This morning we are going to take a departure from our study in the book of Revelation. So if you would, please turn in your Bibles this morning to the book of Nehemiah as we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July in this great country of ours. Yes, this a day of our independence, no longer would we be under the authority of England. But, in saying that don’t come to the conclusion that this independence touched every part of their lives, that they were subject to no one. You see, they came to America to worship freely the true and living God, not to have the government tell them how to worship God. That is the One that they were dependent upon and they wanted others to know of His love and grace towards them that they too would be dependant upon Him!
Some of you may remember the song: America The Beautiful. The first stanza of this song goes like this:
The words are powerful and they relate to our study this morning. I have called this study, God Shed His Grace On Thee because I see a nation whose love was for the Lord and now is far away from a relationship with Him. I am not saying that we are not a religious nation, because we are, but we are living in a post Christian era. People may have a form of godliness but they deny its power, which is found in Jesus. And if you don’t believe that America is living in a post Christian era, listen carefully to just a few of these court precedents and I believe you will see what I mean.
- Source Unknown
Yes, times are a changing my friends. Now, according to some, those of us who believe the Bible is the Word of God, we believe that Jesus is coming back, are just like the terrorists that blew up the Twin Towers with those planes! They see us as trouble, which I guess we are. We are fighting against their unholy lifestyles as they are trying to make it part of our society. Yes, this nation will tolerate liberal Christians, they will tolerate Christians who do good deeds but they must not say that Jesus is the only way to heaven. In other words, America will tolerate the apostate church that we see growing today.
Now some like to argue that God is a crutch for weak people and we don’t need God in America! How foolish that is for the fool has said in his heart there is no God. And look at America; don’t you think we need God back into the heart of this nation? Of course we do. And yes, America is number one in the world for all kinds of different things, but it is not something to brag about. The U.S. is number one in:
As those famous Theologians, the Beatles, once sang, we need to “Get back to where we once belonged!” We need to come back to the arms of God and allow His grace to shine upon this nation once again. If we don’t, this nation will fall, it will come crumbling to the ground. And folks, we are seeing signs of that right now! How can I say that? Because I see America moving in the same direction that Rome did before she fell, before the Roman Empire, who was not defeated by the enemy from without, but the enemy from within. In his book, The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon attributes the fall of the Roman Empire to the following 5 points and you will see clearly where America is.
1.
The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of the dignity
and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.
We have reached the 50% mark for divorce in this nation. Half of all marriages won’t make it! We see the family unit so messed up people don’t know what a family is anymore! If you are unsure, I will give you a hint. God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve; and He joined Adam and Eve together in marriage. Adam was the spiritual leader of the family, the wife or the children did not run the family, but there was harmony. Today things are a mess, so much that we have television shows like Nanny 911 because kids are out of control, the family is out of control. Folks, as the family goes, so goes a society, so goes a nation!
2.
Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies
for free bread and circuses for the populace.
I don’t even have to tell you how bad this is. When we were moving from Schaumburg, Illinois to Manitowoc, Wisconsin the city of Schaumburg taxed us because we moved out of their city. We were taxed because we did not buy another house in Schaumburg! It is crazy what our tax dollars support. I remember on our cruise there was this magician/comedian who was British and he made this comment, and I am paraphrasing, “Aren’t you glad that you broke away from England so you can get away from all that taxation?” Yes, we laughed but we also groaned because it was true, we are taxed heavily in this country to help support people who want something for nothing. Now I am not saying we shouldn’t pay our taxes, the Bible is very clear on that, we are to be good citizens and pay our taxes no matter how that money is being spent.
3.
The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year
more exciting and more brutal.
This too is obvious, we are crazy over sports, we can’t get enough of them. I was watching the Stanley Cup this year and I guess the league is cracking down on the fights that break out during these hockey games. And two reporters were saying that is crazy, that is the reason the people come, to see fights! And it is not only that, look at sports that are played seven days a week, even on Sunday’s. My kids missed many wrestling matches and games because Sunday’s were a day to come and worship the Lord. But there is no time to worship the Lord today, it is not important and our children are taking notice! We have lost our priorities, we have gone mad over sports!
4.
The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy
was within, the decadence of the people.
That is very true. Moral decay is an enemy that you can’t fight with weapons. Well, let me rephrase that. You can’t fight moral decay with physical weapons but with the sword of the Spirit or the Word of God because it can pierce a person’s heart and cause them to repent of their sins and get right with God!
5.
The decay of religion – faith fading into mere form,
losing touch with life and becoming impotent to warn and guide
the people.
This, to me is so obvious. We have moved away from the Word of God, we are seeing another Jesus being preached. We have become impotent to warn them and guide them. Case in point. Joel Osteen, who boasts of having the largest church in North America was on the Larry King show. Larry King asked him if you needed to believe in Jesus to get to heaven and he said that he didn’t know. He was asked by Larry King if Jews and Muslims would go to heaven if they did not believe in Jesus and once again he said that he didn’t know and he would let God take care of that, let God sort that out! Some 19 times on this talk show he said that he didn’t know when asked questions regarding his faith and yet, he claims to have the largest church in North America! We are truly seeing the apostate church of the last days before our eyes, those who refuse to give the truth because it might offend someone. Folks, if you don’t tell them about Jesus, if He is not their Lord and savior, there are bigger problems for them. Yes, you may offend them by what you say, but don’t be ashamed to share the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes!
I realize that this is a long introduction but I wanted you to see that how, over time, America has moved from a faith in Jesus Christ to just a religious attitude that talks about another Jesus and whose faith is not to be seen outwardly, but it is private! Because of that we see how our society has been affected after we have moved away from the true and living God. But we as Christians can have a positive effect on our society, on our nation as you will see in our study this morning.
As we move into the book of Nehemiah you will see that it picks up where the book of Ezra ends. It's a continuation of the story of the Jews returning home from their captivity. The first return took place under the leadership of Zerubbabel, who lead just under 50,000 people back to Jerusalem with him. And Zerubbabel was a political leader whose main focus was to restore the place of worship, to re-build the temple of God, which was destroyed in 586 BC by king Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. So in 538 BC he lead the people back to Jerusalem and the foundation of the temple was laid in 536 BC. Because of opposition to the work by the enemy, the work was put on hold by order of the king of Persia for some 15 years. And then the work began again, with the temple being completed in 515 BC, some 21 years after it was first begun. That covers chapters 1 through 6 of the book of Ezra.
The second return took place under the leadership of Ezra, who was a priest and a scribe. And Ezra led under 2,000 back from Babylon with him, some 80 years after Zerubbabel lead the first return. Ezra, being a priest, was the spiritual leader whose focus was to see the people get right with God. To see them restore their lives back to God. And Ezra does this by having them put away their foreign wives and separate themselves unto God. So in 457 BC Ezra lead a second return back to Jerusalem to restore the spiritual condition of the people, which is covered in chapters 7 through 10 of the book of Ezra.
Now Nehemiah is going to lead the third and final return back to Jerusalem, this time from Persia. And Nehemiah is a layman, a common person, a cupbearer to the king, who has a burden for the city of Jerusalem. Thus, in 445 BC he leads a final group of people back home. Nehemiah's primary focus is to re-build the walls of the city, for without walls, the city was defenseless. To put this in perspective, time wise, this occurred around 90 some years after Zerubbabel lead the first return and about 12 years after Ezra lead the second return.
With that said, let’s begin reading in Nehemiah chapter 1, starting in verse 1 as we ask the Lord to once again make His grace to shine upon this great nation of ours!
What I want you to notice here is that Nehemiah didn’t just jump right in, He didn’t protest, he didn’t write letters of how unfair this was because his beloved city of Jerusalem was in shambles. And keep in mind that Nehemiah never saw Jerusalem, the land of his people. He was born in captivity in Persia.
In this portion of Scripture we see the preparation of Nehemiah, the burden that God placed upon Nehemiah and then the call of Nehemiah. So let’s look at these three areas to help us grow in the Lord and to shine for Him so that we may impact our family, our neighborhoods, our work places and yes, our nation. May the Lord shine His grace upon thee!
1. THE PREPARATION OF NEHEMIAH
Keep in mind that Nehemiah was a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, which meant that he had to test the kings food and drink to make sure it was not poisoned. Many of us miss out on what God wants to do in us and through us because we see ourselves as a cupbearer you might say, a nobody! Folks, let me let you in on a little secret – God uses nobodies to do great things because then He gets the glory, not man. All He asks of you and me is that we submit to Him, to follow after Him, to take those steps of faith as He leads. And I see here, in the preparation of Nehemiah three things that are very important for our own lives. Nehemiah was A MAN OF THE WORD, A MAN OF PRAYER, and A MAN WHO IS A SERVANT. This is the preparation that God used in his life so that He then could work through Him.
A. A MAN OF THE WORD
How do I know that Nehemiah was a man of the Word, that he knew the Scriptures? Because over and over again you see him quote from the Scriptures, He knew what God had said without having to look things up in a concordance or using his Bible software to locate a verse. It was in his mind because he read God’s Word and it was in his heart because he meditated upon God’s Word and thus, it was manifested in his life.
Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
II Timothy 3:16-17. You see, if you want to prepare for the work of God, the work that God has for you, get into the Word of God, it doesn’t matter how small you think that work is, it may be cleaning the church, it doesn’t matter, get into the Word of God. Keep in mind that the Apostles picked out men that were filled with the Holy Spirit, men that were men of the Word to wait on tables! You see, it is God’s Word that tells us what is right, it tells us what is wrong, it tells us how to get right when we have gone astray and it tells us how to stay right. And thus, we are complete; in fact Paul tells us that we are thoroughly complete, equipped for every good work!
B. A MAN OF PRAYER
What did Nehemiah do when he heard what was going on in Jerusalem, when his brother reported to him how bad things were down there? He fell to his knees and brought his requests to God. He confessed not only the sins of the nation but his own sins, his own failures because he knew the Lord and that the Lord is compassionate and full of mercy. He knew that God would forgive and heal their land.
And please understand that Nehemiah’s prayer life did not begin and end when he was going through tough times and then as God delivered he stopped. He was a man of prayer and thus, when things got tough, when things were bad, he did what came natural to him, he prayed. He knew where to go, the place he went to, the Lord, his Rock, the one who was there for him! What a great lesson for us, that we spend time with the Lord, in conversation with Him. And that means it is not just a monologue but a conversation where you wait upon the Lord to speak to your heart as you share with Him what is on your heart. That truly was Nehemiah!
This is something that is missing many times in the church today, people who truly have servant’s hearts. People who are willing to serve not because they have to, but because they want to. People who are willing to sacrifice their time, their energy, their gifts in the body of Christ for edification, and not only when it fits into their schedule.
As we look at the apostles we see them trying to jockey for position in God’s kingdom, sitting on His right hand or on His left hand. You see, they did not want the position of a servant, they wanted a position! That is in stark contrast to what Jesus teaches us. In Mark 10:45 we are told, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
We see that same attitude in the church today, people wanting positions instead of serving. David said in Psalm 84:10, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” In other words, serving the Lord is better than anything else David could imagine. I truly look for people with servant’s heats and they are easy to find, they are just serving. There is a need and they are there, no fanfare, no big deal, they are just doing it. Then there are those that have the gift of complaining, not really a gift but they think so. And instead of serving they are complaining about things. If there is a need, step forward is the idea because the reality is, you are serving the Lord!
For Nehemiah, he had a humble spirit and he served the king and the king recognized his faithfulness in his service. When we serve we need to do so with a joyful heart, not murmuring and complaining! The Lord, teaching His men on what the heart of a servant is all about, said this in Luke 17:7-10, “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” That truly was the heart of Nehemiah and it should be what flows from our hearts also – a servants heart!
2. THE BURDEN
As Nehemiah hears what was gong on in Jerusalem it weighed heavy upon his heart. Now, if I was Nehemiah I would be gone, ready to rebuild the walls of the city. But even with this burden on his heart he waited. He fasted and prayed for some 4 months and then God opened the door for him to step through.
I have seen this happen not only in my life, but also in the lives of others. I’ve have seen the burden that God has placed upon their hearts to serve in a ministry, to use the gifts that God has given to them. And yet doors did not open, in fact many times they seem to close. And they would cry out to God and many times they just could not understand why the door was not opening. They could not understand why God has placed such a heavy burden for this ministry and yet He was not using them in that capacity. And when God does open the door, and uses them in the ministry that He has prepared them for, what a joy it is to see them take that gift and use it in the body of Christ. And many times they never know why they had to wait. They never fully understand what purpose it served. But it was all in God's timing and He had a specific plan and purpose.
Don’t try to rush things because it will only lead to disaster. Moses, when he was 40 years old, had such a burden for his people, the Jews, to see them freed from slavery that he just went on ahead and tried to do the work on his own. And when you go to do something without the Lord, it will only lead to disaster and will not be fruitful, as Moses found out. Moses was driven away for 40 years, living in Midian, until Moses was prepared for the work and the timing of God was complete. It was after those 40 years that God called Moses back into service to do the work, and what a awesome work it was as he lead the children of Israel from their captivity in Egypt to the boarder of the Promise Land. Nehemiah was a man who waited upon God.
3. THE CALL
Now, after 4 months Nehemiah gets the call to go to Jerusalem by his boss. You see, as Nehemiah is serving the king, Artaxerxes sees that something is bothering him, something he never saw in Nehemiah before, he was sad, there was something going on. And the king asks Nehemiah what was wrong and Nehemiah tells him about what is going on in Jerusalem, the city of his people, how the walls are still broken down and his desire to go there and help in the rebuilding project. As the king listens he gives the command that Nehemiah can be released from his service in Persia for a time to go and do the work, to complete this task.
Folks, when God opens a door, no one can shut it. We have experienced that here in this church, how when God opens doors they stay open and all we must do is walk by faith, trusting in Him. You see, if God has called you to do something He is more than able to bring it to pass, all you must do is walk by faith! Yes, the task may seem impossible, but with God, all things are very possible!
And so, in our study this morning we have seen the PREPARATION as Nehemiah is A MAN OF THE WORD, A MAN OF PRAYER and A MAN WHO WAS A SERVANT. We saw the BURDEN of Nehemiah as God put it upon his heart that there was work to be done and he prayed to see what direction God wanted him to go. And we saw the CALLING of Nehemiah as now God calls him to do the work and Nehemiah did just that! It was not easy, there was much opposition, the work was hard, the people at times were discouraged, threatened, and yet he completed it because he took those steps of faith and as Paul tells us, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” I Thessalonians 5:24.
Now, how does that relate to seeing our nation come back to God? Simply, as Solomon said, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14. You see, it is not the unsaved that are responsible for seeing God heal this land, it is our responsibility as believers!
Is God going to bring revival to this land? I don’t know. Can God bring revival to this land? You bet He can! The problem many times today is we have chosen to complain about how bad things are instead of doing something about it. We, in fact are doing nothing, because complaining doesn’t count, it doesn’t help.
At one time during the American Civil War, General George B. McClellan, then in command of the Union Forces, was conducting a waiting campaign. He was so careful to avoid mistakes that little headway was evident. President Lincoln thereupon wrote him a letter: “My dear McClellan: If you don’t want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for awhile. Yours respectfully, A. Lincoln.”
Many times, we as Christians, do as McClellan did. He did not use the talent, the resources which he had to accomplish the work he was called to do. Instead of using what he had, he held back, not wanting to make a mistake. In doing that he was making no headway in the battle and was wasting what had been entrusted to him. Thus, President Lincoln was right when he basically said to him that if he was not going to use the resources given to him by his commander and chief, then Lincoln himself will take them back and use those resources for the work.
You see, you can pray against the bars, the strip clubs, the drug abuse, the abortions, the violence, the divorce problem, the disorder in the family and-so-on. As you seek the Lord, as He puts a burden or a passion upon your heart to do something, wait on Him to open that door and see the work that He can do through you as He works in you!
As I begin to close this morning, I do pray that we as a nation can once again not only print this on our money, but believe it in our hearts – IN GOD WE TRUST! Because if we are truly going to be a great nation again, we will have to turn back to the Lord once again. I pray that we are willing to take that stand and be like Nehemiah who rebuilt the walls of the city of Jerusalem. Those breaches in the walls would allow the enemy to walk right in, but now they were blocked, the walls of protection were up. Folks, we too need to fortify the walls of our city, spiritually speaking so that the enemy can’t get in and we do that as we surrender our lives to the Rock, Jesus Christ, our strong tower! Have a blessed Fourth of July and thank the Lord for allowing you to be part of this great nation and I truly believe it can be great again, GOD CAN SHED HIS GRACE ON THEE!