This is our fourth study in our current series titled When Considering a Building Project, Take a Lesson from Nehemiah. And so let me invite you to open your Bibles with me to the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah, chapter two. Nehemiah, chapter two. I believe in both the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God. It's authoritative because every Word of God is pure and given by inspiration of God. It is also sufficient for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness when it comes to your life, your marriage, your family, your singleness, your salvation, your spiritual growth, your service, and our local church. And though all the Bible is written for us, not all the Bible is directly written to us, yet even in an Old Testament historical book like Nehemiah, we discover timeless and permanent principles that are applicable for us today. And one of the crucial truths we uncover in the book of Nehemiah is the critical importance of godly, principled leadership. For I believe that the Scriptures bear out that the character, emphasis, and effectiveness of any local church is directly related to the quality and convictions of its spiritual leadership. And both the Old and New Testaments repeatedly emphasize the need for godly spiritual leadership. Listen to what Jeremiah decries regarding the leaders of Israel in his day. In Jeremiah chapter 2, verse 8, we read, the priest did not say, where is the Lord? And those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit. You see, dear friends, God indicts Judah's spiritual leadership for not knowing their God, for not teaching His Word, for committing sin, and for encouraging false worship and vanity. And God takes seriously the failures of spiritual leaders. In fact, Jeremiah goes on to say in Jeremiah 5, verses 30 and 31, an astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power or authority. And my people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?" You see, the people of Judah had heaped to themselves teachers who told them what they wanted and not what they needed. They failed to teach them the very Word of God. And the result was God was going to judge them. And then listen to the prophet Hosea, who says, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you from being a priest for me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, and I also will forget your children. The more they increase, the more they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people. They set their heart on their iniquity. Listen to this. And it shall be like people, like priests. So I will punish them for their ways and reward them for their deeds. Like people, like priests underscores the influence of leadership. through their teaching and example for either good or evil. Thus, God holds those in positions of spiritual leadership tremendously accountable for their role in the spiritual care and instruction of God's people. And you know, as I think of people like priests, is it not true that usually a church doesn't rise above its leadership? Is it not true That if the emphasis of a church, if a pastor is on evangelism, normally the church will be evangelistic. If it's on strong Bible teaching without evangelism, the people will normally be big on Bible teaching. If it's on fellowship, they'll be big on fellowship. Unfortunately, There's a balance, and so often what's really missing is the correct emphasis, which is on Jesus Christ, first and foremost, and on the gospel of grace. And flowing out of that comes everything else. You see, I remember several years ago in the early 80s, I went to a pastor's conference of a very well-known Bible teacher. And I remember as I sat and listened for a couple of days and heard these various messages, there were things that were true. There were things that I had problems with as well. But it was interesting how my mother-in-law remarked to me after it was all over. She said, well, you know, Dennis, there was one thing that was really missing in this conference. And I said, what was that? She said, the gospel. And I thought, you know, when the gospel is missing, who else is missing? Jesus Christ. How do you like to teach on the church and miss Jesus Christ? He is the emphasis and the Word of God is taught to point people to Him as supreme and sufficient. And in addition to that, as the gospel is preached, the unsaved can be saved. And thus the saints come together to get equipped through the teaching of the Word of God. But frankly, if the pastor doesn't have a heart for evangelism, you might have an evangelistic class, but normally people aren't going to evangelize. If the pastor doesn't really have a heart to study the Word and teach it and feed the sheep, normally the sheep aren't going to say, man, I can't wait to get into my Bible. Now, I understand that a leader can lead, but people may not follow. I understand there's a volitional aspect there. But from a leadership standpoint, the important thing is a right vertical relationship with the Lord overflowing then towards the horizontal ministry as we spill or filled with as individuals in our homes or in our churches. And God underscores over and over again the importance of godly spiritual leadership. Remember what our Lord Jesus said about the leaders of His day? But He answered and said, Every plant which my Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch. Here our Lord once again highlights the seriousness and the responsibility associated with spiritual leadership. And frankly, dear friends, the standard is not lowered when it comes to the pastoral epistles of 1st Timothy or 2nd Timothy or Titus. For in Titus chapter 1, we read these words, For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. If a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict." You see, every church needs gifted and godly elders to feed and lead God's flock. The standard is clear. God has spoken and He has not stuttered. In fact, he says, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor. In this context, respect and remuneration, especially those who labor on the Word and doctrine. But then he goes on in James 3, verse 1, says, my brother, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. Because when you handle the Word of God, it must be handled accurately. Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. And frankly, spiritual leadership doesn't have any authority beyond the Word of God. It's the bottom line. So let me state again that the scriptures bear out that the character, emphasis, and effectiveness of any local church is directly related to the quality and convictions of its spiritual leadership. And this reality is seen in living color in the book of Nehemiah, which we are studying, Nehemiah chapter 2. By way of a review, especially since many of you missed last Sunday's study because you were at the college aid and up retreat, Nehemiah chapters 1-7 are about the reconstruction of the walls. We see here that there were three exoduses as they were, expeditions back to the area of Jerusalem and Judah after the Babylonian captivity, one under Zerubbabel, One under Ezra and one under Nehemiah. And all of them faced major opposition. And the reason this came to pass is because God allowed during the fifth cycle of discipline for the Babylonians to come and conquer Jerusalem and disperse the people abroad. And as a result of that tremendous effect, The walls were destroyed in many ways. The gates were burned. The people were dispersed. And now they started coming back into the land, coming back again under Zerubbabel, coming back under Ezra, coming back with Nehemiah. And so in Nehemiah chapters one and two, we see the preparation for the work when it comes to the reconstruction of the walls. And let me underscore again, it started with a genuine need. The walls needed rebuilding. The doors needed fixing. The people needed encouragement. This was not fictitious. This was not imaginary. It was a genuine need and had been there for a while. And when Nehemiah heard about it through his brother and some from Judah, it resulted in a God-given burden for the Lord's cause and others. And we must take seriously these God-given burdens based on genuine needs, when they're for the Lord's cause and when they relate to others. But what do you do with those burdens is the question. And the third thing we notice is that it was saturated with self-evaluation and persistent, believing, principled prayer. He, first of all, confessed his sin in the sins of his people. And then he prayed very specifically And he prayed, reminding the Lord of his principles and promises, and prayed very specifically that God would show him mercy in the sight of the king, Artaxerxes, the most powerful figure on the earth of that day, the very man in whom he served as the king's cupbearer. Fourthly, we noted that it involved a willingness to be used by the Lord to meet the need. He not only prayed for the need, He was not only moved by the burden, but he was willing and said, in essence, here I am, Lord, use me. Not here I am, Lord, send my brother. But here I am, Lord, I'm willing. Yeah, but you're only one man. But I'm willing. I'm willing. And once God equals a majority, it's amazing what the Lord can do when there is one man to stand in the gap before God in the land. It's amazing how the Lord can use a man. But not only a man, a man relying on the Lord. And then He seems to rally others around that man so that as a team, as a body concept, the Lord uses individuals to do far more as a group than He could as an individual. And then we noted last Sunday morning that it was directed by the sovereign grace of God. And I can't underscore this enough. There is this element of sovereignty and grace mixed in in all of this. And frankly, any work that's ultimately accomplished for the Lord, there's a sovereign grace aspect to it. That's why Paul would say in 1 Corinthians 15, 10, I am what I am by the grace of God. And His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than all the other apostles, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. And so we read in Nehemiah chapter 2 and verse 1 these words. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, four months later, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, When wine was before him, and that was his job, that I took the wine and gave it to the king, now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, why is your face sad? Since you are not sick. This is nothing but sorrow of heart. So I became dreadfully afraid because you are not to be sad in the presence of the king. And I said to the king, may the king live forever? He treats him respectfully. Why should my face not be sad? He raises the question. When the city, the place of my father's tombs, he appeals to respect for the dead, lies waste and its gates are burned with fire, though he doesn't mention the name of the city. And he doesn't mention it most likely because Artaxerxes had given a prior decree in which the rebuilding of Jerusalem had to be stopped earlier in the book of Ezra. So, he doesn't mention the city. He appeals to the concept of the principle first to see if the king would respond and then he can deal with the particulars. Verse 4, Then the king said to me, Question number one, what do you request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. I love that. Here the king asked a question. He goes vertical and then he goes horizontal. By the way, it's a short prayer, but you can have short prayers, especially when you spend a long time in prayer, praying and planning about what you are going to say. But even then he wasn't like, well, you know, I prayed about this before. I plan. I'm ready. I'll roll up my sleeves. I'll handle it. Oh no. Even now, he goes vertical. He depends on the Lord. And he speaks. And what does he say? And by the way, he prayed to who? The God of heaven. There's that phrase again. The sovereign God who's in control of the earth because he's the God of heaven. And I said to the king, if it pleases the king, no, it is not a demand, but a request again, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, which he had, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tombs that I may rebuild it." Now he mentions it by name. Then the king said to me, the queen also sitting beside him, and so this seems to be a private meeting. Now some Bible teachers think that initially the request was made in public and then it moves to the private, or maybe it was totally in private to begin with. Ultimately it doesn't matter. But the queen sitting next to him, verse 6, he asked, how long will your journey be? By the way, we don't know exactly how long, but we know how long he ended up being there. Twelve years. Now, he didn't plan to be there twelve years. In fact, the walls would be rebuilt in 52 days. But he ends up being there twelve years, because frankly, rebuilding the walls was nothing like addressing the people. And frankly, when it comes to building a building versus dealing with people, I'll tell you which one's easier. The walls, right? Verse 6, How long will your journey be? And when will you return? So it pleased the King to send me. And I set him a time. Furthermore, I said to the king, if it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the river that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah. He's anticipating, along the way, he's going to need official documents in hand as to permission to go through these territories and that the king is behind him. But that's not all. This man has not only prayed, this man has done his homework. Verse 8, also I need a letter to Asaph, I'll even mention him by name, the keeper of the king's forest. that's the local lumber yard, that he must give me timber to make beams for three things, the gates of the citadel, which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, for the house that I will occupy. And I love this. And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. Notice, the king granted permission, you know why? Because the good hand of my God was upon me. He gives God the glory, though he recognizes human means. And one of the things we emphasized on Sunday was, though God is the one who ultimately does things, He often times uses means, angels, men, women, circumstances to accomplish His objectives. But it's all by grace. The good hand of God, not just the hand of God, the good hand of God was upon him. The gracious, merciful hand of God was upon him. And you see, grace speaks of God's unmerited kindness, his undeserved favor. And it's the grace of God that has brought salvation that has appeared to all men. It's by grace that we're saved. And grace is this undeserved blessing that God sheds our way because of who God is and because of what Christ has done, not because of who we are or what we have done. And one thing I wish to God that people understood better is that when Jesus Christ died on that cross, He died for all of our sins. past, present and future. Again, he cried out, it is finished. And you know what that means? That God has been propitiated. Romans 3.24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation by faith in His blood. What does propitiation mean? It means that God has been satisfied with the payment that Christ made on your behalf when He died for your sins. God has been satisfied. Now, if God is satisfied with what Christ has done, what's left for you to do? Do you think repenting from your sins is going to somehow satisfy Him? He's been satisfied. Do you think asking Jesus into your heart will somehow satisfy Him? He's been satisfied. Do you think some amount of works that you would do would somehow impress Him? He's been satisfied. And He's satisfied with Jesus Christ and what He's done. And the moment you're finally satisfied with Jesus Christ and what He's done, so that you simply trust in Him alone, you're saved by the grace of God. And you're given eternal life. And you're blessed by grace. You know why? Because God has been satisfied. And the proof is God raised Him from the dead on the third day. No amount of anything you can do will satisfy Him. He's already been satisfied. And that's why He offers His blessings to you in grace form. And you see that grace that has appeared bringing salvation to all men. Then, as a result of being saved, from the penalty of sin, teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present age while we are looking for that glorious appearing, that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. You see, this is all by grace. You don't serve because you've earned your spurs. You serve the Lord because of what He's done for you and what He now can do in you and through you by His grace as you yield and rely on Him. And keep in mind, the will of God will never leave you where the grace of God cannot keep you. The will of God will never leave you where the grace of God cannot keep you. And this is brought out wonderfully here in Nehemiah chapter 2. And as you think of Nehemiah going to Jerusalem, and what's going to be accomplished through this man by the grace of God, and what obstacles needed to be overcome for this project to be done, I mention seven of them to you briefly. Number one, I've noted already, the distance from Shushan in Persia to Jerusalem was 500 miles. And again, this was through camel caravan days. Do you know when there are obstacles in fulfilling the will of God? That's not bad. That's oftentimes good. Because now you're going to see the Lord do it. Now you're going to have to rely on the Lord. Now you're going to watch the Lord in action. Stand still and see the salvation which I will work for you this day. And if you're really in the will of God, He's going to overcome those obstacles. A second thing we noted is that Nehemiah would need the king's permission and provisions. And he got it. The one man on the planet he'd need that permission from and the one man who could really provide all that he needed was the very man that God had put him in the presence of and God overcame that obstacle. So we're on the way, but it's not over yet. Thirdly, we noted the obstacle that Nehemiah would have to make many personal sacrifices in leaving the palace at Shushan. I mean, he was used to palace living. Not going back to a dump called Jerusalem, whose walls were broken down and doors burned and people discouraged. He didn't even know where he was going to live. Had to bring some lumber along to build a house. And this is one of the things that hangs us up, right? Man, I don't know if I want to sacrifice anything. Just like in Jesus' day, remember what they said? Oh Lord, we'll follow you wherever you go. And he says, oh really? The foxes have hole and the birds have nest, but the son of man doesn't know where he's going to lay his head tonight. You want to follow me? I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight. So what does one guy say? Well, you know what? I have to go home and bury my dad and then I'll follow you. In other words, once my dad is dead, I'll get the inheritance and therefore I'll have money in my pocket so I can stay at the Jerusalem Hilton so I don't have to worry about where I'm going to lay my head tonight. That's what he was saying in essence. And this hangs us off too, doesn't it? Wow, this might cost me something to serve Jesus Christ. And the fact is, it costs you nothing to be saved. But as you walk by faith and serve Jesus Christ, it will cost you something by way of personal sacrifice to serve Jesus Christ. And Nehemiah overcame that obstacle. Fourthly, Nehemiah would have to live and function way out of his comfort zone. And we like that, don't we? You know, the Spirit of God can't even get some believers to actually reach out to the person sitting in the same pew next to them here and say, hi, my name is. And even show a genuine concern. It's like the service is over. Don't touch me. I'm making my way home. You know, and I understand sometimes new people come in and they're kind of like, I want to see what this is about. Leave me alone. And you sense that and you back off and give them space and you be friendly. But come on. We've been saying for years, hearing the Word of God, can the Spirit of God put you outside of your comfort that you actually reach out and greet someone, meet someone? Not in a perfunctory way like, a pastor said I should do this, so I guess I will. But because of a genuine love from Jesus Christ towards somebody else. Because you care about Him. Me and my would have to live and function way out of His comfort. And He was willing to do that. Here's another obstacle. The king would lose a trusted and faithful servant who would need to be replaced. No, that isn't easy. Kings don't like to give up trusted and faithful servants who have a lot of integrity. They're hard to find. Good cupbearers, hard to find, because you might get a cupbearer who instead of drinking the wine in order to see if it's poisoned, might actually poison the wine, you know. And I've pointed out before, it could be, as the Lord has directed in the past, that we've at times had to send men out, like a Tom Stegall or a Dave Knutson or a Sean Locke on Peter Tranvig. We lost a trusted and faithful servant in the sense that God had something else for them. There were people at times that have moved away from the Duluth Bible to other parts of the country. God wants to use them somewhere else. We've lost those folks. I miss them. I wish they were here. But they're not. But you have to trust the Lord in those things. And as I mentioned Sunday, and I'll mention it again, there could be a time when the Lord moves a Scott Johnson out, or Kurt Witzig out, or someone else. Maybe catapult me right to heaven. Obstacles to overcome. Yet when the Lord is in it, He overcomes them, doesn't He? There's a sixth thing I point out. Another obstacle that needed to be overcome for this project to be done. There would need to be others to serve in various ways under Nehemiah's leadership to fulfill this ministry objective. I mean, you can't rebuild the walls alone. And even when he prayed in Nehemiah 1, chapter 1, verse 11, he recognized there would be other servants of the Lord that could be used But would they respond when he got to Jerusalem? Would they see the need? Would they jump on board? Would they buy into the idea? Would they see the value? Would they be willing to sacrifice? Would they? Or not. He didn't know. He had to trust the Lord to work that out. And we know the Lord marvelously did, as we'll see in chapter 3. Here's another obstacle. There would be anticipated opposition and criticism. to address from without and within Jerusalem to distract or destroy the fulfillment of this God-given burden and purpose. Do you actually think when you step out for the Lord that it's always smooth sailing and there's no opposition and no criticism? No, in fact, all them that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Just got an email this week from somebody who said their pastor was stepping out by faith and preaching the Word of God and laying some things on the line and teaching grace and challenging folk in light of some false teaching that some of the folks believe. And you know what? There's a battle and some don't like it. That's the way it is. You preach and you pray, and you preach and you pray, and you preach and you pray, and you trust the Lord to use His Word. And we're going to see, there's going to be opposition. There's going to be criticism. Not everyone's going to be glad Nehemiah showed up. Not everyone's going to be glad the walls are going to be rebuilt and the doors restored. Not everyone's going to buy in. In fact, you know what's interesting is it's not only the outsiders, the more difficult situation will be the insiders. who oppose and actually side with the outsiders, as we'll see. What can you learn from this? And I left you on Sunday with a few principles. If I went through them quickly, I want to just touch on them quickly again. When you're in the will of God, He will overcome all the obstacles and work out all the circumstances by His grace. So you need to always begin with the known will of God as found in His Word. You don't start with the circumstance. You start with the known will of God. But when you're in the will of God, you're not going to have to force things and jam things through. The Lord will have to overcome obstacles, but it will flow. There will be a sense, this is right. The Lord will confirm things along the way. And we're seeing this happening right here in chapter 10. Here's the second one. Both persistent prayer and effective planning have a place in God's plan, though our plans must be ultimately submitted to God's will. Nehemiah is praying, but he's also planning. There's nothing wrong with planning, providing you started with praying and providing you submit the plans to the Lord, because he's got a big eraser. Thirdly, God is able to work through, and in spite of human weakness, to display His grace. And I really want to emphasize this, because on the one hand, Nehemiah is impressive. I mean, he is a leader. In fact, I'm convinced there are two books that really act as leadership manuals in the Bible. In the Old Testament, it's Nehemiah. In the New Testament, it's 2 Corinthians. But in either case, it's God working through and in spite of human weakness to display His grace. Don't be overly impressed with Nehemiah. Be far more impressed with Nehemiah's God. The God of Israel. Remember, He works through human weakness. Sometimes through believers like Nehemiah. But He also did work through Artaxerxes, an unbeliever. He accomplished His will. As the king's heart is in the Lord's hand like rivers of water, he turns it whatever way he wants. And that's why, number four, we must walk by faith in the Lord and His Word and not by sight for going to please Him and do His will. We must walk by faith in the Lord and His Word. And that means we don't always know how it's all going to work out. But we are convinced we're in the Lord's will. We step out by faith. That pleases Him, we want to do His will, and we watch Him work it out one step at a time. You see, faith sees a bridge where reason alone sees only a chasm. And we must remember, He is faithful to promise. And it's amazing at times when people factor in the Lord and factor in His promises, factor in His will, they step up by faith and others are like, no way, we can't do that. Well, where's the Lord? Where's the promise of God? Where's this in this? And sometimes it's really messy. And so, as we think of the preparation for the work, we have seen five principles. It started with a genuine need, resulting in a God-given burden for the Lord's cause and others. Saturated with self-evaluation, persistent belief in principled prayer. Involved a willingness to be used by the Lord to meet the need. And it was directed by the sovereign grace of God. This leads us to principle number six. It involves surveying the situation carefully with a few others and prayerfully designing a workable strategy. It involves surveying the situation carefully with a few others and prayerfully designing a workable strategy. We pick it up in verse nine. Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the river and gave them the king's letters. Now, the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. We see here Nehemiah's journey to Jerusalem. It took about two months to travel those 500 miles. And from the text, it appears that Nehemiah didn't have any trouble getting to Jerusalem. He probably took the shortest route. He had official documents in hand and he had some kind of military or army escort. Now, was this evidence of Nehemiah's lack of faith to have a military escort? And the answer to that is no. And while it is true that Ezra refused it back in Ezra chapter 8, Nehemiah, you must remember, was a Persian official. It was required when he's there on official business to have the appropriate military backup that would be needed. And so this is not evidence of Nehemiah's lack of faith at all. It was just normal protocol. And by the way, keep in mind that God does use means. You know, there are believers back in the 1940s or 50s in those areas who were against life insurance policy. And they said this, they said, we're not going to get life insurance because that's a reflection of a lack of faith in the Lord to take care of us. Now, it's true, it's an area of liberty and everyone must be persuaded in their own mind and you choose not to get a life insurance between you and the Lord. But it's also true that could not one trust the Lord to provide for them through a life insurance policy or through medical insurance? Can God provide through those means? It's kind of like wearing a seatbelt. I know it's the law, but it's also true that God at times uses seatbelts to save your life. He uses me. So it doesn't mean, you know, I'm not wearing a seatbelt. I'm trusting the Lord when I drive. That isn't faith. That's just foolishness in many ways. Now, when Nehemiah gets to town, there's this recognition of opposition. You know, just imagine for a moment that the caravan pulls into town. I mean, this is no small caravan. It's like Barnum and Bailey Circus just pulled up. And as a result, obviously, there's some attention that's gained. And we mentioned in verse 10 when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. Sanballat would be Nehemiah's chief enemy. He was an official in Samaria. He'll be mentioned throughout some chapters of Nehemiah. Tobiah was an Ammonite, but what's interesting is the name Tobiah is a Hebrew name. He was related through marriage to some of the Jews. He had friends in Jerusalem, including Eliasheb, the priest. He would be the person who would have inside information, and some of the Jews would side with him because blood is thicker than truth so often. Another man will be mentioned, Geshem, who is the Arabian. But as I mentioned earlier, perhaps the worst enemy of all were the Jewish compromises on the inside that will surface. Can you expect opposition when stepping out by faith to be used of the Lord? Absolutely. Do you think Satan wants this thing to happen? Not at all. And when you step out by faith and you're willing to serve the Lord, or you're willing to open your mouth for Jesus Christ, it is amazing how opposition comes in all kinds of directions. There's the flesh that says, what are you doing, you idiot? There's the world that says, so young to have lost your mind. And there's the God of this world system, Satan, And we're to be strong in the Lord and the power is mine. Put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. You can expect opposition. And unless you're spending time with the Lord and abiding in Christ and His Word abiding in you, spiritual battle fatigue will set in. And it is easy to get disappointed. It is easy. And you will be faced with adversity. And there will be criticism. There will be attacks even from believers. What are you doing? There will be attacks from unbelievers. And at times, there will seem to be overwhelming obstacles. And Nehemiah will have to deal with all of these, just like you will in your own Christian life, if you're willing to walk by faith and do the will of God. And we will as a church as well, when we are willing to step out by faith and be used of the Lord. So expect it. Don't be surprised when opposition comes. Don't be surprised when there's criticism and there's opposition from unbelievers and even from believers. Don't be surprised. It's part of the territory. It's given on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. So Nehemiah arrives at Jerusalem. There is this recognition of opposition. And what does he do for the first three days? Verse 11, So I came to Jerusalem, and I was there three days. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, nor was there any animal with me except the one on which I rode. So here he is. He's had a two-month journey. In three days, he lays low. What is he doing? I would suggest two things he's doing. He is resting both physically and spiritually. Resting. Probably tired from the trip, first of all. And number two, he's not telling anybody. He's just resting. Be still and know that I am God. And you know, frankly, before you take on a project of some kind, especially of spiritual significance, you need to make sure you're resting in the Lord. You need to make sure you remember that Christ said, without me, you can do nothing. As your faith rests, you'll be able to bear it. And the Bible is very clear, in Hebrews chapter 4, that there remains therefore a rest to the people of God. And this good news of this rest did not profit various people, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. And so we're to rest in the Lord. You know, and there comes times when I'm involved in ministry, sometimes I just need to take a nap or I just need to just say, you know what, I need to go to bed. Just get some sleep. Because I'm still in a physical body that gets tired, in fact, more than ever. You know what that's like, getting older. So, Nehemiah is there for three days. And he then begins to survey the city. Verse 13, And I went out by night, please note that, under the cover of darkness, where Sanballat, Tobiah and so forth wouldn't see him, through the valley gate to the serpent well and the refuse gate. By the way, the refuse gate in the King James was the dung gate. And I kind of like that. That's where the dung got brought out of town every day. And viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire, just like Hannah and I had said. Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. In other words, I couldn't even take my donkey up there. So I went up in the night by the valley and I viewed the wall. Then I turned back and entered by the valley gate and so returned." As Nehemiah surveys the city, what does he discover? He discovers the true condition of Jerusalem, which is just what he heard it to be. And why do you need to do that? Because sometimes you hear things from people and they say it's this or that. But when you see it for yourself, that may not be the case. And having surveyed the city at night. He did that in order to verify the reality of the report and to design a realistic strategy to implement. Which we're going to read about in Chapter three. Now, what can you learn from this? That you must be realistic about assessing the need or condition of the issues you are dealing with. You know, we try to do that on mission trips. We try to assess the reality of what we're going to be involved in doing, what the needs are. We try to do that when we're starting a new ministry. We were talking about it as elders just the other day. We were talking about a new ministry we were considering starting by way of Wednesday night, having some kids' classes. And one of the things we talked about is, do we have the people who can do that? That would be free to do that who aren't already doing things. Do we have material to use? What would be its purpose? And so forth. We've talked at times about the publication ministry. We certainly see the need of the Grace Family Journal. It's ministered to many. I have had missionaries in Papua New Guinea tell me how much that ministered to them when they served in Papua New Guinea. Even as I think of books that have been published, and I think Scott's last trip to Myanmar, one of the gals in the Grace Training Center there was a village evangelist, said to him, you know, in 1998, I read Pastor Roxer's booklet on church planting by the book. You know what's so amazing about that is we didn't have a presence in Myanmar until 2001. How in the world in the northeast corner of Myanmar did she get her hands on that? But you see, books go where you can't. It's a form of doing missionary work. You know, I was talking to a pastor recently who said that on the back table at the local church where he has, he has booklets out. He has my seven reasons not to ask Jesus into your heart. He says he's had a lady in his church who's been there for like six years and she has fought him on this issue. And she picked up that booklet. She came just a couple Sundays ago and she picks up this book and she says, it's not in the Bible. I get it. Warren Wiersbe said, and I quote, Nehemiah saw more at night than the residents saw in the daylight. For he saw both the potential and the problems that makes a good leader. What's interesting is after he surveys the situation, he recognizes the reality of the condition, we see this initial silence about his plans. Verse 16 says, And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done. I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the others who did the work." He surveyed the situation and then he was silent. Now frankly, they knew he was in town. They may not have known why, and even silence may have piqued the interest of why he's here. Now, it doesn't tell us specifically, but knowing that he was such a man of prayer, I would assume one of the things he was doing was praying. I would assume another thing he was doing was planning. And also we can learn from this the importance of right timing and process. He wanted to be prayed up and planned up So that when he presented this to the leaders and the others, he would be able to communicate this persuasively. He would be able to answer their questions the best he could. And he wanted to go through what he understood to be the right process for this. First he does it with a few men to gather the vision as it were. Then with more and eventually with more. You see, he's involved surveying the situation carefully with a few others and carefully designing a workable strategy. And that was needed in order to get the walls built. But here's the seventh thing we noticed about the preparation for the work that involves stating the vision to others through convincing communication that motivates. The moment of truth has come. The need is real. The burden has been given. It's been prayed about. He's been willing. The Lord has worked it out in His sovereign grace. He comes to Jerusalem. He surveys the situation carefully with a few others. He's got a workable strategy. And now it's time to state the vision to others through convincing communication that motivates. And he begins in verse 17 by challenging the people. We read, Then I said to them, You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach. Now, as he challenges the people, how did he do this? Now this is very interesting and worth noting. First of all, by underscoring the need, you see the distress that we are in. He underscored the need. Again, people respond based on need. So he had to underscore the need for them. You know the distress we are in. Secondly, He stated the hard facts. How Jerusalem lies waste and its gates are burned with fire. There's a need. Here are the hard facts. They're undeniable. You know them. You can search it out. You know this to be true. Thirdly, he identifies with the people. Notice, you see the distress that we are in. and how Jerusalem lies wait and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach." He identifies with the people. He is not top-down. He shares with the people. He puts himself on their level, as it were. He identifies with the Jew. I'm a Jew. You're a Jew. This is our city. This is the knee. These are the hard facts. And then fourthly, he highlights the value of the project. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem. That tells us the reason we may no longer be a reproach. In other words, this is worth it. There is value to this project. It is worth investing in. It is worth sacrificing for. It is worth giving ourselves to. And you know, as I think of that, I can't help again, but think of the furtherance of the Word of God in the Gospel. Is that not worth it to invest in? Is that not worth it to sacrifice for? Is that not worth it to give ourselves over to? Whether it's investing in our children, in our homes, teaching them the Word of God, investing in them spiritually. By the way, do we do that? Whether it's investing in a Sunday school ministry, whether it's investing in a fair event, whether it's investing in a mission, whether it's investing in various ways. There's great value in these ministries when it involves the Word of God. So he challenges the people, but secondly, he then encourages the people. It's one thing to be challenged, but it's another thing to be encouraged and motivated to meet the challenge. So what do we read in verse 18? And I told them of the hand of my God, which had been good upon me, and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me." So how does he encourage and motivate them? First of all, by sharing with them what the Lord had already done. And secondly, by explaining how he had received the king's permission and provision. Notice, hand of my God which had been good upon me." You see, if they saw the need and they looked at themselves but didn't factor in the Lord, they may not be motivated at all. They might say, hey, we're not sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves. That's true. But they would not have seen what our sufficiency is of God. And every spiritual failure in your Christian life shows you you can do it. But are you also seeing that He can? Part of the problem is you've been trying to help Him out. Or part of the problem is you're not yielding to Him so it's His way. Or part of the problem is you're not relying on Him to do it in you or through you. You're trying to do it and hoping God will bless. He shares with them what the Lord had already done and He explained. And also of the King's words that He had spoken to me. In other words, by way of giving Him permission and giving Him provision. So how did they respond? So they said, let us rise up and build. They bought in. They jumped on board. They said, the Lord is in this. I want to be part of this. Let us rise up and let's build. And then they set their hands to this good work. They said, I'll be willing. I'll be willing to be used in what way I can be used. And again, we'll see in chapter three the various ways they are. Let us rise up and build. By the way, we will also see not everyone was willing to do that. But we see through this the importance of visionary leadership, personal encouragement, focusing on the Lord, seeing the value of what we're doing, and trusting the Lord, and being willing to be used. Let us rise up and build, and they set their hands to this good work. Chapter 3 and such is going to explain how they did it. But remember, I mentioned earlier, whenever you step out of our faith and you're willing to be used, what can you expect? Opposition. So, what do we read in the very next verse? Verse 19, But when Sanballat, the Horonite, or Horonite, Tobiah, the Ammonite official, and Geshem, the Arab, heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us and said, What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the King? Now notice, how did they criticize this? Number one, they laughed at us. We call that ridicule. Ridicule. Oh, you're a Bible banger, right? And I can remember, you know, as a new believer stepping out, I can remember exactly where I was when a friend of mine said, Rocky, you've become a Jesus freak. And I said, I'm not a Jesus freak. I've never been called that before. I'll get used to it. You can be called a lot of things. In fact, Jesus freak doesn't sound so bad anymore after the years, you know. You can be called a lot of other things, you know. They laugh at us. At times when People hear what the Lord is doing in or through a believer or through a local church, they will laugh and say, what are you guys trying to do? What are you trying to prove? They laughed it up. And secondly, they despised us and said, is this thing that you are doing, what is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the King? Now that's slander. And part of the reason they're saying that is, remember, the King had previously said, Stop the building. So they're saying, are you going to rebel against the king? The fact is they have the king's permission. But don't expect opposition to play fairly. There's usually a double standard, one for them and one for you. So get used to it. So Nehemiah addresses the prison. How does he do it? Very directly. Notice what he does. Verse 20, So I answered them. Notice he doesn't beat around the bush. He doesn't spend a great amount of time on this, but he said to them, number one, the God of heaven himself will prosper us. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Notice what he calls them again. The God of heaven is going to prosper us. Number two, therefore, we as servants will arise and build. We are confident in the Lord. We're confident that we're in His will. We're confident He's going to direct us. We're confident He's going to provide. And therefore, we're going to arise and we're going to build. We're going to do what we believe God wants us to do. We don't care if others think it's crazy or not. It doesn't matter. And even at the local church, we don't care if other local churches are doing what we're doing. We have to be confident when we're convinced it's the Lord's will and we step up by faith and trust Him. Do what He wants us to do. In fact, you know, when I hear at times things like, well, no, a local church can't do that. It's just like cranks my motor like watch the Lord do it. No, I don't do it to prove it to them. I am so convinced in God's word, God's power and God's blueprint. And I am so convinced that the Spirit of God inside of you is able to motivate you by the grace of God and direct you according to the will of God, if you are willing to be led and matured, that the Lord can do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think. Why shortchange Him? And thirdly, He says, and you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem. Remember that. This belongs to the Jews. This belongs to the people of God. This doesn't belong to you. Now, what can you learn from this? Let me leave you with two lessons here. First of all, that opposition and criticism should be expected when you're doing God's will. I want to emphasize that again. You can expect that. Now, people expressing legitimate concerns and questions is an opposition. There's a place for that. In fact, I'm grateful when we begin something or we're thinking about something and people come and say, have you considered this? Or what about this? Or have you thought through that? I mean, that's valuable. That's valuable, constructive input and criticism, even at times, providing they're there to further and support and help and not just tear down and destroy. And number two, we learn that if you're in God's will, you can be confident that God's grace, promises and provisions will be there as needed to do His will. And we're going to see here, every obstacle overcome. God's grace provides. He uses willing servants. An amazing job is done to the glory of God because the good hand of my God was upon me. And you know, God's in the building business. Accept the Lord. Build the house. They labor in vain to build it. He wants to build your life. He wants to build your marriage. And Jesus said regarding this present dispensation, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He's in the building business. The problem is who's following the blueprint? Who's willing to trust Him? Plus, there's satanic opposition. And furthermore, we know That the word ekklesia means called out ones that God is calling out from the world of people for His own. The whole world isn't going to get saved. The kingdom's not going to be ushered in by the church. That the church one day will be raptured to meet the Lord in the air. And the tribulation will break out and the second coming, the Lord Jesus will come to the earth instead of His kingdom, but He'll do it with a rod of iron and fire coming out of His mouth, as it were. We know that, but we also know that in the meantime, He's saving sinners. We know that He's maturing believers. We know that He wants to use fragile, feeble sinners like you and me, who He has saved by His grace. And as I've said before, the greatest spectator sport in the world is watching the Lord use individuals for His honor and glory as He works in them and through them by His Word and through the Spirit. And you can sit back and say, wow, look at what the Lord has got there. Incredible! And so we see here the value of good leadership. But notice this good leader, Nehemiah. He was principled. He was prayerful. He was relying on the Lord. He exercised a lot of wisdom in how he handled things. But the key wasn't Nehemiah. The key was Nehemiah's God working in him, working through him, arranging, addressing situations, not without opposition, but to accomplish His will. And you know, the same is true in your life. That the Lord wants to work in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. He wants to use you for His honor and glory as you learn to abide in Him And be faithful to what He has right in front of you in the various ways He allows you to serve. And even at times, expand. And I am convinced, if the Lord tarries by His grace, that there will be those from this congregation whom the Lord will call out to go beyond Duluth Bible Church, to be used in various ways on the mission field, in the pastorate, in various other kinds of ministries. Some here, others farther. But whatever He wants, that's what I want. I have no personal agenda for this church. I just want whatever the Lord wants. But I know this, He's able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. And some of us can think pretty big. Which means He can think way a lot more than that. Let's pray. Father, thank You for the awesome God that You are. We are impressed with you tonight. We are impressed with what you did through a man who was willing to yield to you and depend upon you. A man who saw a need, a man who was burdened by you and willing to pray, willing to be used. And how you and your sovereign grace work things out. as He prayed and He planned, as He surveyed the situation and dealt realistically with facts in hand, who faced opposition and dealt with it wisely. Father, we are impressed with You and with Your Son, Jesus Christ. And we are so grateful, Father, that You have been propitiated. Nothing we can do will satisfy You. You've already been satisfied with the substitutionary work of Your Son. And should there be anyone here tonight who's never been satisfied with Jesus Christ and His work enough to just simply put their trust in Him for their eternal destiny, may tonight be the night that that personal invisible vertical transaction occurs in which they take you at your word and put their faith in Jesus Christ, who died for their sins and rose again and received the gift of eternal life. And for those of us who have been saved, Father, may we stand in awe of you. May we be willing to be faithful, right where you have us, trusting, serving, dealing with opposition, recognizing we're in the world, but we're not of the world. And therefore, we are not surprised when opposition comes our way. And even when obstacles are before us, we know this is a way to confirm your will and it's a way in order to see you do that which is amazing. And so, Father, we just lift all this up to you and pray that we would take these principles and these promises home tonight with us now. And that it would affect how we think how we respond, how we relate to different situations, even tomorrow. For it's in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Well, Lord willing, we will continue Nehemiah on Sunday, chapter 3. When you read that, you might be thinking, what in the world is he going to get out of there? out of that chapter, but I assure you there's some great principles and insights that can be gathered from those passages of Scripture. So good to see you tonight. So glad you came out and heard the Word of God. I trust that you were encouraged with the Lord through your time here and challenged in your own heart and life. So thank you. Oh, by the way, Scott didn't mention, I don't think, but our fellowship area has changed from the main hall to you go through these doors and to the right and what we're calling the lower fellowship hall. There's actually some round tables in there and there's some beverages and such if you want to stay and fellowship for a while. But if you have a kid in the nursery, we'd encourage you to get your child out of there. You know, usually the nursery workers are going carnal right around this time. So thanks so much. And with that, you're dismissed.