God Begins the Work | Nehemiah 2:1–20

Amen.

Well, you may be seated.

Welcome to church.

Glad you're here.

Good to see each of you with us today.

If you're a guest with us, let me just add my welcome to that which has already been extended to you.

Welcome to life.

So glad you're here.

Good to be with you with you.

Members attenders, always good to be back.

The regular rhythm of gathering and worship is not something that goes uh uh without impact, I guess I want to say.

There's value in this.

And every week when we gather, God ministers grace, God serves, God extends, God moves in our midst, and uh we're excited to be able to see that happen again.

And again, my name's Andrew.

Again, if you're a guest, I'd love to meet you.

My job here is to open the word of God with you.

We take it pretty serious around here.

Uh we don't take ourselves very serious, for sure we don't, uh, but we take the word of God very serious.

And so we want to just jump into it together with you.

So open your Bible if you would to Nehemiah chapter two.

If you don't own a Bible, we want you to know that we give them away for free out at the Connection Center, which is uh outside.

And we want you to know that you can go out there and grab one and bring it back with you next week.

We want you to open the word and lay it on your lap so that you know that these aren't my best words of advice or uh the wisest that Andrew can get.

It's not very wise.

It's the word of God that is infinitely wise, inspired of the of God, breathed out by God.

And so we want to understand it and unpack it together.

And we're in an Old Testament book called Nehemiah, and uh we started this last week.

Encourage you to go back and listen to it.

If you missed last Sunday, please, if you would go back.

There's some resources between the sermon online as well as the podcast we have that kind of follows up with it.

Uh, we think that this is important for you to get and understand because we uh are convinced God wants to do something in our church and he's displaying how he works amongst his people through this man named Nehemiah.

So we're going to look at Nehemiah chapter two.

Now, uh, I don't know if you are this way.

I am, and I think any true American man should be, or at least is tempted to be this way, and this is the mindset that says, Who needs instructions?

Right?

No need, just open the box, and you immediately decide the instructions are unnecessary.

How hard couldn't it be?

You are a reasonably intelligent adult.

It's a bookshelf.

Screws, shelves, put it together, we're good.

They didn't tell us that it comes from Europe and IKEA, and it is a mess.

And 45 minutes later, after you are frustrated and probably thinking, maybe even saying some words you probably shouldn't have said, the shelf is facing backwards.

There are three unexplained screws, and there's this growing suspicion that the manufacturer made a mistake.

Because you certainly didn't, right?

I mean, am I the only one?

Amen.

That's who does that?

Like they messed this up.

Of all of them that came, this one is messed up.

It's got extra screws.

I'm not sure what they're there for.

Then you finally read step one.

Huh.

I think I missed something, right?

Didn't properly prepare.

Now look, I that's that's real for me.

I'm not much of a cook.

Um, I have a couple of things that I can do, and then I go to those and I just want those to be my thing.

But I've heard this happen before.

Somebody deciding to make an impressive dinner.

Uh you buy the ingredients, you arrange everything on the counter, and you begin cooking an hour before your guests arrive.

Has this happened to you?

And the first step on the ingredient says, marinate overnight.

And then you realize that apparently dinner tonight required a decision yesterday.

And you were unprepared.

Listen, I don't know how your unpreparedness manifests itself, whether it's building an incredibly complicated bookshelf or forgetting to marinate your dinner overnight.

This is something that is so vital.

Preparation is so vital for the work that God is calling us to.

There's a time of preparation.

And the question really comes to bear on us in different ways.

Really, it's what happens when the opportunities that maybe you have been praying for finally arrive.

Are you prepared?

There's a burden, there's a weight.

We talked about that last week, that God gives a burden.

And then the opportunity to act on that burden finally arrives.

The question that is before us is are we prepared?

Maybe you've been praying for a friend or a coworker, and you've just been praying that they would have you would have an opportunity to share Christ, that God would, that God would save them, that they would find Christ and become a Christian.

And then one day at the lunchroom they ask, hey, let me ask you about this Jesus that you talk about.

Are you prepared?

Maybe you've been praying and you've been burdened for an opportunity to serve in a church in a way that you feel gifted.

You're like, I have a gifting, I have a desire to be used.

And then one day you get the phone call and it is, hey, would you be willing to?

The question really is, are you ready?

Are you prepared?

Maybe you've been hoping that this relationship that's divided will be restored.

Maybe it's a a brother or a sister or a a parent and a child, and you're praying that this would be restored, and then they call and they say, Hey, can can you meet?

I'd like to talk.

Are you ready?

Are you prepared?

You've got a burden.

You you're wanting to be used in discipling new believers.

You see that there's a deficiency in young believers, that there needs to be some mentoring and discipleship, and you have this burden, you see the need, you are aware of the situation, and then somebody calls and says, Hey, can you meet?

I'd like to ask you some questions about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Are you prepared?

There's again and again and again, numerous, probably too many to count.

Opportunities that present themselves.

And I just want you to be uh aware that the burden becomes something you can act upon when you prepare.

You cannot arrange every opportunity.

You can't.

But we can cultivate a readiness to respond faithfully when opportunities arrive.

And this is one of the things that we're gonna see in Nehemiah chapter two today.

This praying man, remember where we left him in chapter one?

He was praying, he was fasting, he was weeping, he was asking God for help and forgiveness because there was a broken down wall in Jerusalem.

And this wasn't just an aesthetic thing, this was a protection thing, this was a glory of God thing, this was a testimony of God's people to the world thing, and he was praying, and now here in chapter 2, he is brought to a moment of decision, a moment of action.

The king asks him, What do you want, Nehemiah?

Is he ready?

Last week we saw that God's work through us most often begins with a burden in us.

The burden comes, and Nehemiah heard that the people in Jerusalem were in trouble and there was disgrace.

The wall was broken down, the the Babylonian captivity left the wall in ruins, the gates had been burned, he sat down and he wept, and he confessed sin and he appealed to the promises of God.

He had a burden and he responded appropriately.

He recognized that his strength and power and opportunity was gonna come from God, and he recognized that God had uniquely placed him in a place to actually act.

But the burden didn't end with his tears.

Chapter 2 shows that this concern becomes thoughtful, courageous action.

He was ready.

Now remember, remember the context here, remember the setting.

God's people had returned from exile.

God mercifully delivered them and let them come back home to Jerusalem.

The temple at this point in Nehemiah had been rebuilt, but Jerusalem itself remained vulnerable and a disgrace because its walls were down.

Nehemiah's now concerned.

His brother brings him news, and his concern belongs ultimately to God's continuing work among his covenant people.

That's what's at play here.

And he's seeking the welfare of the people whose history had been marked by both judgment and grace.

That's what we're dealing with.

And so that's where we find Nehemiah in chapter two.

Now, before I read it, I just want you to get a couple of things that just stick out.

One of the things that is happening here is there is an a total, complete dependence upon God.

Nehemiah was capable, Nehemiah had some clear vision and obviously is going to display some leadership ability.

But chapter two is a display of his dependence on God.

In verse 4, we see it again.

He prays to the God of heaven.

In verse 8, he credits God's good hand upon him.

In verse 12, we're going to see he speaks of what God has put in his heart.

In verse 18, he tells the people what God has done.

And in verse 20, we're going to see he declares his confidence in the God of heaven.

So what we have here is a capable leader, a burdened leader, a man with clear vision that didn't get ahead of himself.

He knew where his strength and power was coming from.

It was coming from the Lord.

So let's look at this.

Nehemiah chapter 2.

Nehemiah 2 · chapter mention

There's 20 verses in chapter 2.

I'm going to read verses 1 through 8 to start us, and then we're going to unpack the rest as we go.

So you follow along silently.

I'll read it out loud.

Nehemiah chapter 2.

Nehemiah 2 · chapter mention

Here's how it says.

Then I was very much afraid.

I said to the king, Let the king live forever.

Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my father's graves, lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire.

Then the king said to me, What are you requesting?

So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said to the king, If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's graves, that I may rebuild it.

And the king said to me, the queen, sitting beside him, How long will you be gone?

And when will you return?

So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time, and I said to the king, If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.

And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.

This is the first part of this chapter.

It's reads kind of like a journal entry.

In fact, I would argue that's probably what this was.

Nehemiah was recording this account.

He was recording what God had done and what he had asked and what the king had said and then what he said.

So this is a journal entry.

And what we begin to see here is preparation is being made and has been made.

And God is going to begin his work.

This is the first part of moving towards Jerusalem.

This is the first step of moving towards the rebuilding of the wall and the re-establishing of the glory of God.

But before he does that, there is a preparation period going on.

So the big idea I want to unpack is this God begins his work by preparing his people.

God begins his work by preparing his people.

And really what I want to lean into is that when God begins his work, when he begins to do the work that he wants to do, whatever this is, if it's building of walls, or if it's raising of families, or if it's strengthening of marriages, or if it's growing churches, when God begins his work, he uses a prepared people.

So God's call to work is a call to prepare.

Nehemiah was a prepared man, and that preparation came because of his willingness to trust the Lord and the gracious hand of God.

Nehemiah's preparation mattered, and God's gracious hand remained central in his preparation.

So trusting God means preparing faithfully for the work he gives us.

Okay, so let's look at this for a second.

Let's consider in what ways was preparation happening?

How can we position ourselves?

How can we submit to the gracious hand of God so that we can be in a place prepared for the work that when he opens the doors of opportunity, we can step through them full of confidence that God is going to work and do something significant.

Okay?

I want God to do something in your life.

I want God to do something in our life.

I want God to continue to bless life.

I want God to continue to bless your family and your life and your ministry.

And I want God to continually use you to do great and mighty things.

So let's be a prepared people, ready for God to use us in these ways.

Okay?

There's four of them I want you to see.

This is how we prepare or how we are prepared for God to work.

And I see this in Nehemiah's life.

Number one, God works when I prepare my posture through prayer.

When I prepare my posture.

Now, this isn't subtle, but I need to explain where I think Nehemiah displays this.

I mean, when I say posture, the attitude of our hearts before God.

Nehemiah displayed a posture of submission, and that was evidenced by his waiting on the Lord.

What we're gonna see is that Nehemiah did not demand God to work on his timeline, but his posture, his heart's attitude showed that he was not trying to control the outcome, but he had learned to trust the Lord with what he could not control.

Now, I want you to think about this.

If you look at chapter one, the the the the uh verse one tells us when he first got word of what had taken place in Jerusalem or the walls being torn down.

It says, now it happened in the month of Chislev in the 20th year.

Now, I know you don't know what the month of Chislev is, but we're gonna help you understand that.

And I want you to think about verse one of chapter two in the month of Nisan.

Now, what I want you to see there is that Kislev was probably November or December.

It was probably the end of what would be our calendar year.

And chapter two begins in Nisan, and that's probably March and April.

So this was probably at least four months gap.

Four months had passed since the report about Jerusalem.

Now we can read from chapter one to chapter two in one second, but Nehemiah had to live the time between them.

Now, I don't know if you've ever had something that was pressing on you.

Four months feels like an eternity.

Amen.

It feels like forever.

Nehemiah had to live that time, and Jerusalem remained in need.

Remember, this was not just news that, oh, hey, maybe one day we should get a cinder block builder over to the city and fix that.

This was something that grieved him to the point where he was mourning and he was weeping, and Jerusalem was in need while Nehemiah was still in Persia, hundreds of miles away.

The concern that had brought him to tears had not disappeared.

He couldn't simply give himself the king's authorization and begin the journey.

He could not just put his two weeks in with the king of Persia and say, sorry, boss, I've got to go.

Home needs me.

That's not how this works.

Now we're not told uh why the conversation happened on this particular day in chapter two.

We're not sure exactly why, other than what we can see, the king noticed that Nehemiah's face was down.

He's like, hey man, you're not usually this way.

You okay, bro?

Like, I don't think he said bro, but that's just our way of modernizing it, I guess.

He's like, hey, Nehemiah, are you okay?

You don't seem right.

Your face is down, and I can tell you're not sick.

This is broken heart.

This is sadness of the heart.

We're not told everything that happened during those four months again.

But the interval between his prayer in chapter one and this conversation in chapter two gives us a real understanding in which to think about waiting on the Lord.

Waiting on the Lord.

Nehemiah had brought the knee to God, and now he was living with a burden that he could not resolve by himself.

And you may know what that feels like, don't you?

You have prayed for someone you love, but you cannot make that person believe, and you are in a waiting on the Lord period.

You have prayed about this broken relationship, but you cannot produce repentance in another person's heart or forgiveness, and now you are on a waiting on the Lord to do something moment.

You have asked God for direction, but you still do not know what the next season of life will look like.

You have asked God for a spouse and yet you still don't have one, and you can't make it happen.

You tried, and now you're in a holding pattern.

You have a uh health diagnosis that you really don't have the ability to shake, and you're trusting in the Lord, you're in a waiting period.

God often brings his people into these waiting periods.

This is where Nehemiah is.

And waiting exposes how much we want control.

We may begin by asking God for help and gradually start insisting that his help must arrive on our schedule.

Am I right?

You need to do this.

I want your help, God, but you need to do it by the end of September because I got somewhere to be in October.

Through our preferred means, with our desired result.

I want this place, I want that spouse, I want that job, I want to live in that spot, I want the church to be like this.

But to wait on the Lord is to continually look to him while we do not yet see what we hope for.

It's a it's an exercise of faith to wait on the Lord is to bring him our desires without claiming authority over his timing.

Lord, this is what I want, this is what I'm asking for, this is what my burden is, and I think this is a God-placed burden.

I think you gave me this burden, but I'm giving it to you and asking you to do a work according to your timeline.

Psalm 27, verse 14 says, Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage.

Psalms 27:14

Wait for the Lord.

Waiting and courage belong together.

It takes faith to remain dependent when you would rather force a resolution.

It takes courage to say, I'm trusting God to fix this.

I think of one uh Psalm 130, verse 5 and 6.

Psalms 130:5

I jot that down if you're taking notes.

Here's what the psalmist says there.

He says, I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.

While waiting, I wait, pondering on the word of God.

My soul waits for the Lord, waiting with hope, grounded in God's word.

I'm waiting.

I don't know how you're gonna fix this situation.

I don't know how those walls are gonna get rebuilt.

I'm willing to follow, I'm willing to go, I'm willing to serve, but I'm not gonna force the issue, God.

I am waiting on you.

We may not know how a particular situation will unfold, but we do know that God is faithful.

Now here's what I want you to think about.

Waiting on God is active trust.

Notice what Nehemiah is doing when the opportunity comes.

Did you notice it in verse one?

Verse one tells us that he was taking up the wine and giving it to the king.

That does not mean that he was a bartender.

That means that he was the cupbearer, testing and checking for the poison or anything that would be put into the drink or food, and then he was serving the king.

And did you know what he was doing before this news came to him?

He was a cupbearer to the king.

And what was he doing after this news came to him?

He was cupbearer to the king.

What we see that he was doing was he was actually doing the thing that he was supposed to do.

He was still carrying out his present responsibility.

His concern about Jerusalem was not removed, nor was his responsibility in Persia.

And while he waited for an open door to go to Jerusalem, he was faithful in Persia.

While he waited for an opportunity to step into the thing that he thought God was calling him to, he was faithful in the thing that he knew was right before him.

He did not neglect today's responsibility because he hoped for tomorrow's opportunity.

And we are that way, are we not?

We can become so consumed with what we hope God will do next that we neglect doing what God has called us to do now.

Let's think about it this way.

You may be waiting for a different job, and that might actually be a God-given thing.

Maybe you have a vision that you think God has led you in, counsel supports that.

You are hoping and praying for a different job.

What I'm saying to you is be faithful now to work the one you have.

You may hope for a new opportunity to serve.

You think God has given you that, He has gifted you.

You think about this is an opportunity.

I think God is calling me to serve.

Great.

Well, right now, love the people already within your reach and serve where you have been given to serve.

You may be waiting for a difficult family season to change.

Continue, speaking faithfully and fulfilling the responsibilities that remain yours today.

You may be waiting for God to bring a spouse into your life.

Okay, great.

I pray that with you.

And I know that's a good desire, but continue serving where you are and resist the temptation to force the issue.

Do not let a hoped-for future keep you from faithfulness in the present.

Faithfulness in the waiting is already obedience to God.

Be faithful where you are.

Then the king notices Nehemiah.

And he says, Why is your face sad?

You're not sick.

He recognizes that it's sorrow of the heart.

The man who has been praying is now afraid, and he says, I was afraid.

That's interesting.

Feels like he knows this guy.

He knows King Artaxerxes so much that the king notices when his face is discouraged.

And now he's afraid.

Now just know this.

There's good reason for him to be afraid.

Artaxerxes is a powerful king, and Nehemiah is his servant, and the request Nehemiah is about to make concerns a politically sensitive city.

If you were to go back, and I think you should later, in Ezra chapter 4, verse 17 through 22, it records that King Artaxerxes ordered Jerusalem's rebuilding stopped after there were accusations that the city posed a threat to the reign and authority of Artaxerxes.

Ezra 4:17–22

So this was an order from the king.

And his order was to remain in effect until the decree was issued.

So what Nehemiah is coming to do is he's needing the king to authorize a different course.

He's about to ask the king who stopped the work to permit it to begin again.

This opportunity is real, but it is scary.

It is full of fear.

I have no idea.

He may kill me.

He may be so offended that I'm asking him to allow us to rebuild the temple, even though he shut it down because he was threatened by it.

Now he might be threatened by me.

He has no reason to keep me alive.

He might just say, you know what?

You're dead.

Go.

And here's what the principle I think we learn from that is we do not need to pretend that obedience feels easy.

We need to remember who we trust when it feels difficult.

Nehemiah answers respectfully in verse 3.

He says, I said to the king, let the king live forever.

Long live the king.

You get what he's doing here.

He's graciously speaking.

Why should not my face be sad when the city, the place of my father's graves lies in ruin and its gates have been destroyed by fire?

His approach is honest and thoughtful.

It's full of tact and graciousness, a passion for the Lord, and the things of God does not justify an abrasiveness towards others.

You can love Jesus and want to do his work and not be a jerk about it, right?

Amen.

That's what he's doing.

He's a gracious response, and the king asks what he wants.

Before answering, Nehemiah prays to the God of heaven.

Verse 4.

Then the king said to me, What are you requesting?

So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Now look, it doesn't record what he prayed for.

It appears to be one of those brief prayers in the flow of the conversation.

It appears to be one of those prayers my wife prays while I'm driving.

Happened yesterday.

Oh Lord, help us! Like literally, those words came out of her mouth.

I promise.

I was safe.

I think that's what this was.

Oh Lord, help me.

I think King asks, What do you want?

And he looks around, he says, Okay, Lord, this is the opportunity you called me to.

Help me know what to say.

And then he turns and he answers the king.

Now, what I love about this is that this prayer was not something that started in the king's throne room in the moment of decision.

This was a pattern of his life, so that when the heat of the moment got turned up and the opportunity presented itself, he ran right back to the throne that he had regularly visited.

A regular life of prayer helps us remember where to turn in an unexpected moment.

Whether we're about to crash into the back of the car in front of us or the king asks us what we're requesting, we're ready to go again to the Lord.

And then he says, This is what I want.

So here's what I've got here.

I've got, I've got just oozing from verses one through four.

This, this, this, this posture.

Did you see it?

This posture of, God, I'm waiting.

Do you think Nehemiah had clarity about what God wanted to do?

Absolutely.

We're reading about the story of Nehemiah because Nehemiah had clarity about what God wanted him to do.

He had a God-given burden.

He had clarity of what needed to happen.

He knew where it needed to happen.

He was willing to go make it happen, but he waited.

He got into a holding pattern where he just said, I don't know how this is going to work.

I can't force this door open.

I can't make this happen.

I'm just going to wait and I'm going to be faithful to do the thing that I knew before was the thing God had called me to.

I'm going to do the next thing that God had called me to and wait for him to open the door.

And when he does, I'm going to ask him for help because I need it.

There's a posture, there's an attitude of the heart.

There's a dependence on God.

There is a humility.

I need that.

Because here's how I get I get a clarity on what I want, and I become a bowl in a China shop making that thing happen.

And I justify it as redeemed ambition.

Well, God gave me that, so let's go.

Get out of my way.

This is for Jesus.

And you are too.

And prayer and dependence on God and submission and waiting.

Just waiting.

God, I'm just going to trust you.

So what is that thing?

In your mind, hold up your hands right now and say, God, I've been pushing this thing through.

I've been pushing this relationship.

I've been pushing this job.

I've been pushing this worry.

I've been pushing this thing that I think I just need to get into a waiting pattern.

And I'm going to pump the brakes and I'm just going to do the thing that you called me to do today and trust you to do the thing that you want to do in me tomorrow.

Now, God works through prepared posture, nurtured through dependent prayer.

God works.

God was preparing him.

And when he speaks, we discover that he has also thought carefully.

So that's the second thing I want you to see.

Not only God works when I prepare my posture through prayer, secondly, God works when I prepare my plans with dependence.

Now let me let me think here for a second.

Listen to what's going on here.

This is so fun.

I love these Old Testament narratives because it's so fun watching people that we've always kind of like looked at as, man, these guys are like the heroes of the faith.

Nehemiah, great guy.

And now you see that he's like me and you.

Like he's afraid, he's worried, he's burdened, he's not sure what to do.

He's trying to wait, and I think he is waiting on the Lord, but this is probably difficult.

So Nehemiah is asked, What do you want me to do by the king?

What do you want?

What are you requesting?

Lord help me.

And verse 5, and then I said to the king, I talked to the king, and then I spoke to the king.

And he said, If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah to the city of my father's graves that I may rebuild it.

Notice the personal commitment.

He is asking to be sent.

He is willing to become involved in addressing the need.

See, listen, chapter one is possible to feel from a distance.

It is possible to feel the concern while remaining at a safe distance from responsibility.

We can wish someone would disciple those children.

We can wish somebody would encourage those struggling people.

We wish somebody would go invite my neighbor to church, right?

I wish somebody would go invite my neighbor to church.

I wish somebody would tell my co-worker about Jesus.

And whenever considering that situation, oftentimes it doesn't include our own participation.

Not Nehemiah.

He's like, I'm in, let's go.

Nehemiah's willing to go.

And then in verse 6, notice how he answers him.

The king asks, How long the journey?

And the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, I have no idea why Nehemiah includes that.

Maybe he's like, she was listening to and she was keeping him accountable.

I don't know.

Maybe I got a lot of ideas that I'm not going to give.

But how long will you be gone?

And when will you return?

My personal opinion is because she was the keeper of the calendar.

So he was actually talking to her.

Because isn't that true, man?

I'll make an appointment with you next week and forget about it.

She won't, right?

So I think that's what it was, but that's just my opinion.

How long will you be gone and when you will return?

So apparently he gives him a specific date.

This is how long it's going to take me.

It's going to take me this long to travel 800 miles down there.

It's going to take me this long to rebuild the wall.

This is what I'm going to do.

And then in verse 7, he asks for letters.

And I said to the king, if it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah.

So I'm going to pass the river, and there are going to be some people who are going to tell me I shouldn't be there.

I want to be able to show them a certificate of authorization from you.

And, verse 8, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.

Now, now it's like this.

Well, Nehemiah, what do you want?

He's like, I, you know, I haven't really given much thought to this.

Um, let me think.

Maybe this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this.

That that that what does that say to us?

It tells us that he he was considering more than just permission to leave.

He had thought about the passage.

He had thought about the supplies he would need.

He had even thought about where he was gonna live.

The text doesn't describe his planning sessions.

We don't have a view to that.

We can't figure out where he sat down and mapped all this out.

But how specific his answers were strongly suggests that he has considered these matters before the king asks.

What's funny about this is that I think he was living with such confidence that God was going to work this out and send him that he had already developed his plan for how it was going to happen when he gets the opportunity.

His concern becomes concrete.

It's easy to speak generally about what should happen.

It takes thought to consider what faithful involvement will require.

Faith does not make careless promises, by the way.

It considers what faithfulness requires.

That's what Luke chapter 14, verse 28 teaches us, right?

Luke 14:28

Which of you desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

That's discipleship.

God, if we if you're calling me to do this, I want to also consider what it's gonna cost me to do this.

And faith and planning are not enemies.

Sometimes we use, well, we're just gonna trust God to explain why we haven't given much thought or responsibility to the situation.

How's that gonna happen?

I don't know.

We're just gonna trust God.

Well, great, cool.

How's that gonna work out for you?

God gave you a brain, God gave you wisdom, God gave you the ability to see.

And that happens in so many fronts.

Let's just think about it this way: think about the discipleship of your family.

I think that's a great burden to have, by the way.

I think that you have a burden to disciple your family and really let God and a faith in God be nurtured, and you pray sincerely for their spiritual growth, and then you choose uh uh ways that you can encourage them.

But listen, listen, if you don't have a plan to actually institute into the discipleship of your family, your your your vision is a wish that will never come true.

The plan is faith in action to accomplish what God has put on your heart to do.

What about you wanna share the gospel with somebody?

You you have a heart for them to come to know Christ, and you wanna share the gospel with this person that you work with or this friend of yours.

Listen, I'm just trying to say that that if you just kind of, well, I'm just gonna get leave it up to God, but but but rather what you ought to do is say, I'm gonna step out by faith, and I'm gonna come up with a plan and I'm gonna invite them over for cookies.

I don't know why I said cookies, maybe steak or hamburgers, whatever your friend or co-worker wants, and I'm gonna share with them the gospel, and I'm gonna memorize some scripture that actually brings people through the gospel message.

I'm gonna prepare and I'm gonna step out by faith to do something.

And this is what Nehemiah is doing.

This was not a half-baked wish that he's hoping somebody would help rebuild the walls in Jerusalem.

He had a plan, he knew what he needed, he knew the authorization he needed.

Why?

Because he was confident God was gonna do something and give him the opportunity, and he was gonna by faith step out.

Verse 8, and the king granted me what I asked for, and I love this for the good hand of my God was upon me.

At the end of verse 8, Nehemiah explains the king's favorable answer by referring to God's good hand upon him.

Now, listen, here's what I love about this: his preparation was real.

He did a lot of work to prepare, but he was not uh ignorant of the reality that the king did not grant him the permission in all of his requests because he had a really good plan.

You see that, right?

Nehemiah is not like, man, the king let me do it because he was so impressed with my keynote presentation that he's like, wow, that's pretty impressive.

Okay, go ahead and do that.

He's like, no, the king granted me my request because the good hand of my God was upon me.

He knew, Proverbs 21:1.

Proverbs 21:1

Listen, the the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord.

He turns it wherever he will.

He knew that this was because God was favorable upon him, God was good to him.

Here's what we're talking about here.

This situation, this situation was Nehemiah planning, Nehemiah praying, Nehemiah waiting, Nehemiah looking at I'm sure if he was like me, he had a spreadsheet.

I'm sure he had a spreadsheet, and he's like, okay, what do I need?

I need a passage through this town and this town, and I need this much wood.

Maybe he can get Asaph to give us that wood, and then I'm gonna need a house.

I'm gonna need this much wood, and I'm gonna need some cables for my electricity, and I'm gonna need uh some conduits for these things, and whatever it was that he was building, he had a plan, but he recognized that his plan was only so good.

What he really needed was the good hand of God upon his plan.

And may that be true of us.

Dependent planning does everything God has made us responsible to do while trusting God to do what only he can do.

That's what was happening.

So he was prepared with his plan, but it was a dependent plan.

There's a difference there, and I want us to get that.

Often what we do is we bring our plan and say, God, here's my plan, bless it.

Rather than saying, God, I've done some work planning, but really none of this matters if you've got a different plan.

God, I know where I want to serve, but really I just want to submit my plan to you and say, God, if you want me to serve somewhere else, let's go.

God, I think I know what kind of job I want and where I want to live, but really, if you want me to live somewhere else, I'm just gonna give this to you and say, your good hand needs to be upon this situation.

I'm trusting you to work.

I think I know who I want to marry, but I'm just gonna trust you with this because you're the one who knows the difference and you know the beginning from the end.

The point is not to make a perfect plan, it's to stop calling it undefined wish a plan.

And God works through prepared plans that are submitted to his power and his working.

What's interesting, I'm not gonna take time to do it, but as soon as the plan got developed, verse 9 and 10 says, I came to the governors of the province beyond the river, gave them the king's letter.

Uh don't you love that?

He's like, You guys don't think I should be here?

See this?

Look who signed that.

Is that Arta Xerxes?

Yeah.

I'm gonna call, I'm gonna name my next dog Artaxerxes.

I think that's a great name.

Call him Artie, right?

I just love that.

And he's like, Yeah, that's Artaxerxes.

And he says, I gave it to him.

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

So now he's not even traveling around, he's got an entourage.

He's got like this whole protection.

And when Sanbal, the Horonite, we're gonna talk about Sanbalat a lot in the future.

And Tobiah, the Ammonite servant, heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

What let's understand what that says.

They were super displeased that someone came to pay attention to the people of God.

Now, listen, an open door of opportunity does not mean it's gonna be an easy road.

The plan did not fail because it was opposed.

In fact, sometimes that's a sign that it's the right plan.

And this was dependent planning.

This was him coming and saying, God, I want you to bless, I want you to move, I want you to work, I'm trusting you, but I have a plan.

And if you choose to bless my little plan, great.

If not, then tell me what you want me to do.

Okay, that's number two.

I need you to see that.

Number three, I want you to get number three with me now.

God works not only when I have a prepared posture and when I have prepared plans, but number two, when I prepare my perspective through honest assessment.

Okay, stick with me here, verse 11.

So I went to Jerusalem.

I was there three days.

Then I arose in the night.

So he gets up in the night with a few men.

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

I love that.

God put this in my heart, but I told no one.

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

He has royal authorization, he has practical resources, he has a substantial burden, but he does not immediately gather everyone and begin giving instructions.

That's what I would have done.

Right?

Like, hey, I got something to tell you guys.

Gather around.

Here's what we're gonna do.

You pick up those wood blocks and you fix that gate and you do that, here's King Artaxerxy's signature, go get it done.

But he doesn't.

He takes time to inspect the condition of the walls.

Why?

Because he doesn't confuse urgency with haste.

He is serious enough about the need to understand it before announcing how everyone should respond.

It's a lesson for anyone who wants to help another person.

A burden does not give us complete understanding.

Sincere concern does not make our first impression of the situation infallible.

We may know enough to care while still needing to listen and learn more about how to help.

That's what's happening here.

Now look at verse 13.

So it says that he um went out by the night.

Now he he kind of recounts his steps.

I went out by the night by the valley gate to the dragon spring and to the dungate.

And I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.

Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass.

Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the valley gate and so returned.

He's just recounting his steps.

Now there's plenty of resources where you can find those steps and see where he went and how he went around the gates, if you're so inclined to get all into that.

But what I what I really want you to think about is he he he examines the situation and the condition of the city affects uh the way he can carry it out.

He could not pass through one area because his horse uh couldn't walk on those those blocks.

It probably was torn down and was in unstable and uneven, so his horse couldn't walk through there.

What he's doing here is this is he is encountering the need firsthand.

He's getting down into the mess.

What he's doing is he's showing us that there's a difference between hearing about the ruins and examining them yourself.

Nehemiah's confidence in God wasn't there to make the things smaller.

He wasn't trying to minimize the problem.

That's not what's happening here.

He's not walking around saying, This is it, it's not that big of a deal.

Nor is he exaggerating the problem to create urgency.

He is just wanting to get an honest assessment, an honest assessment of the situation.

So he's walking around the walls, he's walking around the gates, and he's just letting the the vision of what he sees affect his heart and how he's going to lead.

I think there's such a good principle there.

This honest assessment, an honest assessment of the situation.

I read about honest assessment the other day.

In fact, I read about it in a company that held an inner office softball game.

And they held it every year between the marketing and the support staff.

They had this inner office softball game.

One year, the support staff whipped the marketing department soundly.

They defeated them pretty significantly.

So the marketing department was taking all sorts of ridicule for losing the annual game to the support staff.

So someone in the marketing put a spin on this and he said, News report, put it out on the bulletin board for the office, and he said, the marketing department is pleased to announce that we came in second place in the recent softball season after losing but one game all year.

The support department, however, had a rather dismal season winning only one game.

Listen, there's a way that you can spin the situation, isn't there?

There's a way that you can spin what's taking place and what's broken and make it sound not as bad as it was or making it sound worse than it is.

But that's what not what Nehemiah is doing here.

He's just laying fresh eyes on the situation and he's giving an honest assessment as the newcomer.

Derek Kidner, writing on this, said, Sometimes it takes a stranger to see sharply what has been softened by familiarity.

Sometimes it takes somebody to come in and be like, Why is that wall like that?

What are we uh tolerating that for?

And here he sees it and he says, We've got to do something about this.

Honest assessment.

The problem here and the principle, I think, is that we often have learned to excuse the thing we become familiar with rather than see it for what it is.

And that's what Nehemiah is doing here.

I'm just gonna give an honest assessment for what's taking place so that I can advance into what God wants us to do.

This is wisdom.

And then he says, I didn't tell him at first, I didn't say anything at first.

Then, verse 16, the officials did not know where I had gone for or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews and the priests, the nobles and the officials and the rest who were uh to do the work.

I didn't even tell them, I didn't even share with him what was happening.

I was just holding this in.

I was trying to show some wisdom on what was taking place.

And here's what he's saying he's getting a prepared perspective.

Here's what I want you to think about.

God wants to use you.

God wants to use you, I think, to build walls and to build churches and to strengthen families and to strengthen your own walk.

But what I think it takes is what Nehemiah.

Is showing us here is that there needs to be an honest assessment, a prepared perspective of the situation, so that we have an honest assessment about what it is that we're called to do.

We need to be honest about our marriage, we need to be honest about our addiction, we need to be honest about the sin that we become familiar with and tolerate in a way that maybe we shouldn't.

We need to be honest with the broken down situation that we are facing so that God can then begin to use us to rebuild some things in the lives of the people he's calling us to serve.

You understand that?

God's perspective, an honest perspective, a prepared perspective.

Now I want to wrap this up because I think what he does here at the end is probably the best, which I should have left more time for.

But think about this.

God works not only when I have a prepared posture, humble waiting, not only when I have a prepared plan, but dependent upon God, not only when I have a prepared perspective through honest assessment, but Nehemiah is going to teach us this God works when I prepare my people through encouragement.

By your people I mean those people God has placed within your care and influence.

By the way, let me, before I even read this, you don't need a leadership title to encourage someone towards faithfulness.

Parents, friends, mature believers, ministry volunteers, all have opportunities to help others take the next step in their growth.

Now look at how Nehemiah does that.

In verse 17, he describes the trouble as something we are in.

Then I said to them, You see the trouble we are 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.

He shares the responsibility.

We are in trouble.

I would have said, Look at the mess y'all made.

You guys gotta figure this out.

He says, Look at the mess we are in, look at how we are being shamefully treated.

Then verse 18, and I told them, I love this, he encourages them, We're in trouble, we need to do something about this.

And 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.

The order fits already what he had said in verse 8.

He understands the king's response as an expression of God's provision.

Artaxerxes was not the cause for God's favor, Artaxerxes was an instrument of God's favor.

And now Nehemiah is latching onto that, and he's saying, Let me encourage you about what's about to take place.

What's about to take place has been long in motion because of the good hand of my God that has given me these blessings and brought me to this place.

God is at work, God is here to do something.

Let's join hands and do this together.

And then in verse 15, or rather 18, they said, Let's go.

Let's get this done.

God's at work.

It's obvious that He's at work, it's obvious that there's a need.

We've become too familiar with the brokenness.

Let us rise up and build.

Let's go.

Grab the hammers, Bill.

Go get the nail gun, Joe.

Let's get to work.

Let's start building this wall.

So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

Nehemiah shows up and is like, guys, listen, we've got a problem.

The wall is down.

God's glory is taken away.

Your name is now being shamed.

We've got to build this wall.

And God is at work.

God is moving.

God has brought me to this place.

Let me show you all of the ways God has led me to this moment.

Let's do this.

And they said, Yes, let's go.

Let's build.

Let's serve.

Let's reestablish the glory of God in this place.

Let's make this happen.

They encouraged one another to keep on going.

Here's what's cool about this: God needed to do something miraculous in the lives of these spiritually stale people.

And he did, just like he changed the heart of Arta Xerxes.

Now, obviously, verse 19, when San Balat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite, it's like dun dun dun, they're here.

San Balat and Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arab heard of it.

They jeered at us.

You fools.

And despised us and said, What is this thing you're doing?

What are you guys gonna do?

Are you rebelling against the king?

They tried this once already and it worked in Ezra, it's recorded.

And now these political leaders, these weren't just like hoodlums in the ghetto trying to come get them, right?

This was the guys like making fun of them.

These were like sophisticated, probably even political leaders of Samaria and Ammon and the Arabian area, and they came and they were offended that God was going to do something through these people, and they were frustrated, and they came out and said, You fools, what are you gonna do?

Then I replied, verse 20.

The God of heaven will make us prosper.

The God of heaven will make us prosper.

And we, his servants, will rise up and build.

God will be faithful, we will do our job, and you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.

Do you get that?

God's faithful, he's going to protect us and use us.

We're gonna do our thing, and y'all are gonna be judged.

He's rightly placing everybody in their right position.

Why?

Because he's recognizing that the opposition isn't gonna deter us from the thing God has called us to.

God's faithfulness is never gonna fail, and our commitment to the work God has called us to is gonna keep on going.

What did he do?

They were encouraging one another.

They joined harms together, and they recognized that they could accomplish more together than they ever could alone, and they went forward doing this thing.

And we're gonna see over the next several chapters, God helped them build the wall, and it was finished in record time.

Why?

Because they had this mind to work and this unity in building because they encouraged one another with the faithfulness and the power of God that was on display.

So, what do we say?

We're saying God works through a prepared people who are willing to rise up and build.

These people encourage one another and step into the work God has called us to.

So let's wrap this together.

I think there's one big point to drive home.

Nehemiah begins with a man sitting down and weeping.

The word of the broke down wall came to Persia, and he's sitting down weeping, and chapter two ends with the whole group of people picking up hammers and ready to get to work to rebuild the wall.

God did that.

Between the moment of a burden became uh a prepared action and they began to move.

Nehemiah brings the matter to God, he remains faithful while he waits, he answers the king thoughtfully, he examines the need, and then he calls the people to respond.

He showed leadership and he continues to credit all of this to the good hand of God.

Now, God uses a prepared people.

How can we be a people prepared for what God wants to do next in the life of our church?

Listen, heart to heart, pastor to church, I believe that we are on the edge of something incredible, one of the greatest seasons of ministry life church has ever experienced.

I believe that the next several years are going to be an opportunity for us to witness what God wants to do in significant ways here and in this church and in Las Vegas.

And we are ready for that.

We have vision for that.

We're excited about what God is doing, where God is moving, and what God is raising up.

But what we want to be is we want to be a people who are prepared.

Amen?

A people who have a prepared posture, meaning that we are just prayerfully waiting on the Lord to open up the doors of opportunity of ministry.

And then when those doors of ministry opportunities open, we walk through them with courage.

We want to be a prepared people who have a prepared plan that's more than just wishful thinking, not hoping someone will do something about that, but saying, we'll do something about that.

Who's ready to go in the game?

We are.

Life churches.

Who's willing to reach that group of people?

We are.

Who's willing to plant a church over there?

We are.

Who's helping to serve the people in the pole?

We are.

Who's helping who's willing to go to Puerto Rico and help plant churches?

We are.

Who's willing to reach out into the brokenness of Las Vegas?

We are, that's what we want.

A prepared people who have a plan, not just wishful thinking.

And a prepared people who have a perspective based upon honest assessment.

Like we're not just blind to what the situation is, nor are we exaggerating the brokenness of the situation.

We just want to, with the wisdom of God and the eyes of God, see the need and then take the lead.

And have a prepared people who will all gather together and together in unison say, let's rise up and build.

Let's go, let's serve, let's give, let's sacrifice, let's make this happen for the glory of God and the and the and the uh righteousness of his name.

They're requiring strong encouragement, one another.

That's what we want to be.

Amen?

That's what I think we see from Nehemiah.

He's a prepared people, ready to do something great for the glory of God.

Now, before we fail to remember, this story isn't about being prepared in the sense of we've got to make ourselves better to be accepted by God.

We know that that only happens through the Savior Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us, and because we trust him and are saved by grace, he prepares us for good works.

Ephesians chapter 2, 8 and 9.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

But as a follower of Jesus, as a person who's trusted Christ as our Savior, on this side of the cross, may we be a people who are ready to step into what God wants to do in the life of his church because we are a prepared people.

Amen, church?

All right.

Let's pray about it.

We'll continue in finishing out our service.

Father, thank you for your word.

The example of Nehemiah, what he's done for us, showing us what it looks like to be prepared.

God, I don't want to over-emphasize preparation as if this was just us doing it.

I think what's happening here is you were working in Nehemiah and your people to prepare them for what you were doing.

You were preparing him and having a posture of humility and dependence.

You were preparing him to see and to plan.

You were preparing them so that they would be ready to rise up and build and all that for your glory.

And God, our prayer is that you would do that right here in this place.

That what you have in the future for life church is uh those types of things where we are prepared through posture that is right and clear plans and just trusting you, just being able to say, all of this happens because the good hand of our God was upon us.

He chose to do something, he is faithful.

He is faithful, and that faithfulness in the past gives us gives us faith for the future for what you're about to do.

So help us follow this example, learn from these principles, and see you in the pages of Nehemiah.

We love you, and we're thankful for the opportunity we have to study the word together.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.