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🎵Piano Music🎵 🎵Piano Music🎵 🎵Piano Music🎵 🎵Piano Music🎵 🎵Piano Music🎵 🎵Piano Music🎵 🎵Piano Music🎵 Alrighty, good evening everyone, welcome to church. Can I get you to grab your hymnals and turn to hymn number 218. Hymn number 218, Hallelujah Tis Done. Hymn number 218. 🎵Piano Music🎵 🎵Tis the promise of God's full salvation to give🎵 🎵And to Him who on Jesus His Son will be be🎵 🎵Hallelujah Tis Done, I believe on the Son🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 🎵Hallelujah Tis Done, I believe on the Son🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 🎵For the pathway below the endangered will soon🎵 🎵Surely Jesus is able to carry me true🎵 🎵Hallelujah Tis Done, I believe on the Son🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 🎵Hallelujah Tis Done, I believe on the Son🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 🎵For the pathway below the endangered will soon🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 🎵Hallelujah Tis Done, I believe on the Son🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 🎵Hallelujah Tis Done, I believe on the Son🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 🎵Hallelujah Tis Done, I believe on the Son🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 🎵Hallelujah Tis Done, I believe on the Son🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 🎵Hallelujah Tis Done, I believe on the Son🎵 🎵I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one🎵 Alrighty, can I get you to turn to hymn number 24 now? Hymn number 24, and can it be that I should gain? Hymn number 24. 🎵Hymn number 24, and can it be that I should gain?🎵 🎵Hymn number 24, and can it be that I should gain?🎵 🎵Hymn number 24, and can it be that I should gain?🎵 🎵Hymn number 24, and can it be that I should gain?🎵 🎵Hymn number 24, and can it be that I should gain?🎵 🎵Hymn number 24, and can it be that I should gain?🎵 🎵Hymn number 24, and can it be that I should gain?🎵 🎵Amazing love, how can it be?🎵 🎵That thou art not, shouldst die for me?🎵 🎵Amazing love, how can it be?🎵 🎵That thou art not, shouldst die for me?🎵 🎵To strong above, to free some in my life is grace🎵 🎵And he himself our Lord our God🎵 🎵And when for ever, comes helpless grace🎵 🎵Tis mercy o'er he is and he is free🎵 🎵To strong above, he shall not be🎵 🎵Amazing love, how can it be?🎵 🎵That thou art not, shouldst die for me?🎵 🎵That thou art not, shouldst die for me?🎵 🎵The spell be a seed, and it razes fast🎵 🎵I, my diffuse, are quickly made🎵 🎵I heard the dungeon playing with mine🎵 🎵My chains fell off, my heart was ringing🎵 🎵My words went forth and far to be🎵 🎵Amazing love, how can it be?🎵 🎵That thou art not, shouldst die for me?🎵 Alrighty, good singing. Final hymn for the Calvary. Can I get you to turn to hymn number 66? Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Hymn number 66 at Calvary. Alrighty, time for the Bible reading. Can I get you to turn to Nehemiah chapter 2 and I'll get Brother M to come up and do the Bible reading. So it's Nehemiah chapter 2. And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the 20th year of Earth Exorcist, the king that wine was before him and I took the wine and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been before time said in his presence. Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance said, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid. And said unto the king, Let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be said when the city, the place of my father's sepulchres, lieth waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy side, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's sepulchres, that I may build it. And the king said unto me, the queen also sitting by him, For how long shall thy journey be, and when will thou return? So it pleased the king to send me unto Judah, and I set him a time. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over, till I come unto Judah. And a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which apatheneth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house, that I shall enter into. And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governor beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When St. Belat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly. And there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days, and I arose in the night. I and some few men with me, neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart, to do at Jerusalem. Neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night, by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dungeon port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain and to the king's pool, but I did not know the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then when I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whether I went or what I did. Neither had I yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of God, which was good upon me, as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, let us rise up and build, so they strengthened their hands for this good work. But when St. Bellot, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, and Gachem, the Arabian heard it, they laughed us to scorn and despised us and said, Was this thing that you do? Will you rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build. But he hath no portion, nor rite, nor memorial in Jerusalem. Dear loving Father in heaven, we praise you so much for this beautiful day. We thank you Father in heaven for this church. Thank you for Pastor Kevin who's able to be with us tonight as well. Please fill him with your Holy Ghost. I pray that we would hear from you, that we would be ready to receive the good news. Please mold us more into the image of Jesus, and help us to love you more. We thank you for your goodness. In the beautiful name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Okay, so we're continuing our study through the book of Nehemiah. And have a look at chapter, sorry, chapter number 2 verse number 18. Verse number 18 it says, Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. Let us rise up and build is the title for the sermon tonight. Let us rise up and build. Now who's saying these words? It's not Nehemiah that's saying these words. It's those that are responding to Jeremiah, sorry, to Nehemiah. Nehemiah, my apologies if I get Jeremiah and Nehemiah mixed up sometimes, okay? But Nehemiah has explained to them that, you know, he's been given this mission to come and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, to rebuild the city. But it's the response of the people that says, Yes, let us rise up and build. Let us rise up and build. And as I think about New Life Baptist Church and the need to continue building this church, I want us to look at this and, you know, I've been preaching this not long ago. I said that Jesus Christ, he is the master builder. He is the one that builds his church. But we are his instruments. We are the people that Jesus Christ wants to use to continue building New Life Baptist Church. But as the response was, let us rise up and build, that should be the response of every member that makes up this church, that combined together as a unified force that we decide to continue building this church together under the supervision of Jesus Christ who is the chief master builder. Okay, so let us rise up and build. Rise up and build is the title for the sermon. And yes, that is the response that they gave Jeremiah, that they will come together and build the walls. Now let's start there in verse number one. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, the king, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it unto the king, now I had not been before time sad in his presence. And so Nehemiah is speaking, he's the one coming to bring a cup of wine before the king. Now the reason for that is because we saw in the previous chapter that he was the cup bearer, he's the one that comes, that's one of his responsibilities, to come and serve the king when he's thirsty. Now one of the pieces of information that we learn here, it says it's in the month Nisan. Now if you don't know, that's a month of the Hebrew calendar, and it's probably the most common month that you read about in the Bible, the month that people are aware of. The reason for that is because it's the first month, it's the first month in the Hebrew calendar. Now as we keep going through, you see here that Nehemiah is sad in the presence of the king, and what we learn in this chapter is that God comes through and answers the prayer of Nehemiah. We saw previously in chapter number one, that Nehemiah inquired about Jerusalem, inquired about Judah, how is everything going? And they had spoken about themselves being a reproach amongst the people. They spoke about the wars being destroyed and burnt down. And so Nehemiah takes it upon himself to pray and fast for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, for those wars to be rebuilt, and he mourned before the Lord. So let's see, let's get an idea here. The Bible tells us how long it took for God to answer the prayer, because in chapter number two, basically God gives a permission, allows it through the king that Nehemiah would go back and rebuild those wars. So just go back to the previous chapter, Nehemiah chapter one, and look at verse number one, Nehemiah chapter one, and verse number one, it says, the words of Nehemiah, the son of Hacaliah, and it came to pass, look at this, in the month Kizlud, the month Kizlud, in the 20th year, as I was in Shushan, the palace. So now we have another month, Kizlud. Now if you look up the Hebrew calendar today, that Kizlud is pronounced Kizlev today in the Hebrew calendar, but basically it's the ninth month, it's the ninth month. Now in the Hebrew calendar, they've got 30 days for every month, and they've got 12 months like we do. And every now and again, every few years, three, four years, five years, they need to add a leap month to make sure that the calendar is not out of sync with the seasons. But anyway, we learn that Kizlud here is the, well we don't learn it, but it's the ninth month, of the 20th year, this is when Nehemiah begins to pray and fast. Now we get to chapter number two, it says in the month Nisan, in the 20th year, the reason it's still the 20th year, even though it's the next year, it's because the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes. So when you think about that, ninth month of the previous year, all the way to the first month of the next year, how long did it take for God to answer his prayer? Sorry, what was that? Yeah, four to five months at most. Four to five months. Now, I'm saying that because sometimes we go to the Lord in prayer, and we want God to answer things immediately. We have a request, we have a thing that is pressing upon us, that's making us of a sad countenance like Nehemiah. He goes before God in prayer and fasting. And let me encourage you, if you are participating today in the prayer and fasting, that you bring your petitions before God. There might be some petitions that are public that you don't mind people being aware of, and we'll pray about that together, otherwise I'm sure we have other petitions in our hearts that are of a private matter, we might not be able to voice those things, but I want you to bring them before God today. This is our time of prayer and fasting. And look, we may not get an immediate answer. We may get an immediate answer, who knows? We might have the doors of God's blessing open up tonight, midnight, right? Or we may have to wait four months, five months, or we may have to wait several years, we don't know, okay? But we know that God's timing is perfect, all right? I mean, we can't have this expectation that God just answers things immediately. No, even for Nehemiah, a godly man who's doing the work of God, it took a good four months at least to have his prayers answered. Okay, let's keep going there, verse number two. Wherefore, the king said unto me, Why is thou countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid. And so the king knows there's something weighing on Nehemiah's heart. He's got a sad countenance. And he says, look, I know you're not sick, Nehemiah. I mean, this has been going on for four months. For four months you're coming and serving in the kingdom. I guess he's bringing drinks to the king on a regular basis. And eventually the king just pipes up and says, all right, Nehemiah, what's making you so sad? You're obviously not sick, otherwise you'd be over it by now, okay? What is it that's pressing hard upon your heart? And so the king could see through Nehemiah, okay? And Nehemiah then says, look, then I was very sore afraid. It's quite interesting the fact that he was sore afraid. In fact, let's just keep going there because I'll speak about that in a moment. But verse number three. And said unto the king, so he responds, Let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my father's sepulchres, life waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. All right, so we start there in verse number two. He says, I was very sore afraid. You know, he's afraid to tell the king why he's sad. You say, why would he be afraid? Well, obviously because, you know, he wants to see his former nation restored. He wants to see the former city of Jerusalem restored with the walls, right? And, you know, to restore such a city would ultimately be in conflict to the kingdom of Babylon, to the kingdom of Persia at this point in time. And so you've got Nehemiah serving the king, right? I guess from the king's perspective, Nehemiah's heart and love ought to be toward the kingdom of Medo-Persia. But really, his heart is toward Jerusalem. It's toward the city that God had put in place as the capital city of Israel. That's why he's afraid. He's afraid, man, if I go before the king and tell him what's really pressing on my heart, how's he going to feel about that? Because that's kind of at odds with his own kingdom, with his own goals and mission. But what do we notice? As soon as he mentions his burden, the king says, hey, so what's your request? What do you want to do about it, Nehemiah? The other thing that we learn is that sometimes we can be fearful without reason, without cause. And I'm sure there are many fears we have today that really we ought not to have. Now, look, sometimes fears fall upon us. I understand, you know, when we've had some maybe major weather issues and maybe you felt that, you know, are we going to be affected by that weather? Or, you know, maybe your concern was with COVID before you realized it was a dud. Maybe you were some fearful about that. Or, you know, we carry certain fears in our lives. And sometimes fears stop us from taking action. In Nehemiah's case, it stopped him from taking action to speak before the king. You know, he waited, I guess, for these four months. Really, it was the king that brought up the issue. Nehemiah, why are you so burdened? And he was still afraid to tell the king. And yet it's the king that actually supports Nehemiah to go and gives him the aid, the financial support, the permission to go and rebuild those walls. Many times we are afraid for no reason. In fact, I would say the majority of fears are for no reason. The vast majority of our fears are for no reason. We don't even think about, like, the concern we have doesn't even play out in life. But we ought to have a fear. We ought to have a fear of God. We ought to fear Him first and foremost. And you know what? You fear God in the right manner, and the rest of life just falls into place. What could be more fearful than to fall into the hands of an angry God? But then we have a God that if we go before Him in fear, in singleness of heart, in trembling, in humility, then it's the Lord God, the same one that we fear, that will lift us up, that will give us the work to do. And in Nehemiah's case, the work to do was to go back and rebuild those walls. The other thing that I noticed in verse number 4, it says, Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. Obviously, this was not a verbal prayer. You know, sometimes we read about in the Bible, we see a very verbal prayer. You know, we see Nehemiah in the previous chapter, praying and fasting, right? But this is something, look, the king just asked him right there and then, you know, I guess in the palace, before all the people, Alright, Nehemiah, what do you want? Now, before he responds to the king, he just says a quick prayer to God, internally. But you know what? God even hears our internal prayers. God knows what's weighing on our hearts. He hears the prayer of our hearts. And I can only imagine Nehemiah, you know, because he's fearful to say what he's going to say to the king, right? I can only say that he's saying something along the lines of, Lord, help me to say the right words. Help me to speak before the king. Help me to be respectful to him and to his kingdom, but at the same time, bring into importance the need of Jerusalem, the need to have it rebuilt. I mean, there's something that he prayed to God, but I love that about Nehemiah. We just have this short passage there. So I prayed to the God of heaven. Obviously, again, he did not pray out loud. He's just having a conversation, you know, a real-time conversation with the king. The king says, what do you need Nehemiah? And probably in the king's mind, Nehemiah probably responds immediately, but just that brief second, he prayed to the Lord God and said something, Lord, help me, help me speak in the right manner. Verse number five. And I said unto the king, if it pleased the king, and if thy servant hath found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's sepulchres, that I may build it. Now, what I love about Nehemiah here again, and I know, you know, talking to many brethren, believers, and look, I know, and same thing in Sydney, you know, I know we have wicked authority. I know we have wicked kings, wicked politicians, wicked people in place. I know that. But our Prime Minister, he's a Christian. No, he's a charismatic. He's a Pentecost. He's got another spirit. He's not even saved that man. Look, I know there's wickedness in our lawmakers. There's wickedness in the hearts of our kings. We don't really have kings, but, you know, our prime minister, in our ministers, in our politicians. But I want you to notice, someone like Nehemiah, someone that God is going to use in such a great way, how does he speak to his authority? How does he speak to a heathen king, a nation that worships false gods and idols? How does he speak to him? If it please the king, and if thy servant hath found favour in thy sight. I mean, that's very respectful. The way he's speaking to... He's not, all right, hey, king, you know what? God gave us Jerusalem, and it's been burnt down by the Babylon. We need to get back there, king, and we just need to get it done. I don't care what you have to say, king. We're going to do it, because this is what needs to be done. That's not his attitude. That's not how he speaks to authority. And, brethren, we need to learn this. We need to learn some of these lessons, you know? If we are the generation, or if our children are the generation that goes through the end times, don't forget there's a mystery Babylon. It's not called Babylon for no reason, okay? One reason, okay, besides it following the spiritual pattern of Babylon of the past, is the fact that we can learn the lessons of previous Babylon's and see how the Christians reacted, how they dealt with the situation when they were under captivity, when they had other authorities of the land overpowering them. We need to learn how the Christians of the past acted and behaved and how respectful they were to the powers that be. We need to learn that as well. We need to learn it, brethren. You know, Australians in general are not very respectful toward their politicians. And in one part of me, I don't blame them, okay? But I don't believe King Artaxerxes has any other reason to be greater than our Prime Minister, for example. These are just heathen kings, okay? But I want you to notice, Nehemiah respects him. If it pleased the king, if thy servant hath found favour in thy sight, you know, to some Christians, oh, that's disgusting, Nehemiah. Stop trying to suck up to the king. No, that's how he spoke to the authority, okay? We need to be mindful about the authorities that God puts over us, whether you like them or not. You know what? You still need to be respectful. You still need to be in servitude under the authority that God has given us. Let's keep going there. Verse number six. And the king said unto me, the queen also sits in by him, for how long shall thy journey be? And when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time. Now, it's interesting that the king says, well, how long is your journey going to be? When will you return? You see, Nehemiah never returned, actually, okay? But from the king's perspective, he wanted Nehemiah to return. He says, all right, you can go build the walls if you need to, Nehemiah, but hey, we want you back. I mean, listen, to be a cup bearer, to bring some wine before the king, it's not a very skilled job, is it? I mean, any man, any child could do such a job. I don't think Nehemiah was necessarily something special when it came to producing the drink. But listen, obviously, he had a good reputation, all right? He had a good reputation under captivity. He had a good reputation serving a heathen king. He had a good reputation before all. They wanted Nehemiah back. All right, Nehemiah, fine. Hey, and by having that good reputation, he allows Nehemiah to go and do the job. All right, you can do it, Nehemiah. You can have that leave, but tell us when you're coming back. We want you back, Nehemiah. I also want you to keep this in mind, the importance of a good testimony, of a good reputation, of a good rapport in your life. I don't care who you work for. I don't care what heathen king or what heathen employer you work for or how ungodly that employer is. You put your best foot forward. You be respectful. You honour those that are over you. You be a hard worker. You show respect. You get the respect back. And listen, when the requests come, you even might be fearful to ask such a request. If you've shown yourself to be someone worthwhile, someone that adds value to that business or that kingdom, you're going to get your way. You're going to get the things that are coming to you. The Lord's going to bless you in that workplace or whatever scenario you find yourself in. You know, I preach a lot about the need to respect the authorities that God has put over you. And I preach about it a lot because I just feel like it's an area of our Christian lives that just seem to crumble. Even myself, you know, I'm not saying, you know, there are many, as I said to you, the politicians, they disgust me. Like, honestly, the weakness in the hearts of them Nicholas, can you give me a tissue? Just find me a tissue. But yeah, to me, it's horrendous, but I still understand they've got authority. I still understand that they are servants of the Lord God and we need to give them respect. Ah, thank you, Nicholas. All right, let's keep going there. Verse number seven. Verse number seven. Moreover, I said unto the king, if it please the king, let letters be given to me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah. So still all right, king. It's great you give me permission, but I want it in writing. I want this legalized. I want this lawful, right? And why letters? Because if you go back to Nehemiah chapter one, verse number three, it says here, and this is, of course, when some of the Jews came and they spoke to Nehemiah and Nehemiah asked me the question, how's it going in Judah? And they said unto me, the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates of the river burned with fire. And so the Jews that had gone before Nehemiah, hey, they've been prosecuted. They've been afflicted by the other people that have been on the land, all right? And so Nehemiah knows this case. He knows that their enemies, they're going to try to stop them from doing the work. So it says to the king, look, king, can we get this in writing? Can you stamp this? Can I get your stamp of approval? Or whatever it is, your signature, whatever it was that they had at that time, okay? So that when they go and do the work, they can show their papers. They can show, listen, we've got authority. We've been given permission, right? It's lawful, the work that we're about to proceed. So that's why he's asking the king for these letters. He already knows that there are enemies on the other side of Jordan. Now, you know, on the other side of the river, I should say, sorry, Euphrates. But one thing that I want you to also understand, if we're going to be doing a great work for God, there are going to be enemies, okay? Sometimes seen, sometimes unseen. Sometimes without, sometimes within, okay? Whenever you try to do a work for God, there will be people that scorn you. There will be people that cause affliction. There will be people that try to discourage you and bring you low. And brethren, you need to get ready, okay? As we go through Nehemiah, and as my heart is to keep building New Life Baptist Church with your help and following the instructions that Jesus Christ has given us, we are going to face enemies, okay? They're going to come out, okay? Now, let's keep going there. Verse number eight. And a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertaineth to the house and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me. So the king, yeah, he gives him the letters. He gives the letters to go to Bunnings to go and pick up some wood for free, basically, right? To the king's, what is it? He said to the king's, king's forest. Give me a letter to the keeper of the king's forest so I can get the timber that I need to go and rebuild these walls and the walls, the gates of the palaces, et cetera and the house that he'll be staying in. But what I love about the end of verse number eight, and the king granted me, hey, he gets permission from his government. He gets permission from those in authority, but then he says, according to the good hand of my God upon me. So Nehemiah recognises, you know what? He acknowledges God has his good hand upon me. God is blessing me right now. It's taken four or five months of prayer and fasting, but God has come through and answered that prayer. You know, this burden, this sorrow about Jerusalem has fallen upon me and now I can see God's good hand upon me. It's a beautiful thing when you have your prayers answered. You know, and when they are answered, you know, let me encourage you to stop and acknowledge God. You know, whatever vehicle, whatever vessel God is blessing you through, yes, it's great, but then don't forget that's God's good hand upon you. You know, every good and perfect gift coming from above, every gift, every blessing you've received is from the hand of your father, the Lord God of heaven. And let's not forget to acknowledge him. Let's not forget to give him thanksgiving for the beautiful things that he gives us. You guys know this passage very well. Proverbs 3.5, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. I love that. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. I can see how Nehemiah would be looking at a proverb like Proverbs 3.5, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. You know, he knows that their goal is to come back into the land. You know, it's been known, it's been well known, written in Jeremiah that they'd been in captivity for seven years, seventy years, and then they would be brought back. So Nehemiah knows eventually God is going to rebuild this city. But it's not happening. The walls are still burnt down. You know, the enemies are still affliction. And we need to remind ourselves not to lean upon our own understanding, okay, but to trust in the Lord. The Lord knows. The Lord knows his perfect timing. God has it. You know, if we just humble ourselves before him, yes in prayer and fast, and I hope some of you participate in that today, and understand that if we just acknowledge him, if we're just thankful for the blessings that he's given us, then he's going to direct our paths. You know, he's going to continue blessing. He's going to continue building. He's going to make our way easy, okay, as long as we follow the paths that God has laid out for us. Let's keep going there. Verse number nine. Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. I mean, look how good Nehemiah is. Look at the reputation. You know, the king says, all right, I'll send my army with you. I'll send some, you know, horsemen. I'll send an army with you, Nehemiah, so you get your way, so you're protected on your journey. I mean, it's great. This king's really coming through for Nehemiah. Now look at verse number 10. We get introduced to the main antagonist, the main enemies of Nehemiah. It says in verse number 10, when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant the Ammonite heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So obviously Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite, they're not Jews, okay, and when they hear that Nehemiah's coming, with his great number of people that are coming with him, plus an army to protect this great grip coming to Jerusalem, when these two, Sanballat and Tobiah, who are, I guess, governors in some sense, to the empire of Persia, when they hear that the king had given Nehemiah this special grant to go and build, it weighs upon them. They're Sarawin, all right? It grieved them. Why did it grieve them? I mean, what does it matter? That somebody's coming to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, but he grieves them. Look, notice this. Notice the enemies, that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. Nehemiah's coming for the good of the Jews. Nehemiah's coming for the good of his people on the land, and he grieves them. It's crazy to me. I mean, what? That grieves you? That upsets you? You know, that offends you? It's crazy. You know? And I can somewhat relate to this. Again, I just use my stories, okay? I use my stories as examples. You know, the trip to Sydney, right? The trip to Sydney, went down there, why did I go there? For the welfare of the children of God. All right? I was concerned for their welfare. I was concerned about their situation. I was concerned about the city of Sydney, the restrictions, the lockdown, and how it was going to affect the people of God and the church itself. I had concern for the people. I did not go to Sydney because I was homesick. This is my home, okay? I was homesick here, all right? I did not go to Sydney because I needed to see my parents or something. They could travel up. Well, actually, no, they couldn't travel up. There was times they could travel up, okay? I wasn't just like, oh, man, I can't wait to get into the heavy Sydney traffic. You know, oh, man, I want to see the church building that way. You know, I mean, all those things are great. But listen, it's about the people. It's about checking on the welfare of the people, and I hadn't already gone for about five years. I hadn't already gone for about three or four months. I can't remember exactly. And I was concerned about them. And you know what? I didn't realize at the time, but I found out later on that the majority of the church were happy. They were excited that I was going to get down there with the family, but there was just a few couple of individuals that just weren't happy about it. A couple of individuals that I guess it just grieved them exceedingly that somebody, a man, would come to seek the welfare of the children of God. You know? This church is not part of our church anymore, by the way. Okay? So there's always enemies. It's strange because it's like for no reason. Like, why? I mean, what has Nehemiah done? Right? I mean, all he cares about are the children of God. All he cares about is Reba and the city. I mean, it's one tiny city in comparison to the kingdom of Medo-Persia. Okay? And I don't know. You know, I'm coming back. We're back here, right? We're back to build the house of God. We're back to build a new life after church. And I just wonder if any, you know, Sanballat or Tobiahs are going to show up. I don't know. You know, I don't know. I hope not. You know, I hope not. I hope, you know, that especially within this church, I hope everyone understands that we ought to love the brethren, that we love the children of God, that we love the body of Christ, that we love the work that God has given us to do. You know, that we don't all of a sudden have some, you know, Sanballat or Tobiah turn up and mock and, you know, you know, make problems within the church. I hope we don't have to face that. But I guess, you know, the stories are here so we can be aware. The stories are here that if someone turns out to be a Tobiah or a Sanballat, that we understand, hey, there's nothing new under the sun. These things happen all the time. You know, if you prepare yourself to do a great work for God, you're going to have enemies. All right? Now let's keep going there. So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. Now the next things are really interesting. In Jerusalem 12, and I arose in the night. And by the way, the reason he does this in the night is so he's not seen. He does this secretly. And you'll see this as I keep going. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, so just a few of us, neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me save the beast that I rode under. They try to keep a low profile here. Besides the beast, I guess maybe a horse or something, I don't know, that they're riding upon, that's the only animal they've got with them. You know, this is something small, something they're doing at the night. Okay? He begins his mission secretly. All right? Now, what I like about Nehemiah, it says like he was there for three days and then he goes and gets up in the night. Now, when he comes into the city, what I like about Nehemiah is he did not proclaim himself or he did not announce himself as some big shot, right? Before all the Jews. All right, brethren, you know, I've made it all the way to Jerusalem. I've got permission from the king. Here's the letters, here's the writings. You know, here's all the work, here's the timber, here's all the things. You know what? We're going to just do a great work here. We're going to rebuild this temple to be greater than Solomon's temple, you know, and we're just going to be, you know, the shining light for the world moving forward or something, right? Nehemiah does not have that attitude. He's very quiet. He's very secretive, okay? He's very careful. He does what he's about to do in the night, so nobody is aware of the work that he has to do just yet. It's not that he's hard on the work. He's going to let people know soon enough, but there's a few things that he has to do first. Let's keep going there. Verse number 13. And I went out by night in the gates of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port. I'm not sure what that dung port would have been like, but anyway, he checked it out anyway. And viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain and to the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that I was under me to pass. Then went I up into the night by the brook and viewed the walls and turned back and entered into the gate of the valley and so returned. Look at verse number 16. And the rulers knew not whither I went or what I did. Neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Say, why would he do that? Why would he keep this kind of secret, that he's coming there to rebuild, goes in the night, doesn't want to create a big farce, he's not some big shot speaking himself up. What we learn about Nehemiah, and this is also, if you're going to do a great work for God, and look, don't just think about new life after church, just think about when we looked at chapter one, you know, the title for the sermon on chapter one was broken down. And I had mentioned that we have areas in our life that are broken down. Okay, different challenges that we need to rebuild in our lives. And there can be several things, all right. But what you need to do before you just take step number one in that direction is to stop, assess the situation, okay. Look at what you're planning to. Nehemiah, you're going to rebuild these walls, all right. I need to go and check it out. I mean, if it's going during the day, all right, and checking everything out, people are going to be like, Nehemiah, what are you doing? Why are you just riding around looking at the broken down walls? Why are you just going around, you know, I mean, what's going on? And it will come out. You know, when you're planning to do something great, before you start proclaiming about the greatness that you're going to do, before you start telling everybody, I'm going to do X, Y, and Z, you've got to have a plan. You've got to assess, you've got to stop. Hey, you know, is this going to be, what am I going to do? What's the situation right now? How bad are the walls? How bad, what do we need to do? Can we use some of the material that's here? Or do we have to replace all the material? How much stone are we going to need? How much wood are we going to need? Listen, before I just announce to everybody that I'm going to do some major work, I'm going to stop and assess the situation, you know. Do we have the material? Do we have the manpower? You know, what work is required exactly? How many men? You know, how many hours? What's going to be needed? And so I really want you to be encouraged by this thought here of Nehemiah. Before he just tells everybody about the plan, he stops and thinks about the options, all right? Thinks of ideas, comes up with some plan, all right? And we need to be careful not to be big speakers, not to be just loudmouths, and man, I know loudmouths. I know, I know so many. So what are you going to do this year? I'm going to do the X, Y, and Z two years later. Did you do X, Y, and Z? No, I'm still thinking about it. All right, you know, I'm going to go and study this course. And, you know, this is the year that I'm going to put my mind forward. I'm just going to put my head down. I'm going to study and get qualified. And, you know, six months into it, have you started the course? No, I haven't started the course. No, I've changed my mind a little bit now. I mean, we've got to be careful about what we speak about, right? Stop, assess, all right? These are things that are broken down. These are things that need to be built. Now I need to stop. Can I do it? Do I have the resources? Do I have the manpower? Is it something God wants me to do? All right, you stop, you assess. Think about, plan, get arranged, get organized. You know, can you please keep your finger there and go to Proverbs 24. Proverbs 24, verse 27. If you don't know already, this is one of my favorite Proverbs, okay? And I'm pretty sure I've preached on it a few times, but it just always comes up at the right time. Proverbs 24, verse 27. Proverbs 24, verse 27, which reads, Prepare thy work without. Now again, sometimes the Bible uses these words without, within. Okay, within means inside, without means outside. The Bible's telling here to prepare our work, right? And make it fit, or suitable, that's another way of saying that, to make it fit for thyself in the field. And afterwards, build thine house. You see, Nehemiah did not just come, all right guys, I'm here to build the house. No, you know what he did? He prepared the work without. He went and checked out the walls. He checked out the environment. He checked out the situation, right? And then he made sure that it was fit for himself. Do I have the resources? Do I have the manpower? Then he went and did the work. Then he built the house. Brevin, so important, right? We all have ideas. We all have thoughts. We all have different things that we need to do in life, okay? But you know what? Things aren't going to happen if you don't just stop and assess the situation first. You're just going to be grinding your wheels over and over and over again. You're not going to get anywhere in life. You're never going to rebuild whatever walls you're trying to build until you stop and assess the situation. It's a biblical concept. Stop. Can you do it? And once you've figured it all out, then go and do the work. And that's what Nehemiah's practicing here, as we go through chapter number 2. Let's keep going there, verse number 17. Chapter 2, verse number 17. Then said I unto them, Now he's going to talk about it. After he spent a few nights going through and checking things out. Then said I unto them, You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem life wastes, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, and we be no more a reproach. That's great leadership right there. It's clear this place is ruined. It's clear that we're a reproach. It's a shameful thing. The word reproach means to be ashamed or something like that. The city of Jerusalem is like a shame because it's just rubble. It's rubble everywhere. Notice this. He doesn't say, You know what? It's my mission. It's all about me. I'm going to be the one that fixes things here. He says no, and let us build the wall of Jerusalem. He says to his fellow Jews, together we have to do this. Together we have to do this. Brethren, together we have to build new life at this church. We have to follow the instructions that Christ has left us to do. We need to do the work. We need to get busy in his house to serve him faithfully. But we need to do it together. And we all play different roles. I'm not expecting everybody to be the pastor. I hope one day pastors can come out of this church and we can start other great churches. There are many things that God can do in our future, but we need to stop, assess, Where are we right now? Where can I work? What can I do? And we need to just serve the Lord God. Acknowledge him and he shall direct our paths. But I love that. Nehemiah seems like this great leader. He's got the vision. He knows what needs to be accomplished. But then at the same time he knows I can't just do this on my own. I need everybody on board. Verse number 18. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me and also the king's words that he had spoken unto me and they said, let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. You know, Nehemiah gives a great testimony. He says, look, the hand of God's with us. God has provided this wood. God has provided these resources. God has allowed not just that, but the king has also done this. He's allowed this to happen. He gives a great testimony of what God is trying to do through their hands. And I love the fact that it says there at the beginning, the hand of my God. It says the Lord has blessed this. He's made it possible. But then the next part which nobody likes is as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. He says, look, the king's words. It's not just God that made this possible, but the king himself. The authority on the land. The wicked politician said we can go and do this work. See, the authorities had given him permission as well. Alright. He's respectful. You know, and yes, he points to the permission of the authorities, but he also points to the hand of God. He says, look, God is moving. God is going to do a work and this encourages their heart. Okay. Their response is let us rise up and build. And brethren, when it comes to new life of the church, I want that to be the response of your heart. Let us rise up and build. And I know it's a response in your heart already because I've been gone for a year and a half. And us, you know, the brethren have come together to keep the services running. You know, as a place of praise and worship to God. The soul winning is getting done. The preaching was getting done. The song leading was getting done. You know, there were several things, several tasks that this church does that was getting done. So I already know this is in your heart. I'm not preaching this to say, hey, guys, you got to pick up speed or something, right? It's not so much about that. Let this be a reminder. If it's already in your heart that says, yes, we're doing this together, then let this be a reminder in case you get discouraged one day, in case one day you face the Sambalat and Tobiah and they cause a discouragement in your hearts. Let's keep going there. Look at verse number 19. But when Sambalat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonites, and now we have another enemy, and Geshem, the Arabian, heard it. Look at this. They laughed us to scorn. We're going to build the walls of Jerusalem. You guys are crazy. They're burnt down, right? They laughed us to scorn and despised us. Why are they laughing to scorn? Because they despise them. Like, it's like, I mean, what has Nehemiah done? What has he done? He's got a good reputation. Like, anyone that spends time with Nehemiah knows he's a good guy. He just turns up. These guys don't like him. Despised us and said, what is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king? Look, do they really care what the king has to say? No, because the king already gave permission. Now, I think Nehemiah didn't even tell them that the king's given them permission. That's why I think they're still in the mindset. There's no way King Artaxerxes is going to allow you to build the walls. There's no way. Are you going to rebel against the king? But really, you know what? It's not like they respect the king. It's not like they honour the king. The reason they're being these idiots and laughing people to scorn, again, is because they despise them. They hate it. They just hate for no reason. When it comes to Bible-leaving Christians, you need to learn this, or you're going to get hurt. I mean, we get hurt anyway. But people are going to hate you just for no reason at all. No reason at all. You're just doing the best you can to serve the Lord God. You're just doing the best to be in church. You're just doing the best to just serve Jesus because he's such a great God, because he's laid down his life for you. You just want to do something for Jesus Christ, and people are going to just laugh. So, Jesus? Go to church? Listen to Pastor Kevin ramble for an hour? Listen, these people exist. And I want you to understand, if we're going to do a word for God, they're going to come around. They're going to come around and try to cause havoc. What is this thing that the king did? Well, you rebel against the king. Trying to point Nehemiah as a rebellious person when really, what do we learn about him? He's like the best cupbearer the king's ever had. He's got a great reputation. The king's given him the resources needed. He's following orders. He's doing things lawfully. And he sees the hand of God in his life. And there's always these enemies. Keep your finger there and go to Psalm 55. Psalm 55 verse 22, please. Psalm 55 verse number 22. Psalm 55 verse number 22. Psalm 55, and this ties in with the sermon on Sunday. All right, Psalm 55 verse 22. When we talked about carrying one another's burdens, but also not taking away the burden from that individual. The first person we go to when we have a burden. You know the first person we go to when there's a some ballot to buy our, who's trying to discourage us. Psalm 55 verse 22. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he will sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. That word suffer means allowed. He shall never allow the righteous to be moved. Reverend, you can stay sure and steadfast for the Lord God all the days of your life. We can make sure that new life of the church continues day after day, week after week, month after month, without being fazed, as long as we take our burdens before the Lord. He's the one that's going to sustain us. And look at verse number 23. But thou, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their lives, but I will trust in thee. Yep, I reckon Nehemiah probably prayed this imprecatory prayer, about some ballot, about Tobiah. We need these reminders. It's great to be encouraged that God will sustain us. It's great to be encouraged that God will not allow us to be moved. But at the same time, sometimes we need to go to God in prayer and bring those imprecatory prayers, to ask God to destroy the wicked men, to destroy the some ballots and Tobiahs that might try to cause harm on this church. If that time comes, brethren, we need to pray for these things. In fact, I would say even tonight, let's pray, that they'll be destroyed even before they come to hurt our church. All right? And so these are encouraging words that we read about here in Psalm 55. And let's go back to Nehemiah, chapter 2, verse 20, on the last verse here. I love how he answers. Verse number 20. Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us, therefore we his servants will arise and build. But ye have no portion, nor rights, nor memorial in Jerusalem. I mean, they're going head to head now, aren't they? So Nehemiah is actually an exciting book. If you haven't picked up on it before, Nehemiah is just trying to do a work for God and you've got the enemies trying to stop them from doing this. But notice, you know, I don't know, I'm just throwing it out there, because I guess the Bible is silent on this matter. But the fact that they say, you know, that he's going to rebel against the king by rebuilding, I don't see Nehemiah here responding saying, yes, look, look, we do have, here are the papers. Let me show you. Because he knows that's not going to appease him. He knows that's not the issue. Okay? He just knows you hate me for no cause. You hate me for no reason. You just hate God. You don't want to see his city being rebuilt at this time. All right? And so I kind of just feel like Nehemiah's given them enough rope to hang themselves. All right? You can keep going on about rebelling against the king, but you'll find out soon enough that we're actually doing exactly what the king wants us to do. Potentially. That could be very much what's happening. But also, not just that. He says, but ye have no portion. Okay? So he says, look, you're not even going to benefit from the rebuilding of this temple. You're going to pay no part in the great work that we're going to do. Then he says, no rights. Listen, you've got no influence. You've got no authority in this area. All right? You shut up and go away. And then he goes, no memorial. Okay? You'll be forgotten. When you die, no one's going to have a memorial service for you. No one's going to have a funeral service for you. No one in Jerusalem is going to be even speaking your name when you guys pass away. You guys are so insignificant in comparison to the work that God is going to do here in Jerusalem. And Brethren, I say the same. If we see enemies rise up without, within, I hope not, but it can happen. Okay? Then, honestly, the damage that they're going to try to do to this church is insignificant. You know, their name is nothing in comparison to the great work that God has left us to do here at New Life Baptist Church. Please keep that in mind. They've got no portion. They've got no right. They've got no memorial. You know, when you're trying to do a work in your own life, when you're trying to rebuild certain walls in your life, it can be family. It can be friends. That laughs you to scorn. Are you going to fix that in your life? You know what? Forget about it. You know, don't get frustrated. Get busy. Alright? People turn against you. People backstab you. For no reason. You know what? You probably already experienced that. You're going to experience it again. That's if you want to do something great. If you want to rebuild walls. If you want to do a great work for God. You want to do some great thing in your life that's going to please the Lord. You will have St. Ballots. You will have Tobias. You will have Gershom's, the Arabian, that come to you. But remind yourselves, you know what? No. The God of heaven, he will prosper us. Cast your burdens upon the Lord. Okay? He will sustain you. Okay, brethren, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for the study of Nehemiah, the great lessons that we can learn. Lord, I'm so thankful you've actually just recorded this for us, Lord, so we can just, you know, apply this to our everyday lives. And Lord, we know there's nothing new under the sun. And Lord, as we see the suffering of men in the Bible, Lord, I pray that we would learn from these things. Lord, that when it comes to challenges and enemies and burdens, Lord, that we will remind ourselves to go before you first and foremost and give them into your hands. Lord, help us not to be a revenger, but to let vengeance be taken care of you. Lord, and help us to have a forgiven heart. Help us to not get distracted. Help us to just get on with the job that you've given us to do. Lord, this life is a vapor. It comes, it goes, Lord, and we just want to do great things that are going to last for eternity. Lord, please remind us the great vision that we have for this church and help us to rebuild the walls that need to be built, Lord, as we follow your way. And Lord, we want to get out of the way at the same time and allow Jesus Christ to do the work that he needs to do here in this church, in our lives, in our hearts, Lord, in our families. And I pray, Lord, that we will just follow your way, Lord, that we acknowledge you, be thankful toward you in all that we say, sorry, in all that we do. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, brethren, please take your hymnals. And let's turn to hymn number 235. Hymn number 235. Oh, man, wrong number. Pass me not, is the hymn that I want to sing. Pass me not. 281. 281. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Pass me not, O gentle Savior, in my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Savior, Savior, in my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Let me at a throne of mercy find a sweet relief kneeling there in deep contrition, help my unbelief. Savior, Savior, in my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Trust in only thy merits would I seek thy face. Hail, my wound, the broken spirit, save me by thy grace. Savior, Savior, in my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Thou the spring of all my comforts, more than life to me. Whom have I on earth beside thee, whom in heaven but thee? Savior, Savior, in my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Thank you.