trust in God,
30:59
Speaker 2: but keep your powder dry. Pray to God, but make
31:05
Speaker 2: your plans. Set your sights. Think through the hurdles. So
31:12
Speaker 2: many of God's people in God's work are short-sighted. And
31:17
Speaker 2: then when they come to the first fellow outside the
31:20
Speaker 2: province of Susa, and the guy says, where are you going? Well,
31:25
Speaker 2: I was hoping by faith to go over here. Well,
31:28
Speaker 2: where's your letters? I ain't got any letters. Well, go
31:31
Speaker 2: back and get them. So he goes back and he
31:33
Speaker 2: starts all over. But can't you picture Nehemiah riding out
31:36
Speaker 2: of the city of Susa? He gets to the first guy.
31:38
Speaker 2: Where are you going? The letter from the king. Who wrote? Artaxerxes,
31:44
Speaker 2: right there. See it? Signed right there, Artaxerxes. Oh, man,
31:48
Speaker 2: go on through. And he gets down to Asaph. Asaph,
31:52
Speaker 2: probably negative thinker. What do you want? I want some timber. Uh-uh.
31:58
Speaker 2: Only by requisition. Artaxerxes requisitioned me to have all the
32:01
Speaker 2: timber I want. What? And he checks it out. Perfect planning.
32:08
Speaker 2: And God honors that kind of thinking. This is a
32:13
Speaker 2: great place to stop and say something else. At times
32:20
Speaker 2: my heart goes out to the layman. Who is in
32:24
Speaker 2: my opinion the silent hero of the ministry. Some dear
32:30
Speaker 2: godly family or person says, you know, the Lord's calling
32:33
Speaker 2: me to the work. And who does the Lord lead
32:37
Speaker 2: that godly Christian to? Some fellow in business, some layman.
32:44
Speaker 2: And he taps him for some help and he goes
32:47
Speaker 2: to another and another. And you've got to. I mean,
32:49
Speaker 2: if it weren't for the layman, the ministry would fold
32:52
Speaker 2: from a material point of view. But the remarkable thing
32:56
Speaker 2: is when he gets on the field and fantastic things happen,
32:59
Speaker 2: he never mentions the layman. Always back behind the scenes,
33:04
Speaker 2: there's this layman shelling out, providing what he needs. I'm
33:10
Speaker 2: reminded of Richard Halverson's words in his preface to his
33:13
Speaker 2: book Perspective. He says this, I dedicate my book to
33:18
Speaker 2: faithful Christian laymen who with silent heroism have under relentless
33:25
Speaker 2: secular pressure, fight the economic battle as stewards of the
33:30
Speaker 2: living God. Thank God upon every remembrance of these faithful
33:36
Speaker 2: men and women. The silent heroes of this pulpit are
33:42
Speaker 2: not those that stand behind it. They are those that
33:46
Speaker 2: support it and of this church. And of every mission endeavor,
33:51
Speaker 2: the silent hero is the fellow that never gets to
33:54
Speaker 2: the field, but says to the fellow that's gifted, I'll
33:57
Speaker 2: stand behind you. Campuses are blitzed across America and across
34:01
Speaker 2: the world. Behind the scenes, there are laymen that say,
34:04
Speaker 2: I'll stand behind you. No mention, you know, no attention
34:08
Speaker 2: drawn on me, but I'll stand behind you. Christian workers
34:12
Speaker 2: are spread like tentacles, like irrigation canals. That God directs
34:19
Speaker 2: and moves because there are the artaxerxes that faithfully stand
34:25
Speaker 2: behind him. I need letters. I need your good graces.
34:31
Speaker 2: I will go down if you will hold the ropes.
34:33
Speaker 2: And he held the ropes. Look at their response. Love this.
34:39
Speaker 2: Response is given to us in verse 6 and verse 8.
34:43
Speaker 2: The last part of verse 6 says, So it pleased
34:46
Speaker 2: the king... to send me. Artaxerxes had to send him.
34:55
Speaker 2: God was on Nehemiah's side. It was just a matter
34:59
Speaker 2: of time. And so Artaxerxes says, fine, you may go.
35:04
Speaker 2: But does he stop there? Verse 8 concludes with the sentence,
35:08
Speaker 2: and the king granted them to him. Granted what? The letters. Sure, Nehemiah,
35:14
Speaker 2: wait a minute. I'll write those out right now. He
35:16
Speaker 2: wrote out the letters. He signed it. But will you
35:20
Speaker 2: notice Nehemiah's insight? Notice the reason behind the response? The
35:25
Speaker 2: good hand of my God was on me. Four months
35:33
Speaker 2: of silence. Nobody applauding Nehemiah. But in the solitude of
35:39
Speaker 2: that secret place, he faithfully bombarded the throne. Lord, send
35:44
Speaker 2: me to Jerusalem. Change the heart of the king that
35:47
Speaker 2: I can go. And it says in the last part
35:49
Speaker 2: of verse 8, yeah, I got to go because the
35:51
Speaker 2: good hand of my God was on me. I'll tell you,
35:55
Speaker 2: when the Lord has his hand on certain individuals, it's
35:57
Speaker 2: like a sweeping wind as people are moved to respond.
36:04
Speaker 2: The Lord's hand was on Nehemiah and off he went,
36:07
Speaker 2: excited as he could be. Look at him en route,
36:10
Speaker 2: verse 9. I came to the governors of the provinces
36:15
Speaker 2: beyond the river. There they are, see. He knew he'd
36:20
Speaker 2: come to them. And what did he do? He gave
36:22
Speaker 2: them the letters. What a joy. Gave them the king's letters.
36:27
Speaker 2: Now the king had sent with me officers of the
36:30
Speaker 2: army and horsemen. Look at that, over and above. I'll
36:33
Speaker 2: not only send letters, I'll not only send you the
36:36
Speaker 2: okay to use my timber, I'll dispatch a few horsemen
36:39
Speaker 2: and a few soldiers and they can go right along
36:42
Speaker 2: with you to protect you on your way. gracious response
36:46
Speaker 2: of the king because his heart is in the hand
36:49
Speaker 2: of Jehovah. He bent it wherever he pleased. Will you notice?
36:55
Speaker 2: Not only was Nehemiah in the crest of ecstasy, delight,
37:00
Speaker 2: but he came across a couple of fellas in verse
37:04
Speaker 2: 10 that we will run across again and again and
37:07
Speaker 2: again throughout the book. Look at them. When Sanballat the
37:12
Speaker 2: Horonite And Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it. It
37:17
Speaker 2: was very displeasing to them that someone had come to
37:22
Speaker 2: seek the welfare of the sons of Israel. Opposition. When
37:29
Speaker 2: you walk by faith, you will invariably encounter the Sanballats
37:35
Speaker 2: and the Tobiahs, people who live by Murphy's Law. If
37:40
Speaker 2: you've read the Peter prescription, you have come across Murphy's
37:43
Speaker 2: Law which says it won't work, quote unquote. There are
37:49
Speaker 2: people who live by that principle. Their whole life is
37:53
Speaker 2: one big negative. There's a critical spirit that just surveys
37:59
Speaker 2: and covers them and whatever may come to their attention,
38:03
Speaker 2: it won't work. Sanballat and Tobiah heard about his coming
38:09
Speaker 2: and said, oh, no. You see, they were into those
38:13
Speaker 2: people for, I'm sure, a lot of cash. And what's
38:15
Speaker 2: he going to do? He's going to build a wall
38:17
Speaker 2: around the city. Oh, no! That's not good. And as
38:21
Speaker 2: we will see next Sunday, they made plans to oppose
38:28
Speaker 2: God's arrangement. When you walk by faith, you will encounter
38:34
Speaker 2: the hostility of people who walk by sight. They are
38:39
Speaker 2: rebuked by the life of faith. They are especially rebuked
38:45
Speaker 2: because they don't have it. And Sanballat and Tobiah heard
38:51
Speaker 2: of this and they were disturbed. You see, criticism and
38:56
Speaker 2: opposition doesn't mean you're out of the will of God.
38:58
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, it may reinforce the fact
39:00
Speaker 2: that you're in the will of God. Finally, it says
39:04
Speaker 2: in verse 11 that he changes hats. No longer the cupbearer,
39:09
Speaker 2: he now begins to be the construction engineer. the builder.
39:13
Speaker 2: I came to Jerusalem and I was there three days.
39:17
Speaker 2: What were you doing? We don't know. But knowing Nehemiah,
39:24
Speaker 2: he was probably back before God seeking further direction. Let
39:29
Speaker 2: me leave with you four timeless principles that I think
39:34
Speaker 2: are so appropriate with what we have learned this morning.
39:40
Speaker 2: Changing a heart is God's specialty, no matter how important
39:46
Speaker 2: the person may be. It seems as though God specializes
39:52
Speaker 2: in people that are the most stubborn. Changing the heart
39:56
Speaker 2: of stubborn people, no matter how important they may be,
40:00
Speaker 2: is God's specialty. Let me add at this point, don't
40:04
Speaker 2: try to do it yourself. Don't try to manipulate them.
40:08
Speaker 2: Don't try to play games or work out schemes or
40:10
Speaker 2: trick them or deceive them. We've got individuals here today
40:18
Speaker 2: living with Stubborn mates. Tell God on them. Some of
40:28
Speaker 2: you wives have husbands that are just ornery. They're just
40:33
Speaker 2: not going to change. And they've told you that. Maybe
40:36
Speaker 2: they told you this morning. I'm only going to church
40:39
Speaker 2: one time a Sunday. I want to go back tonight.
40:45
Speaker 2: One time.
40:47
Speaker 3: Okay.
40:47
Speaker 2: Okay. And tell God on them. He takes care of that.
40:52
Speaker 2: He's a specialist at situations like that. So you come
40:59
Speaker 2: one time on Sunday. Oh, didn't hear any amens on
41:05
Speaker 2: that one. That's not too popular. Let God deal with
41:10
Speaker 2: the stubbornness of your mate. Some of you live with individuals.
41:14
Speaker 2: You're single, you live with someone else, and that individual
41:16
Speaker 2: is just really... Unreal. And how are you going to
41:21
Speaker 2: work with that? You've tried every way in the world.
41:23
Speaker 2: Every manipulative move, it hasn't worked. Tell God on them.
41:30
Speaker 2: Some of you have people in your business, in your school.
41:33
Speaker 2: Impossible creatures. God says, let me at him. I can
41:41
Speaker 2: change that person like you can't believe. Now, I'm not
41:45
Speaker 2: going to do it in your time. I'm going to
41:47
Speaker 2: do it in my time. So between now and then,
41:50
Speaker 2: just relax. Don't look spiritual, you know. Like, what are
41:57
Speaker 2: you doing? I'm praying for you, honey, that God will
41:59
Speaker 2: change your life. That's terrible stuff. Just relax. Let God
42:06
Speaker 2: take care of you. That brings us to the second
42:10
Speaker 2: truth we picked up from this, and that's praying and
42:12
Speaker 2: waiting go hand in hand. You haven't really prayed until
42:17
Speaker 2: you've learned to wait. and waiting with release. Abandoning yourself
42:25
Speaker 2: to God's changing the heart of the king. Praying and
42:30
Speaker 2: waiting go hand in hand. The third is faith is
42:33
Speaker 2: not a synonym for disorder or a substitute for careful planning.
42:40
Speaker 2: People of faith have ordered minds, orderly minds. Leaders like
42:46
Speaker 2: Nehemiah think through the situation. though their circumstance may allow
42:51
Speaker 2: them to go only half a step, they've thought through
42:54
Speaker 2: the next 12. Because faith breeds organization. They go together.
43:05
Speaker 2: One of the best things that ever happened to me
43:07
Speaker 2: in a former pastorate was the joy of working with businessmen.
43:11
Speaker 2: So for over three years, I added to the responsibilities
43:15
Speaker 2: of my pastorate working with a group of salesmen. who
43:19
Speaker 2: worked for a large corporation in another city. And during
43:22
Speaker 2: these constant encounters, I learned to think a lot more
43:26
Speaker 2: like a businessman thinks, and I learned to appreciate it.
43:31
Speaker 2: Most everything that was brought to a businessman was brought
43:34
Speaker 2: in terms of practical facts, and then we will work
43:38
Speaker 2: in light of that. It was the best thing in
43:40
Speaker 2: the world for this individual. And I learned that God
43:46
Speaker 2: does honor that kind of orderly thinking. That he isn't
43:51
Speaker 2: pleased when we jump off. And on the way down,
43:55
Speaker 2: somehow God's going to have a net along the way.
43:59
Speaker 2: Plan the net. And if God's pleased to jerk it out,
44:04
Speaker 2: that's his planning. Now, there's another, and that is opposition
44:09
Speaker 2: often reinforces the will of God rather than hindering it.
44:16
Speaker 2: It's doubtful that you can really be assured of being
44:22
Speaker 2: in the will of God unless someone vehemently opposes it.
44:28
Speaker 2: I've never seen it fail. Especially people who live by
44:32
Speaker 2: Murphy's Law. Don't you love that guy, Nehemiah? He lives
44:39
Speaker 2: right where we live, doesn't he? Faces financial needs, so
44:44
Speaker 2: he asks the The king for letters. He's afraid. So
44:50
Speaker 2: he says, Lord, give me the words to say. He's
44:53
Speaker 2: a man of faith, and yet it's a careful faith.
44:57
Speaker 2: Doesn't have to have it all in his hands, but
44:58
Speaker 2: he's thinking it through. And he's a man of indomitable courage.
45:04
Speaker 2: Think of it. He left all that he knew in Susa.
45:08
Speaker 2: Got on his mount and took off. 800 miles he left.
45:16
Speaker 2: What a great experience. Let's bow together, shall we? Now
45:26
Speaker 2: the next few moments could be, for some of you,
45:29
Speaker 2: the most important moments of this entire day. Some of
45:37
Speaker 2: you have trouble with your superiors. You have trouble in
45:41
Speaker 2: relational areas. I would venture to say far, far more
45:46
Speaker 2: than have trouble doctrinally. You have trouble submitting. Some of
45:52
Speaker 2: you husbands have trouble submitting to your superiors. You've got pride.
45:59
Speaker 2: And you just won't give up. Not even to God.
46:09
Speaker 2: Some of you are involved in a new work and
46:12
Speaker 2: you've just come across encounters that or discouraging. You're beginning
46:19
Speaker 2: to say, is this really the will of God? Before
46:25
Speaker 2: Nehemiah got off his horse, he was opposed by one
46:30
Speaker 2: person after another. Some of you really do not take
46:38
Speaker 2: the comments concerning a home as a laughing matter because
46:41
Speaker 2: your home situation is desperate today. You live with a
46:47
Speaker 2: tyrant perhaps, a despot. And God is saying to you,
46:56
Speaker 2: give me the burden. I'm a master at working it out.
47:01
Speaker 2: Now you have the choice this morning in the closing
47:09
Speaker 2: couple of minutes here of giving him the burden. If
47:15
Speaker 2: you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, He paid
47:21
Speaker 2: the complete penalty for your sin at the cross. He
47:26
Speaker 2: submitted to the Father's will and He proved His love
47:34
Speaker 2: when He died for you. He waits for you to
47:37
Speaker 2: receive Him as your personal Savior. We dedicate just these
47:49
Speaker 2: closing moments of silence to some decisions that ought to
47:54
Speaker 2: be made. Let's don't put it off any longer. Let's
48:01
Speaker 2: make the decision right now. Leave the burden here with
48:07
Speaker 2: the Lord. Father, this morning we have sung that we
48:20
Speaker 2: adore you and that we lay our lives before you
48:28
Speaker 2: and we've expressed how we love you. That's one thing
48:34
Speaker 2: to sing and it's another thing entirely to live. Some
48:41
Speaker 2: admittedly live today in intolerable situations. Some of our single
48:47
Speaker 2: friends here engaged in career work, various kinds, face insurmountable
48:54
Speaker 2: obstacles and pressures. Lord, forever remove from their mind the
49:00
Speaker 2: idea that only those that are engaged in a home
49:07
Speaker 2: with children and wives and husbands are really important to you.
49:15
Speaker 2: Every one of us Is important. To you. In fact,
49:21
Speaker 2: we never even read of Nehemiah's wife. Perhaps he was alone.
49:29
Speaker 2: But whoever may be here today, Lord, that needs that
49:31
Speaker 2: encouraging word that you have brought, that you change the
49:36
Speaker 2: heart of the king, You cause it to bend wherever
49:41
Speaker 2: you please. Lord, may that message not be forgotten that
49:49
Speaker 2: you have shared. In Jesus' name, amen.
49:56
Speaker 3: The preceding message, Preparation for a Tough Job, was copyrighted
50:01
Speaker 3: in 1974, 1983, 1990, 2006, and 2015. and the sound
50:09
Speaker 3: recording was copyrighted in 2016 by Charles R.
50:13
Speaker 2: Swindoll, Inc.
50:14
Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
50:19
Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.