From Passion to Pursuit in the face of Persecution

This week we will complete Nehemiah 2 as we see the result of Nehemiah's prayer coming to pass in his pursuit of God. 

(Nehemiah 2:9-20)

9 I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent officers of the infantry and cavalry with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.

11 After I arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days, 12 I got up at night and took a few men with me. I didn’t tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I took was the one I was riding. 13 I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Serpent’s Well and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but farther down it became too narrow for my animal to go through. 15 So I went up at night by way of the valley and inspected the wall. Then heading back, I entered through the Valley Gate and returned. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, or the rest of those who would be doing the work. 17 So I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18 I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me, and what the king had said to me.

They said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and they were encouraged to do this good work.

19 When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked and despised us, and said, “What is this you’re doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

20 I gave them this reply, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start building, but you have no share, right, or historic claim in Jerusalem.”

Nehemiah's actions were key in this... As Nehemiah prayed, he made preparations to be used by the Lord in answer to his own prayers, and because the prayers which Nehemiah were praying were based on the promised of God his requests were granted. 

Now it is important to note here that not everyone was on God's side here - we see in vs 9-10 that there was enmity between the follower of God and the follower of this world... 

However Nehemiah knew that this was a possibility and unlike Ezra who was ashamed to ask for an escort (Ezra 8:22) Nehemiah made use of one. Both men are trusting God but their trust is expressed indifferent ways. The point is whether we take Ezra's path or Nehemiah's we shouldn't condemn those who choose to take the other route - It is not our place to judge the servant of another (Romans 14:4).

Nehemiah's recognition of those who sought to oppose the work of God probably also informs his caution in (2:11-16). We see in these verses Nehemiah again preparing himself for the task at hand, going on his night ride, keeping to himself the vision that God has laid on his heart until the time was right... The end of (2:16) is a key passage as well (those who would be doing the work) because it shows Nehemiah wasn't expecting to do this job alone...

So having prayed, studied God's promises, and acting on God's direction we see in (2:17-18) as Nehemiah reveals the Lord's vision to the leaders... He pleads with them “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned down. Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 

Today, God's name is no longer at stake in a city with walls and gates. His name is now at stake in the lives and hearts of his people...

What walls and gates need work in your life? In your marriage? In your children?

Greetings from way down south...

Good morning one and all, as most of you read this post our team will be hard at work about the Lord's work in El Cotorro. We appreciate your prayers while we are here!

I am excited as to what God is doing this year both in the life of First Baptist and in the life of Las Brisas. God is moving in a great way!

As we launched our new series last week, preaching and teaching through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, I could see lights coming on around the room in the eyes of those in attendance.

This Sunday and next we will be looking at the first hurdles that Nehemiah encountered in his obedience to God.

The first hurdle which Craig will be talking about this week is Nehemiah had to get permission to return to Jerusalem from the king - now as we mentioned last week, Nehemiah had a very prominent position in the kings house as cup-bearer. This was not a job that was taken lightly nor was this a job that Nehemiah could just walk away from. As cup-bearer Nehemiah would have been privy to many state secrets, private conversations, war-time plans, etc...

Nehemiah knew this which is why we see in the very first verse a clue as to Nehemiah's approach.

Chapter one starts off saying in the month of Chislev (November-December) however at the start of chapter 2 we see it's now the month of Nisan (March-April)...

So Nehemiah has been fasting and praying for about 4 months at this point when the king questions his demeanor... He has been preparing his heart to go before the king and rightfully so, in those days the king could have just as easily killed Nehemiah as look favorably on him.

We see as the chapter unfolds that he has dutifully thought through the whole processes and even requested letters from the king as to ensure his safe passage.

What can we learn from Nehemiah?

Nehemiah didn't allow fear to stop him, he PRAYED and  PREPARED, and next week we will see how he PURSUED God's vision for his people.

Will you do the same?



Nehemiah 2:1-9

2 During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence, 2 so the king said to me, “Why are you sad, when you aren’t sick? This is nothing but depression.”

I was overwhelmed with fear 3 and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 Then the king asked me, “What is your request?”

So I prayed to the God of heaven 5 and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor with you, send me to Judah and to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

6 The king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So I gave him a definite time, and it pleased the king to send me.

7 I also said to the king: “If it pleases the king, let me have letters written to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates River, so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah. 8 And let me have a letter written to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to rebuild the gates of the temple’s fortress, the city wall, and the home where I will live.”The king granted my requests, for I was graciously strengthened by my God.

9 I went to the governors of the region west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent officers of the infantry and cavalry with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites, they were greatly displeased.

Nehemiah's Vision

Do you have a vision for what God wants you to do?

Vision is the ability to see what could be…

…To see things different and better than they currently are.

Goals and visions are similar yet different. They both look forward to the future and see things better than they currently are. The difference is that, goals you can accomplish; a vision can only be accomplished by God. In fact, He is the one who gives it to you. 

God must be actively involved in achieving the vision. You don’t have the power to accomplish it on your own...  

God is the one who gave Nehemiah the vision to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. God is the one who aided Nehemiah in accomplishing the vision He gave... 

But it still required a response from Nehemiah - 

Look at how Nehemiah responded to God as God gave this vision in chapter 1:

(Nehemiah 1:1-11)

During the month of Chislev in the twentieth year, when I was in the fortress city of Susa, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah, and I questioned them about Jerusalem and the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile. ³ They said to me, “The remnant in the province, who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned down.”

Nehemiah’s Prayer

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ⁵ I said,

Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commands, ⁶ let Your eyes be open and Your ears be attentive to hear Your servant’s prayer that I now pray to You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have acted corruptly toward You and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances You gave Your servant Moses. ⁸ Please remember what You commanded Your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. ⁹ But if you return to Me and carefully observe My commands, even though your exiles were banished to the ends of the earth, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have My name dwell.” ¹⁰ They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed them by Your great power and strong hand. ¹¹ Please, Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to that of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success today, and have compassion on him in the presence of this man.

At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.

How did Nehemiah respond? 

Nehemiah demonstrated a passion for his people... 
He prayed... He recognized God for who He is...
He repented of sins... He reminded God of His promises...
He was specific in his request... He didn't let his job or status hinder him...

How are you going to respond to God today? What is hindering your vision for God today? 

The End...

The last 3 months we have gone from the Beginning (Genesis 1) thru the fall (Genesis 3), the promise  pt 1 (Genesis 3), the promise pt 2 (Genesis 12), a foretold King (Genesis 49), the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12), and David's House (2 Samuel 7). We've seen the prophets tell of the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), Power over death (Ezekiel 37), and the New Creation Foretold (Isaiah 65)... 

Finally after 4000+ years since the fall the one who had been promised arrives (Mark 1) Jesus is declared to be the Righteous Son of God. He becomes the Servant and is hung on the cross (John 19) and thankfully for us did not stay dead (John 20/Romans 1). Christ the paid the price for our sins to make way for us to be made right with God (Romans 3).

We saw in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth His plan was to dwell within his creation but unbeknownst to us in his sovereignty it would take far longer than we could have imagined. But we see the promise in Revelation 21 reminding us that he is not done yet... 

Take a look - Revelation 21:1-8

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: 

Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them.

They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.

Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life. The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. 

But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

What do we see? Finally in the end God will be taking up his residence with his people. How is this possible? Hasn't sin contaminated this earth? What does he say in vs 5? "Look! I am making everything new." 

And guess what! This isn't something in which is still up for debate because look at the very next verse... "It is done!" 

Praise God!!! It's not resting on our shoulders anymore... God says it's over, it's finished, it's done... 

Justified Fully in Christ

Romans 3:21-26

²¹ But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been revealed—attested by the Law and the Prophets  ²² —that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. ²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.²⁴ They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. ²⁶ God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

One of the most critical questions of all time is this – How can man be right with God?

The answer to this question is one in which God spent 4000+ years preparing his eternal answer…

Rightness with God is an important subject stretching all the way back to the garden when Adam and Eve rejected God’s design for them. Each generation has wrestled with this question right and will continue until Christ returns and restores the world itself to its right state.

Mankind's sin is not right, it is unrighteous, intolerable to a righteous God. Sin thus renders us unacceptable to God. So then this sets the context behind the usage that God is “right/just” he alone sets the standards of rightness.

To be justified means to be made right, I've heard this described as “Just-as-if-I’d never sinned…”

You see when we are justified we are brought into a new status of being acceptable/right with God through our faith in Jesus.

According to Mosaic Law the only way for an individual to be declared right was for an atonement to be made... Now days the word atonement isn't something that we would use in every day conversation, but when I was younger I learned a great way to define atonement  by breaking the word out similar to the way we did justified – “At-One-Ment” – while it’s not a perfect definition it is apt we are “atoned,” “made one,” made acceptable to God through the blood of Christ.

This is key for us to remember, we are made right before God not by anything we have or are able to do.  Believers are made right with God (justified) solely by God’s grace.

Praise be to God it’s not about what we can or cannot do… rather 100% about what Christ has done for us!

Are you justified fully in Christ or are you attempting to do it yourself?