That has also been turning to joy as we begin a new study together.
And we'll spend most of this summer, the next couple of months,
looking together at the book of Nehemiah.
Let me begin this morning as I heard a sermon this week on this book.
There was a quote read from a book by a man named Wesley Finn
called Man Ruined and Restored.
I just want to begin reading to you this quote, this little story he told.
And a preacher made the mistake of showing two boys the text he would be preaching from
that Sunday, the previous Saturday afternoon.
When he turned his back, the boys glued some of the pages of his Bible together.
Not a funny joke, young men.
So on Sunday, when he stood to preach, he read,
And Noah, when he was 120 years old, took unto himself a wife who was,
then turning the page, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high,
built of gopher wood, and pitch within and without.
Puzzled, he paused, read it again, and then looked up at his congregation and said,
I have read the Bible through many, many times,
but this is the first time I have ever read this.
Yet I believe the Bible to be true from cover to cover,
so I accept it as truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Reading that to you just to say, there are parts of our Bible that have yet to be peeled open.
And that's a sad thing in American Christianity,
that we altogether have neglected whole sections of the Scriptures.
Many Christians walk around acting as if the only inspired part of the Bible is the New Testament.
I made a little jest at you earlier.
Some of us just carry New Testaments around with us,
and that's okay.
There's such valuable truths contained within,
but it's certainly a mark of a mature Christian when we begin to value the Old Testament Scriptures.
We begin to see that they speak of Christ as well.
And those of us who are standing on this side of the cross
now have the ability to see all of the fulfillment of the promises of God.
And therefore, the Old Testament Scriptures become that much more precious to us.
It's a people not looking to the promise,
wanting to know how it is that this promise will be fulfilled,
but having seen it fulfilled,
we now get to take on a new and a deeper appreciation for the things contained in the Old Testament.
And so, it's my hope as we peel the pages of Nehemiah open
that you will begin to appreciate the Old Testament text as much of as the first.
Now, the book of Nehemiah today, I'm going to give you kind of a sweeping overview of it.
It records events chronologically from Nehemiah's first term as governor of Jerusalem,
those of you who care about dates,
from about 445 to 433 B.C.
That's Nehemiah 1-12,
to his second term as governor,
possibly beginning about 424 B.C.
That's the place that we put this book.
Now, you may be a bit confused,
because in your Bible, it's going to be ordered.
So, we have 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles,
Ezra, Nehemiah.
Where does Nehemiah fall, though, in the timeline of reality, of the actual world?
These are ordered by history books.
It doesn't work out quite that way.
At the same time as Nehemiah, we have Haggai and Zechariah,
the events that happen in the book of Esser,
and then Malachi.
Really, if we were going to put it in chronological order,
it belongs towards the end of our Old Testament.
This is after Babylonian exile.
This is the people returning again to the land that God had given them.
God goes silent after Malachi comes and prophesies for 400 years,
and then comes back on the scene when we see
the heralding of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.
So, that's where this fits.
Some of you may have a chronological Bible,
or they're kind of neat because they break things apart
and put them in that proper order.
Recognize that this is not laid out normally, normatively, in that way.
They're grouped by types of books.
And here we have a book of history.
So, that's where this falls.
Nehemiah was not written by Nehemiah.
It's widely accepted that it was written by Ezra.
In fact, the Latin Vulgate calls Nehemiah Ezra II.
It's a continuation of.
The early historical evidences actually show Ezra and Nehemiah as one book.
Now, there's certainly some first-hand quotations
believed to be taken from Nehemiah's own journal, Ezra pulled from.
But the evidences we have,
we see the recurrent phrase,
hand of the Lord, very similar writing.
And then as well as Ezra's role as a priest-scribe,
which would have granted him access
to the royal archives of the Persian Empire.
So, we see these vast lists
of the numbers of people that returned to Jerusalem.
And Ezra would have actually had the access to those records,
whereas Nehemiah would have not.
So, it's widely accepted that Ezra was actually the writer
of the book of Nehemiah.
Now, at this point, you may be saying,
great, fantastic facts.
We know where it falls in time.
We know who wrote it.
But why are we going to be using Nehemiah?
I've said to you already,
I hope to give you an appreciation of the Old Testament text.
Is that really a good reason, though,
to delve into it together?
It's a small reason, not a large reason,
but it is a reason.
The reason we're going to study Nehemiah together this summer
is that I believe it's very timely for us.
The place that our church is now.
And I'll share a little more with you
as we go on through this Sunday and in the coming weeks.
And you'll begin to understand, I think,
why I believe that to be the case.
But let me just say to you,
as an overarching reason,
is that Nehemiah was a man who cared deeply
about the glory of God
and the good of God's people.
He cared deeply about the glory of God
and the good of God's people.
And I think that this can speak to us
where we are.
So, let's look at the text together.
Nehemiah chapter 1.
We're just going to read together
the first four verses.
The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah.
Now, it happened in the month of Chislev
in the 20th year,
as I was in Susa, the citadel,
that Hanani, one of my brothers,
came with certain men from Judah.
And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped,
who had survived the exile,
and concerning Jerusalem.
So he said,
how are things going back in Jerusalem?
And they said to me,
the remnant there in the province
who had survived the exiles
is in great trouble.
This word in Hebrew is the opposite of peace.
They're in turmoil and shame.
They were being ridiculed
because the wall of Jerusalem is broken down
and its gates are destroyed by fire.
And this grieves Nehemiah.
Deeply grieves him.
Look at verse 4.
As soon as I heard these words,
I sat down and wept and mourned for days.
And I continued fasting and praying
before the God of heaven.
Now, to understand why Nehemiah may have felt this way,
I think it's important that we get
a little bit of a background.
We set a stage leading up to this very point.
Remember that the nation of Israel
was formed around a patriarch, Abraham.
Abraham was called by God
to be a people for his possession.
He promised to bless the nations in him.
Gave him the name Abraham.
And this nation grew.
And of course, there's a lot of events.
I'm sweeping through Old Testament history here.
Grew to a nation that was ruled by three kings.
Saul, David, and Solomon.
This was Israel's golden age.
They were the power to be reckoned with
in that region.
Mighty.
David.
You read the stories of David
and the conquering that he did in those days.
But because Solomon compromised so greatly
with the things of God,
God promised to bring calamity.
Bring a judgment upon them.
But because God loved David
the way he loved him,
he told Solomon that it wouldn't come to pass
until Solomon died.
And that's what happened.
That's exactly what happened.
A civil war broke out.
The nation became divided.
Israel, the group in the north,
took the name Israel.
Judah in the south.
It was the most prominent tribe.
They took the name Judah in the south.
In 722 BC,
the Assyrians,
a great world power at the time,
came and sacked,
conquered in the northern kingdom.
Pillaged, plundered,
thousands died.
They carried away captives.
The tragic time for the northern kingdom.
And then in roughly 605 to 586,
the Babylonians did the same
in the south.
Turn with me back
just a couple of books
to 2 Chronicles.
So you're going to have
Ezra before Nehemiah
and then 2 Chronicles
right at the end,
chapter 36.
You read with me
a little bit about this.
2 Chronicles 36,
beginning in verse 15.
The Lord,
the God of their fathers,
sent persistently to them
by His messengers
because He had compassion
on His people
and on His dwelling place.
But they kept mocking
the messengers of God,
despising His words
and scoffing at His prophets
until the wrath of the Lord
rose against His people
until there was no remedy.
Thereofor He brought up against them
the king of the Chaldeans,
Babylonians,
interchangeable words here,
who killed their young men
with a sword
in the house of their sanctuary
and had no compassion
on young man or a virgin,
old man or aged.
He gave them all
into His hand.
And all the vessels
of the house of God,
great and small,
and the treasures
of the house of the Lord,
and the treasures
of the king and of his princes,
all these He brought to Babylon.
And they burned
the house of God,
and here you go,
and broke down the wall
of Jerusalem
and burned all its palaces
with fire
and destroyed
all its precious vessels.
He took into exile
in Babylon
those who had escaped
from the sword,
and they became servants
to Him and to His sons
until the establishment
of the kingdom of Persia.
So here you see
the destruction of Jerusalem
to the degree
that they actually
tore down the walls.
And the walls were significant
both practically
and symbolically.
Practically,
they protected the city.
People came inside
and they closed up the gates
as a way they fended off
attackers.
Symbolically,
it meant that the city
was healthy.
It meant that it had power
because of the might
of the walls.
And the Babylonians
knew this,
and therefore they
destroyed it.
They laid it to waste.
Jerusalem was ruined.
And they carried
everybody off.
These dark,
dark days.
It's prophesied
in Jeremiah chapter 25
that they would be gone
for 70 years.
And this is exactly
what happened.
What happened
to cause the tide
to turn?
What was it that
began to allow
the Jews
to enter back
into the promised land?
It was a handing off
of world power.
The Persians
conquered the Babylonians
about 539 B.C.
Such a cool picture
of God's providence
and the way
He works
in the world.
He used the pagan peoples
to judge His own,
to judge Israel.
And then He uses
pagan peoples
coming and conquering
the Babylonians
to send them back.
The way He works
and uses world events
is rather incredible.
And so we see
that they were
then sent back.
2 Chronicles 36
22-23
Now in the first year
of Cyrus,
king of Persia,
that the word of the Lord
by the mouth of Jeremiah
might be fulfilled,
the Lord stirred up
in the spirit of Cyrus,
king of Persia,
so that He made a proclamation
throughout all His kingdom
and also put it in writing,
Thus says Cyrus,
king of Persia,
the Lord,
the God of heaven
has given me
all the kingdoms of the earth
and He has charged me
to build Him
a house at Jerusalem
which is in Judah.
Whoever is among you
all of His peoples,
may the Lord His God
be with you.
Let Him go up.
So we begin to see
a movement
back towards
the promised land.
So,
if you'll allow,
we'll call the first group
Group A,
right?
This is who Cyrus sends,
the people that went back,
they were led by a man
named Zerubbabel,
which is a fantastic name
to say.
I got to say it
over and over this week,
right?
A man named Zerubbabel
led them back,
right?
Took them 20 years
to rebuild the temple,
but that's what they
set themselves to doing
when they returned.
You can read about this
in the book of Ezra,
right?
Eighty years later,
we've got Group B,
and this is when
spiritual reform
begins to take place.
And then 13 years later,
here we have Nehemiah
hearing the news
of what's going on.
So,
we know the temple's
been restored,
some spiritual revival
is beginning to happen there,
but the walls
are still not built.
It's been 90 years
since the people
were released by Persia
to go back,
and yet,
the city still lays
in shambles.
It's fascinating
that Nehemiah was a layman.
Here we find him
serving the now king
of Persia,
King Artaxerxes,
as his cupbearer.
He was the guy
that drank the wine
before the king
to be sure
that it wasn't poisoned.
A layman used
in such a powerful way
by God.
It's an encouragement
to me as a fairly
uneducated,
unequipped man.
Nehemiah was used
in mighty ways,
and he was uniquely
fitted for the task.
Uniquely fitted
for the task
that was ahead of him.
He was the cupbearer
to Artaxerxes,
which meant that
if a cupbearer
did his job well,
he became a trusted friend
of the king.
He stood at his side
all the time.
Anytime the king drank,
the cupbearer
was there with him,
served him as a friend.
Often they became
great counselors
to the king.
The king would bounce ideas
off of the cupbearer.
And here you see
as Nehemiah is serving
in his presence,
chapter 2,
that his face is long.
He's sad,
which was not a thing
you did in front of a king.
Kings wanted joyful people
around them.
I could say that of myself.
Like,
don't come around me
and be sad.
That's just depressing.
Be happy around me.
But here he is
with a long face,
risking his very life,
but he's in such mourning
and torment
over what's happening
in Israel
that the king asks him,
why are you so sad?
And he shares with the king
and the king does
a phenomenal thing.
Again,
moved along
by the prominence of God
and gives to him
basically a blank check.
He says,
well,
go then.
Go back and build
the walls.
Writes him letters.
Gives him an armed escort
to go back.
Gives him letters
to reap
harvest of lumber
from Lebanon
to build
precious,
precious lumber
in this area
to build back up
the wall.
It's a great,
great,
great picture of this
and as Nehemiah himself says,
the good hand of God
was upon me.
Nehemiah was a man
zealous
for the glory of God.
The reason
that he's so
torn,
that he weeps
and mourns
for days,
that he risks
his own life
being sad
in the presence
of the king
is that
the state of Israel
in these days
was the visible
glory of God.
It was the
manifestation
of God's goodness,
of his character
to his people.
And the fact
that they were
in such shambles
was an affront
to what God
had done for them.
The fact that the people
for 90 years
had yet to put themselves
to the work
of rebuilding that,
of properly displaying
what God had done
for them
is why he's torn up.
He cares about
the good
of God's people,
but he primarily
cares about the glory
of his God.
That people would
properly worship him,
properly see him
for who he is.
He was zealous
for God's glory.
And he was a man
of prayer.
We see in
13 chapters,
we see him pray
on 10 separate times.
The book of Nehemiah
both opens
and closes
with Nehemiah
in prayer.
because he understood
the sovereign hand
of God
and his great
necessity of it.
So Nehemiah
was uniquely
fitted for this
task
that was set
before him.
So we see here
in this story,
to kind of give you
the framework,
and we're going to go
back and fill in
the pieces here,
that he travels
back to Israel
with an armed guard
sent by the king.
When he gets there,
he spends three days
examining the situation.
He even goes out
by night
to see the condition
of the wall,
to see what kind
of task was set
before him.
And then he calls
together the people
to build.
And the text records
for us that they
brought their hands
to bear,
for the people
had a mind
or a heart
to work.
So he rallies
them together
to do this great work
that's ahead of them.
And it'd be really
great at this point
if the story ended
and we just said,
well, fantastic,
and they built the wall
and everybody lived,
happily ever after.
But it didn't go
so easy for them,
right?
There was much
opposition to the work.
And at this point,
we can pause
and reflect upon
our own lives
and the opposition
that we experience
in them.
This morning,
Sam allowed me
to come up
to the building early
and just do a little bit
of last preparation
for the day.
But I was thinking
about it being
Father's Day
and I was thinking
about dads
loading kids
into vans
and the screaming
and the wanting
of juice
and crackers
and those of you
who are without children
will not understand
the chaos sometimes
that happens
on a Sunday morning
before we come here.
There's opposition
to the work, right?
Like dads,
how many times
do you feel like
just turning around
and going back
to the house
saying,
fine,
this is not going well
for us this day,
right?
There's much calamity,
many things
battling against us
to do the work
that's set before us
by our Lord.
That's a very minor
example,
I'm aware.
But there's much
opposition.
The peoples of the land
as they're referred to
here in Nehemiah
don't want to see
Israel rebuild the walls.
They don't want to see
them fortify
and protect themselves.
They want glory
and honor to belong
to King Artaxerxes,
not to the God
of these people.
And so there's plotting
against them
or we're going to
study some of that
together.
There's times at which
they're both building
the wall
and they've got swords
on their sides.
There's times at which
they're carrying things
in one hand
and a sword
in the other hand.
But they were so
determined.
They had their minds,
their hearts,
set to the work
before them.
And so they complete
the wall.
I hope I'm not
breaking,
shattering your
spoiler alert here
for the story.
They do in fact
build the wall.
They build it
in 52 days.
Something that
hadn't been completed
in 90 years.
They set their minds
to it.
They work hard
in spite of the opposition
and they build the wall
in 52 days.
And we see this record
through to chapter 7
of the book.
And it doesn't end there.
The building is not
yet done.
The spiritual rebuilding
begins at that point.
As I told you,
there's some things
beginning to happen.
Some spiritual revitalization
happening back
with that second movement
we called Group B.
But it really takes off
at this point.
In chapters 8-13
we see this.
And 8-10
we probably have
the greatest record
in the scriptures
of spiritual revival.
They pull out
the law
and they open it
and it's read before them
by Ezra
and there's this
great repentance
followed by
wonderful praise
of the things
that God
has done for them.
This huge, huge revival
that happens
and we get the
great privilege
of getting to look
at that together
and what revival
looks like
in the land.
And I want to tell you
I've got four objectives
in our time together
over the summer.
Four things
that I hope to accomplish
as we study this together.
Firstly,
I want to expand
your appreciation
for the inspired words
of God.
As I said before,
the whole thing
is inspired
and given to us
for our instruction.
I want you to really
take hold
of that.
Now it's going to be
a challenge for me.
I really much prefer
to preach verse by verse
through the epistles.
The teaching,
the doctrinal parts.
This is narrative.
It's going to be
a little bit challenging
for me,
but as I've discovered
that 40% of our scriptures
is narrative.
40% of it
is narrative.
It is a wonderful,
wonderful way
to understand
and to see
the great truths
of God
as we see
the stories of God
being played out.
There's evangelistic
movements around
the world right now
that are using
storytelling
to present the gospel.
It's a valuable way
for us to learn
information.
Some of you
may remember
some of the books
that you were
forced to read
in high school
and the themes
contained within them
because you remember
the story.
You get the story.
Still, right now
The Great Gatsby
has come out
in a movie.
I was forced
to read that book
in high school
and I remember
the themes
of that story
because I can remember
what happens
in it.
So I hope that
you'll appreciate
better the inspired
words of God
in our study together
which means
I've got to work
hard at showing
it to you
and showing you
its great value.
Secondly,
I want to expose
you to the character
of God.
I want to expose
you to the character
of God
and I know
that that sounds
lofty
and academic.
You certainly
could take
a lot of notes.
We could
systematically
work through
the character
of God
but here we see
it played out
in a story
and I can tell
you that all
the doctrines
that really
affect my life
the things
I really
take hold of
and work in me
I came to
by reading
about stories
of God.
Take for example
the gospel
of grace
the doctrines
of grace.
This really
began to mean
something to me
when I began
to read stories
like in Genesis
the life of Joseph
who was sold
into slavery
thrown into jail
ended up
in a prominent
position
that he might
save his people
and you see
the sovereign
hand of God
working
and moving
and suddenly
the little
things of my
life
little things
that are nothing
like getting
sold into slavery
nothing like
being thrown
into prison
for being
righteous
very
unmonumental
right?
Much of an
effect as I
see the sovereign
hand of God
working in
things like
this.
I'll give you
a list
just in the
book of Nehemiah
the way that
God is referred
to here
in the text
and I don't
believe this is
exhaustive at all
but listen to
this
he is called
the great
and awesome
God
the faithful
God
the loving
God
the powerful
God
the strong
God
the maker
of the heavens
the maker
of earth
and seas
the life
giver
the sovereign
God
the righteous
God
the covenant
keeping
God
the God
who performs
signs and
wonders
the delivering
God
the providing
God
the forgiving
God
the God
who is
gracious
compassionate
and patient
the teaching
God
the good
God
the judging
God
the admonishing
God
the just
God
the remembering
God
the rewarding
God
the God
who is the
giver
of great
joy
just in the
book of
Nehemiah
this is how
Nehemiah
speaks or Ezra
speaks of
Nehemiah
of his
God
many people
would preach
to you the
book of
Nehemiah
and at the
end of it
you would
say
Nehemiah
was a
great
guy
we ought
to be
more like
Nehemiah
but I
say to
you
if that's
what we
accomplished
this summer
we failed
I failed
you
you failed
in your
listening
that's not
what we
ought to
walk away
with
we ought
to walk
away
saying
what a
great
God
Nehemiah
worshipped
and served
that's what
we ought
to walk
away
with
because we
do in
fact
serve a
great
God
and
Nehemiah
is such
a wonderful
example
of that
the things
that
Nehemiah
does in
here
are not
a response
to his
own
character
right
man that
Nehemiah
what a
hard worker
he built
a wall
in 52
days
it's not
a response
to his
leadership
ability
it's a
response
to who
his
God
was
and is
for us
that's what
caused him
that's what
motivated him
to work
to lead
in the way
that he
did
we should
walk away
from here
praising
our
great
God
thirdly
I want
to show
you the
timeliness
of these
lessons
for the
work that's
ahead of
us
as we
build a
church
to the
glory
of God
I'm going
to draw
a connection
for you
between
those two
as we
as God's
people
should
be desiring
his glory
the proclamation
of his
goodness
to us
we're building
a church
but we don't
build a church
with physical
stones
I'm not
talking about
this building
I hope
that you've
gotten that
here
that this
building
is not
the church
we're
the church
and so
we're
building up
a people
for his
praise
that is
the work
that's ahead
of us
and I
will probably
affectionately
call you
the remnant
a lot
over the
summer
we're those
that are
here now
I guess
our college
students have
been carried
off to exile
I don't
really know
if we're
going to
draw it
out quite
that far
but the
task has
been given
to us
to build
to display
God's
glory
we are
now the
visible
display
of God's
goodness
of his
character
in the
world
so there's
a great
connection
between the
two
and we can
learn and
glean so
much about
God's
character
to us
and the
work that
we ought
to be
doing
together
as we
look at
the book
of Nehemiah
first
Peter
chapter
two
Peter
speaks
of us
as
living
stones
who's
the
chief
cornerstone
Christ
right
this
imagery
of the
building
right
we're
chosen
and
precious
and we're
being built
up
as a
spiritual
house
it's
timely
for us
to be
studying
this
together
and
then
fourthly
I want
to exalt
the person
and the
work
of Jesus
Christ
which
all good
preaching
does
I want
to exalt
the person
and the
work
of Jesus
Christ
now
how is
it
exactly
that we're
going to
do that
in the
book
of
Nehemiah
the name
Jesus
Christ
is never
mentioned
in these
pages
don't know
he's not
on the
scene
yet
we don't
know
this
to be
the
case
turn
with
me
to
Luke
chapter
24
I lose
men
who
stand
in
pulpits
or
given
positions
of
power
to
preach
and
they
don't
preach
Christ
they
preach
tips
for
your
life
little
ways
you
can
better
manage
your
business
we're
to
preach
Christ
verse
13
chapter
24
this
is after
the
resurrection
that
very
day
two
of
them
disciples
were
going
to
a
village
named
Emmaus
about
seven
miles
from
Jerusalem
and
they
were
talking
with
each
other
about
all
these
things
that
had
happened
when
they
were
talking
and
discussing
together
Jesus
himself
drew
near
and
went
with
them
but
their
eyes
were
kept
from
recognizing
them
and
he
said
to
them
what
is
this
conversation
that
you
are
having
with
each
other
as
you
walk
this
must
have
been
a
very
looking
back
on
it
for
them
a
very
comical
conversation
what
is this
conversation
that
you
were
having
with
each
other
as
you
walk
and
they
stood
still
looking
sad
then
one
of
them
named
Cleopas
answered
him
are
you
the
only
visitor
to
Jerusalem
who
does
not
know
the
things
that
have
happened
there
in
these
days
can you
imagine
how he
felt
after
realizing
who
he
been
talking
to
yep
a little bit
of rhetoric
there
verse 19
and he
said to
them
what
things
and they
said
to him
concerning
Jesus
of
Nazareth
a man
who
was
a
prophet
mighty
in
deed
and
word
before
God
and
all
the
people
and
how
our
chief
priests
and
rulers
delivered
him
up
to
be
condemned
to
death
and
crucified
him
but
we
had
hoped
that
he
was
the
one
to
redeem
Israel
yes
and
besides
all
this
it
is
now
and
enter
into
his
glory
so
notice
here
he
corrects
them
he
rebukes
them
he
calls
them
foolish
slow
of
heart
to
believe
all
that
the
prophets
have
spoken
and
he's
referring
here
to
everything
Old
Testament
everything
up
to
this
point
he's
saying
to
them
you
had
me
you
had
this
you
had
the
very
revelation
of
Jesus
Christ
coming
and
you've
missed
it
verse
27
and
beginning
with
Moses
and
the
things
concerning
himself
boy
I
wish
we
had
the
record
of
that
would
that
would
make
my
job
at
Nehemiah
a lot
easier
if I
could
have
Jesus
Christ
commentary
on
the
book
of
Nehemiah
right
a
wonderful
thing
for
some
reason
it's
excluded
here
um
dependence
on
the
spirit
so
that's
my
answer
to
that
verse
28
so
they
drew
near
to
the
village
to
which
they
were
going
he
acted
as
if
he
was
going
farther
but
they
urged
him
strongly
saying
stay
with
us
for
it is
toward
evening
and
the
day
is
now
far
spent
so
he
went
in
to
stay
with
him
when
he
was
at
table
with
him
he
took
the
bread
and
blessed
and
broke
it
and
gave
it
to
them
and
their
eyes
were
opened
and
they
recognized
him
and
he
!
said
to
!
each
other
did
not
our
hearts
burn
within
us
while
we
talked
to
us
on
the
road
while
he
opened
to
us
the
scriptures
and
they
rose
that
same
hour
and
returned
to
Jerusalem
and
they
found
the
eleven
and
those
who
were
with
them
gathered
together
saying
the
Lord
has
risen
indeed
and
has
appeared
to
Simon
and
they
told
what
had
happened
on
the
road
and
how
he
!
looked
down
at
verse
me
and
the
law
of
Moses
and
the
prophets
and
the
Psalms
must
be
fulfilled
he
said
remember
I
told
you
I
would
be
the
fulfillment
of
all
these
things
including
the
promises
in
Nehemiah
right
verse
45
then
he
opened
their
minds
!
to
understand
the
scriptures
he
opened
their
minds
!
to
understand
the
scriptures
and
recognize
the
point
here
being
to
understand
the
scriptures
as
they
speak
of
him
because
every
single
page
every
word
every
bit
of
punctuation
speaks
of
Jesus
Christ
until
we
read
the
Old
Testament
scriptures
with a
view
to
Christ
looking
for
him
in
this
way
we
are
not
reading
it
properly
we
have
missed
the
point
if
we
say
look
at
David
what
a
brave
man
willing
to
go
out
and
face
Goliath
we
should
be
brave
like
him
there
a
lesson
there
certainly
we
should
trust
in
God
in
that
way
but
until
we
see
that
David
is
a
type
of
Christ
coming
on
our
behalf
to
conquer
sin
and
death
we've
missed
it
we've
missed
the
ultimate
point
and
we're
not
really
reading
the
Old
Testament
properly
missed
we
we've
preached
Jesus
Christ
even
when
we're
studying
Nehemiah
and
I want
to
show
you
how
that's
possible
I've
got
a lot
of
work
to do
in
that
way
but
I hope
that
we'll
exalt
the
personal
work
of
Christ
together
let me
read to
you a
quote
from
Charles
Spurgeon
on this
matter
from
every
town
village
and
little
hamlet
in
England
wherever
it may
be
there is
a road
to
London
and
so
from
every
text
in
scripture
there is
a road
to
the
metropolis
of
the
scriptures
that
is
Christ
your
business
is
when
you
get
to
a
text
to
say
now
what
is
the
road
to
Christ
and
then
preach
a
sermon
or
study
it
in
that
way
if
you're
not
a
!
a
!
running
along
the
road
towards
the
great
metropolis
Christ
and
that's
what
I
hope
to
accomplish
as
we
come
together
to
this
study
to
show
you
how
it
is
that
it's
timely
for
us
for
the
building
of
the
glory
of
God
to
have
you
have
a
deeper
appreciation
of
the
scriptures
which
will
accomplish
primarily
through
getting
you
to
see
that
every
single
word
speaks
of
Christ
let's
pray
together
!