The Bible tells us, "In
the beginning was the Word,
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and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God."
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It says, "To
receive with meekness
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the implanted Word,
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which is able
to save your souls.
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And to be diligent
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to present
yourself approved to God,
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rightly dividing
the Word of truth."
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Join us now for the
3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
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Our study today
is Ezra and Nehemiah.
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Hello, and welcome
3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
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You know what an awesome
day this has been already.
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I'm sure for each
and every one of you
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we'd pray God's blessing you.
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But today we believe
that it's gonna be a lesson
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that you gonna make
sure that you're gonna
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spend this time
with us, because...
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I mean, as opening up
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these lessons on
Ezra and Nehemiah,
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really just brings a
lot of good thoughts to me
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with the leadership and
things that are going on
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and how desperately
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we need the Spirit of God
to lead, guide and direct.
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And so we're happy that
you've decided to join us.
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We're on lesson number two.
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I'm Kenny Shelton.
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And you know lesson
number two is just Nehemiah.
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Yes.
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And, of course,
our whole quarter
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is Ezra and Nehemiah.
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And so every time...
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Even when I was
young, when I heard Nehemiah,
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there was
something about Nehemiah
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that I was always interested in.
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Maybe because of the
positions that he took,
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the opposition
that maybe came his way
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and still he
remained strong to God.
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So, you know,
that's a good example.
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And those of you
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who are studying
and following along,
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we want to make sure you do.
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You know, it's
nice to sit and watch
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but I think it's much
better, in my opinion.
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We have our Bible,
we have pencil and paper
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and we have our study
guides, so we can get that.
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You say, "Well, I don't
have those study guides."
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You can get them,
you can download them
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at ABSG.Adventist.org.
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That's ABSG.Adventist.org.
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It's just there
Adult Bible Study Guides.
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You want these
because there's something that
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you'll be able to fill out
and you'll be able to pass them
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along to somebody else.
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Too often I think we take things
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and we mark it and we
leave and then we keep it.
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We need to pass the
word along where we can.
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And encourage
others to be calling into
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and to watch
this program for sure.
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More on that a
little bit later on,
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but introduction quick,
introduction of our panel.
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You know,
praise God for a panel.
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Praise God for people
who are willing to take time
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and it does take
time to do these lessons.
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People say, "Oh,
just working then
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into your schedule."
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Yeah, to me it's
above and beyond.
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I don't know about you,
but I praise God for it.
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I think it's good.
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Sister Mollie Steenson,
it's always good to have you.
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Thank you, Pastor Kenny Shelton,
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who is Danny
Shelton's older brother
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and the one that kept
Danny on the right track.
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Okay?
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That's why we're
such a good friends.
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Thank you, Sister Mollie.
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Bless your heart.
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Sister Shelley
Quinn, always a pleasure,
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always a treat to sit with you
on any kind of panel or study.
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I love to hear
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what you all bring to the table,
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it's so much fun.
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Yeah, and you have a
good friend next to you,
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Pastor John
Lomacang, always a pleasure.
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No matter what
we do, where we go,
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what we seen, it's just...
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it's always a pleasure.
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So... May God be the glory.
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Yeah. Amen. Give God the praise.
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And you have
somebody special besides you,
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Sister Jill Morikone. Yeah.
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What a pleasant surprise.
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You know,
not... It's not that...
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She's got a smile
always on her face,
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you know, and, and to get that,
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He has a joy of
the Lord in your heart.
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And so, praise God for that.
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It's a privilege
to open up God's Word
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and study with each one of you.
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Amen. All right.
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Pastor John, how about you,
quick word of prayer please,
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as we start?
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Loving Father, as
we open Your Word,
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open our hearts and our ears.
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Yes.
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May the spirit speak to
us, may we not only receive,
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but may we be empowered
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to follow the
path in which You lead.
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Amen.
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In Jesus' name I pray.
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Amen. Amen.
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Praise the Lord. Okay.
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So you know, we're
on lesson number two,
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it's gonna be about Nehemiah.
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And this is the one
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that I know that
you'll be interested in.
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In our quarterly, you have...
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You know, we always
have our passage of scripture
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that we have memory text.
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And I though this was
really a good text for us.
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And maybe we should take
time certainly to read it.
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Nehemiah 1:4-5.
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Sister Shelley,
do you have that?
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Would you read
that for us please?
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I do. Please.
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"So it was, when
I heard these words,
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that I sat down and wept,
and mourned for many days,
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I was fasting and praying
before the God of heaven.
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And I said, I
pray, Lord God of heaven,
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O great and awesome God,
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You who keep Your
covenant and mercy
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with those who love You
and observe Your commandments."
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All right.
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Such information in
that one right there,
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you take a lot of time
and do a lot of stuff on that.
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We're not going
to do that today.
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Just a quick overview
because it's a Sabbath lesson,
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we'll try to do it a
little bit on the Sunday,
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but just an overview.
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We've had so
far... We have two groups.
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Just two groups of
captives have returned to Judah.
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Now notice what?
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One more group
is being prepared.
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So it's like, it's
gonna be three, two there,
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one is in preparation.
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And notice the word preparation.
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It will probably be
coming up a lot in these studies
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that we have, the
importance of that.
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And so...
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Well, you know, why
did the other nations
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try to stop it?
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We realized that
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there were some
opposition is going on.
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And why did the
other groups want to stop?
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Why did they want to interfere
with what was taking place?
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I mean, what we've
been studying with already,
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as they were
afraid that the Israel
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would return to the
power that they once were.
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Yes.
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They were afraid of that.
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And so they said,
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we're gonna stop
this at all cost.
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I've seen that, you've probably
been involved with us, so...
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I'll let this be...
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Well, this is
something way past.
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There are people nowadays,
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even today's,
even in the ministry,
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they try to slow
down or stop someone else
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from doing what God
has asked them to do.
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And I just say that
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we should be
very cautious of that.
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How do we know?
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Because I'm not doing
it the way you're doing
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and vice versa through here.
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It could be, God is calling us,
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individual gifts to
do something different.
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We're not all
doing the same thing.
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Yeah, this is the gospel
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but we need to
be very respectful
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I think of those who are called,
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maybe do it in a
little different way
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than somebody else does it here.
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But here's what,
as we look at this,
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they were afraid that
the work would be completed,
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the city would be rebuild,
the walls would be rebuilt,
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they would become strong again.
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Ezra Chapter 4,
we went through that
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I think in our first lesson.
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And they said,
we're gonna stop this...
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this process and progress.
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We're just going
to do it at all cost.
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And I looked at that,
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and I don't know if
anybody feels challenged
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if somebody says, I'm
gonna put a stop to this.
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You probably heard that
maybe, maybe even ministry,
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we'll put a stop to this.
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And sometimes
there needs to be a stop.
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But in this case, right here,
the people of God became afraid
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because those on
the outside said,
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we're gonna put a stop to this.
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It's not going to happen.
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And they were
people in high position,
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people with authority,
maybe people with money,
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and it kind of shocked the laity
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and some of the leaders to
say, "Well, now I don't know."
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Nehemiah received,
you know, some bad news.
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And certainly we'll
just try to skip to that
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in Sunday's lesson.
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Every time I hear...
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Have you ever heard
this, there's two things happen
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or some bad news and good news.
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What do you want first?
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What do we say, panel?
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What do you say? Good news.
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Give me the good news first.
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I like to hear the bad first.
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And I like the bad
first, end with something good.
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Me too.
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I'd rather have
the bad first. Okay.
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It's is pretty much there.
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Just go ahead and get the bad,
just get it over with, right?
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And then there'll be
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something good that will help us
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and encourage us to continue on.
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Well, this one Nehemiah heard.
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Here are some bad news here.
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Many had returned
to their homeland.
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And we've been
studying, we know that.
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But things had...
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I want to say
blown up in their face.
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It was very, very bad day.
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Things weren't
going very well at all.
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We realized that
it was like Moses,
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we covered 13 years after
Ezra returned to Jerusalem,
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that all of a sudden reports
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begin to coming in
about the situation.
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And listen, this is really bad.
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They're looking for
somebody to step up.
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They're looking for somebody.
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Where's God gonna...
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Who's God gonna use
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to get this bad
situation squared away?
00:08:01.51\00:08:03.31
And so, Nehemiah
heard about this.
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I guess that's why I
always liked about Nehemiah.
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Nehemiah heard about this
and he wasn't one of those
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who's gonna back off and say,
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"Hey, this is
gonna be a tough thing."
00:08:11.35\00:08:13.25
But a lot of people is
gonna like, maybe like it.
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And there's a lot of
people's not gonna like it.
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He did...
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Something bad is going on
here with the cause of God
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and I'm gonna
step into this thing.
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And so he realized that...
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Again with the city,
the walls being destroyed.
00:08:24.87\00:08:29.37
I think it was years in between
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that he hadn't really heard
nothing about how bad it was,
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that be kind of...
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Not like us today.
00:08:35.44\00:08:36.78
Some of you can
go on a trip now,
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you fly somewhere,
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before you get back
everybody knows what you did.
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You ever had that?
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You go on a trip,
somebody kind of, oh,
00:08:43.02\00:08:44.35
we heard you
preached on so and so,
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oh, you did this
or something happened,
00:08:45.75\00:08:47.09
the communication is different
but back then it took years.
00:08:47.16\00:08:49.09
And finally when
Nehemiah heard it,
00:08:49.12\00:08:50.93
he got really, really upset.
00:08:50.96\00:08:53.90
Not being able
to build the wall,
00:08:53.93\00:08:55.50
not being able to brick...
00:08:55.53\00:08:57.43
You have protection
against the enemies here.
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Here's what he felt like.
00:09:00.60\00:09:01.94
He felt like God's
people were defenseless.
00:09:01.97\00:09:04.37
He felt like God's
people were desolate,
00:09:04.41\00:09:07.01
that God's
people would not make it
00:09:07.04\00:09:08.74
if they did not
get these walls build
00:09:08.78\00:09:10.78
and restore the house
of God because that to me,
00:09:10.81\00:09:13.38
that's what it was
all taking place here.
00:09:13.45\00:09:15.62
So God's people could get
back to worship Him the way
00:09:15.65\00:09:18.65
that God wanted them to.
00:09:18.69\00:09:20.32
And so now okay...
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Well, okay, now
you've got the authority
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to go do these things,
but then it wasn't happening.
00:09:23.12\00:09:25.56
So that would be
a little bit like,
00:09:25.59\00:09:27.30
you know, we're
trying to expand here
00:09:27.36\00:09:28.73
and we've got money to build,
but nobody wants to build,
00:09:28.76\00:09:30.10
nobody wants build nobody wants
to become involved with it.
00:09:30.17\00:09:32.80
So now King
Artaxerxes himself, he steps in,
00:09:32.83\00:09:36.57
as we've read before, he
kind of steps in and stops,
00:09:36.60\00:09:39.71
stops the building
because he had heard
00:09:39.74\00:09:41.31
a quite a
controversy that was going on
00:09:41.34\00:09:44.05
and a lot of complaints.
00:09:44.08\00:09:45.41
Ezra Chapter 4.
00:09:45.45\00:09:46.78
Again, these are things
00:09:46.82\00:09:48.15
that we went over
in our first lesson.
00:09:48.18\00:09:49.52
And this was a tough
situation we realized.
00:09:49.55\00:09:51.72
Now with the temple being built,
00:09:51.75\00:09:54.06
but it was not functioning.
00:09:54.09\00:09:56.73
Now interesting, if you
had a church or a temple,
00:09:56.76\00:09:59.03
would you wanted to function?
00:09:59.06\00:10:02.23
Absolutely you would.
00:10:02.26\00:10:03.67
But what was the problem?
00:10:03.73\00:10:05.27
The people.
00:10:05.30\00:10:06.63
They were afraid to come out,
00:10:06.70\00:10:08.04
they were
afraid to get involved,
00:10:08.07\00:10:09.40
they couldn't live
there in and among the temple.
00:10:09.44\00:10:11.17
And so they could...
00:10:11.21\00:10:12.54
You have to have people to,
00:10:12.57\00:10:13.98
you say run a
church and to run a temple,
00:10:14.04\00:10:16.48
and that people
were not showing up,
00:10:16.51\00:10:18.55
it just didn't take place.
00:10:18.58\00:10:20.12
Yes, Nehemiah received that word
00:10:20.18\00:10:22.38
and he said,
"What's going on here?
00:10:22.42\00:10:24.39
Isn't this temple?
00:10:24.42\00:10:25.75
Isn't it to glorify God?"
00:10:25.79\00:10:27.52
So why aren't we coming together
00:10:27.56\00:10:29.36
to glorify God?
00:10:29.39\00:10:30.73
This is the whole
purpose of this for our return.
00:10:30.79\00:10:33.46
And I think scripture
00:10:33.50\00:10:34.83
talks about a
couple different words.
00:10:34.83\00:10:36.16
He became sad,
then he became upset.
00:10:36.20\00:10:39.67
And I wonder how
that works together,
00:10:39.70\00:10:41.14
you know, sad and then upset.
00:10:41.17\00:10:43.84
The House of God, the
Holy City had been neglected.
00:10:43.87\00:10:46.91
They've been
abandoned because the people
00:10:46.94\00:10:49.34
were afraid of those
who were opposing them.
00:10:49.38\00:10:52.65
I wonder if that's ever happened
00:10:52.68\00:10:54.18
in ministry nowadays.
00:10:54.25\00:10:55.58
I wonder if that's ever happened
00:10:55.62\00:10:56.95
in church capacity.
00:10:56.99\00:10:58.32
Oh, yeah.
00:10:58.35\00:10:59.69
Or maybe they felt,
people felt threatened
00:10:59.72\00:11:01.12
and they were afraid
to do the right thing.
00:11:01.16\00:11:03.56
So here, here's what was going.
00:11:03.63\00:11:05.56
What did Nehemiah do?
00:11:05.59\00:11:06.93
What did he really do?
00:11:07.00\00:11:08.30
Well, there's several
things that he could have done.
00:11:08.33\00:11:11.27
First of all, he could have
just turned into people's voice
00:11:11.30\00:11:14.20
and all these things are wrong.
00:11:14.24\00:11:15.64
He could have
turned around the people
00:11:15.67\00:11:17.07
and he could...
00:11:17.11\00:11:18.44
Look, the people said,
you are a bunch of cowards.
00:11:18.47\00:11:21.18
You are yellow.
00:11:21.21\00:11:25.11
You...I'll be
careful, you are sissies.
00:11:25.15\00:11:28.55
He could have done that,
00:11:28.58\00:11:29.92
because I figured
he was a man of man.
00:11:29.95\00:11:33.15
He wasn't afraid, you see.
00:11:33.19\00:11:35.42
And so when the rest of people
would not come together to do
00:11:35.46\00:11:38.19
what this was all
about, he said, my land,
00:11:38.23\00:11:40.46
something is wrong.
00:11:40.50\00:11:41.80
But what did...
They lacked faith.
00:11:41.83\00:11:43.63
He could have done
that, he didn't do that.
00:11:43.70\00:11:46.00
He could have done it.
00:11:46.03\00:11:47.37
It will probably
only make them feel worse.
00:11:47.40\00:11:49.37
He did not know
those things at all.
00:11:49.40\00:11:52.44
He could have said,
"Well, you know, this is...
00:11:52.47\00:11:54.41
this is the way it goes.
00:11:54.44\00:11:55.78
We'll just need to back down
00:11:55.81\00:11:57.18
for a while
until the dust settles
00:11:57.21\00:11:58.55
and then we're gonna
move forward on that."
00:11:58.58\00:12:00.35
No, Nehemiah begins
to, always, most important,
00:12:00.42\00:12:03.59
brought out already,
brought out this whole quarter,
00:12:03.62\00:12:06.02
he begins to
pray, he begins to fast
00:12:06.05\00:12:08.76
and he begins to
ask God for help.
00:12:08.79\00:12:10.83
Now this is where it always go.
00:12:10.86\00:12:12.26
I don't know that there
could be another answer.
00:12:12.29\00:12:14.10
Maybe there is, in
these kinds of situation.
00:12:14.10\00:12:16.30
What else would we do
besides when it seemed
00:12:16.33\00:12:18.47
they were
overwhelmed as it were,
00:12:18.50\00:12:19.87
the sea before us
00:12:19.90\00:12:21.24
and mountains and
army behind, what do we do?
00:12:21.27\00:12:22.90
We need to pray.
00:12:22.94\00:12:24.31
And maybe before
it gets to that point,
00:12:24.34\00:12:25.71
but they, he prayed and
fast and ask God for help.
00:12:25.74\00:12:28.68
And certainly did we
find those kinds of things,
00:12:28.71\00:12:30.31
maybe we're going on today.
00:12:30.35\00:12:32.75
God is looking for men and women
00:12:32.78\00:12:34.82
who can endure a disappointment.
00:12:34.85\00:12:37.89
They can...
00:12:37.92\00:12:39.25
They can deal with adversity,
because that's what's happening
00:12:39.29\00:12:42.32
for those who are leading out
in the cause of Christ today.
00:12:42.36\00:12:45.09
They're
challenged on every hand.
00:12:45.13\00:12:47.03
And you have to
know what you believe.
00:12:47.10\00:12:48.40
You have to know
that God has called you
00:12:48.43\00:12:50.53
and you have to
go and move forward
00:12:50.60\00:12:51.93
what God wants us to do.
00:12:51.97\00:12:54.10
You know...
00:12:54.17\00:12:55.50
Again, Monday's lesson,
00:12:55.54\00:12:56.87
which we're
getting ready to go into...
00:12:56.91\00:12:58.24
Sister Mollie,
I like that lesson
00:12:58.27\00:12:59.87
because it's going
into, in Nehemiah's prayer.
00:12:59.91\00:13:02.81
The prayer, yes.
00:13:02.84\00:13:04.18
The prayer of Nehemiah
and how prayer changed things,
00:13:04.25\00:13:07.75
and how desperately we
need the prayer of faith,
00:13:07.78\00:13:11.32
prayer of men and women
00:13:11.35\00:13:12.69
who believe that God
has called, God has chosen,
00:13:12.72\00:13:16.46
He's not gonna call
you and leave you out
00:13:16.49\00:13:18.06
there with nothing.
00:13:18.09\00:13:19.43
We said some years. God
calls you to dig a ditch.
00:13:19.46\00:13:21.23
He's gonna give you a shovel.
00:13:21.26\00:13:22.60
Amen.
00:13:22.63\00:13:23.97
He's not gonna dig it for you,
but He'll give you a shovel.
00:13:24.03\00:13:25.47
And if you break
that, bless your heart,
00:13:25.50\00:13:27.34
He'll give you another one.
00:13:27.40\00:13:28.74
Sister Mollie,
about this prayer thing,
00:13:28.77\00:13:30.11
I want to hear about it.
00:13:30.14\00:13:31.47
Well, when
Nehemiah got the bad news,
00:13:31.51\00:13:34.71
we see that it saddened him.
00:13:34.74\00:13:37.25
Yes.
00:13:37.31\00:13:38.65
He was mourning, bad news.
00:13:38.68\00:13:40.78
And you know, you mentioned,
00:13:40.82\00:13:42.15
all of the ministries
that someone would rise up
00:13:42.18\00:13:45.75
and say, we're gonna stop you.
00:13:45.79\00:13:47.56
I'm just wondering here at 3ABN
00:13:47.62\00:13:50.39
over the last 30 some odd years,
00:13:50.43\00:13:53.06
have we ever had anyone rise up
and say, we're gonna stop you?
00:13:53.09\00:13:56.33
Oh, yes. Yeah.
00:13:56.36\00:13:57.70
And I just want you to
know God has prevailed...
00:13:57.73\00:13:59.17
Amen.
00:13:59.20\00:14:00.64
At every point.
00:14:00.67\00:14:02.00
Thank you Holy God.
00:14:02.04\00:14:03.37
Okay.
00:14:03.41\00:14:04.74
Nehemiah mourned.
00:14:04.77\00:14:06.44
He was sad.
00:14:06.47\00:14:07.81
But he went further than that.
00:14:07.84\00:14:09.34
He started fasting and praying.
00:14:09.38\00:14:10.85
And I get to look
at this amazing prayer
00:14:10.88\00:14:14.32
that Nehemiah prayed.
00:14:14.35\00:14:15.68
You know, he gives us
a template for prayer.
00:14:15.72\00:14:18.59
Was his prayer effective? Yes.
00:14:18.62\00:14:20.56
Did it bring great
results? Oh, mercy.
00:14:20.59\00:14:22.69
Well, we can learn
from Nehemiah's prayer.
00:14:22.72\00:14:25.46
At first I was gonna
read the whole prayer to you
00:14:25.49\00:14:27.60
but sometimes we get
lost in a lot of verbiage.
00:14:27.66\00:14:31.07
So what I want to do
00:14:31.10\00:14:32.43
is break this prayer
down into four parts.
00:14:32.47\00:14:35.27
First, we're going to look
00:14:35.30\00:14:36.97
at Nehemiah 1:5.
00:14:37.01\00:14:43.18
And this is where Nehemiah
00:14:43.21\00:14:47.22
acknowledges the
greatness of God.
00:14:47.28\00:14:50.25
Now I don't know about you,
00:14:50.29\00:14:51.85
but sometimes when I
come to God with prayer,
00:14:51.89\00:14:55.22
I start out
with "Help God Help."
00:14:55.26\00:14:57.49
Yeah.
00:14:57.53\00:14:58.86
Nehemiah gives us a better way.
00:14:58.89\00:15:00.93
First of all, he acknowledged
the greatness of God.
00:15:00.96\00:15:04.43
Let's look at this.
00:15:04.47\00:15:05.80
Nehemiah 1:5,
00:15:05.83\00:15:09.47
"And I said, I
pray, Lord God of heaven,
00:15:09.50\00:15:12.74
O great and awesome God,
00:15:12.77\00:15:14.88
You who keep Your
covenant and mercy
00:15:14.91\00:15:17.35
with those who love You
and observe Your commandments,
00:15:17.38\00:15:20.72
please let Your ear be
attentive and Your eyes open,
00:15:20.75\00:15:24.62
that You may hear the
prayer of Your servant
00:15:24.65\00:15:27.16
which I pray before
You now, day and night."
00:15:27.19\00:15:30.96
He acknowledges
the greatness of God.
00:15:30.99\00:15:34.36
Next, Nehemiah acknowledges
their own simpleness.
00:15:34.40\00:15:39.20
Yes. Yes.
00:15:39.23\00:15:40.60
So he comes, "Oh, God,
00:15:40.64\00:15:42.24
You are the
great and mighty God.
00:15:42.27\00:15:44.67
Oh, God,
00:15:44.71\00:15:46.04
there is nothing
righteous within me."
00:15:46.07\00:15:48.01
Let's look at this.
00:15:48.04\00:15:49.41
"For the children of
Israel Your servants,"
00:15:49.44\00:15:51.51
and the second part,
00:15:51.55\00:15:54.08
"and confess the sins
of the children of Israel,"
00:15:54.12\00:15:57.55
which we have done what?
00:15:57.59\00:15:59.25
"Which we have sinned against
you both my Father's house,
00:15:59.29\00:16:03.22
and I have sinned."
00:16:03.26\00:16:04.83
So he's acknowledging his sin,
00:16:04.86\00:16:07.40
but he's acknowledging
the sins in the past as well.
00:16:07.46\00:16:11.73
"We have acted very
corruptly against you,
00:16:11.77\00:16:15.00
and have not
kept the commandments,
00:16:15.04\00:16:17.14
the statutes,
nor the ordinances,
00:16:17.21\00:16:20.18
which I commanded
Your servant Moses."
00:16:20.21\00:16:22.81
First of all, how great God is.
00:16:22.84\00:16:25.11
Secondly, oh,
without You, we have no hope,
00:16:25.15\00:16:28.75
the sinfulness of man.
00:16:28.78\00:16:30.79
And then you know
what Nehemiah does?
00:16:30.82\00:16:33.46
Puts God in
remembrance of His promises.
00:16:33.49\00:16:36.73
Now, let me ask you this.
00:16:36.76\00:16:38.16
Is anything wrong
with God's memory?
00:16:38.19\00:16:40.93
No. No.
00:16:40.96\00:16:42.26
But let me read
you Isaiah 43:26.
00:16:42.30\00:16:47.00
God I...
00:16:47.04\00:16:48.37
God says through Isaiah.
00:16:48.40\00:16:50.81
"Put Me in remembrance,
Let us contend together,
00:16:50.87\00:16:55.91
state your case, that
you may be acquitted."
00:16:55.94\00:16:59.88
God loves it.
00:16:59.91\00:17:01.55
Amen.
00:17:01.58\00:17:02.92
Can I use that terminology?
00:17:02.95\00:17:04.32
Sure, sure. Yeah.
00:17:04.35\00:17:05.69
When we come before
Him with His Word...
00:17:05.72\00:17:07.06
Amen.
00:17:07.09\00:17:08.42
When we come before
Him with His promises,
00:17:08.46\00:17:09.79
when we put Him in
remembrance, that...
00:17:09.82\00:17:12.79
If we can put
Him in remembrance,
00:17:12.83\00:17:14.93
you know what that shows Him?
00:17:14.96\00:17:16.60
We know what His Word says.
00:17:16.67\00:17:18.53
So let's look where He puts...
00:17:18.57\00:17:21.47
He puts God in remembrance.
00:17:21.50\00:17:23.07
Verse 8.
00:17:23.10\00:17:24.44
Remember, I pray the word
00:17:24.47\00:17:26.57
that you commanded
Your servant Moses saying,
00:17:26.61\00:17:30.28
"If you are faithful...
00:17:30.35\00:17:31.98
If you are unfaithful,
00:17:32.01\00:17:34.15
I will scatter you
among the nations."
00:17:34.22\00:17:35.95
So let me ask you this.
00:17:35.98\00:17:37.75
Were they unfaithful? Yes.
00:17:37.79\00:17:39.52
What happened
to them? Scattered.
00:17:39.55\00:17:41.29
They were
scattered among the nations.
00:17:41.32\00:17:44.13
But...
00:17:44.16\00:17:45.49
Oh, thank God for the buts.
00:17:45.53\00:17:46.90
You know, Pastor Lomacang
remember a long time ago
00:17:46.93\00:17:49.20
in one of his teachings.
00:17:49.23\00:17:50.57
I said, God just
can't help us save.
00:17:50.63\00:17:53.50
He loves us so much,
00:17:53.54\00:17:54.90
He's always gonna put
a but in there for us.
00:17:54.94\00:17:58.14
Doesn't matter how bad we
get, people, God loves us.
00:17:58.17\00:18:01.94
And let's look at
what that but says.
00:18:01.98\00:18:04.11
Thank God for buts. Yes.
00:18:04.18\00:18:05.71
But verse 9.
00:18:05.75\00:18:08.18
"If you return to Me..."
00:18:08.22\00:18:09.78
There's a prerequisite.
00:18:09.82\00:18:11.42
"If you return
to Me," and do what?
00:18:11.45\00:18:15.42
"Keep my
commandments and do them,
00:18:15.46\00:18:19.46
though some of you were cast out
00:18:19.49\00:18:21.33
to the farthest part of heaven."
00:18:21.36\00:18:23.03
You know what that means?
00:18:23.06\00:18:24.70
Doesn't matter how bad you are,
00:18:24.73\00:18:27.04
doesn't matter how
far out there you get,
00:18:27.07\00:18:29.60
if you will repent
and return to God...
00:18:29.64\00:18:31.94
Look at this.
00:18:31.97\00:18:33.31
"Yet I will gather them
from there and bring them
00:18:33.38\00:18:37.55
to the place which I have chosen
00:18:37.58\00:18:40.42
as a dwelling for My name."
00:18:40.45\00:18:42.35
So He puts him in
remembrance of a promise,
00:18:42.38\00:18:46.45
the promise that
he had made to Moses.
00:18:46.49\00:18:49.26
Okay, we're gonna look
at Part B of that promise.
00:18:49.29\00:18:52.49
But what was part A?
00:18:52.53\00:18:54.30
Part A was, if
you are unfaithful,
00:18:54.30\00:18:56.46
I'm gonna scatter you.
00:18:56.50\00:18:57.83
Was God faithful?
00:18:57.87\00:18:59.77
Was He honest?
00:18:59.80\00:19:01.20
Was He true to that portion?
00:19:01.24\00:19:03.27
Yes, He was.
00:19:03.30\00:19:04.64
Well, I'm gonna give you
a just a little precursor.
00:19:04.67\00:19:07.44
If he's faithful to part
A, what's he gonna be, Jill?
00:19:07.51\00:19:10.48
Faithful to part
B. Faithful to part B.
00:19:10.51\00:19:12.15
Boy, part B is a good one.
00:19:12.18\00:19:13.78
Okay.
00:19:13.85\00:19:15.18
Now we look at
the help, God help.
00:19:15.22\00:19:17.65
Here he says, verse 11.
00:19:17.69\00:19:20.19
"O Lord, I pray,
please let Your ear
00:19:20.22\00:19:24.46
be attentive to the
prayer of Your servant,
00:19:24.49\00:19:28.16
and to the
prayer of Your servants
00:19:28.20\00:19:29.93
who desire to do something,
00:19:29.96\00:19:32.23
to fear Your name
and let Your servant
00:19:32.27\00:19:35.40
prosper this day, I pray,
00:19:35.44\00:19:37.74
and grant him mercy
in the sigh of this man."
00:19:37.77\00:19:42.04
So what Nehemiah was doing,
00:19:42.08\00:19:44.55
was, he was
going before the king
00:19:44.58\00:19:47.15
and he was gonna make a request.
00:19:47.22\00:19:49.52
But before he
went before the king...
00:19:49.55\00:19:52.09
I mean, he was
the king's cupbearer.
00:19:52.12\00:19:56.26
He had position
and he could have gone
00:19:56.29\00:19:59.56
on his own merit.
00:19:59.59\00:20:01.23
But you know what he did first?
00:20:01.26\00:20:03.13
First he cried out to God.
00:20:03.16\00:20:05.27
He was asking
God to give him favor
00:20:05.30\00:20:08.20
in the eyes of the cupbearer.
00:20:08.24\00:20:09.87
Okay.
00:20:09.90\00:20:11.24
Again, we're looking
at a template for prayer,
00:20:11.27\00:20:13.94
something we can learn from.
00:20:13.98\00:20:15.34
Yes.
00:20:15.38\00:20:16.71
And Nehemiah has his
prayer in the right oft,
00:20:16.75\00:20:22.42
in the right order.
00:20:22.45\00:20:23.85
He focuses himself
on the greatness of God.
00:20:23.89\00:20:27.76
He focuses himself
on his own sinfulness.
00:20:27.79\00:20:31.86
And he looks to the grace
and mercy of God for hope.
00:20:31.89\00:20:36.06
Now in verse 5 he
addresses the covenant.
00:20:39.07\00:20:43.97
Now I want to ask
what a covenant is.
00:20:44.04\00:20:46.34
Somebody tell me
what a covenant is.
00:20:46.37\00:20:48.48
It's the oathbound promises.
00:20:48.51\00:20:51.51
An oathbound promise, okay.
00:20:51.55\00:20:54.25
Shelley, you're
always so good with things.
00:20:54.28\00:20:56.45
An agreement...
00:20:56.48\00:20:57.82
And it's usually
between how many people?
00:20:57.85\00:20:59.32
Two.
00:20:59.35\00:21:00.76
It's usually between two
people or two groups of people.
00:21:00.79\00:21:03.93
And it's to be, it's upheld
when how many parties keep it?
00:21:03.96\00:21:08.30
When...
00:21:08.33\00:21:09.90
In human
reasoning, in our thinking,
00:21:09.93\00:21:12.20
you keep your
part of the covenant,
00:21:12.23\00:21:13.90
I'll keep my
part of the covenant.
00:21:13.94\00:21:17.47
Now the most amazing thing...
00:21:17.51\00:21:19.67
Who made the covenant here?
00:21:19.71\00:21:21.08
God made the covenant.
00:21:21.11\00:21:22.61
The most amazing thing
00:21:22.64\00:21:24.01
about God's covenant with us is,
00:21:24.05\00:21:27.12
whether we keep our
end of the covenant or not,
00:21:27.18\00:21:29.65
God never breaks
covenant with us.
00:21:29.68\00:21:31.52
Amen.
00:21:31.55\00:21:32.89
Doesn't matter how
far out there we get,
00:21:32.92\00:21:34.79
there's always that but.
00:21:34.82\00:21:36.56
God always reaches out Himself
00:21:36.59\00:21:38.73
and says, "But, if
you will return to me."
00:21:38.76\00:21:42.26
Then the B part of the covenant,
00:21:42.30\00:21:44.93
it will go into effect.
00:21:44.97\00:21:47.27
But if you return to Me
00:21:47.30\00:21:48.64
and keep My
commandments to do them,
00:21:48.67\00:21:51.27
though some of
you were cast out.
00:21:51.31\00:21:53.34
He says, here's the B part.
00:21:53.41\00:21:55.61
"I will gather them from there
and bring them to the place
00:21:55.64\00:22:02.25
which I have chosen,
has a dwelling for them."
00:22:02.28\00:22:06.39
If the part one of the
covenant had been fulfilled,
00:22:06.42\00:22:11.36
they were unfaithful
and they were scattered,
00:22:11.39\00:22:14.63
then we can have confidence
00:22:14.66\00:22:17.27
that part two
would be fulfilled to,
00:22:17.33\00:22:20.34
if you return to Me
00:22:20.40\00:22:22.14
and keep My
commandments to do them,
00:22:22.17\00:22:24.81
I will gather you unto Myself.
00:22:24.84\00:22:27.54
What a covenant keeping God.
00:22:27.58\00:22:29.68
How faithful He is to us.
00:22:29.71\00:22:31.75
How much confidence in faith
00:22:31.78\00:22:33.88
that should put into our hearts?
00:22:33.92\00:22:35.65
I think our plea as a
panel to every one of you today
00:22:35.68\00:22:40.36
is that you look into your heart
00:22:40.42\00:22:42.12
and if you feel
that separation from God,
00:22:42.16\00:22:45.56
we want to make
it very clear to you
00:22:45.59\00:22:48.36
and encourage you that no matter
00:22:48.40\00:22:50.10
how far out there you
got, there is always hope,
00:22:50.13\00:22:53.87
there is always, that,
but if you will return to me,
00:22:53.90\00:22:57.14
all God is
waiting for is for you
00:22:57.17\00:22:59.44
to say help God, help,
and He is there to help you.
00:22:59.47\00:23:03.18
Okay, the four steps in
this template for prayer
00:23:03.21\00:23:07.68
that is so successful.
00:23:07.72\00:23:09.55
Recognize who He is,
00:23:09.58\00:23:11.39
the Creator of all the universe.
00:23:11.42\00:23:14.29
Recognize our
helplessness without Him.
00:23:14.32\00:23:18.36
Put Him in
remembrance of His word.
00:23:18.39\00:23:21.30
And then finally,
00:23:21.33\00:23:23.23
it's time for us
to say, help God help
00:23:23.26\00:23:26.03
and have confidence to
know that He will help us.
00:23:26.07\00:23:29.64
Amen.
00:23:29.67\00:23:31.01
Yeah, that's a good
one. Absolutely awesome.
00:23:31.04\00:23:33.21
It sets some
real groundwork here.
00:23:33.24\00:23:35.31
You know, we're
gonna take a short break.
00:23:35.34\00:23:37.01
Please don't go away,
00:23:37.05\00:23:38.45
and we'll see
you in just a moment.
00:23:38.48\00:23:39.81
Ever wish you could watch
00:23:45.89\00:23:47.22
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School Panel again,
00:23:47.26\00:23:49.42
or share it on
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Well, you can by visiting
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00:23:52.56\00:23:57.57
A clean design makes it
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00:23:57.60\00:24:01.04
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00:24:01.07\00:24:02.40
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00:24:02.44\00:24:05.61
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00:24:05.64\00:24:07.48
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Welcome back. We're
glad you stayed with us.
00:24:18.49\00:24:20.16
We're going to go right
now to Tuesday's lesson.
00:24:20.19\00:24:22.66
Sister Shelley Quinn,
00:24:22.69\00:24:24.03
we're looking at
Nehemiah speaks out.
00:24:24.06\00:24:26.73
Amen.
00:24:26.80\00:24:28.10
And I just want to thank
you both for setting this up.
00:24:28.13\00:24:31.17
Here we've got this
troubled prayer warrior,
00:24:31.20\00:24:34.97
who has a high
position in the king's court.
00:24:35.00\00:24:37.71
And he hears this news
00:24:37.74\00:24:39.77
that the walls
have been broken down,
00:24:39.81\00:24:42.01
the gates have been
burned around Jerusalem
00:24:42.04\00:24:44.48
and you couldn't have
a city without the walls.
00:24:44.51\00:24:47.02
So I'm gonna read,
begin with Nehemiah 1:11.
00:24:47.08\00:24:51.25
He's praying and he
says, "O Lord, I pray,
00:24:51.29\00:24:54.12
please let Your ear be attentive
00:24:54.16\00:24:55.96
to the prayer of Your servant,
00:24:55.99\00:24:57.73
to the prayer of Your servants
who desire to fear Your name
00:24:57.76\00:25:01.83
and let Your
servant prosper this day,
00:25:01.86\00:25:04.67
I pray, and grant him
mercy in the sight of this man."
00:25:04.70\00:25:09.74
Speaking of King Artaxerxes.
00:25:09.77\00:25:12.77
He says, "For I was
the king's cupbearer."
00:25:12.81\00:25:16.58
So Nehemiah worked in
Susa as the King's cupbearer.
00:25:16.61\00:25:21.62
That means he was
like the wine steward.
00:25:21.65\00:25:24.19
He chose the wine.
00:25:24.22\00:25:26.19
But more importantly,
00:25:26.22\00:25:29.16
before he set
it before the king,
00:25:29.19\00:25:30.93
can make sure it
was not poisoned.
00:25:30.96\00:25:32.99
So what happened?
00:25:33.03\00:25:34.36
This is actually a
very high official position.
00:25:34.36\00:25:38.77
And the king often
regarded their cupbearers
00:25:38.80\00:25:44.41
as a close personal counselor.
00:25:44.44\00:25:48.68
So we see Herodotus,
00:25:48.71\00:25:52.81
who is an
ancient Greek historian
00:25:52.85\00:25:55.28
pointed out how
important the cupbearers were.
00:25:55.32\00:25:58.85
And he talks about a
cupbearer of the Assyrian King,
00:25:58.89\00:26:02.66
Esarhaddon who was the
chief minister of the kingdom.
00:26:02.69\00:26:07.60
So being a cupbearer was
a high political position.
00:26:07.66\00:26:12.20
And it gave Nehemiah
00:26:12.23\00:26:15.47
unique access to the king.
00:26:15.50\00:26:18.94
Just remember with
Joseph and Esther and Mordecai,
00:26:18.97\00:26:22.91
here we've got these
Jews that had special access.
00:26:22.94\00:26:28.32
So he prays, he hears the news
and this is the month of Kislev
00:26:28.35\00:26:33.69
when he hears the news,
00:26:33.76\00:26:35.39
he prays and
fasts for four months,
00:26:35.42\00:26:38.99
because it's the month of Nisan
00:26:39.03\00:26:40.73
when he, finally
he's before the king.
00:26:40.80\00:26:42.93
They were unclear, why?
00:26:42.96\00:26:44.30
Could be that the king wintered
in Babylon instead of in Susa,
00:26:44.33\00:26:48.84
he could have been waiting
for a particular Persian feast
00:26:48.87\00:26:53.44
where the king
granted the request.
00:26:53.48\00:26:55.98
I just think it was
God's perfect timing.
00:26:56.01\00:26:58.21
God's timing is always perfect.
00:26:58.25\00:26:59.78
Yes.
00:26:59.81\00:27:01.22
So he comes before the king
00:27:01.25\00:27:02.58
in Nehemiah 2:1-8.
00:27:02.62\00:27:05.69
We're gonna break this down.
00:27:05.72\00:27:07.09
"It came to pass in
the month of Nisan,"
00:27:07.12\00:27:09.32
which was March or April,
00:27:09.36\00:27:11.29
"in the 20th year
of King Artaxerxes,
00:27:11.33\00:27:14.86
when wine was before him,
00:27:14.93\00:27:17.37
that I took the win
and gave it to the king.
00:27:17.40\00:27:19.73
Now I had never
been sad in his presence.
00:27:19.77\00:27:22.84
It was dangerous to be sad
in the presence of the king.
00:27:22.87\00:27:26.34
Kings like happy subjects,
00:27:26.37\00:27:28.61
because that was a reflection
00:27:28.64\00:27:30.05
on their administrative ability.
00:27:30.08\00:27:32.58
So he said, "I'm sad,
and I've never been sad
00:27:32.61\00:27:36.55
in his presence before
and the king said to me,
00:27:36.58\00:27:39.02
why is your face sad?
00:27:39.05\00:27:41.56
Since you are not sick?
00:27:41.59\00:27:43.06
This is nothing
but sorrow of heart."
00:27:43.09\00:27:46.26
Remember, in Esther Chapter 4,
00:27:46.29\00:27:48.40
you couldn't even wear
mourning clothes if you had,
00:27:48.43\00:27:52.03
if you were in mourning,
00:27:52.07\00:27:53.74
you were not
allowed into the palace.
00:27:53.80\00:27:56.97
So then this is interesting.
00:27:57.01\00:27:59.24
Here's this brave
00:27:59.27\00:28:00.71
prayer warrior says, "I
became dreadfully afraid."
00:28:00.74\00:28:05.01
Well, I think
there's two reasons.
00:28:05.05\00:28:07.38
Number one, he said,
it could upset the king.
00:28:07.45\00:28:10.55
Number two, he's
about to ask the king
00:28:10.62\00:28:12.65
for a very bold request
00:28:12.69\00:28:14.19
to reverse his
previous decision,
00:28:14.22\00:28:18.29
when Artaxerxes
had caused the building
00:28:18.33\00:28:22.03
of Jerusalem to cease.
00:28:22.06\00:28:24.20
So if you displease the king,
00:28:24.27\00:28:27.04
the king could
off with your head.
00:28:27.07\00:28:29.07
Right.
00:28:29.10\00:28:30.44
So what happens when
he makes this request
00:28:30.51\00:28:36.21
or when the king asks this?
00:28:36.24\00:28:38.98
He says, in verse 3.
00:28:39.01\00:28:41.98
"I said to the king,
May the king live forever!
00:28:42.02\00:28:46.19
Why should my face
not be sad, when the city,
00:28:46.22\00:28:49.46
the place of my fathers' tombs,
00:28:49.49\00:28:52.76
lies waste, and its
gates are burned with fire?"
00:28:52.79\00:28:57.53
He's undaunted by fear.
00:28:57.57\00:28:59.50
I love that about him.
00:28:59.53\00:29:00.97
This man of faith believed
00:29:01.00\00:29:02.34
that God was
greater than this king.
00:29:02.37\00:29:05.01
And he proceeded though
00:29:05.04\00:29:06.37
with diplomacy in
an emotional appeal.
00:29:06.41\00:29:09.48
Notice that he doesn't
mention Jerusalem immediately.
00:29:09.51\00:29:14.82
He just says the cities
where my ancestors were buried.
00:29:14.85\00:29:18.82
Well, this would strike
00:29:18.85\00:29:20.22
a sympathetic
chord with the king
00:29:20.29\00:29:21.96
because the Persians
invested a lot of money
00:29:21.99\00:29:26.63
to and went to great
expense to build the tombs
00:29:26.66\00:29:30.67
for their dead ancestors.
00:29:30.70\00:29:33.64
And what was so
important about the gates?
00:29:33.67\00:29:35.97
The gates were
the place where the...
00:29:36.00\00:29:39.31
It was the basis of social life
00:29:39.34\00:29:41.31
and this is also where they
had their judicial procedures.
00:29:41.34\00:29:44.98
So burn gates meant
the death of a community.
00:29:45.01\00:29:48.72
And there was no permanence
to the community without walls.
00:29:48.75\00:29:53.12
So he's got the
king's attention.
00:29:53.15\00:29:54.92
And verse 4 says,
"The king said to me,
00:29:54.96\00:29:57.16
what do you request?"
00:29:57.23\00:29:59.29
And he...
00:29:59.33\00:30:00.80
When the king says
that, what does he do?
00:30:00.83\00:30:03.83
He sends up an emergency prayer.
00:30:03.87\00:30:07.90
I mean, just this
is a silent prayer.
00:30:07.94\00:30:10.21
But he said, so I
prayed to the God of heaven.
00:30:10.27\00:30:12.71
Yes.
00:30:12.74\00:30:14.08
See, the King
recognized Nehemiah's
00:30:14.14\00:30:16.38
desire to take action.
00:30:16.41\00:30:18.58
And Nehemiah
broke into a silence,
00:30:18.61\00:30:20.78
spontaneous prayer.
00:30:20.82\00:30:23.12
Even while he was
talking with the king,
00:30:23.15\00:30:24.89
I love that.
00:30:24.92\00:30:26.32
You know, I believe
with all of my heart,
00:30:26.35\00:30:29.26
if you have a
habit of in depth prayer,
00:30:29.29\00:30:33.23
or you're not rushing
into the presence of the Lord,
00:30:33.26\00:30:35.90
but where you pray
often with the Lord
00:30:35.93\00:30:38.10
and spend time with Him,
00:30:38.13\00:30:39.80
I believe that
those fast prayers
00:30:39.83\00:30:43.10
that you send up,
00:30:43.14\00:30:44.54
you know, you're
gonna get answers, right?
00:30:44.57\00:30:46.51
All right.
00:30:46.54\00:30:47.88
So, and eight
times in this book,
00:30:47.91\00:30:49.58
Nehemiah breaks
into spontaneous prayer.
00:30:49.61\00:30:52.58
So verse 5.
00:30:52.61\00:30:53.95
"I said to the king,
00:30:53.98\00:30:56.65
if it pleases the king,
00:30:56.72\00:30:58.69
and if your servant has
found favor in your sight,
00:30:58.72\00:31:01.62
I ask that you send me to Judah,
00:31:01.66\00:31:03.86
to the city of my
fathers' tombs..."
00:31:03.93\00:31:05.83
This is the first time
he's mentioned where it is.
00:31:05.86\00:31:08.40
"That I may rebuild it.
00:31:08.43\00:31:10.33
Then the king said to me..."
00:31:10.37\00:31:12.03
And here's an interesting
parenthetical statement.
00:31:12.07\00:31:15.14
The queen also
sitting beside him,
00:31:15.17\00:31:17.37
which means it was probably
a private dinner, instead of...
00:31:17.41\00:31:21.24
I mean, because the
queen wasn't always sitting.
00:31:21.28\00:31:23.11
It wasn't
customary at formal banquets
00:31:23.14\00:31:25.88
for the queen to
sit next to the king.
00:31:25.91\00:31:28.45
So, "The king said to me,
00:31:28.48\00:31:32.35
with the queen
sitting beside him,
00:31:32.39\00:31:33.72
how long will your journey
be, and when will you return?
00:31:33.76\00:31:36.79
So it pleased
the king to send me,
00:31:36.83\00:31:39.23
and I set him a time."
00:31:39.26\00:31:41.66
You know, and he ended up
staying there for 12 years.
00:31:41.70\00:31:44.00
I wonder if he
told the king that.
00:31:44.03\00:31:46.17
But the interesting thing was,
00:31:46.20\00:31:48.77
he knew the appropriate
time to approach the king,
00:31:48.80\00:31:52.97
when he's setting
the wine before him
00:31:53.01\00:31:54.54
as a trusted servant.
00:31:54.58\00:31:55.91
So verse 7.
00:31:55.94\00:31:57.28
"Furthermore, I
said to the king,
00:31:57.31\00:31:58.65
if it pleases the king..."
00:31:58.68\00:32:00.12
Now get this.
00:32:00.15\00:32:01.48
Here he just made
this bold request.
00:32:01.52\00:32:04.19
But now he's gonna
go a little further
00:32:04.22\00:32:06.86
because he wants to make sure
00:32:06.89\00:32:08.32
that God's mission
is completely fulfilled,
00:32:08.36\00:32:11.66
that his prayer will
be completely answered.
00:32:11.69\00:32:14.83
"If it pleases the king,
let letters be given to me
00:32:14.86\00:32:17.47
for the governors of
the region beyond the River,
00:32:17.53\00:32:20.30
that they must permit me
00:32:20.34\00:32:21.94
to pass through
till I come to Judah..."
00:32:21.97\00:32:25.47
So the reason
that was so important
00:32:25.51\00:32:28.61
is because he needed
this kind of a royal document
00:32:28.64\00:32:32.58
to get through the
land of his enemies,
00:32:32.61\00:32:34.35
basically, this dangerous
00:32:34.38\00:32:35.88
four month 900 mile
journey from Susa to Jerusalem.
00:32:35.92\00:32:40.02
And then he asked
for a letter to Asaph,
00:32:40.06\00:32:42.29
the keeper of the king's forest.
00:32:42.32\00:32:44.96
Hey, he, I know
Nehemiah believed that
00:32:44.99\00:32:48.36
God is the giver of
every good and perfect gift.
00:32:48.40\00:32:51.03
So he's now
asking for the materials
00:32:51.07\00:32:53.37
what, to do what?
00:32:53.40\00:32:55.30
And by the way, lumber, timber,
00:32:55.34\00:32:58.07
was a precious commodity.
00:32:58.11\00:33:01.44
It was the forest work
guarded very carefully.
00:33:01.48\00:33:06.65
So he asked for this letter,
00:33:06.72\00:33:08.08
so that he could
build the citadel,
00:33:08.12\00:33:10.69
which was the fortress
near the garden temple,
00:33:10.72\00:33:14.06
and the gates, the city wall,
00:33:14.09\00:33:16.76
and the house
that I will occupy.
00:33:16.83\00:33:18.86
And the king granted them to me
00:33:18.89\00:33:20.80
according to the good
hand of my God upon me.
00:33:20.83\00:33:25.60
He recognizes this
is coming from his God.
00:33:25.63\00:33:30.87
So the king not only
agreed to let him go,
00:33:30.91\00:33:36.48
but he supplies
him with everything
00:33:36.51\00:33:41.02
that he needs for his mission.
00:33:41.05\00:33:44.19
And, you know,
00:33:44.25\00:33:45.59
it wasn't an everyday occurrence
00:33:45.62\00:33:46.96
that a king
would let a cupbearer
00:33:46.99\00:33:48.56
go be a governor
of another province.
00:33:48.59\00:33:51.63
So this was an amazing request.
00:33:51.66\00:33:54.36
It was a bold request.
00:33:54.40\00:33:56.46
But he knew
that God would do it.
00:33:56.50\00:33:58.23
Amen.
00:33:58.27\00:33:59.60
And Nehemiah left
as soon as possible,
00:33:59.63\00:34:02.64
traveling along the same
route that Ezra had taken.
00:34:02.67\00:34:06.21
Amen. Wow.
00:34:06.24\00:34:07.61
Thank you,
Shelley. Thank you, Mollie.
00:34:07.64\00:34:09.91
Thank you, Pastor Kenny.
00:34:09.94\00:34:11.78
Mine is Wednesday.
00:34:11.81\00:34:13.85
And it's just a very short title
00:34:13.92\00:34:15.68
"Nehemiah sent."
00:34:15.72\00:34:18.12
I've often said,
if you don't believe
00:34:18.15\00:34:19.82
that the devil exists,
00:34:19.85\00:34:21.89
wait for the Lord who sends you.
00:34:21.92\00:34:23.83
Yeah, very good. We'll find out.
00:34:23.86\00:34:25.19
Whenever you
doubt that evil exists,
00:34:25.23\00:34:28.60
get involved in
the work of the Lord.
00:34:28.63\00:34:30.23
Amen.
00:34:30.27\00:34:31.60
Two short
verses, Nehemiah 2:9-10
00:34:31.63\00:34:34.90
are covering this day.
00:34:34.94\00:34:37.61
And, Jill, I don't
know what happened to me,
00:34:37.64\00:34:39.37
but somehow lists are
becoming a part of my life.
00:34:39.41\00:34:42.04
And we're gonna...
00:34:42.08\00:34:43.41
we're gonna look
00:34:43.45\00:34:44.78
at some very
interesting parallels here.
00:34:44.81\00:34:46.15
Because there's a
huge question asked
00:34:46.18\00:34:48.15
on the heels of these
two verses, verse 9 and 10.
00:34:48.18\00:34:51.75
And, Shelley,
thank you for the segue.
00:34:51.79\00:34:54.02
"Then I went,"
00:34:54.06\00:34:55.89
that is the good
hand of God was upon me.
00:34:55.92\00:34:58.06
And he says,
"Then I went," verse 9,
00:34:58.09\00:35:00.96
"to the governors in
the region beyond the river,
00:35:00.96\00:35:04.40
and gave them the king's letter.
00:35:04.43\00:35:06.74
Now the king had
sent captains of the army,
00:35:06.77\00:35:09.80
he had a military escort."
00:35:09.84\00:35:12.01
He needed
safety because the king
00:35:12.04\00:35:14.18
that sent him knew
that there was opposition,
00:35:14.21\00:35:17.48
and his life
could have been at risk.
00:35:17.55\00:35:20.42
And he sent captains of the army
00:35:20.45\00:35:22.55
and horsemen with me,
00:35:22.58\00:35:24.55
when Sanballat, the
Horonite and Tobiah,
00:35:24.59\00:35:28.29
the Ammonite
official heard of it,
00:35:28.32\00:35:30.63
they were deeply
disturbed that a man had come
00:35:30.66\00:35:33.83
to seek the well-being
of the children of Israel.
00:35:33.90\00:35:38.43
What a powerful...
00:35:38.47\00:35:39.80
That's a sermon
right there all in itself.
00:35:39.83\00:35:41.17
You know mine who said it.
00:35:41.20\00:35:42.97
And I've spoken so many
times on Nehemiah in portions.
00:35:43.00\00:35:46.51
That passage, there
are those verses, Jill,
00:35:46.54\00:35:49.14
that stand out as a,
this is a sermon verse,
00:35:49.18\00:35:53.05
that those who hear
that anything is done
00:35:53.08\00:35:57.82
for the
betterment of God's people
00:35:57.85\00:35:59.89
that are in opposition,
00:35:59.92\00:36:01.92
they will start by
being deeply disturbed.
00:36:01.96\00:36:04.96
Yes.
00:36:04.99\00:36:06.46
And when you look at the story,
as it continues to unfold,
00:36:06.49\00:36:09.13
they go from
being deeply disturbed
00:36:09.16\00:36:11.17
to start taking
severe actions against them.
00:36:11.20\00:36:14.54
Let's outline
who these three were.
00:36:14.57\00:36:17.01
Because the question is asked,
00:36:17.04\00:36:19.34
what do these verses tell us
about the opposition Nehemiah,
00:36:19.37\00:36:23.45
and the Jews in
general we're going to face?
00:36:23.48\00:36:27.32
And I just made the point,
00:36:27.35\00:36:28.68
whenever we seek the
wellbeing of God's people,
00:36:28.72\00:36:31.35
trouble always ensues.
00:36:31.39\00:36:33.22
Well, who is
Sanballat, Tobiah and the Arab,
00:36:33.25\00:36:37.93
particularly Geshem?
00:36:37.96\00:36:39.63
Sanballat was the
Governor of Syria to the north.
00:36:39.66\00:36:42.73
Tobiah was the
Governor of Amman to the east.
00:36:42.76\00:36:46.10
Geshem or the
Arab was to the south.
00:36:46.13\00:36:49.17
He controlled Edom and Moab.
00:36:49.20\00:36:51.17
So if you look at this,
they were trying to lock him in
00:36:51.21\00:36:54.24
by controlling the
territory around him.
00:36:54.28\00:36:57.05
So it was fitting that
he had a military escort,
00:36:57.11\00:36:59.75
because the king
who sent him knew that
00:36:59.78\00:37:02.38
there are adversarial positions,
00:37:02.42\00:37:05.55
that if he doesn't go
in the right direction,
00:37:05.59\00:37:07.52
or if he doesn't have a
security detail with him,
00:37:07.59\00:37:10.46
he could run not
only into opposition,
00:37:10.49\00:37:12.59
but he could lose his life.
00:37:12.63\00:37:14.36
So it always starts by
them being deeply disturbed,
00:37:14.36\00:37:17.83
they might start by saying,
00:37:17.87\00:37:20.04
"So what do you
think we should do?
00:37:20.07\00:37:21.40
We just heard about
this guy going back to help
00:37:21.44\00:37:23.94
a cause for
which we are opposed.
00:37:24.01\00:37:26.17
What do you think we should do?
00:37:26.21\00:37:27.58
They're deeply disturbed."
00:37:27.61\00:37:28.94
So let's look at
some of the ways.
00:37:28.98\00:37:30.45
And I like what the
Sabbath School writer
00:37:30.48\00:37:32.95
put this term here.
00:37:32.98\00:37:34.32
It says, bullies don't rejoice
00:37:34.35\00:37:36.89
over the good fortune
of those they intimidate.
00:37:36.92\00:37:40.59
It's good.
Bullies don't rejoice.
00:37:40.66\00:37:42.62
And this is in the lesson.
00:37:42.66\00:37:44.13
Over the good fortune
of those they intimidate.
00:37:44.16\00:37:46.36
So let's look at the
four pronged attack of Satan,
00:37:46.39\00:37:49.43
whenever, and I found these,
00:37:49.46\00:37:50.97
and I'm gonna
highlight the points
00:37:51.00\00:37:52.43
that are gonna follow
00:37:52.47\00:37:53.80
the four
pronged attack of Satan.
00:37:53.84\00:37:55.64
First, whenever God's
people are involved in a work,
00:37:55.67\00:37:58.94
first he pursues,
then he overtakes,
00:37:58.97\00:38:02.98
then he divides,
then he destroys.
00:38:03.01\00:38:05.31
It's good. Those are the four...
00:38:05.35\00:38:06.68
He pursues, overtakes,
divides, and then destroys.
00:38:06.75\00:38:10.52
Look at some of the examples.
00:38:10.55\00:38:11.89
Let's go to 1 Corinthians 16:2.
00:38:11.92\00:38:14.19
And because I
only had two verses,
00:38:14.22\00:38:15.59
I had to pull
from other portions
00:38:15.62\00:38:17.39
of the Bible to give support
00:38:17.46\00:38:19.09
to these four
very important points.
00:38:19.13\00:38:21.50
Satan always seeks
a convenient season
00:38:21.53\00:38:24.87
to attack God's people.
00:38:24.90\00:38:26.57
Oh, yeah.
00:38:26.60\00:38:27.94
He waits.
00:38:27.97\00:38:29.30
Servant of the
Lord Ellen White says,
00:38:29.34\00:38:30.91
that his
footsteps are noiseless.
00:38:30.94\00:38:33.81
He is patient.
00:38:33.88\00:38:35.61
And that's what
a roaring lion is.
00:38:35.64\00:38:37.68
They don't just roar,
00:38:37.71\00:38:39.08
but they wait for
the opportune moments.
00:38:39.11\00:38:41.05
My wife and I like to
watch National Geographic.
00:38:41.08\00:38:43.99
And it always amazes me
when the lion just rises up
00:38:44.02\00:38:48.39
and moves slowly.
00:38:48.42\00:38:49.92
And I found out
that when their cubs,
00:38:49.96\00:38:53.90
the cub has to practice
00:38:53.93\00:38:55.30
and the mother
continues to teach them
00:38:55.33\00:38:56.87
how to practice because
if he makes so much as...
00:38:56.93\00:38:59.67
if it twig so much as cracks,
00:38:59.70\00:39:02.67
the animal that
he's hunting can hear it.
00:39:02.70\00:39:05.24
So he has to do it over and over
00:39:05.27\00:39:06.61
until he can get to the point
00:39:06.64\00:39:07.98
where he can step over
twigs and they don't even crack.
00:39:08.01\00:39:11.01
So he starts by pursuing.
00:39:11.05\00:39:13.31
Let's look at
one of the examples.
00:39:13.35\00:39:14.68
1 Corinthians 16:12.
00:39:14.72\00:39:16.95
"Now concerning
our brother Apollos,
00:39:17.02\00:39:19.89
I strongly urged him to
come to you with the brethren,
00:39:19.92\00:39:25.33
but he was quite
unwilling to come at this time,
00:39:25.36\00:39:28.00
however, he will come
when he has a convenient time."
00:39:28.03\00:39:33.67
When we are unwilling,
00:39:33.74\00:39:36.17
we are often looking
for times of convenience.
00:39:36.20\00:39:39.84
It's not a good time.
00:39:39.87\00:39:41.21
There is never
an inconvenient time
00:39:41.24\00:39:43.14
to do God's will.
00:39:43.18\00:39:44.51
The spirit that was
expressed in these verses,
00:39:44.55\00:39:47.42
Satan also looks
for convenient seasons.
00:39:47.45\00:39:50.02
And I say this...
00:39:50.09\00:39:51.42
There's a term
my wife and I use.
00:39:51.45\00:39:53.59
What we say,
"Never lower your guard."
00:39:53.66\00:39:56.59
Never lower your
guard, always be suspect.
00:39:56.62\00:40:00.70
And not suspect
00:40:00.73\00:40:02.03
in the sense of
thinking evil about individuals.
00:40:02.06\00:40:03.73
But when you're
in an environment
00:40:03.77\00:40:05.10
where you're not accustom,
00:40:05.13\00:40:06.47
when you are in
a new environment,
00:40:06.50\00:40:08.20
always keep your guard up.
00:40:08.24\00:40:10.17
That's right.
00:40:10.21\00:40:11.54
Have an official
approach to things.
00:40:11.57\00:40:14.04
Be very reserved when it comes
00:40:14.08\00:40:15.98
to how you
communicate with other people
00:40:16.01\00:40:17.71
physically and
emotionally and verbally.
00:40:17.75\00:40:20.78
So that the...
00:40:20.82\00:40:22.15
When you establish a
protocol ahead of time,
00:40:22.18\00:40:24.25
this protocol will be a safety
whenever you go into places
00:40:24.29\00:40:26.82
that are not very accustomed.
00:40:26.86\00:40:28.52
And I look at
professional leaders,
00:40:28.56\00:40:29.89
I look at presidents,
00:40:29.92\00:40:31.26
I look at the
General Conference president,
00:40:31.29\00:40:32.63
I look at people
00:40:32.66\00:40:34.00
that are very much
public in our church.
00:40:34.03\00:40:35.36
And we look at them
for particular reasons.
00:40:35.40\00:40:37.80
We say notice how they
stand when they take a picture.
00:40:37.83\00:40:41.14
Notice how they
stand in positions
00:40:41.17\00:40:42.60
of, in important times.
00:40:42.64\00:40:45.34
When you practice the
protocol of safety at home,
00:40:45.37\00:40:48.71
that protocol of
safety will follow
00:40:48.74\00:40:50.51
you wherever you go.
00:40:50.58\00:40:52.05
The second one,
Satan pursues us.
00:40:52.08\00:40:54.52
Exodus 15:9.
00:40:54.55\00:40:56.28
I'll go through
these very quickly.
00:40:56.32\00:40:58.02
The enemy said...
00:40:58.05\00:40:59.39
And this is talking about
the freedom of the Israelites.
00:40:59.42\00:41:03.63
"The enemy said, I will pursue,
00:41:03.66\00:41:07.00
I will overtake, I
will divide the spoil.
00:41:07.03\00:41:11.80
My desire shall
be satisfied on them,
00:41:11.83\00:41:15.50
I will draw my sword, my
hand shall destroy them."
00:41:15.54\00:41:18.67
All four points are right
in verse, chapter 15, verse 9.
00:41:18.71\00:41:23.14
How Satan pursues.
00:41:23.18\00:41:24.51
Exodus 15:9.
00:41:24.55\00:41:26.58
The enemy said, I will pursue,
00:41:26.61\00:41:28.22
overtake, divide, and destroy
and he'll do it by the sword.
00:41:28.25\00:41:33.36
He said, I'll use the sword,
and my hand shall destroy them.
00:41:33.42\00:41:37.66
Okay, the third one,
00:41:37.69\00:41:39.03
Satan creates division among us.
00:41:39.06\00:41:40.76
He seeks to divide.
00:41:40.80\00:41:42.20
1 Corinthians 1:10.
00:41:42.23\00:41:44.43
He says, "Now I
plead with you, brethren,
00:41:44.47\00:41:46.87
by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
00:41:46.90\00:41:49.97
that you all
speak the same thing,
00:41:50.04\00:41:52.04
and that there be
no division among you,
00:41:52.07\00:41:54.61
but that you be
perfectly joined together
00:41:54.64\00:41:56.51
in the same mind and
in the same judgment."
00:41:56.54\00:41:59.15
So the same is true today.
00:41:59.18\00:42:01.45
If we are seeking the
goodwill of the people,
00:42:01.48\00:42:04.09
we have to remain united.
00:42:04.12\00:42:05.72
Shelley has to be
united with Mollie,
00:42:05.75\00:42:07.09
and Pastor Kenny
and I cannot be speaking
00:42:07.16\00:42:09.36
in opposition to Jill.
00:42:09.39\00:42:10.83
We have to be in
harmony with one another.
00:42:10.86\00:42:12.83
Yes.
00:42:12.86\00:42:14.20
And, so that unity is something
that has to maintain it front
00:42:14.20\00:42:18.20
with each other around
00:42:18.23\00:42:19.57
or if the other
person is not even there.
00:42:19.60\00:42:22.84
The other one, he
seeks to create wrath
00:42:22.87\00:42:25.14
against the
workers, Revelation 12:12.
00:42:25.17\00:42:27.08
We know that one.
00:42:27.14\00:42:28.51
He's come down
having great wrath,
00:42:28.54\00:42:31.21
because he knows
he has a short time.
00:42:31.25\00:42:32.61
That's right.
00:42:32.65\00:42:33.98
And the wrath is not just
from opposition on the outside.
00:42:34.02\00:42:37.05
But if you notice that,
00:42:37.09\00:42:38.42
that wrath could be
worker against worker.
00:42:38.45\00:42:40.82
If we as workers of
God, if we as the people
00:42:40.86\00:42:43.89
that God has called
00:42:43.93\00:42:45.26
become wrathful
against each other.
00:42:45.29\00:42:47.83
I spoke to one of my leaders
00:42:47.86\00:42:49.16
just recently that saw something
00:42:49.20\00:42:50.70
that was not very comfortable.
00:42:50.73\00:42:52.27
And that person said,
00:42:52.30\00:42:53.67
"Well, I want to just
stand up and walk out."
00:42:53.70\00:42:55.14
I said, "As a leader
you don't have that luxury.
00:42:55.17\00:42:57.57
Because your
influence can create a coalition
00:42:57.61\00:43:00.68
of opposition, that
will be hard to reverse."
00:43:00.71\00:43:03.75
If you have something
that you don't agree with,
00:43:03.78\00:43:05.81
you come to me as the pastor,
00:43:05.85\00:43:07.65
we discuss it
and we find methods
00:43:07.68\00:43:09.52
and key ways of addressing that
00:43:09.55\00:43:11.02
rather than
creating visual opposition.
00:43:11.05\00:43:13.76
Yes. It's good.
00:43:13.79\00:43:15.12
The other one is Acts 18:6.
00:43:15.16\00:43:18.19
How does Paul
respond to this opposition?
00:43:18.23\00:43:20.20
He says, but when they
opposed him and blasphemed,
00:43:20.23\00:43:23.83
he shook his
garments, and said unto them,
00:43:23.87\00:43:27.44
your blood be upon
your own head, I am clean,
00:43:27.50\00:43:31.11
from now on I will
go to the Gentiles."
00:43:31.14\00:43:33.01
Acts 18:6.
00:43:33.04\00:43:35.64
And the opposition is once again
00:43:35.68\00:43:37.51
in the story of Joshua.
00:43:37.55\00:43:40.28
Zachariah 3:1.
00:43:40.32\00:43:42.62
"Then he shewed me
Joshua the high priest standing
00:43:42.65\00:43:44.99
before the angel of the Lord,
00:43:45.02\00:43:46.45
and Satan standing at
his right hand to," what?
00:43:46.49\00:43:49.02
"Oppose him." That's right.
00:43:49.06\00:43:50.99
So very quickly,
and then finally,
00:43:51.03\00:43:52.79
Paul's response to opposition,
because Paul talked about this,
00:43:52.83\00:43:56.10
who opposes
speaking about that power
00:43:56.13\00:43:58.40
that will come in the future
00:43:58.43\00:43:59.77
who opposes and exalts
himself above all is called God.
00:43:59.80\00:44:02.67
So here's the assurance,
00:44:02.70\00:44:04.24
that "God is for us
who can be against us,"
00:44:04.31\00:44:06.24
Romans 8:31. Amen.
00:44:06.27\00:44:07.78
"In all these things we
are more than conquerors,"
00:44:07.81\00:44:09.51
Romans 8:37.
00:44:09.54\00:44:11.51
Exodus 14:14,
00:44:11.55\00:44:13.01
"The Lord will fight for
you, just hold your peace."
00:44:13.05\00:44:15.12
Yes.
00:44:15.15\00:44:16.48
In Joshua 1:9,
"Have I not commanded you,
00:44:16.52\00:44:18.99
be strong and of good courage."
00:44:19.02\00:44:21.22
Amen. Amen.
00:44:21.26\00:44:22.66
Thank you, Pastor
John, that was incredible.
00:44:22.69\00:44:25.23
I am so grateful
for the blood of Jesus.
00:44:25.26\00:44:27.40
I'm so thankful for
the promises in His Word,
00:44:27.50\00:44:31.17
and that He stands up
and fights against the enemy.
00:44:31.20\00:44:34.24
That's right. What a blessing.
00:44:34.27\00:44:36.60
That was powerful.
00:44:36.67\00:44:38.01
I have Thursday,
Nehemiah prepares for his task.
00:44:38.04\00:44:42.18
We're looking at
Nehemiah 2:11-20.
00:44:42.21\00:44:47.62
And want to pick
it up with verse 11.
00:44:47.65\00:44:49.85
Nehemiah writing, speaking,
"So I came to Jerusalem,
00:44:49.88\00:44:53.46
and was there three days."
00:44:53.52\00:44:55.42
Now three days
is very significant
00:44:55.46\00:44:57.83
in the Word of God.
00:44:57.86\00:44:59.19
Oh, yeah.
00:44:59.23\00:45:00.63
I think of Genesis 22:4.
00:45:00.66\00:45:02.20
Abraham was
traveling with his son Isaac,
00:45:02.23\00:45:04.77
and he looked up...
00:45:04.80\00:45:06.13
What does the Bible say?
00:45:06.17\00:45:07.54
On the third day
he lifted up his eyes.
00:45:07.57\00:45:08.90
That's right.
00:45:08.94\00:45:10.27
And there he saw the
mountain, Mount Moriah.
00:45:10.31\00:45:12.41
Genesis 31:22,
00:45:12.44\00:45:13.98
"It was on the third day
00:45:14.01\00:45:15.91
that Laban was told
that Jacob had fled."
00:45:15.94\00:45:18.61
Right.
00:45:18.65\00:45:20.02
Exodus 19:11,
00:45:20.05\00:45:21.38
there were three
days of preparation
00:45:21.42\00:45:23.25
before the giving
of the law of God,
00:45:23.28\00:45:25.92
there at Mount Sinai,
00:45:25.95\00:45:28.09
with the children of Israel
encamped in the wilderness,
00:45:28.12\00:45:30.63
three days of preparation.
00:45:30.66\00:45:31.99
Yes.
00:45:32.03\00:45:33.40
Esther 5:1.
00:45:33.43\00:45:34.73
There were three
days of fasting and prayer
00:45:34.76\00:45:38.00
before Esther
approached the king unannounced.
00:45:38.03\00:45:42.54
And, of course, we
know Matthew 16:21,
00:45:42.57\00:45:46.11
Jesus
explaining to His disciples
00:45:46.14\00:45:47.58
that He must suffer
00:45:47.61\00:45:50.11
and be killed
three days in the tomb,
00:45:50.15\00:45:53.25
and then He will rise again.
00:45:53.28\00:45:55.28
That's right.
00:45:55.32\00:45:56.65
And there's more examples
00:45:56.69\00:45:58.02
in the Word of
God of three days.
00:45:58.05\00:45:59.39
So it's just fascinating to me
00:45:59.42\00:46:00.82
that Nehemiah
was there three days
00:46:00.89\00:46:02.69
before he really
stepped in and did anything.
00:46:02.72\00:46:05.59
Now, you know, we're...
00:46:05.63\00:46:07.66
Do enlist, Pastor John. Okay.
00:46:07.66\00:46:09.13
So I want to look at
some principles of leadership
00:46:09.16\00:46:11.50
displayed in the
life of Nehemiah,
00:46:11.53\00:46:14.44
as he prepared for his
tasks, specifically here.
00:46:14.47\00:46:17.54
And the biggest
overarching principle
00:46:17.61\00:46:19.24
I see in this whole passage
is learn to work with people.
00:46:19.27\00:46:22.48
Oh, yeah.
00:46:22.51\00:46:23.85
Learn to work with people.
00:46:23.88\00:46:26.31
Have mercy.
00:46:26.35\00:46:27.68
You know, it would be fabulous
00:46:27.72\00:46:29.05
if you lead with
no people, right?
00:46:29.08\00:46:30.42
You just said, okay,
I am just but, that...
00:46:30.49\00:46:33.02
To be a leader, you have
to have people around you,
00:46:33.05\00:46:36.39
you have to have a team.
00:46:36.42\00:46:38.69
Learn to work with people.
00:46:38.73\00:46:40.60
So I see three
different aspects,
00:46:40.63\00:46:42.16
we're gonna to divide it
00:46:42.20\00:46:43.53
into the three
different aspects.
00:46:43.57\00:46:44.90
First, Nehemiah worked
with an unbelieving king.
00:46:44.93\00:46:48.04
Second, Nehemiah worked
with a demoralized Jews.
00:46:48.07\00:46:52.51
That's where we spend
the balance of our time
00:46:52.54\00:46:54.58
because that's my
lesson, verses 11 through 20.
00:46:54.61\00:46:57.35
And third, Nehemiah
worked with his enemies.
00:46:57.41\00:47:00.78
So we're gonna
divide the lesson up
00:47:00.85\00:47:02.18
into three portions.
00:47:02.22\00:47:03.55
First, he worked
with an unbelieving king.
00:47:03.59\00:47:07.22
As Shelley talked
about, and Mollie talked about,
00:47:07.29\00:47:10.99
he moved the
king through prayer.
00:47:11.03\00:47:13.83
I love that.
00:47:13.86\00:47:15.16
I think the prayer
in Nehemiah Chapter 1,
00:47:15.20\00:47:17.20
Miss Mollie, set
up the king's response
00:47:17.27\00:47:20.24
in Nehemiah Chapter 2.
00:47:20.27\00:47:21.94
And not only did
that prayer in Nehemiah 1,
00:47:21.97\00:47:24.81
but the four months time
between Nehemiah Chapter 1
00:47:24.84\00:47:28.44
and Nehemiah Chapter 2,
00:47:28.48\00:47:29.81
and he actually
made his request.
00:47:29.84\00:47:32.65
I think Nehemiah everyday
petitioned the throne of grace.
00:47:32.68\00:47:35.82
Every day he prayed about this.
00:47:35.85\00:47:39.02
He had a consistent prayer life.
00:47:39.05\00:47:41.72
Not only that,
00:47:41.76\00:47:43.09
he knew how to present a
specific petition before God,
00:47:43.12\00:47:46.70
just when the time was right.
00:47:46.73\00:47:48.03
Not only had he been
praying for four months,
00:47:48.06\00:47:49.80
and he fasted and
prayed, it says in Nehemiah 1.
00:47:49.83\00:47:52.97
But when the king
said, "What is your request?"
00:47:53.00\00:47:54.74
What does he say?
00:47:54.77\00:47:56.10
He sent up a quick
prayer, a petition, as you said.
00:47:56.14\00:47:59.37
Help, God, a
quick prayer right then.
00:47:59.41\00:48:02.94
He knew how to pray.
00:48:02.98\00:48:04.78
He moved the
king through prayer.
00:48:04.81\00:48:06.75
He gained respect
through consistency and loyalty.
00:48:06.78\00:48:09.68
I love what you
talked about, Shelley.
00:48:09.72\00:48:11.05
He said, never had I been sad
before in the king's presence.
00:48:11.09\00:48:14.56
He was consistent.
00:48:14.59\00:48:15.92
I don't know
about you, Pastor John,
00:48:15.96\00:48:17.29
but there's some people
00:48:17.36\00:48:18.69
that every day
you say good morning,
00:48:18.73\00:48:20.06
and you don't know how
they're gonna be that day.
00:48:20.13\00:48:22.13
Some days they might say,
"Oh, I'm doing really great."
00:48:22.16\00:48:24.93
And the next day,
"Well, I'm just struggling
00:48:24.97\00:48:28.17
and I'm having such a hard day."
00:48:28.20\00:48:30.21
Right?
00:48:30.24\00:48:31.57
But Nehemiah was consistent
00:48:31.61\00:48:34.31
in his Christian
witness before the king.
00:48:34.34\00:48:37.78
The third thing I see,
00:48:37.81\00:48:39.15
when he was working
with the unbelieving king,
00:48:39.18\00:48:41.15
is that he spoke
with tact and respect.
00:48:41.18\00:48:44.95
Nehemiah 2:3,
it's interesting to me
00:48:44.99\00:48:47.56
that he did not
mention Jerusalem by name.
00:48:47.59\00:48:50.43
We know that
Artaxerxes had put this decree.
00:48:50.46\00:48:54.00
And he didn't
even mention Jerusalem.
00:48:54.00\00:48:55.63
He didn't say, you know,
what, I want to go to Jerusalem
00:48:55.66\00:48:57.90
and he didn't even mention that.
00:48:57.93\00:48:59.57
He appealed to
the king's emotions,
00:48:59.60\00:49:01.74
and what you
already referenced, Shelley,
00:49:01.77\00:49:03.37
as far as the Persian kings
00:49:03.44\00:49:04.77
and what they thought
00:49:04.81\00:49:06.14
of with the, the
honoring of the dead.
00:49:06.17\00:49:08.34
So he said, "Why should
my face be sad when the city,
00:49:08.38\00:49:11.11
the place of my
fathers' tombs lies waste
00:49:11.15\00:49:13.18
and its gates are
burned with fire?"
00:49:13.21\00:49:15.65
So he appealed to
the king's emotions.
00:49:15.68\00:49:17.69
He spoke with tact and respect.
00:49:17.72\00:49:22.06
How did he work
with the demoralized Jews
00:49:22.09\00:49:26.26
when he got there to Jerusalem?
00:49:26.29\00:49:29.46
The Jews in Jerusalem
clearly believed in God.
00:49:29.50\00:49:32.27
But they were discouraged.
00:49:32.30\00:49:33.94
The walls were destroyed,
00:49:33.97\00:49:35.57
the gates had
been burned with fire,
00:49:35.60\00:49:38.11
and they were discouraged.
00:49:38.14\00:49:40.08
How did he work with them?
00:49:40.11\00:49:41.44
I see five ways
that he worked with them.
00:49:41.48\00:49:43.45
Number one, he took time
00:49:43.48\00:49:45.65
and considered the
matter before acting.
00:49:45.68\00:49:49.08
You know, rash
leaders act before they think.
00:49:49.12\00:49:52.32
And they speak
before they think.
00:49:52.35\00:49:55.26
Wait before making a decision.
00:49:55.29\00:49:57.46
Sometimes you
need to jump right in
00:49:57.53\00:49:59.09
and do something but other times
00:49:59.13\00:50:00.83
you need to wait
before making a decision.
00:50:00.90\00:50:03.93
Nehemiah 2:11,
we already read it.
00:50:03.97\00:50:06.17
I came to Jerusalem and
it was there three days.
00:50:06.20\00:50:08.17
So he waited three days.
00:50:08.20\00:50:09.67
He took time and considered
the matter before he acted.
00:50:09.70\00:50:13.58
Second thing he
kept things confidential
00:50:13.64\00:50:16.38
until the time was right.
00:50:16.41\00:50:18.25
The next verse, verse 12.
00:50:18.28\00:50:20.18
"Then I arose in the
night, I and a few men with me.
00:50:20.22\00:50:23.18
I told no one what my God
00:50:23.22\00:50:25.45
had put in my heart
to do at Jerusalem."
00:50:25.49\00:50:27.52
That's right.
00:50:27.56\00:50:28.89
"Nor was there
any animal with me,
00:50:28.92\00:50:30.43
except the one on which I rode."
00:50:30.49\00:50:32.33
Now jump down to verse 16.
00:50:32.36\00:50:34.93
"And the officials did
not know where I had gone,
00:50:34.93\00:50:37.67
or what I had done.
00:50:37.70\00:50:39.07
I had not yet told the
Jews, the priests, the nobles,
00:50:39.10\00:50:42.20
the officials, or the
others who did the work."
00:50:42.24\00:50:45.27
So it's interesting to me
00:50:45.31\00:50:46.64
that he didn't
even tell the leadership
00:50:46.71\00:50:48.24
what he was wanting to do.
00:50:48.28\00:50:49.61
He didn't tell anybody.
00:50:49.64\00:50:51.01
You would think you
would tell your cabinet, right?
00:50:51.05\00:50:53.85
Your closest confidants.
00:50:53.88\00:50:55.68
You would think
you would tell them,
00:50:55.72\00:50:57.72
but yet, he didn't tell them.
00:50:57.75\00:50:59.59
You don't need to
tell all you know.
00:50:59.62\00:51:01.29
Sometimes you don't need
to tell anything you know.
00:51:01.32\00:51:03.83
All right.
00:51:03.86\00:51:05.19
There's a great need to know
when to keep your mouth shut
00:51:05.23\00:51:07.66
when you're a leader.
00:51:07.66\00:51:09.43
There's a great
need for confidentiality,
00:51:09.46\00:51:11.67
whether it is in the
church, to keep your mouth shut,
00:51:11.70\00:51:14.64
or in a place of
work or in a ministry.
00:51:14.67\00:51:17.67
Yes. Number three.
00:51:17.71\00:51:19.24
He investigated
the issues thoroughly
00:51:19.27\00:51:22.14
before he made a decision.
00:51:22.18\00:51:24.75
Let's read verses 13 through 15.
00:51:24.78\00:51:27.18
Nehemiah 2:13-15.
00:51:27.22\00:51:29.45
"I went out by night
00:51:29.48\00:51:30.85
through the Valley
Gate to the Serpent.
00:51:30.89\00:51:32.22
Well and the Refuse Gate,
00:51:32.25\00:51:33.92
and viewed the
walls of Jerusalem
00:51:33.96\00:51:35.29
which were broken down
00:51:35.32\00:51:36.66
and its gates which
were burned with fire.
00:51:36.69\00:51:38.06
Then I went on
to the Fountain Gate
00:51:38.09\00:51:39.53
and to the King's Pool,
00:51:39.56\00:51:40.90
but there was no room
00:51:40.93\00:51:42.23
for the animal under me to pass.
00:51:42.26\00:51:43.60
So I went up in the
night by the valley,
00:51:43.63\00:51:44.97
and viewed the wall,
00:51:45.00\00:51:46.33
then I turned back and
entered by the Valley Gate,
00:51:46.37\00:51:47.90
and so returned."
00:51:47.94\00:51:49.94
Don't make a decision
before having all the facts.
00:51:49.97\00:51:52.74
And it's very interesting to me.
00:51:52.77\00:51:54.64
Sometimes, as a leader,
you need to see the situation
00:51:54.68\00:51:57.48
for yourself and not
just depend on your counselors
00:51:57.51\00:52:00.35
or people who are around you
00:52:00.42\00:52:02.88
to apprize you of the situation.
00:52:02.92\00:52:05.32
He could have said, I'm
gonna go to the leaders,
00:52:05.35\00:52:07.56
the high priest.
00:52:07.59\00:52:08.92
I'm gonna go to the nobles,
00:52:08.96\00:52:10.93
and I'll have them tell
me what's going on here.
00:52:10.96\00:52:13.16
But he went out himself
and investigated thoroughly
00:52:13.19\00:52:16.93
before making a decision.
00:52:16.97\00:52:18.30
Number four, he
involved others in the decision.
00:52:18.33\00:52:22.54
Verses 17 and 18.
00:52:22.57\00:52:24.34
"I said to them,"
this is to the leaders now.
00:52:24.37\00:52:26.64
"You see the
distress that we are in,
00:52:26.68\00:52:28.38
how Jerusalem lies waste,
00:52:28.41\00:52:29.88
and its gates
are burned with fire,
00:52:29.91\00:52:31.85
come, and let us
build the wall of Jerusalem,
00:52:31.88\00:52:34.45
that we may no
longer be of a reproach.
00:52:34.48\00:52:36.58
And I told them
of the hand of my God
00:52:36.65\00:52:38.35
which had been good upon me,
00:52:38.39\00:52:40.52
and also of the king's
words that he had spoken to me.
00:52:40.56\00:52:43.06
So they said, let
us rise up and build."
00:52:43.09\00:52:47.03
He communicated
to them a vision.
00:52:47.10\00:52:49.40
They caught the vision.
00:52:49.43\00:52:51.57
And then they felt like
they could come alongside
00:52:51.60\00:52:53.87
and they wanted
to do it themselves.
00:52:53.90\00:52:56.04
True leaders
communicate a vision,
00:52:56.07\00:52:57.71
they invite other people
00:52:57.74\00:52:59.07
to participate with that vision.
00:52:59.11\00:53:01.61
They encourage others.
00:53:01.64\00:53:02.98
And true leaders
always point to God,
00:53:03.01\00:53:05.98
never to self.
00:53:06.01\00:53:07.35
That's right.
00:53:07.42\00:53:08.75
Never to glorify themselves.
00:53:08.78\00:53:10.32
Finally, we looked at Nehemiah
00:53:10.39\00:53:11.85
working with an
unbelieving king,
00:53:11.89\00:53:13.69
Nehemiah working
with a demoralized Jews.
00:53:13.76\00:53:15.89
Finally, in my remaining time,
00:53:15.92\00:53:17.43
Nehemiah worked
with his enemies.
00:53:17.46\00:53:21.46
Pastor John already laid out
who those three enemies were.
00:53:21.50\00:53:24.73
Verse 20, Nehemiah 2:20.
00:53:24.77\00:53:26.70
"I answered them,
and said unto them,
00:53:26.74\00:53:28.74
'The God of heaven
himself will prosper us,
00:53:28.77\00:53:32.41
therefore we are his servants,
00:53:32.44\00:53:34.44
will arise and build,
00:53:34.48\00:53:36.58
but ye have no
heritage or right,
00:53:36.61\00:53:39.21
or memorial, in Jerusalem.'''
00:53:39.25\00:53:41.98
Straight.
00:53:42.02\00:53:43.35
Have you ever been laughed at
or despised or falsely accused?
00:53:43.39\00:53:46.92
I'm sure we all have been.
00:53:46.96\00:53:48.72
True leaders are not
afraid to speak the truth.
00:53:48.76\00:53:52.93
They know when to speak
and when to keep silent.
00:53:52.96\00:53:54.86
They know when
to work with people
00:53:54.93\00:53:56.73
as Nehemiah worked
with the unbelieving king.
00:53:56.80\00:53:58.93
Nehemiah worked with
the demoralized Jews.
00:53:58.97\00:54:02.64
But Nehemiah
stood up and confronted
00:54:02.67\00:54:05.24
and opposed the enemies.
00:54:05.27\00:54:07.28
Yes.
00:54:07.31\00:54:08.64
There's a time
to not compromise.
00:54:08.68\00:54:11.08
There's a time to
put your trust in God
00:54:11.11\00:54:13.65
and proclaim that to others.
00:54:13.72\00:54:15.68
Pastor Kenny? Amen.
00:54:15.72\00:54:17.29
Praise the Lord,
that covered well.
00:54:17.32\00:54:19.19
Each one of you covered well.
00:54:19.22\00:54:20.56
Good information that sometime
I don't think that we would get
00:54:20.59\00:54:23.46
if you just kind of
thumbed over, you know.
00:54:23.53\00:54:26.36
This is like
digging for hidden treasure.
00:54:26.39\00:54:28.10
And I know you folks
have been doing that.
00:54:28.13\00:54:30.73
Then I pray this,
rung a spiritual bail
00:54:30.77\00:54:33.84
for the people out
there to encourage them
00:54:33.90\00:54:36.67
to get right in
there and start studying
00:54:36.71\00:54:38.27
and show
themselves approved unto God.
00:54:38.31\00:54:40.14
So with all this
information, right...
00:54:40.18\00:54:42.81
Yeah, I know you got
a lot of things dancing
00:54:42.84\00:54:44.35
through your head right now.
00:54:44.38\00:54:45.71
But we've got three
minutes or so enough time
00:54:45.75\00:54:47.48
that we can go around
and some of the things
00:54:47.52\00:54:50.05
that maybe at least one thing
00:54:50.09\00:54:51.42
that Holy Spirit
just impressed you
00:54:51.45\00:54:52.95
with that would help us.
00:54:52.99\00:54:54.32
Let's just go around the
table, what God has to say.
00:54:54.36\00:54:57.59
When God lays it on your heart
to come before Him in prayer.
00:54:57.63\00:55:03.77
Let's follow Nehemiah's outline,
00:55:03.80\00:55:06.30
this template that he gave us.
00:55:06.33\00:55:07.67
Don't just go
insane, help God, help.
00:55:07.70\00:55:10.61
Let's go in
recognizing who He is,
00:55:10.64\00:55:13.88
recognizing that
without Him, we are nothing.
00:55:13.91\00:55:16.95
That's right.
00:55:16.98\00:55:18.31
Put Him in
remembrance of His word,
00:55:18.35\00:55:19.68
then it's time to say,
"Oh, God, I need Your help."
00:55:19.71\00:55:22.62
And remember, God
will always be there.
00:55:22.65\00:55:25.45
There's that but,
00:55:25.49\00:55:26.86
but Hewill always
be there to bring us
00:55:26.89\00:55:29.96
into that right
relationship with Him.
00:55:30.03\00:55:31.56
Amen. Amen.
00:55:31.59\00:55:32.93
I'm just thinking
that, to build up yours.
00:55:32.96\00:55:35.10
When you recognize how
great and awesome God is,
00:55:35.13\00:55:38.83
then you can pray
without putting God in a box.
00:55:38.87\00:55:43.61
Sometimes we pray
little bitty prayers.
00:55:43.67\00:55:47.04
And God wants...
00:55:47.08\00:55:48.41
You know, He gives,
wants to get a big vision.
00:55:48.44\00:55:50.55
And when God does
give you the vision,
00:55:50.61\00:55:53.15
even though you're prayed up,
00:55:53.18\00:55:54.52
you noticed that Nehemiah prayed
00:55:54.55\00:55:55.98
when he was in front of the...
00:55:56.02\00:55:57.35
I mean, silently,
spontaneously before the king.
00:55:57.39\00:56:00.39
But he was emboldened to ask
for everything that he needed.
00:56:00.42\00:56:05.63
Amen.
00:56:05.66\00:56:07.30
The call of God
is always general.
00:56:07.36\00:56:10.50
The response is always personal.
00:56:10.57\00:56:12.30
Oh, that's good. It's good.
00:56:12.33\00:56:13.67
You know, when Isaiah
6:8, in this there was a call.
00:56:13.74\00:56:17.31
Nehemiah was sent
because he responded.
00:56:17.34\00:56:19.41
Amen.
00:56:19.44\00:56:20.78
When Isaiah writes these words,
00:56:20.81\00:56:22.14
and I heard the
voice of the Lord saying,
00:56:22.18\00:56:23.85
whom shall I send?
00:56:23.88\00:56:26.01
And who will go for us?
00:56:26.05\00:56:27.42
Then I said, the
personal response,
00:56:27.45\00:56:29.68
here I am, send me.
00:56:29.72\00:56:31.25
That's good.
00:56:31.29\00:56:32.62
Amen. Amen.
00:56:32.65\00:56:33.99
This lesson
challenged me personally,
00:56:34.06\00:56:35.39
because I believe God
wants us to work with everyone.
00:56:35.42\00:56:38.46
And God wants us to reach
out and to love other people
00:56:38.49\00:56:42.90
and to learn to work with them.
00:56:42.93\00:56:44.50
But there is a time
00:56:44.53\00:56:46.20
that we need to
stand up for truth.
00:56:46.23\00:56:48.30
Amen. Amen.
00:56:48.34\00:56:49.97
Hallelujah. What
a balance, right?
00:56:50.01\00:56:51.77
God's Word gives us that balance
00:56:51.81\00:56:53.34
if we just read it,
00:56:53.38\00:56:54.71
that the Holy Spirit work
in our hearts, in our life.
00:56:54.74\00:56:56.38
I found little,
this little quick article
00:56:56.41\00:56:58.21
was in the Review and Herald.
00:56:58.25\00:57:01.18
I think it was in 1904.
00:57:01.22\00:57:03.12
No Sabbath School Workers, 1904.
00:57:03.15\00:57:05.39
And it started out,
we need Nehemiahs today.
00:57:05.42\00:57:08.49
See, we need
Nehemiahs in the church,
00:57:08.52\00:57:10.76
we need Nehemiahs, not
just because they can pray,
00:57:10.79\00:57:15.50
not because they can just teach.
00:57:15.53\00:57:17.73
But I thought it's
very interesting here,
00:57:17.77\00:57:19.57
that man that would...
00:57:19.60\00:57:21.07
It's eager to jump into
what God calls him to do.
00:57:21.10\00:57:25.17
You know, you can
pray and you can...
00:57:25.21\00:57:26.81
All these are important things.
00:57:26.88\00:57:28.38
But when God calls you to do,
00:57:28.41\00:57:30.38
you know, just grab hold of that
00:57:30.45\00:57:31.78
and thank God for that.
00:57:31.81\00:57:33.15
Nehemiahs today in the world
00:57:33.18\00:57:35.02
who will arouse
the people of God.
00:57:35.05\00:57:37.92
I don't know about
you, but I feel like,
00:57:37.95\00:57:39.42
you know, we live in a
time that we need to be aroused.
00:57:39.45\00:57:41.72
Yes. Amen.
00:57:41.76\00:57:43.09
And every time I
thought about Nehemiah,
00:57:43.12\00:57:44.96
I thought about Ezra and
Isaiah different ones, they...
00:57:44.99\00:57:48.36
When God called them
to rouse the people out,
00:57:48.40\00:57:50.63
that means out of asleep,
and I don't want to be asleep.
00:57:50.67\00:57:53.20
I believe we're near the
time of the end Jesus come,
00:57:53.23\00:57:55.44
we need to be ready?
00:57:55.47\00:57:56.81
I just want to thank
you for joining us here
00:57:56.87\00:57:58.21
at Sabbath School Panel.
00:57:58.24\00:57:59.57
We love you.
00:57:59.61\00:58:01.01
We look forward to
seeing you next time.
00:58:01.04\00:58:02.38