Let's turn then to Nehemiah chapter 2. Scripture lesson today will be Nehemiah chapter 2, verses 9 through 20, the remainder of the chapter. Nehemiah has heard, as you might recall from the first chapter and the first part of the second chapter, he has heard of the destruction of Jerusalem and the walls in particular and the gates. His brother had come and told him of the destruction that Jerusalem lay in a waste and it broke Nehemiah's heart. It broke him inwardly. He was said to fast and to pray. He was asking the Lord God to open up an opportunity for him to perhaps be able to do something about it. And that brokenness, as we looked last time, turned into a boldness as Artaxerxes, the king, noticing Nehemiah's countenance and his sadness, Asked him what is it that was bothering him and Nehemiah had that great opportunity and that great moment of boldness. And in that great moment of boldness a door was opened for Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the walls. An incredible blessing. In our own lives there are walls that need to be rebuilt. Walls that get broken down spiritually. I think as we look at our nation, I know it's perhaps easy to say, as we look at our nation, we see a nation whose spiritual walls are in ruins, seemingly, from our vantage point. I know that throughout time and history that that's probably always been the case to one degree or another, and sometimes we might think of previous days as better than they really were. But I think all of that said, I think it's clear today that in our nation and in large parts of the world, in our own churches, there seem to be walls that are broken down. Spiritual walls that used to defend us from the attacks of the enemy seem to be broken down and the gates burned by fire. This chapter, this book of Nehemiah certainly is talking about the physical city of Jerusalem and physical walls and we don't want to stretch it beyond what we ought. But certainly there are many spiritual insights into this book for us today because God said that he now dwells with us in our hearts. That he takes up an abode within us. The God Spirit now, God's presence, is not relegated merely to that place between the angels, the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant, in the city of Jerusalem, in the temple, in the Holy of Holies, in that place. Now, God's presence is among us, as his people. And we find that at certain times in our own lives, that the walls are broken down. Our prayers aren't what they have been in the past. Our reading of scripture is not what it has been in the past and needs to be. Our attendance in the Lord's house is not what it has been and needs to be and should be. Our thoughts are not godly thoughts. Our minds are not set on things above. They're instead set upon things of the earth. And our spiritual walls, at times in our life, are broken down, Nehemiah gives us some great insight into how we ought to respond to such times in our life, because they will come. One of the things that the enemy will whisper into our ear, I believe, is that once you're saved, that it's going to be nothing but a bed of roses, and sunshine every day, and spiritual mountaintop after spiritual mountaintop, and ever higher and ever higher, and never struggle with anxiety, never struggle with fear, never struggle with sin. And such is just simply not the case. Why we remain on this side of eternity in these bodies of sin with this carnal mind and carnal heart that continues to wrestle against what God placed in our hearts when he saved us. And sometimes the walls around our own hearts, the walls around our own churches can be broken down. And it was important for Nehemiah to recognize that and to hear it. It was true. The walls in Jerusalem are broken down. The gates are destroyed by fire, Nehemiah. Your homeland, and remember Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king Artaxerxes of Persia in the city of Susa, many miles away, in his mind's eye, can think and consider and see, perhaps in his mind, what his city of Jerusalem must look like and what a terrible condition it was in. It was important for him to hear that because it broke him. And brokenness, as we said last time, led to a moment of boldness before a king who would be asked by Nehemiah to reverse a decision he had made some 14 years prior that the building of Jerusalem was to stop. The same Artaxerxes had said that. Nehemiah, in that moment of boldness, born through brokenness, is given the opportunity to go back to Jerusalem and that's where we pick up reading today in Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 9. Nehemiah says, Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the river, and I gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen, but when Sondalot the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of of the people of Israel. So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then I rose in the night and I and a few men with me and I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. I went out by night by the valley gate to the dragon spring and to the dung gate 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. There was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. Then I went up into the night by the valley and inspected the wall. And I turned back and entered by the valley gate and so returned. And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. And I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. 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. 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. And they said, let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. But when Sanbalat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, what is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? Then I replied to them, the God of heaven will make us prosper and we, his servants, will arise and build. but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem. The title for our message today will be Preparing to Build. As we said a moment ago, a lot has already happened up to this ninth verse, the second chapter in Nehemiah. This great door of opportunity has been opened for him to return to Jerusalem and given authority by King Artaxerxes himself to rebuild the walls and the gate and to rebuild the city. A lot has happened. Nehemiah broken over the condition of Jerusalem exercises this faithfulness and in boldness the door is opened and yet there's still some preparation that needs to happen. This trip, by the way, itself, Nehemiah didn't just wake up the next day and find himself in Jerusalem. From the city of Susa in Persia to Jerusalem, at a minimum, would have taken a couple of months. It took Ezra about four months when he returned. But at a minimum, the scriptures don't tell us how long between the 8th verse of chapter 2 and this 9th verse of chapter 2. We don't know how long it took him, but no doubt, obviously, it took him a great deal of time. Many days had transpired since this moment with the king that opened up all the doors of opportunity. And as broken as he was, and his intent as he was to rebuild the walls, these verses show us what's necessary when we find our own walls broken down spiritually, that there is a necessity of preparation before the work can truly begin. There's some things that need to be seen to. There's some things that need to be considered. There's some thought that needs to be put in to the work itself. And first of all, we read in verse nine and we see again God's hand clearly affirmed in Nehemiah's work. There can be no doubt that God was with Nehemiah with the things that were transpiring with him and his relationship with King Artaxerxes and the authority that he went to Jerusalem with. You remember in verse seven of this second chapter, Nehemiah had 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 Nehemiah had asked the king, send with me letters of authorization as I come to one governor after another between here in Susa and Jerusalem, my destination as I pass from one territory to the other. King, let it be that I might be able to show them official papers from you that would show them the authority that I am going with, the earthly authority. your name, granting me right of passage through the land to the place that I am going." But not only did King Artaxerxes give him letters, we're told there in verse 9 that he was given officers and essentially given a military escort. Artaxerxes taking a great interest in this trip of Nehemiah's back to Jerusalem. No doubt this granted great confidence for Nehemiah. to see those officers of the military who would know how to go from place to place, who would know how to navigate the military jargon of the day as they met one official after another. No doubt in Nehemiah's mind there was great assurance that was given as he went from place to place with these letters and this military escort. And I will tell you this, that the first thing that one must do, and one must always have, not just first, but all the way through, The most important thing to rebuilding the walls spiritually in your life and in ours, if we're going to rebuild the walls of this nation, if God opens some door for that to happen, we will need the assurance of God's presence with us. the clear, identifiable presence of God among us. And as Nehemiah left the city of Susa and traveled to Jerusalem, such confirmation and affirmation was present in his own heart and mind to look around at all that God had already done. So God's hand is affirmed. And in our hearts, I pray that we know that what we are about that the work that we're doing, that the effort that we're undertaking, that in your life, the things that you're doing, that you have the assurance and the affirmation of the presence of God in the midst of that, and that it is what God has called you to be and to do. Without that kind of confirmation, without that kind of affirmation from God and His presence and His hand in your life, there will be no rebuilding of any walls. in yours or my life. God's presence and God's confirmation is essential for us to go and to do what he would have us to do. And as he goes, he gains the attention of enemies. Verse 10, when Sambalat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people. One of the things that we must always be aware of and prepared for is that when we commit ourselves to living lives that God would have us to live, to rebuild the walls that maybe once were in good standing shape and in protecting us and in good place that have now been broken down. When you begin to try to rebuild those walls spiritually in your life and honor God, I can tell you this without any doubt in my mind, you will gain the attention of the enemy. He will take notice. We need to be ready and prepared for that truth. The enemy is not going to let the work of God go without attempting to assault it and to stop it. And he will do whatever he can and whatever measure is available to him. And by the way, whatever considerable power that he wields in this world, he will bring to bear. If you don't want the enemy to bother you or to take note of you, then just don't rebuild the walls. Just go on about your life from day to day. Get by, get through. Never truly a heart that's full of the service of the Lord that I believe God places down within you when he saves you. But here, Nehemiah has been given great assurance from God. He has authority from the king himself. He has a military escort. All seems to be going very well. And it does not take long at all for the enemy to take note. The enemy in our own life will take note as well. Satan will attempt to discourage. We're going to see a little bit later that he is going to resist openly. Tobiah and Sambalat and Geshem. Sometimes our walls remain broken down because we simply are unwilling to face our enemy. We're unwilling to gain his attention because of the things and the difficulties that might come. But may God help us as his children to realize that there is no enemy that we cannot stand against. There is no thing that the enemy can do to us ultimately. It can take our lives, but they're temporary things anyway. He cannot take our salvation. He cannot take our hope in Christ. He cannot take our assurance of being one of his children. But oftentimes the walls remain in rubbles in our life because we're simply unwilling to gain the attention of our enemy. But may that not be the case in our own life. May we be willing to gain his attention. I believe that it was Whitefield who said, I hope all of hell knows my name." He was not afraid that the enemy might know his name. But that must be said with great soberness. It must not be said in youthful exuberance, because the enemy certainly wields a lot of power in this world, but he is limited. So let us be ready to face him, because the enemy is out there. If there are walls in your life that need to be rebuilt, may you have the assurance of God that he is with you, and may you be prepared, as you prepare to rebuild them, may you be prepared to confront the enemy when he shows up. And Sambalat and Tobiah, they see it, and they hear of it, and it displeases them greatly. Someone has come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. Scriptures don't say precisely, but one can surmise that Sambalat and Tobiah and these others were not interested in the Lord's people regaining their footing in Israel and reestablishing the worship of Jehovah in the right sense, as God had given them to do, and to lose their own power and influence. I remember when we went to Liberia and there were people that were against us going there, as we preached the gospel and as we tried to share Christ in that land and in that nation. And we went from place to place and tried to share the love of Christ. I remember, again, the second time as we went and there were those that threatened us and said, don't come here. We don't want you here. What they were accusing us of was dividing families. and preaching doctrine that was not right or was not true. And all we were doing, of course, was doing our best to preach the Word of God. And if you dig not very deeply into the intent of those who were our enemies in that land, What they were really concerned about was the loss of power, control, and financial influence among the people, because what we were preaching was freedom in Christ. The salvation that one can know about, that does not have to be paid for, that does not have to be blessed by some other man. And Sambalad and Tobiah, I think, probably, were similar type of men. Power and control over people was what they dealt with. They didn't want to lose that. And here comes Nehemiah with papers from the king and a military escort, and they take note. They're displeased. They do not want this to take place. There will be people in your life that will not want you to rebuild the walls around your hearts that will not want you to rebuild the things of God in your life, and they will do what they can to prevent it. Maybe they might do it with honey and sweetness and ease and comfort, but eventually if you resist that, it'll turn to outright resistance and threats. Be ready to meet the enemy. You're going to gain his attention if you begin to rebuild the walls spiritually of your life that have been broken down. Verses 11 through 16 are just a sad sight. Nehemiah goes from place to place, from gate to gate. Specks the walls, goes all around in one place. The animal he's on, probably a donkey, couldn't even go because of the, couldn't go from beyond because of the rubble that was there. The destruction was so evident and obvious and so real. But Nehemiah is seeing firsthand, for himself, what has happened in Jerusalem. He's heard about it while in the city of Susa as the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. He's imagined what it must be like. Now, Nehemiah is getting involved personally. He is going and looking for himself. Not from a distance. He's not imagining the work that he has to do. He's getting involved. And no doubt this cements Nehemiah's resolve. As he goes in the night, not having told anybody yet what his intentions were. But everywhere he goes, he sees destruction. Sometimes, spiritually in our life, everywhere we look, we seem to see just devastation. May God help us. that in this moment that we begin to prepare to build, we have the assurance of God's hand with us. We know the enemy is taking notice, but then we personally begin to get involved and know everywhere he looked there was destruction. I believe it cemented his resolve. Nehemiah is not ready to share what God has placed on his heart to do yet. He's preparing first. He's looking for himself. Many don't do this, I think. They begin a work without right and correct and necessary preparation. Nehemiah needed to see it for himself. Sometimes I think we bury our head in the sand, not willing to look at the real circumstances that our city spiritually is in. And so we don't tour the city, we don't go out and look for ourselves because we don't want to see it. Because the thing about seeing destruction is once you've seen it you can't unsee it. Once the walls spiritually around us are broken down and God shows that to us, we cannot ignore the truth of it very successfully. We can go on about our life and we can fill that, we can try to out to fill that void or we can try to overcome the voice of God in our heart with the noise of the world. Nehemiah doesn't do that. He goes out and he sees for himself what the situation is. It solidifies his resolve to rebuild these walls that are broken down. And again, he is taking all this in himself. He's not sharing with the priests or the Jews. officials, the nobles, the others. He's just looking around. He needs to know just what it is he is going to ask this people to do. You can imagine him coming and it said that he came and when he got to Jerusalem he was there for three days and then he took this tour. You can imagine him coming to the Jews and on day one the moment that he arrives and says let's rebuild the walls without having actually been among them at all. Let's rebuild these walls, is what he's going to ask them to do. In verses 17 and 18, that is exactly what he does. But he says to them in verse 17, you see the trouble we are in. You see it. Nehemiah looks at his countrymen and he says, you see this, don't you? You see the walls are completely destroyed, don't you? You see the gates burned with fire. You see the trouble we're in, don't you? And no doubt they did. He doesn't sugarcoat the situation. Nehemiah doesn't downplay the circumstances that they're in. He labels it. He labels it rightly. We are in trouble. And I will tell you this today, if the spiritual walls around your heart and your life are broken down, you're in trouble. You may not know it. Days may be going from one to the next. Monday may go to Tuesday just like it has many, many times. Week to week, month to month, even year to year. But if the walls are broken down, you're in trouble. There's trouble. There's danger. There's an enemy. And there's no walls to keep them out. There's no hedge of scripture in your mind ready to come to bear the moment that the enemy comes to tempt. The moment the image flashes across the screen that causes your mind to go places it ought not. There's no scripture at a moment's notice ready to fight that battle. The walls are broken down. Nehemiah says to them, you see the trouble we're in. I'm not going to sugar coat this. This is a bad situation. Or he might have said to his countrymen, have you been ignoring this? I understand 14 years ago that our desert sees it said, stop it. And it brought the rebuilding to a halt. I understand that. But Nehemiah, in a sense, may have been saying, have you guys just been ignoring this? Don't you see the trouble we're in? Or perhaps worse yet, are you just used to it? Have you woken up day after day after day for so long that the destruction of these walls no longer registers your attention? And spiritually that's where we can get. Day goes by and day goes by and day goes by and the walls, our spiritual walls are broken down and so many days go by, it becomes normal to us. We don't see it. Then it takes a man like Nehemiah or someone else, a mom, a friend, somebody to say, you see the trouble we're in, don't you? Don't you see it? How can you not? We're in trouble here. Did they feel powerless to change it? Probably. And maybe in that they used it as an excuse that, well, there's nothing I can do. And you know, maybe that happens to us in our life as well. We live in 2024 now and you just can't live a godly life like the Bible calls us to live because the world's so different. And we use that as a nice little excuse to keep the walls in rubble and the gates burned. Nehemiah doesn't sugarcoat the situation and he says we're in trouble. We need to rebuild the walls. We need to return this city, its walls, and we need to rebuild them because there are things that must be done. You may feel powerless to change it, but maybe they thought this is just the way it is. Just the way it is, Nehemiah. Who are you and what are you thinking of anyway? I think you can come here and say these things. He calls to them and he says, we are in trouble. And notice he says we. We are in trouble. Nehemiah could have stayed in Susa all the days of his life, has kept buried the king in an important position, and lived a very comfortable, very easy life. But God had placed something on his heart that his home and God's city was in ruins. And it was not going to sit well with him to drink the wine of the king and to live a comfortable life while God's people and his city lay in ruins. Nehemiah comes and takes this month's long journey and says to his fellow countrymen, we're in trouble. These walls are broken down. They need to be rebuilt. And he calls on them to do just that. let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision." The word in Hebrew can mean reproach, insult. It's time to rebuild. He tells them it's time for them to do something. Don't just see it. Don't just see it. Many times at work, and I'm guilty of this, we all are, but in a technical field, in a technical world that I live in, it is easy, and in other situations, no doubt, it's the same, but it's easy to point out the problems. And I have on occasion asked those who are working on my team, I don't want to just hear what the problem is. Anybody can identify the problem. What's the solution? What's the fix? What needs to be done now? It's good and necessary for us to identify the problem. Nehemiah says, we're in trouble. The walls are broken down. The gates are burned. Let's do something about it. You know the enemy, Satan? You're lost or saved alike. He will be okay with you acknowledging what the problem is. He'll cede that ground to you. I'm lost. I'm not where I need to be. I'm not doing what God would have me to do. Satan doesn't want you to acknowledge that. If he can keep you from doing it, he will. But he'll cede that ground if he has to, but he will raise every difficulty that he can raise in front of you to keep you from doing something about it. Actually getting up and praying and praying through the day and actually committing your heart to God as your feet hit the floor. Actually encouraging your brothers and sisters and sharing Christ with a lost world. Recognizing the brokenness of the world is important Now let's do something about it with the hand of God that is clearly with us. It is clearly upon me and upon us. And Nehemiah disabuses them of any such thought that it was not the case. He tells them about, he says in verse 18, I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good. He told them, he says, listen brothers and sisters, I was in Susa, I was in a good place, I was in an easy place, I was in an important position. I was at the right hand of the most powerful man on the planet and he was my friend as much as one could be said to be a friend of the king. Our deserter sees thought enough of Nehemiah to allow him to do this thing. There must have been some kind of a relationship there. And Nehemiah says to them, I was there, but God has broken my heart for the condition of our city. And he has been dealing with me in this. And now look what he has done. And can you imagine as he pulls out the papers from the cave? We have permission to build. We have permission from God of heaven, who worked on this king, small K, Artaxerxes, that opened the door, the walls can be rebuilt. God is with us. There is power in that. When brothers and sisters, convinced of the hand of God among them, say to themselves, let us then rebuild. And that's exactly what they're going to do in the third chapter. But here, Nehemiah calls on them, lets build, told them of God's hand, gave them the proof of God's hand in their midst with the king's letter and the king's word, and the people respond. They said, the last of verse 18, let us rise up and build. And so they strengthened their hands for the good work. Isaiah 35, 3 says, strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Nehemiah is now assembling, calling upon the people to rebuild the walls. Nehemiah. Nehemiah himself, Nehemiah alone. It wasn't his job to rebuild the walls. It was the people's job. Of course he was a leader among them and directed the work. But it was the people who did the work. This was not just Nehemiah's work. This was all of the people. This is all of those who would come and rebuild the walls. And in our day and time that we are living where there seems to be one spiritual section of wall torn down and one spiritual gate torn down after another, and we cannot find our way any longer, and we are so lost and confused as a nation. This work that is to be done, it is not about one person. It is about God's people all together saying such a thing as that. Let us Rebuild. Let us do this work. Of course, now the enemy comes along as no doubt can be expected in verse 19. What is this thing that you're doing? What do you think you're doing? Jews of Jerusalem. What would you, what do you think you're going to be able to accomplish here? Are you rebelling against the king? No doubt trying to inspire fear. Because again, 14 years earlier, the war could stop because the king had said stop. The enemy comes along and begins to taunt, to jeer at them. And sometimes that's enough that the work can stop in our lives is when the enemy merely says words. Just the mere threat. What do you think you're doing? And that fear, if we allow ourselves to succumb to it, will prevent us from beginning the work, because I will tell you, at this point, not a single portion, not a single section of the wall has been rebuilt. The work is yet to be done, and the enemy will try to insert himself right between that moment of conviction, let's rebuild, and the moment of actually getting the tools in your hand and beginning the work, the enemy will insert himself right there. What do you think you're doing? Who do you think you are? This isn't what you're supposed to be doing. Ian Murray said this, the word of God never yet prospered in the world without opposition. I think historically you will find that to be true. J.M. Pendleton said something similar, I won't be able to quote it exactly, but he talked to Baptists in the early days of the colonies, or not in the colonies, but in the 1800s, and things had turned, and Baptists had been persecuted here just like they'd been persecuted over in England and other places, and then all of a sudden things began to change, and Baptists began to be be accepted, and God's people began to be accepted in society. And Pendleton warned against that and said, listen, chains and swords are not the only thing that the enemy uses to persecute us, but comfortable beds and easy acceptance is just as dangerous, or at least it can be. And again, that is far from the direct quote, but that was his point. 2 Timothy 3.12 tells us, indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. You will face the enemy. He will attempt to keep you from rebuilding the walls around you that need to be rebuilt. He will try to stop you at every stage. He will try to make you do so in fear and in threats. When in reality he holds no true power over you. Not really. And essentially, I think in a sense, that's what Nehemiah says as we close in verse 20. I replied to them, the God of heaven will make us prosper. Sambalat. You ask me, Sambalat, who do you think we are? I ask you the same. Who do you think you are? The God of heaven, Jehovah. The God of Isaac and Abraham and Jacob. He is with us and among us. He will make us prosper. He's called us to this. He has set our hand to this work. The question is not, who are we, Sambalat? The question is, who are you? You have no part in this. That's what he says. You have no portion, or right, or claim in Jerusalem, Sambalat. Nehemiah confronts his enemy after his enemy confronts him. He does not run and hide because of words. He has confidence in God, not himself. And I will tell you this as well. You want to know what will remove from you the fear of man? Love of God and love of others. 1st John tells us that perfect love casts out fear. Fear, the kind that Sambalopt is trying to engender in the heart of Nehemiah and the Jews. Do you know the kind of fear he's trying to build in their hearts? Fear for themselves. when the enemy can get you afraid for yourself. And that fear works in your heart and causes you to be afraid to the point that you don't rebuild because of the fear that you have for yourself. He will win the battle and he'll win the day. But when you empty yourself of the fear of man, and the fear of what might happen to you, that it might honor God, and it might glorify God, and you are confident in his hand and the work. These men like Sambalat, and Tobiah, and Gishon, they don't hold any sway. They need to be dealt with, and they're going to be a problem throughout the remaining 11 chapters here. But they're not gonna call the shots. God does that with Nehemiah. Nehemiah follows him and he does not succumb to this fear. And I will tell you this as well, if you are not daily bowing before God, you will be bowing before men. Because it's one or the other. Our spiritual walls are in a place. I don't know where you are in your life, in your own heart. And there's application here of our own hearts and our own lives. Our families, our church, our nation, as that circle widens and the walls of each of those areas, certainly in those wider areas, there used to be a little more steadiness and biblically-minded people in our lives, it seems, at work. And in our government, those walls seem to be completely decimated. And as concerned as I am about that, what concerns me most and more so is just the walls around our hearts and our church. May God help us to be rebuilding any that are broken down. and ready to face it. May we be prepared to do the work and may we not stumble and may we not falter and may we not halt between that point of commitment and that point in chapter three when they pick up the sword and the trowel and they begin the work. Are you prepared? Are you ready to meet the enemy? Do you know and just recognize you're going to gain his attention? Are you ready to involve yourself and commit yourself and engage in the work yourself? And then are you ready to call upon others to come alongside and work together for the glory of God and to rebuild the walls around your life and ours and our church and wherever that God might place you? I pray we're prepared to build. Let's have some.