[0:00] Welcome to our service and a warm welcome to any visitors who may be joining with us this morning. The Deacons Court have called for a congregational meeting on Wednesday at 7pm.
[0:18] The whole congregation is invited to attend that meeting. The Deacons Court wish to inform the congregation of their plans for the manse to be upgraded.
[0:31] And that evening will also be followed by presentations. Afterwards there will be a short meeting of those intending to be involved with youth work in the congregation.
[0:45] That's on Wednesday and that meeting will take place at around 8pm. Let us worship the Lord by singing to his praise from Psalm 126.
[1:01] All the Psalms today will be from the Scottish Psalter. Psalm 126. When science bondage God turned back as men that dreamed were we, then filled with laughter was our mouth, our tongue with melody.
[1:19] They among the heathens said, The Lord great things for them hath wrought. The Lord hath done great things for us, once joy to us is brought. As streams of water in the south are bondage, Lord recall, who is so in tears and reaping time of joy, enjoy the shall.
[1:37] That man who bearing precious seed and going forth doth mourn, he doubtless bringing back his sheaves, rejoicing shall return. We shall sing the whole psalm to the Lord's praise and will be upstanding to sing.
[1:53] When science bondage God turned back as men that dreamed were we. When science bondage God turned back as men that dreamed were we.
[2:14] Then fill with laughter and wasposed to sing. Then fill with laughter and wasposed to sing. Our tongue with melody.
[2:28] Our tongue with melody. Blame of the heathens said the Lord. Great things for them hath wrought.
[2:46] The Lord had done great things for us when joy to have them brought.
[3:03] Our streams of water in this earth have gone in our regard.
[3:19] His own care are repeated, of joy in joy they shall.
[3:36] The Lord had done great things for us when joy to have them brought.
[4:06] Amen. Let us unite together in prayer. Let us pray. Eternal and ever-blessed Lord, grant to us that we may come to some understanding of the great privilege that thou hast given to us.
[4:30] When we can come together into one place to worship the Lord. To acknowledge thee as our God and as our Creator.
[4:42] To acknowledge thee as our Creator, Redeemer through thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have confidence and boldness to come into the very throne room of God.
[4:58] And to lay out our petitions before thee. Knowing, O Lord, that thou art the all-knowing God. Thou knowest the thoughts of our mind, the desires of our heart.
[5:13] There is nothing hidden from thee. And yet, O Lord, thou desirest us to come and to lay our petitions before thee.
[5:26] Knowing, O Lord, that thou art the one and the only one who is able to meet with each one of us. At our point of need, out of the riches of thy grace.
[5:39] Through Jesus Christ. And so we come today and we seek, O Lord, that thou would grant to us that spirit of repentance. Where we would come to confess our sins.
[5:52] And to seek the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. We give thee thanks for the provision that thou hast made in thy Son for us. And for the efficacy of that provision.
[6:05] Which, in accordance with thine own word, that if we confess our sins. That thou art faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[6:17] That work through which we can be reconciled to our God. That that communion and fellowship that was broken by sin can be restored to us through him.
[6:30] So that we can have peace with God. We pray, O Lord, that as that proclamation goes forth today in the gospel. That it may go forth in the power and demonstration of thine own spirit.
[6:45] That thy spirit would enlighten the understanding. That the veil may be taken from the hearts of our people. And that their hearts may be opened to receive thy word.
[6:57] That it may be lodged in their heart and bring forth fruit in their lives. To the glory of thy name and to the eternal good of their souls.
[7:08] We pray, O Lord, that thou would meet with each one of us according to our individual needs. Thou knowest them, O Lord. And we pray that it may please thee.
[7:20] To come on a day of thine own power among us. That thou would pour thy spirit upon us as a community. Bringing our people to see their great need.
[7:35] And to see the sufficiency of Christ to meet with that need. O that thou would open the heavens. And that the dew of heaven would pour out upon our thirsty and dry land.
[7:48] That we would see, O Lord, days of revival and awakening among us. Revival within thine own church. And awakening among those who are still dead in trespasses and in sin.
[8:01] And that we would see a people with a desire in their hearts to follow the Lord. We pray, O Lord, that thou would bless those who are ill. May thy healing hand be upon them.
[8:14] If it be in accordance with thine own sovereign will. And if it be otherwise, we pray that thou would prepare them in their souls. We remember those who have been bereft of loved ones.
[8:26] And seek, O Lord, that thine own comfort may be their portion today. Remember our young people and our children.
[8:37] As they now go on holiday. We pray, O Lord, for thine own protection upon them. We pray that thou would raise up a generation that would fear thine own name.
[8:50] Who would be thy witnesses in this world. And remember, we pray thee, thy people. Grant to them that they may be faithful in their witness wherever thy providence will set them.
[9:04] Whether at home or at work. Or in our community. That they may be as lights that would shine out in the midst of the darkness of this world.
[9:15] We pray, O Lord, that thou would remember those who are careless and indifferent to the claims of thy word. That thou would have pity and compassion upon them.
[9:28] And through thy spirit that thou would draw them to see their need. And that thou would draw them to thyself. That they may come to experience thy salvation.
[9:40] And the joy of thy salvation. We pray, O Lord, for those who may be feeling lonely today. Those who are confined to their homes and to care homes.
[9:53] We pray that thy known ear presence would be with them today. Especially those of their number who are of the household of faith. We pray that today may be the day when they will see the truth of thine own promise.
[10:07] That those who will trust in thee that thou would never leave them nor forsake them. That thou would be their near companion this day. Speaking a word in season to them.
[10:20] Encouraging them and strengthening them in their faith. And we pray, O Lord, that through thy word that each and every one of us gathered here may be strengthened in our faith.
[10:31] And encouraged in our faith. We pray, O Lord, that thou would bless the gospel throughout our islands and throughout our land. And even into the ends of the earth.
[10:44] That it goes forth with the power of thine own spirit. And bless thy servants who go forth to proclaim thy word. May they have the unction of thine own spirit upon them.
[10:58] Enabling them to proclaim the gospel with all boldness and with all confidence. Knowing that thy word shall not return unto the void. But that it shall accomplish that for which thou hast sent it forth.
[11:14] We pray, O Lord, that thou would be around us. And that thou would protect us from the evil one as we come together at this time.
[11:27] That our minds may be focused upon thy word and what thou hast to say to us. For we acknowledge that there are many things that can draw our attention and that can distract our thoughts away.
[11:41] But we pray that for the moments that we are gathered this morning. That our minds may be stayed upon thee. That we would know that peace in our minds and in our hearts as we come together around the word of God.
[11:56] And we pray that our worship may be acceptable to thee. Our desire is to glorify and magnify thine own name.
[12:08] We pray that thou would continue with us now as we wait upon thee. And all that we ask with the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus name and for his sake. Amen.
[12:20] We shall now read the word of God as we find it in the Old Testament. In the book of Nehemiah and chapter 1. Nehemiah and chapter 1.
[12:35] The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah, they came to pass in the month Chishlu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susanne the palace.
[12:53] That Hanai, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped which were left of the captivity and concerning Jerusalem.
[13:06] 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 also was broken down and the gates thereof are burnt with fire.
[13:20] And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
[13:31] And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments.
[13:41] Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel, thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee.
[14:00] Both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandest thy servant Moses.
[14:13] Remember, I beseech thee the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations. But if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though there were of you cast out into the outermost parts of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them into the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
[14:38] Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thy near be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name and prosper.
[14:56] I pray thee thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cupbearer. May the Lord bless unto us the reading of that portion of his word.
[15:11] We shall now sing from Psalm 147. Psalm 147. Praise ye the Lord, for it is good praise to our God to sing, for it is pleasant, and to praise it is a comely thing.
[15:30] God doth build up Jerusalem, and he it is alone, that the dispersed of Israel doth gather unto one. Those that are broken in their heart and grieved in their minds, he healeth and their painful wounds he tenderly abinds.
[15:44] He counts the number of the stars, he names them every one. Great is our Lord, and of great power his wisdom such can none.
[15:55] We shall sing these verses to the Lord's praise. We shall be upstanding again for our singing. Praise ye the Lord, for it is good. Praise to our God to sing.
[16:06] Praise ye the Lord, for it is good. Praise to our God to sing.
[16:22] Praise to our God to sing.
[16:52] Praise to our God to sing. Praise to our Lord, for it is good. Praise to our Lord, for it is good.
[17:08] Praise to our Lord, for it is good. Thine are broken in their hearts, Ungrieved in their eyes, Heal of the fearful wounds, He can barely end.
[17:53] He comes to the heart of the stars, He hears them and rip on, Greatest Lord, And of great power, This world's love, Search and hope.
[18:30] Seeking the Lord's help and blessing, Let us turn back again to the portion of scripture that we read together.
[18:40] Nehemiah chapter 1 and we'll read from verse 2. Nehemiah chapter 2 and we'll read from verse 3.
[18:53] Nehemiah chapter 2, He said unto me, The books of Ezra and Nehemiah is one book in the Hebrew Bible, For they are both a part of the one story.
[19:40] It is a story regarding the return of the Jews after being in exile in Babylon for around 70 years.
[19:51] Israel had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians initially in 734 BC, And finally in 722 BC.
[20:03] And this should have served as a warning to Judah, However, they gave no heed. So on the 9th of July, 586 BC, The Abednego of Babylon took the city of Jerusalem and the royal palace, And the city was set on fire.
[20:26] And the survivors, except the poorest of the land, Were taken into captivity. However, in time, Cyrus, the Persian king, Destroyed the Babylonian empire.
[20:40] And in the same year, he issued a decree permitting the Jews to return to their native land. And the number of those returning were just short of 50,000.
[20:52] And they were led by a man called Serubbabel. But there was a second return in 458 BC, And this return was led by Ezra.
[21:04] Finances for the journey were provided by the royal treasury, And the people were allowed to have their own judges. The group numbered about 5,500 men and women, Besides 38 Levites and 220 servants of the temple.
[21:24] The third return in 445 BC was led by this man, And Nehemiah, who was the cupbearer to the Persian king, And later became governor of Judah.
[21:36] Ezra and Nehemiah, furnished with royal power, Were able, in spite of difficulties, To establish the Jewish community.
[21:47] Nehemiah chapter 7, verse 66, Tells us that the whole Jewish community numbered 42,360 men, Or possibly around 125,000 people.
[22:01] Now, although much had been done in 536 BC Under Serubbabel and Joshua, The temple had been rebuilt, And in 457 BC there was a small revival under Ezra.
[22:16] Yet there was much more to be done. So that 445 BC was a new day. It was a new hour. A new generation. And there was much work that still needed to be done for God.
[22:31] The walls of Jerusalem needed to be rebuilt. And God was looking for a man for that day and time To go and restore the city's walls.
[22:44] And the man that God turned to was this man called Nehemiah. And the name Nehemiah means the Lord has comforted.
[22:55] Well, who was Nehemiah? Well, he was the cupbearer to the king. Now, the cupbearer was not just somebody who carried a saucer that you set your cup on.
[23:07] Neither was he like a butler to royalty that we have today. But to be the cupbearer in those days was to have great authority and responsibility.
[23:19] At each meal, he tested the king's wine to make sure that it was not poisoned. In fact, some have said it was a position of great influence.
[23:30] And Nehemiah would have been like a friend to the king. The king, in quiet hours, when he felt free and relaxed, would be able to bounce off Nehemiah some ideas.
[23:41] And so he had to be qualified with great wisdom and political skill. Some have said that he would have been an official of the court, wielding much power, and would have travelled around with the king on his various outings and excursions, and given him advice on great matters relating to the kingdom.
[24:04] He is identified as the son of Hekeliah, to distinguish him from other Jews of the same name as his.
[24:15] He meant Hananiah, who had just returned from a visit to Jerusalem. And this meeting proved to be the turning point in the life of Nehemiah.
[24:27] He asked about Jerusalem and the Jews living there, and he was told about the remnant of people that lived there. And he was told that they were in great affliction and struggling to survive, and that Jerusalem was in shambles with its walls broken down, that the holy city was in ruins.
[24:47] Psalm 79 describes what Jerusalem was like after the people had been taken into captivity, and after the people had returned. We find there these words, O God, the heathen are coming to thine inheritance, thy holy temple have they defiled.
[25:04] They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be met into the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood hath they shed like water round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.
[25:19] We had become a reproach to our neighbours, as gone and urged to them that are round about us. How long, Lord, will thou be angry forever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
[25:32] Loyal Jews loved the city of Jerusalem. It was their holy city. It was where the temple was.
[25:42] Psalms 48, 84, 87 gives expression of how much the city meant to Jews. The grieving Jewish captives exiled in Babylon remembered the city.
[25:57] In Psalm 137, we have these words. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yeah, we wept when we remembered Zion, or when we remembered Jerusalem.
[26:09] From Jerusalem, it was a city of praise and glory. It had become a city of shame and reproach. Nachamaia met those who had come back from Jerusalem.
[26:22] I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left with the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, The remnant at the left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach.
[26:37] The walls of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire. Nachamaia saw the problem that was in Jerusalem.
[26:52] He was distressed, and he felt the great burden of it in his heart. And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
[27:09] What I want to ask you today is this. In the light of Nachamaia's great burden for his home city and the walls around it, do you have a burden for the cause of Jesus Christ in our own community?
[27:24] The building of the walls of Jerusalem here did not begin with a mixture of mortar. Do you know what it began with? It began with a burden in the heart of a man called Nachamaia.
[27:44] We are told, first of all, that he sat down and wept. The same was true of Jeremiah. Remember his words. Oh, that my head were watered and mine eyes have found enough tears that I might weep day and night for the slaying of the daughter of my people.
[28:02] We have the same attitude with Paul in Acts 20. He says, Serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears.
[28:13] Jesus himself, as he came and when he beheld the city of Jerusalem, we are told that when he came near, he beheld the city and wept over it.
[28:25] Nachamaia was not alone in the burden for others. But the thing is, do we share that burden today? Nachamaia had that burden for the city of Jerusalem.
[28:40] He had that burden for the holy city. He had that burden for the place of worship. Do we have that self-same burden today? Do we share with Nachamaia that burden?
[28:54] Nachamaia was a man who was burdened because he saw things the way they really were. And the fact that Nachamaia was perhaps around 700 miles away from the situation in Jerusalem, here in the palace in Susanne, made no difference whatsoever for him.
[29:13] He was burdened about it. The news he received had an overwhelming effect on his soul, and he was burdened to build the walls of the city.
[29:27] Chapter 2, verse 17. You see the distress that we are in. How Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more approached.
[29:45] Surely we ought to be burdened to build up the walls of the cause of Christ within our own community. He was called to build the wall.
[29:57] Yes, but it all started first and foremost where he had to weep, where he was given this burden, where he was led to weep.
[30:10] He had to mourn. He had to fast. He had to afflict himself because of the awful ruin that the people of God were in. And no other preparation for the work would do than that to weep and to pray.
[30:28] Maybe today you are saying to yourself, well, I wish I had that burden. Maybe your prayer is that you would be burdened with that burden.
[30:47] To see the good of the cause of Christ within our own community, to build the walls of the cause of Christ within our own community.
[31:01] Well, here Nehemiah recognised the need of the hour. And the thing is, do we recognise it? Secondly, we are told that he prayed.
[31:11] And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and moaned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
[31:23] As we survey this book, we come to find out that Nehemiah was a man of prayer. There are about 12 prayers in this book.
[31:33] It starts with prayer and it ends with prayer. Nehemiah was obviously a man of faith who'd depended upon God to accomplish the work.
[31:46] You see, today we have become so man-centred in our work that our dependency upon God to accomplish the work is on the sideline.
[31:58] Very often, our work is in words only and not in deed. Here Nehemiah was conscious of the need of prayer.
[32:09] Nehemiah was conscious of his dependency upon God. And because he was conscious of his dependency upon God, that led him to prayer.
[32:25] He had a God-centred concern for the cause of Jerusalem. If you look at the dates in this, it says that he prayed four months like this.
[32:39] In verse 1, it says, in the month of Geshu, which is mid-November and the beginning of December for us. And if you go to chapter 2, verse 1, it says that in the month of Nisan, his answer came.
[32:53] And that is the space between December and Nisan April of four months. Four months, he bore this grief, this fasting, this praying, this weeping.
[33:06] He persevered in his prayer. And maybe that is what is lacking in my prayer and your prayer. Perseverance. Perseverance in prayer.
[33:21] And it so altered his appearance that the king asked him, Why is thy countenance sad seeing thou art not sick? There is nothing else but sorrow of heart. And Nehemiah explained to the king the reason for his sadness and sought the king's permission to return to the city of Jerusalem and to rebuild it, to rebuild the walls.
[33:43] What Nehemiah was probably unaware of was the fact that he had started the work already in his burden of heart. That he had started the work already in his prayer.
[33:55] Prayer was the beginning of the work of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. And prayer is essential and must be the principal point if we are looking for days of awakening and revival among us.
[34:10] If we are looking for days of the building up of the walls of the cause of Christ in North Tolstair, it must begin with prayer. With a burden and with prayer.
[34:25] And it must be a persevering prayer. Here we find Nehemiah for four months he webbed, for four months he fasted, for four months he prayed.
[34:39] He prayed. Prayer is real work and it is the only work in preparation for doing God's work.
[34:51] Before a finger had been lifted to rebuild those walls Nehemiah started 700 miles away on his knees in prayer before God.
[35:05] I am sure that some of you will have heard of the Lewis revival which began in 1949. Some people would refer to it as brought about by the Reverend Duncan Campbell.
[35:20] But it grieved him beyond words to hear people talk about and to write about him as the man who brought revival to the Hebrides. He said revival was there before I ever set foot on the island of Lewis.
[35:38] It began he says in a gracious awareness of God sweeping the parish of Barvis. He says revival is a moving of God in the community and suddenly the community becomes God conscious before a word is said by any man representing any special effort.
[36:04] And maybe that is what's wrong with North Tolstair. Maybe that is what is wrong with our community here. Perhaps that is what's just wrong with our whole island with our whole nation. The lack of God consciousness.
[36:19] The lack of people having God consciousness. According to Duncan Campbell that is what how it's got to begin.
[36:29] People becoming conscious of God. God. In November 1949 this gracious movement began on the island of Lewis.
[36:44] Two old women one of them 84 years of age and the other 82 one of them stone blind were greatly burdened because of the appalling state of their own parish of Barvis.
[36:59] it was true that not a single young person attended public worship. Not a single young man or young woman went to the church. They spent their days perhaps reading or walking but the church was left out of the picture.
[37:16] And those two women were greatly concerned and they made it a special matter of prayer. Well how am I and you in the light of what I've just said?
[37:27] How concerned am I and you for this parish of North Tolstair? How concerned are we? Where is our young people today? If I went up to number one pair I would find them there in their cars.
[37:41] Where are they? They are not filling up a pew in this church. Some of them for many years haven't filled a pew in this church. Where are they?
[37:52] Are we concerned for them? They have souls my friend. They have souls and unless they have Christ they are hell bound. Are we concerned for them?
[38:02] Are we concerned for our community here? People who reject and despise the church but they have souls my friend.
[38:15] They have souls that's going into eternity and their eternal destiny depends upon the relationship with God. Are we concerned?
[38:28] Are we burdened about it? Am I burdened about it? Are you burdened about it? God has said me as good pastor and it worries me at times that I am not as burdened as I ought to be for the people for whom I am going to be accountable at the end of the day?
[38:51] God, when I see so much apathy among the people, it worries me.
[39:03] But am I concerned enough? Oh, that we were as burdened as these women and as concerned as these women who made it a special matter of prayer.
[39:17] A verse gripped them from Isaiah chapter 44 verse 3. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground.
[39:29] They were so burdened that both of them decided to spend time in prayer twice a week. on Tuesday they got on their knees at ten o'clock in the evening and remained on their knees until three or four o'clock in the morning.
[39:46] Two old women in a very humble cottage. On Tuesday and Friday they got on their knees and prayed to God.
[40:00] And one night one of the sisters had a vision and the vision was that she saw the church of her fathers crowded with young people packed to the doors and a strange minister standing in the pulpit.
[40:12] She was so impressed by the vision that she sent for the parish minister. And of course he knowing the two sisters knowing that there were two women who knew God in a wonderful way responded to their invitation and called at the cottage.
[40:26] That morning one of the sisters said to the minister you must do something about this and I would suggest that you call your elders together and that you spend at least two nights with us in prayer a week on Tuesday and Friday.
[40:40] If you gather your elders together you can meet in a barn and as you pray there we will pray here. And that was what happened. The minister called his elders together and seven of them met in a barn to pray on Tuesday and on Friday and the two old women got on their knees and prayed with them in their humble cottage.
[41:00] And that continued again for some weeks almost a month and a half. And then what happened? An awareness of God gripped the community such as had not been known for over a hundred years.
[41:15] An awareness of God and that is a revival. That is an awakening. Men and women gave themselves to thinking on eternal things.
[41:29] my dear friends, that is what is missing in our community. If we were to go to North Tolstair today and ask people how much time do you give thinking on eternal things, on eternal realities, I am sure it would shock us.
[41:48] How little people do think on eternal things or how little people are gripped by eternal realities. to rise.
[42:01] Reverend Duncan Campbell, that's when he writes all this down and if you ever come across this book I would recommend you to read it. But he writes this, I wasn't on the island when that happened.
[42:16] That's why he was grieved when some people call it Duncan Campbell's revival. He didn't like that. He was grieved. He says, I wasn't on the island when the revival happened. I wasn't on the island when people came conscious of God, aware of God, aware of eternal things and eternal realities.
[42:34] That happened before I stepped on the island. The revival, the awakening had already happened. But what I want to emphasize by telling you that story is this, as we look at Nehemiah and the building of the walls of Jerusalem, what I want to emphasize is this, the need for prayer.
[42:55] Prayer is needed for this village. Prayer is needed for our community. I want to emphasize the need for prayer and the power of prayer.
[43:10] The power of prayer brought a revival and awakening in 1949 that gripped the west side of this island in a great way.
[43:22] Young people were converted. Middle aged people were converted. Even the elderly were converted because people became aware of God and people began to think of eternal things and eternal realities.
[43:41] Oh that the Lord would come in that power once again among us. Nehemiah begins his prayer as we should begin our prayers by ascribing praise to God.
[43:56] The God of heaven who keeps his word. The Lord had made a covenant with his people promising to bless them if they obeyed his word but warning that he would chasten them if they disobeyed.
[44:10] Jerusalem was in ruins because the people had sinned against God by disobeying his word. And this led to the greater part of his prayer being devoted to confession of sin.
[44:24] Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant which I pray before thee now day and night for the children of Israel thy servants and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against thee.
[44:42] Both I and my father shouts have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgment which thou commandest thy servant Moses.
[44:54] Remember I beseech the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses saying if he transgress I will scatter you abroad among the nations.
[45:06] The God who promised blessing and chastening also promised forgiveness if his people would repent and turn back to him. And it was this promise that Nehemiah was claiming as he prayed for himself and the nation he says but if you turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them though there were of you cast out into the uttermost part of the heaven yet will I gather them from thence and will bring them into the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
[45:40] He pleaded because he knew that God was a covenant God. he knew that God was a forgiving God and that God had promised that if the people would turn back and repent that he would bless them.
[45:55] And dear friend that's the God that we have today. A God who delighteth in mercy. A God who says if the community of North Tulsa will turn to me in repentance I will bless them.
[46:11] we have the promise and the Lord will not renege on his promise. But why is he not blessing us? Because we are not repenting.
[46:23] We are not turning back to him. We are not God centred as we ought to be. But God has promised that if we turn to him he will turn to us.
[46:42] That's a promise that will never be broken. And Nehemiah knew that. And so Nehemiah prayed and he pleaded for forgiveness.
[46:54] And notice he uses the pronoun we and not they. you see he identified himself with the sins of the nation.
[47:05] He identified himself with their sin. Hear him. For the children of Israel thyselves and confess the sins of Israel which we have sinned against.
[47:16] He both I and my father shouts have sinned. He identified himself with the sins of the nation. Now my dear friend that is important for me and you.
[47:30] I cannot at all separate myself from the situation that we have in our own community. I cannot separate myself.
[47:42] Neither can you. The church cannot separate herself. We have sinned. We have sinned against thee.
[47:53] Both I and my father's house have sinned. He identified himself with the sins of the nation. And I and you must identify yourselves with the hardness of this community in regards to the gospel.
[48:13] And he closes his prayer in verse 10 and 11 with an expression of confidence. Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand.
[48:25] O Lord, I beseech you, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name and prosper.
[48:36] I pray thee, thy servant, this day and grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cupbearer. Nehemiah knew that he was too weak to accomplish this work on his own, but he had every confidence that he could do it with the Lord's help.
[48:57] He had every confidence in the Lord's faithfulness. Four months of fasting and praying and waiting upon God before Nehemiah got that first initial providential answer in the word of the king allowing him to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall.
[49:16] But I believe however long Nehemiah had to pray, he would pray because Nehemiah was a man exercised of God. He had a burden and he was a man of prayer.
[49:31] Oh may you and I have that burden and may you and I be a people of prayer. But let's see this also that Nehemiah was not only a man with a burden who wept, fasted and prayed, but he was also a man willing to work for the Lord.
[49:49] God goes to people who are willing to do some work. So many complain and criticize and they sit back in the church and they are able to point out all the problems, but very few are willing to do something about it.
[50:06] He wasn't standing back and saying, what are you going to do? You've been there for years over there in Jerusalem, why don't you get your finger out and do something?
[50:16] nothing. No, but he puts himself at the disposal of God to do the work and that is required. Yes, a burden and a prayer, but a willingness to put your hand to the plough and to do the work.
[50:36] He did not pray to God to send someone else, nor did he argue that he was ill-equipped for such a difficult task. He simply said, here am I, send me.
[50:47] He was willing to sacrifice the comforts of the king's palace and put his lot among the afflicted people and the dangers of life, the slander and the ridicule of a ruined city.
[51:04] All of us are experts in seeing what needs to be done, but who of us is willing to give ourselves to the task? Nehemiah did more than weep.
[51:16] He did more than even pray. He made himself available to God to get the work done. You see, men like Nehemiah are not really content to get answer to prayer.
[51:28] They want to be the answer to prayer. They want themselves to be the answer to prayer. He had the faith not just to do it himself, but even to pray to God.
[51:41] Those other men would be moved and burdened and prayed to do the same. Now, Nehemiah is, of course, the story of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.
[51:53] And this was not an easy task. Here was much opposition. And we read about that opposition. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also the king's word that he had spoken unto me.
[52:07] And they said, let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. But then what happened? We read, but Sanballat, the Ornite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, and Gishom, the Arabian, heard it.
[52:23] They laughed us to scorn and despised us and said, what is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king? Then answered I them and said unto the God of heaven, he will prosper us.
[52:35] Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build, but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem. What these men did was they attempted to hinder the effort of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
[52:50] But the people continued to build. And when they were ridiculed with words that did not hinder the work, it did not hinder the work.
[53:01] When the opposition even got heated, as we are told in chapter 4, verse 8, and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder you.
[53:13] You know, this is something that's repeated all the time. If you do anything for the Lord, be sure there will be opposition against it. And the opposition may get very heated, as it did here on this occasion, and as history tells us on many other occasions.
[53:32] However, we are told there in chapter 4, verse 6, now listen to this, so built we the wall, and all the wall was joined together into the half thereof, and listen to this, for the people had a mind to work.
[53:51] Those who were building the wall had a mind to work. Oh, how searching that is. How searching that is for me and for you today?
[54:06] Maybe that is the problem, that we haven't got the mind to work for the Lord. That we haven't got the mind. The wall was built in spite of the opposition.
[54:18] It was built because the people had a mind to work. They were just as burdened and concerned as Nehemiah was.
[54:29] So what did Nehemiah lead his people to do? He told them to pray and trust God and arm themselves for the battle.
[54:40] Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God and said, I watch against them day and night because of them. That's because of those who were trying to hinder them. He encourages people not to lose heart because of the opposition.
[54:54] And I looked and rose up and said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, be not ye afraid of them. Remember the Lord which is great and terrible and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.
[55:10] Oh my dear friend, should that not be our concern today? Should that not be our concern? Yes, our brethren, our sons, our daughters, our wives, our houses, our community here, should it not be our concern to our young people?
[55:28] Should it not be a concern that there will be a seat here that will be witnesses for the Lord after we've gone, after we're away, that there will be a seat that will serve the Lord in this community?
[55:42] Should that not be my concern, should that not be your burden today and mine as well? When we see such decline in our community and people attending the church of God and people attending the worship of God, should it not be our concern?
[56:00] Should it not be our concern? Another feature that I want to draw attention to before I close, which we find in chapter 3 in rebuilding the wall is a dedicated parts of the wall building project to a wide variety of people.
[56:17] The rebuilding of the walls is not to be the work of one person, but we all have to share in this great work. We all have to share in this great work.
[56:28] This great work is not the work of the minister alone, but it is the work of every believer in Christ here today. It is the work of each one of us to share in this great work of rebuilding the walls of Zion, rebuilding the cause of Christ, in our community.
[56:57] God worked through Nehemiah and his people, using their gifts and labour to accomplish God's own purpose. Where are we?
[57:09] Are we like Nehemiah, a man who did not stop wallowing in self-pity, but he got up and in the midst of his grief, he added, he acted, and he did something about it.
[57:22] He didn't just sit back, but he got up, and in the midst of all his grief, he acted. Nehemiah started with a burden for Jerusalem.
[57:36] He wept over the sad condition of the city. He prayed to God and sought divine health, but he did not fold his hands, but laboured along with others to the task that was set before him.
[57:49] O dear friend, that we would have a burden today for North Tolstair, that we would weep over the sad condition of our parish, that we would pray to God and seek divine help, but let us not fold our hands back, but let us labour along with others to the task, and it is a great task that is before us.
[58:22] He was devoted to his work. He did not permit himself to be distracted, and we must also be devoted to this work.
[58:33] We must not permit ourselves to be distracted. He was determined because the work he was doing was a great work, and he knew that he was serving, a great God.
[58:50] And dear friends, the work to which we are called is a great work. But let us remember that in doing this great work, that we are serving a great God.
[59:06] A great God. A great God. A great God. A great God. A great God. A great God. A great God. A great God. A great God. But that they may become realities in the present.
[59:21] That this community of North Tolstair would be gripped with an awareness of God. That the people would be gripped with the thoughts of eternal things.
[59:33] And eternal realities. That we would see days of awakening among us. people. Our people coming to repentance.
[59:45] Our people coming to see God. That our views may be filled with God for your people. Let us pray. Eternal and ever blessed Lord.
[60:02] Thou knowest desire to show your heart for your people. Thou knowest only to Lord. it is not hidden from you. Oh may thou come in a day of thy power.
[60:17] May thou grip this community bringing days of awakening and revival among us. Bless our homes. Bless our people.
[60:30] Oh Lord forget us not. But come and meet with us. That we would be gripped with our God consciousness.
[60:42] Gripped with eternal things. And eternal realities. Before it is too late. Oh Lord bless the gospel we pray.
[60:53] And forgive us for our sins in Christ's name. Amen. We shall conclude by singing to the Lord's praise. From Psalm 122 and verse 5.
[61:09] Pray that Jerusalem may have peace and felicity. Let them that love thee and thy peace have still prosperity. Therefore I wish that peace be still within thy walls remain and ever may thy palaces prosperity retain.
[61:27] Now for my friends and brethren's sakes peace be in thee I'll say about the house of God I'll seek thy good away.
[61:40] We shall sing these verses to the Lord's praise. Psalm 122 at verse 6. Pray that Jerusalem may have peace and felicity.
[61:50] BETO Pikachu suicideoma Ok shaman hell son holy song salah worry loud babyında Thank you.
[62:48] Thank you.
[63:18] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[63:29] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[63:41] Amen. Amen. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore. Amen.
[63:55] Amen.