Back on Track - Nehemiah 2:9 - 3:32 (Sept 29) Myles Holmes

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the Spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Father, we bow in your presence and God, having just sung these words, that every chance we get, we bless your name.

Lord, we confess that, God, I confess, so many moments where I should have praised you, but I pursued idolatry and worldliness.

And yet, Lord, here we are again on a Sunday morning, as your church, as your people fallen, broken, in need of redemption, and yet in your presence.

And so, God, we are here this morning to say, God, we don't deserve this.

Thank you for being with us.

And God, we rejoice to be in your presence this morning.

We're reminded of a psalmist who said, A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

And God, by faith, we your people, Lord, we believe that this morning.

That God, to hear a single word from you is greater than all the knowledge that we could ever possess in the world.

And so, God, we are richly blessed this morning to be able to open up your word and hear from you.

And God, we pray that you would find your people hungry, Lord, hungry to hear from you, ready, receptive to what the Spirit might do, expectant, Lord, that you might grow and change and transform our lives from one degree of glory to another.

And so, Lord, we're here for you.

Glorify your name in our midst, God.

We pray this all in the name of your Son.

Amen.

If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do, you can open them up to Nehemiah chapter 2, verse 9.

Nehemiah 2:9

I don't know about you, but when I came to Christ, I wasn't totally prepared for all of the ups and downs that I would experience.

I came with faith, I came with belief, but if I was to sort of chart my growth from that day forward, I think it would have been a lot straighter of a line than it has been.

You say the same?

I wasn't prepared for how suffering would at times shipwreck my faith.

I wasn't prepared for how when things were going well, apathy would sort of creep into my life.

I certainly wasn't prepared for sin struggles that would take months and even years to battle.

I don't know why, but for whatever reason, the ups and downs have come as to a surprise, as a surprise to me.

It's like this for all of us, isn't it?

If your growth in Jesus is a straight line from beginning to end, it's likely because you're the thief on the cross and you just didn't have any time to really experience life before going to heaven.

But so long as we are on this earth, the reality is that there's really great lows and there's great highs in our life.

With that in mind, I think we can understand this statement that true maturity is not really that you don't have ups and downs.

True maturity recognizes that our relationship with the Lord is gonna be like a roller coaster at times.

True maturity really is when you are able with greater speed to restore yourself when you've fallen.

True maturity is getting back on the path quicker and quicker every time.

And so maturity is not really about like not ever messing up, not being a sinner at all.

Of course, that's it, as you grow in holiness.

But what maturity is really about is knowing the resources that are available to you in the gospel so that when you do fall down so quickly you reach out your hand, you reach for Christ, and you find gospel restoration.

This gospel truth should be refreshing to us this morning as we come before God's word to hear this: that maybe this week has been horrible for you.

Maybe you feel even like right now you're in this place where you're far from the Lord, where you're off the path, you know that he's calling you to live a certain way and you're not living that way.

And yet the the gospel reminds us that even in our worst moment, God is for us.

That when you and I fall, God isn't in heaven looking at us saying, How you did it again.

How could you do that?

You know, I find it interesting that sometimes we don't, you know, assume that God has the grace that even we do.

You know, as a parent, I've got young children, and never once have I looked at my children, you know, as they've been learning how to walk in these new bodies that are sort of freshly growing.

When they fall, I don't look at them and say, How dare you ever do that?

You should already know how to walk.

And here is God with us as we are learning what it means to be a transformed Christian, and our walk is not always perfect.

It's like the walk of a toddler stumbling here, tripping there, supermanning across the yard.

God is filled with grace this morning to reach out his hand and pick us up.

That's why I love the name of this church.

Isn't it great?

Redemption church.

That's it's like only one step away from like broken church, sinner church, messed up people church.

There's this reminder that this it's not like redeemed church, it's not like we're all totally there.

It's redemption.

When you walk in these doors, you're not finding perfect people.

You are finding people who are in progress, you are finding people who, for very much of their lives, they spend them their their time scratching their heads, wondering how they could walk in such foolishness and wanting to be transformed and grown into the grace and light of Jesus Christ.

You find here people in need of redemption.

In other words, this is what we're saying.

If the Spirit has stirred this desire for growth in your heart, one of the most important things you can learn is how to get back on track when your life goes sideways.

In Nehemiah 2, what we find is a picture of a godly example of Nehemiah who will lead Israel back to the place they should have always been.

And what you and I find is really a step-by-step process for restoration.

What you and I find is this sort of guidebook that Nehemiah is writing for us on how to get back on track.

Here's Nehemiah in chapter two, having been sent from Persia, he's standing before Jerusalem, he sees Jerusalem's walls and ruins.

And by the end of chapter three, he will have fabricated a plan that will be executed and the walls will be restored.

And the question for us is this: how do I get that, Lord?

How do I get back on track with the plan that you have for my life?

How, when when I have fallen so far away from you, do I get back to the work that you want to do in my life?

Leah Mia is showing us the godly example of getting back on track.

But before we get into that, I just have this sense that some of us need to take a moment right now and just recognize that this could be a pivotal moment for us.

I want you to understand this morning I'm preaching this with expectancy, trusting that some of you have, you need to hear this because right now you're you just understand my my life is not the way that it needs to be.

And even as we think about this, there should be this sort of sobriety that comes to your mind to recognize, like, Lord, what you are saying right now, I need to hear.

What you are speaking through your word, like by your sovereignty, God, even in this moment in your heart, God, thank you for having me here.

I need this, I need to get back on track.

I have this expectancy right now that the Spirit is gonna meet some people this morning and filled with grace and mercy, call you back to the path that you need to be walking on.

That means that you and I need to be sitting with this sense of God.

What do you have for me?

God, if your word this morning is a scalpel, then let me be willing for you to press it deeply into me so that you can do what you want to do.

Well, here Nehemiah is showing us a godly example of getting back on track.

Let's see the plan then.

Here's step one.

As you get back on track, the first thing you need to do is assess the damage.

You need to assess the damage.

Last week we left Nehemiah chapter two with a picture of Nehemiah's brokenness.

When Nehemiah heard that the kingdom of God was not advancing, the way that God had called his people to run with it, he was broken.

And for days he was mourning and fasting, so that even months later, when he was in the presence of the king, and the whole king's court is partying and filled with the joy that can that comes from worldly comfort, Nehemiah's there and he's still saddened by the lack of progress he's seeing in the people of God.

Nehemiah was deeply broken, but we also saw God's amazing grace that meets us in our brokenness and moves us to make things right.

And so I'm very aware over these last two weeks.

You know, two weeks ago, we were finishing Ezra and we had a message on repentance, and you could sense, especially from my position, where you can see everyone, this that the spirit's moving.

There's this sense of brokenness over where we are and our constant need for repentance.

And then last week we're talking about purpose, and again, this sense of brokenness of just this settling reality for myself as well, that we don't always live on mission for God and we need to.

And that's a good thing for us to let that brokenness settle in, but then with great hope in the gospel, lift up our eyes and say, God, what would you have me do?

This isn't a pity party.

It's not time to just relish in the shame that we experience.

It's time to say, God, by your grace, would you move me to where I need to be?

This is what God did through Nehemiah.

He looked to God and he said, Use me.

Now, when you find yourself in that place where you're ready to make things right, something always happens.

Something, it is a sure rule in your life that whenever you look to God and you say, Okay, God, it's time to make things right, something will always happen, and that is that you will face opposition.

That's exactly what Nehemiah faces in verse 9.

Look what it says.

There then I came to the governors of the province beyond the river.

He's making his way down to Jerusalem and gave them the king's letters.

Now the king had sent me with officers of the army and horsemen.

But when Sanbalat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

Nehemiah coming from Persia to Jerusalem is like when you were a kid and you know your parents told you to tell your brothers to or sisters to obey the word that they had given, and you come with this rule from mom and dad, hey, you better listen to me.

That never goes well.

Listen, I'm a youngest kid, I know that never goes well.

The messenger is always shot.

And here is Nehemiah with the king's order to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem.

And when Sanbalit and Tobiah hear of it, of course they're greatly displeased.

Why?

Because, well, they're the the politicians of that area.

Their job is to maintain rule in that area, and here is Nehemiah coming to restore Jerusalem and Israel to power, and they've been working to keep Israel weak.

They've been very happy that the temple hasn't been built.

They've been very happy that the walls have been torn down.

And so, of course, when the Nehemiah comes with orders to build the kingdom of Jerusalem and ultimately the kingdom of God, then of course they're greatly displeased.

Their desire is to maintain control, and so they stand in opposition to the work that Nehemiah wants to do by the order of God.

And you need to understand that anytime you stand in obedience to God's command, you are standing on enemy territory.

This is so important.

Any step that you take towards obedience, you are not taking in neutral territory.

You're not even taking in friendly territory, you are taking in enemy territory.

Satan hates it when you make commitments of faith to live for the kingdom of God.

He will always stand in opposition to you.

This is why it's so hard.

Have you ever wondered why worldliness is so easy and godliness is so difficult?

It's because you are under spiritual warfare and every step you take towards God is lit up on Satan's sonar so that he knows what you're doing and he's after your destruction.

Paul says this for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present age, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

It's not easy.

It's filled with opposition.

But obedience is necessary.

It must be done.

And so you and I, having experienced movement of the Spirit, desiring repentance, desiring to live with purpose, we take this step, but we you need to recognize that as soon as you seek to make your life right, it will be faced with opposition.

But we move forward.

This is exactly what Nehemiah does.

Notice that Nehemiah, then in verse 11, it says, So I went to Jerusalem and was there for three days.

Then I arose in the night, and I and a few men with me, and I told no one what God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem.

There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.

And then you'll notice that he goes in verse 13, 14, and 15, he goes across around the wall and surveys the destruction that had come to it, so that he could really understand how dire the situation is.

You need to understand what has Nehemiah done?

Well, he's just turned in from the cupbearer of the king to really a city advisor.

Now he's he's he's leading the project of rebuilding the wall.

And as he leads Israel, this is an incredibly difficult task.

And so we understand why he doesn't want, you know, San Balad and Tobiah to understand to know what he's doing.

He doesn't want the people who are in the land to think that Jerusalem is sort of doing this rebellion, this uprising that's gonna take over and crush all of the enemies of Jerusalem.

And he doesn't even tell the people of Israel because when he comes to Israel, he wants to have a plan of what it's gonna look like to rebuild the wall.

And so then what he does is in the night, he he does this survey of the destruction of the wall of Jerusalem.

And you could understand that each time he saw another gate destroyed, it would be like a piercing arrow to his heart.

He's looking at the failure of God's people.

The reason this wall is in ruins is because of the sins of Israel, because they were exiled by Babylon, and Babylon destroyed the temple and the walls, and here he is staring over the ruins.

You and I can draw an incredibly important principle from this, and that's that in any way that God wants to advance the kingdom of God in your life, the first necessary step is you come to an understanding of what sin has done really to destroy your life.

Before God can move in your life, you need to assess the damage of sin's consequence in your life.

I love what one Puritan says.

He says, until sin is bitter, Christ will not be sweet.

And so I ask you this morning, do you see the destruction that sin brings?

Are you aware of the damage that your sin is doing right now to the lives of those people around you?

Are you aware of the way that sin is robbing you of the joy that you seek?

Are you aware of the way that sin robs you of the peace that you long for?

This is sin's destruction.

And you and I need to reflect on the reality that sin is constantly stealing from us.

And so a wise Christian right now, even in this moment, as you seek to hear God through his word, what a wise Christian does is recognize that because you and I are not perfect, sin is a disease right now that's ravaging us.

And so we're not looking at our life saying, no, I think I'm pretty good.

We recognize that so long as we're not in heaven, sin is having some sort of effect.

Sin is a disease that is wreaking some sort of havoc in your life.

And our our thoughts then is this we look to God and we say, God help me.

God help me, show the damage that it's doing.

Isn't this the worst thing to be on a battlefield and assume that that field is peaceful?

That is the worst thing because you're walking around thinking that everything is okay.

And this is why Peter says, be weary, because the adversary prowls around like a lion seeking your destruction.

And so you walk on the field and you look in the bushes because the lion's not out in the open.

He's hiding, awaiting your destruction.

And so I ask you, are you assessing the damage?

Listen, sin is sin is foolish, is it not?

I mean, you and I, we can see that about other people's sin, can't we?

It's so clear.

You know, we look to our spouse and we say, your sin is so foolish, you are just a fool.

But then when we look at ourselves, don't we give ourselves so much more grace?

Oh, you know, it's not that bad.

My sin's not that it's not that destructive.

And God wants us to take a step back and recognize this that so long as we remain in this world, sin is present in our life.

That means that we are struggling with foolish desires.

You lash out in anger.

It's right to pause and ask yourself this question: what did I do?

Why did I think this was justified?

You seek satisfaction from your coworkers, from your spouse, from your peers.

It's right to remind yourself this will never satisfy, it will only drag me deeper and deeper down a path of destruction.

We need these constant moments of honesty.

That's why when Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, he's completely forthright with Israel.

I love what he says in verse 17.

Look, he says, I said to them, This is Israel, you see the trouble we're in.

How Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned.

Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision.

I mean, that's some archaic language.

What Nehemiah is really saying is, hey, listen, guys, we're the laughing stock.

Listen, guys, how is Jerusalem?

How are the walls still in crumbles?

Let's get ourselves together.

Let's take a look at what is happening and move.

We're an embarrassment.

I want you to notice though, Nehemiah is unwilling to remain in a state of despair.

He takes a night to assess the damage, and after tasting the bitterness of sin, he refuses to stay there.

And this is what I want you to understand that that because of the gospel, we are allowed to see ourselves as we truly are.

Isn't that amazing?

The gospel allows you that the grace and love and forgiveness that are in Jesus Christ allow you to take off the mask, to look in the mirror, and not be scared by the horrible picture of sin and ugliness you see.

That's what the gospel does, because the gospel says whatever you see, when you see the true darkness of your heart, whatever you see, the grace of God is still deeper than that.

The mercies of God are still rich and overflowing, no matter how ugly it gets.

It's just a beautiful reality.

Because you know what legalism does?

Legalism says never show your weak side.

Legalism says it's all about how good can I make myself look for God.

I better sweep some things under the rug, and I better put some things on the trophy case that really reveal how good I am.

And you see, religion says this I need to live in constant fear of God.

I need to hide the right things and put forth the right things, and Christianity.

Christianity, the gospel says this, I can be who I am with God, and I am loved, and I am accepted by God.

So then there's actually this excitement to come to God with the ugliness of our sin and see that Jesus in uncovering says this, I can make this right.

See, some of us we need to hear this because we find ourselves trapped in this constant cycle of shame and we constantly focus on the destruction sin has had in our life.

We know it's terrible, but we never actually move on.

And what is so necessary in that moment is a that the fresh wind of the gospel blows in your sails and tells you it doesn't matter how long you've been off the path, it doesn't matter how bad it's gotten off the path.

In fact, the longer you've been away, isn't this the prodigal son?

The longer you've been away, the more your life is like a pig and you're eating from the trough of slop and mud, the more eager when you return is Jesus to open up his arms and receive you.

And so listen, some of you guys, you've been so far away for so long.

And this morning, for the joy of Jesus, would you just return to him and say, God, I want to follow you?

Jesus, he loves this.

He loves this.

We need to assess the damage.

The second thing we need to do is make a plan.

Make a plan.

Notice that this the whole chapter is really about Nehemiah surveying the wall, speaking to God's people, and making a plan to restore Jerusalem to its working order.

And so having spoken to the people and saying, Hey, listen, we're the laughing stock.

Verse 18, he says, I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me.

And they said, Let us rise up and build.

So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

As a leader of the reconstruction of Jerusalem, Nehemiah needed to see the walls first.

He had to understand exactly what was required.

You understand the practical element of this, of building anything.

He needed to know the blueprint.

He needed to know exactly what was necessary in order to present a plan for rebuilding.

And notice that he does this by beginning with reminding Israel that the hand of God had been on him for his good.

This is so important for you and I.

We find ourselves in this place where we have fallen before the Lord, we're off the path.

What moves us from this cycle of shame over our sin to a hope, this gospel-infused, spirit-led hope for restoration?

It is the belief that no one is more invested in your growth than God Himself.

That no one is more behind you as a fan of your pursuit of godliness and obedience than God is himself.

This is so crucial.

That at the moment of our deepest lostness, God wants to hear from us.

In fact, the more lost you feel, the more compassionate and gentle is the heart of Jesus to meet you in your lostness.

This is what Jesus' heart is for, it's for lost people.

You know, I love.

You ever driven with someone or walked with someone who just loves puppies?

That they just can't get over puppies.

It doesn't matter how serious of a conversation you are in with a puppy lover, they will stop you with this huge gasp.

Look at that puppy.

Stop the car, get out, take a picture of that puppy.

It is so beautiful.

Everything stops when a puppy is in the room, right?

And let me speak to the men.

Maybe that was an illustration that struck with you.

You know, we love sports.

And if you love your wife, maybe I shouldn't say if because I'm gonna get some of you in trouble, but when you go to a on a date with her in the restaurant, what do you do?

Well, the TV is there and you sit here.

Because you have a heart for sports, and if that game is on, it's gonna be incredibly hard to pay attention to your wife in that moment, and so you have a greater heart for your wife, and so you're not gonna tempt yourself with something else that you have a heart for because you'll be drawn to it.

You know what Jesus has a heart for?

You in your lostness, you in your lostness.

You know what Jesus hates?

The people who think they have it all together.

Isn't this what God says?

He he opposes the what?

The proud.

He opposes the proud.

Church, do you believe those words?

It's so clear.

God opposes the proud.

What does he do to the people who have taken off the mask and they say, God, listen, I'm not much.

I'm actually a pretty big mess.

He gives grace to the humble.

God, Jesus' heart is for the lost.

The more lost you are when you come to him, the more eager he is to drop everything in order to draw near to you.

God cannot resist your brokenness.

David wrote this in Psalm 51.

This is so bold.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.

Oh God, you will not despise.

God will not despise a broken heart.

He will not turn away a broken and contrite heart.

And so listen, how do you come to the Lord this morning?

How do you come to the Lord this morning?

If you want to meet with the Lord, you know what you need?

A broken heart.

He won't turn it away.

So we can assess the damage of our sin and we can turn to God and make a plan for our sin because no one loves planning for holiness more than him.

This is what Nehemiah is saying.

God's good hand is with me.

So notice how the people then respond in verse 18.

Let us rise up and build.

Their hands are strengthened, they're ready to get to work.

Nehemiah has a plan, God is behind it, and so so Israel is ready to go.

That means you and I need to be like Nehemiah.

And when sin is revealed in our life, we need to ask this question: what is the plan to get over it?

This is what I love about our small groups.

You know what the question that we tell our small group leaders to ask the most is this what are you gonna do about it?

What are you gonna do about it?

Can't your life be such a pity party sometimes?

Man, I'm just, you know, I'm really struggling to read the Bible.

What are you gonna do about it?

I'm really struggling to love my wife the way that God calls me to love my wife.

What are you going to do about it?

Man, I can't stop lashing out in anger.

What are you gonna do about it?

Maybe this should just be the rest of the sermon.

I'll just keep listing things off.

What are you going to do about it?

And you turn to that and you say, Well, that's legalism.

I can't do it in myself.

It's God.

But listen, it's not because you know who takes good pleasure in that is God.

You know what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2?

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

He says, Work at your salvation in fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

That is astounding.

Every time you stand up in faith and courage and confidence and say, God, I'm going to do this for you.

Do you know who's the happiest at that moment?

God.

Because there's only one reason why you're doing that in the first place, and it's because God has worked in you.

It's God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

That means this, when we're ready for change, God is behind us, and he is cheering louder than you and I will this year when the Leafs win the cup.

I'm being dead serious.

You know, you thought it was great when the raptors won.

You thought the parade was big.

Like, God is cheering.

It is his good pleasure every time you will and work for his good pleasure.

So, church, what do we do?

Let's get serious about holiness.

Because nothing makes God more happy than when his children say, God, I want to live for you.

Like, nothing makes God stand up and cheer and shout at the top of his lungs than when his children say, I want to be like your son Jesus Christ.

He is so behind that.

And so there's no shame.

We assess the damage, we make a plan, and then what do we do?

Well, chapter three shows us exactly what we do.

We get to work.

We get to work.

Nehemiah 3, you'll notice our quick survey, the people of God actively engage in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in response to God's grace.

And so what Nehemiah 3 then does is really categorizes or catalogs even quite meticulously how the work went about and the list of groups and individuals who contributed to this work.

You'll notice there first in verse 1 and 2 is mention of Eliashib, the high priest, who, along with some other priests, began to build the sheep gate.

Incredibly important gate where the sacrifices would come into Jerusalem, into the temple to be offered up to God.

And from there, Nehemiah systematically outlines the reconstruction of each section of the wall, naming the people that are responsible for that wall.

First, there's the fish gate.

There's the old gate, the valley gate, it goes on, even the dung gate, which I don't know about you, but I think I would put up my hand to be on something other than the dung gate.

I didn't do too much research to see what that gate was all about, but I have a good feeling about what it was about.

Here's a few things I want you to note from this chapter.

I want you to see here that service to God requires significant effort.

It requires that the people of God, even the priests who, the priests, their role, if anyone could play like the card of like, hey, listen, I don't want to get my hands dirty, it was the priests.

They were supposed to be in the temple.

The temple was built, the temple was working, and so they could have said, hey, listen, I'm pretty busy here.

I got other things going for God, and so I can't serve.

And yet, who are the first people who have a trowel in their hand and are building a gate and consecrating it to the Lord?

It's the priests.

Everyone has a trowel in their hand.

This is so relevant for us to hear today.

You and I live in a culture that is trying to make Christianity as manageable as possible.

What so many churches are doing is a disgrace to Jesus' words to his followers when he said, if you would follow me, you must deny yourself and pick up your cross.

Jesus couldn't have made it harder.

He couldn't have made the barrier higher.

What so many want to do today is to create some form of Christianity that you can inject into your life without disrupting your existing routines, without taking away from work, without taking away from family, without taking away from your pursuit of leisure and comfort.

Building God's kingdom is often messy and it's always challenging.

It will always require real sacrifice.

Now, what I'm suggesting here is not that we sacrifice so much that we have nothing left to give.

I'm not suggesting a foolish type of service that never rests in the Lord.

But what I am suggesting here is that you and I are swimming in cultures that are constantly telling us this.

Listen, Jesus wants to take you, He wants you to take the foot off the brake, and but every time we look at Jesus, the thing is that he is asking us is that we give our lives to him as a blank check.

We don't look to Jesus with our checkbook open and say, okay, man, what is this gonna cost me?

It's not taking your car in and hoping that it's just a small fix.

Christianity is opening the checkbook and saying, Here it is, Lord, what would you have me do?

I'll do whatever it takes.

And so some of us right now need to examine our lives and recognize that the lack of growth we have in the Lord may come from trying to follow Jesus while also trying to give as little as possible.

It's so significant that Jesus does not really care for the amount that you give.

In fact, he looks at the widow who gives so little and his heart is moved with compassion for her.

It's about what you give to the Lord, it's about your relationship with the Lord.

And so listen, what you and I need to do then right now is consider how we serve the kingdom of God.

If serving for you does not often require sacrifice, let me suggest that you are not serving in the way that Jesus has called us to serve.

How did Jesus model serving?

He said, I gave I came to give my life as a ransom.

He gave himself totally and completely.

And this is what you and I look to God, and this is the intensity with which we serve the kingdom.

God, I will give you my all, even my life, if that is required.

I'm not looking to give you the bare minimum, God, I'm looking to give you my all.

So are you engaging in the work?

In what ways do you need to embrace sacrifice to help advance the kingdom of God?

Here's the second thing I want you to notice here.

It's interesting to ask this question.

Where is Nehemiah in this chapter?

I mean, we didn't read it in totality, but I'll answer the question for you.

He's not there.

For all the leadership that Nehemiah has over the wall, he's not mentioned in the rebuilding.

And I think that's really significant because what you're seeing here is that the kingdom is being built.

The wall is being accomplished by ordinary people with ordinary talents.

Nehemiah's absence is teaching us something about how the kingdom is going to advance in Newmarket.

Listen to this, okay?

The kingdom has never advanced because of the talents of a few select men or women.

It has never advanced because of the extraordinary gifts of one man.

Whenever the kingdom has advanced for eternal good in scripture and in church history, it has always been because of the ordinary obedience of Christians.

This is what God is looking to use.

What does God say to Israel?

This is what he says.

Can you hold a trowel?

Can you hold a trowel?

It's not like, hey, listen, are you a skilled mason?

No, it's not like that at all.

It's like, can you open up your hand and have a trowel placed in it?

Then you're working on the wall.

That was what was required.

It wasn't this extraordinary skill, it wasn't this extraordinary gifting, it was this ordinary obedience where people heard God's call to pick up something as simple as a trowel and they said, Yes, Lord, I'll do it.

And so listen, the kingdom of God is not going to advance in Newmarket because of the gifts of a few extraordinary men.

As extraordinary as those gifts are, the gifts are going to, the kingdom's going to advance in Newmarket when Christians who are ordinary take up the call of obedience to God's kingdom and God will move through that.

Many of us, we feel inadequate to serve God.

But God, this morning, he's reshaping how he's gonna do his work and he's asking us this question: can you hold a trowel?

He looks at us and he asks the same thing that he asked the Israelites.

Can you set up a chair?

You can serve me on the setup team.

Can you take a kid to the bathroom and assist a teacher who is teaching the gospel?

You can serve me in the kids' ministry.

Can you just show up to small groups?

I mean, a lot.

I sat with my small group and I said, you know, God has promised so many things about this small group that the only thing you have to do is show up and occasionally open your mouth and he's gonna do amazing things through your life.

It's incredible.

Can you show up?

I don't know, your life doesn't have to be perfect.

But can you show up?

Then God is gonna use you to build up his church as you speak the truth in love.

Can you contribute anything financially to the work of the kingdom?

Can you share a simple testimony of what God is doing in your life?

I mean, you don't have to know all the answers, but can you tell a neighbor who doesn't know the Lord, hey, listen, this God's doing some amazing things?

Can you invite someone to a church?

Can you send a text of encouragement to a brother or sister who you don't even know if they need it, but you're just saying, hey, listen, I just want you to know I love you and I'm so encouraged by how you're serving.

Can you pray with someone after the service this morning?

And you know, you're just like, I don't even know if what I'm saying is right, but I'm gonna pray for you by faith.

These are the small things that God is asking from us.

It's not extraordinary things, it's ordinary obedience.

I want you to see this though, that when the people of God began their work again, they immediately encountered opposition.

Look at Nehemiah 2, verse 19.

Nehemiah 2:19

Sanbal and Tobiah saw the people of Israel going to the wall, they began mocking, but look at what Nehemiah says.

The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will build.

If your life feels in ruins, I want you to understand that it is God who desires most for you to get back on track so that he can build his kingdom through your ordinary acts of obedience.

It's the God of heaven who wants to work through you.

His ultimate aim in your life is redemption.

God of heaven, he seeks to restore a broken people for his glory.

You know, Israel's gonna fail again.

In fact, these walls will be destroyed as well, and this temple will be brought to destruction.

And it'll be brought to destruction by Jesus Himself, who would stand in front of this temple and say, I will destroy this temple and in three days make it rise again.

The people of God would fail again.

This was not the last time that they would fail, but it's it's so significant that very shortly after this, the God of heaven who commissioned Nehemiah and Israel to do this work and build this temple would come himself.

And we're told in the gospel that when Jesus came, they they called him Emmanuel.

It was God with us.

And when Jesus came, it was the it was heaven meeting earth.

And Jesus came for this reason to seek and save the lost, so that those who were not walking on the right path could follow his life and his leadership and find restoration with God.

Jesus came to make a way.

The God of heaven himself came to restore us with this singular mission, just like Nehemiah said, the God of heaven will make us prosper.

Jesus himself, the God of heaven, came to make you and I prosper through faith, so that our sins could be paid by him, so that our righteousness could be one.

By him.

That means that restoration is available to you and I today.

That because the God of heaven has been with us, you and I can spiritually and eternally prosper in Christ.

We can get back on track.

So we assess the damage.

We make a plan.

We get to work, knowing that it is God, the God of heaven, who has made it possible.

Would you pray with me?

Father, we bow in your presence.

And God, thank you that you are for us in every way.

God, you're not for the ones who have their lives together.

You said that the those who are well off have no need of a doctor.

And you are very much for the ones who are broken and have a contrite heart and sense their inadequacy and are willing by, with courage and confidence and gospel hope, to stand up and say, Lord, here I am.

I am going to follow you.

That I'm going to do it no matter what, no matter how far I've been, no matter how long I've been away.

God, I know that your heart is for me.

And so I'm standing here to say, Lord, use me.

God, we confess we we don't have much to offer.

Lord, we don't have extraordinary talents, we don't have extraordinary gifts.

All that we have is what you've given to us.

And God, we turn to you and say, That which you have given, we return back to you and ask you to use it for your glory in our lives, God.

Make us an obedient people who seek to follow you no matter what, God.

We pray this in the name of your Son.

Amen.