WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:19.580 Well, for a short time, please turn with me to Nehemiah chapter 2 and the verses from verse 9 through to the end of the chapter. 00:00:19.579 --> 00:00:38.879 The book of Nehemiah is a wonderfully comprehensive book. What I mean by that is that it gives us so many things that we can use as grounds for studying in terms of our individual life or our congregational life. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:57.960 For example, if you're going to look for a study of leadership, whether it's for a conference or for a Bible study or whatever, Nehemiah is a wonderful book because it tells us of the qualities of Nehemiah as a leader of the people during extremely challenging, difficult times. 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:11.980 Or if you want to have a study on how we should in a Christian way and in a way that's dedicated to God, how we should face opposition, difficult opposition, trying opposition, persecution, all of these things. 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:18.159 Well, the book of Nehemiah gives us much information that we can apply to that sort of situation as well. 00:01:18.380 --> 00:01:30.380 Or take, for example, the need to sometimes rebuild, whether it's in a congregational setting or denominational setting or any congregations that have declined seriously over the years. 00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:42.000 The book of Nehemiah gives us, again, so many principles and items of practice that we can apply to what you might say is a spiritual rebuilding process or project. 00:01:43.420 --> 00:01:52.120 Serving God in challenging times is another theme that you can apply to Jeremiah or Jeremiah brings to us. 00:01:52.859 --> 00:01:57.439 And all of these things, there are many other topics as well that you could take from the book of Nehemiah. 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:10.079 But you can see from that how comprehensive it is, how useful it is in terms of our everyday Christian life, our everyday experiences as a congregation of God's people or the church in the wider sense. 00:02:11.060 --> 00:02:19.919 And in this chapter, we find Nehemiah and his first part of attending to the task of rebuilding at Jerusalem. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:27.699 The rebuilding task was much more than physically rebuilding the walls or the temple that had been destroyed. 00:02:28.119 --> 00:02:37.239 The main focus on rebuilding, as you find from the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, was rebuilding the community, rebuilding the Lord's cause, 00:02:37.899 --> 00:02:47.839 rebuilding that community of God's covenant people so that they would once again come to enjoy the blessing of God and be the type of people that God intended them to be. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:51.240 That was the central part of the rebuilding. 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:57.780 That's why you find an emphasis on rebuilding the temple and the altar and so on, even before the walls came to be built. 00:02:58.659 --> 00:03:05.420 And that's why you find the focus being on the spiritual and the moral condition of the people that needed to be built up 00:03:05.420 --> 00:03:16.039 and that needed again to be restructured, if you like, from what it was after the disaster of them leaving and going to exile under the power of the Babylonians. 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:29.819 Well, you find here that there are three items in this passage, this part of the chapter, that show us how Nehemiah set about his great task as a leader, 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:33.899 as somebody who was an encourager, as somebody who was an organizer. 00:03:34.459 --> 00:03:39.759 All of these things built into this one man and his God-given ability. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:43.239 First of all, he carried out an inspection. 00:03:44.299 --> 00:03:47.259 That was the first thing, he carried out an inspection. 00:03:47.500 --> 00:03:58.139 Verses 11 to 16 tells us how he went to Jerusalem and carried out an inspection of the city, of the walls, and of what he found there in Jerusalem. 00:03:58.139 --> 00:04:03.339 And then following the inspection, he gave out an exhortation. 00:04:03.899 --> 00:04:09.500 And that's from verse 17 to 18, an exhortation to those who were going to help him to build. 00:04:09.859 --> 00:04:16.319 Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be or suffer a derision. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:19.779 He didn't just say to them, come, let us build the walls. 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:33.599 It gave them especially two motivating factors, if you like, that would lie behind the impetus to rebuild and to apply themselves to the task of rebuilding things at Jerusalem. 00:04:34.099 --> 00:04:35.179 So there's the inspection. 00:04:35.799 --> 00:04:37.079 There's the exhortation. 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:39.399 But then there comes a confrontation. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:49.479 Confrontation with those people who are mentioned, who were enemies, opponents of what Nehemiah had set out to do and what God had sent him to do. 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:53.459 And proved to be a thorn in his flesh. 00:04:54.419 --> 00:05:00.539 And you find that confrontation involving opposition and some of the strategy of the enemy. 00:05:01.239 --> 00:05:15.379 But also how it ends, the chapter ends by Nehemiah replying to them and telling them that there is actually a higher authority than those of themselves who are given positions of influence in Jerusalem. 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:18.719 And that higher authority, of course, is God. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:23.500 But he refers to him significantly as the God of heaven. 00:05:24.340 --> 00:05:26.840 The God of heaven will make us prosper. 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:29.980 So inspection and exhortation, confrontation. 00:05:30.400 --> 00:05:34.780 That's the theme really or the structure of what we're going to study this evening. 00:05:35.700 --> 00:05:36.660 Well, here's the inspection. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:37.560 Verse 11. 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:54.120 There was a very carefully set-about strategy on the part of Nehemiah. 00:05:54.500 --> 00:05:56.680 Guided as he was undoubtedly by God. 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:04.980 He set about the task, first of all, by just keeping to himself what God had sent him for, what his plans were for Jerusalem. 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:08.459 He didn't share that to begin with at all. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:11.379 He wanted to carry out this inspection, first of all. 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:18.399 And as you go back to chapter 1 and verse 4, the first thing of all that he did was to pray. 00:06:18.939 --> 00:06:20.560 Chapter 1 and verse 4. 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:27.079 As soon as I heard, this is the report he got from those who knew the situation in Jerusalem. 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:32.859 As soon as I heard these words, I sat down and I wept and I mourned for days. 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:38.019 And I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 00:06:38.419 --> 00:06:39.639 That's the first thing he did. 00:06:40.039 --> 00:06:41.899 He prayed as soon as he heard the news. 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:45.819 He committed the matter to prayer even after reaching Jerusalem as well. 00:06:45.819 --> 00:06:56.719 And then he began this survey or this examination, this inspection of what he was about to do and what he was about to lead. 00:06:57.860 --> 00:07:01.480 So as he came there, he prayed. 00:07:01.579 --> 00:07:08.000 As he had prayed indeed, even in the presence of the king before he left to go to Jerusalem. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:17.480 We can see in the previous verses that he said that it says that I prayed to the God of heaven. 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:19.360 It's just a brief reference to that. 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.339 I prayed to the God of heaven. 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:26.279 And then he carried on his conversation with the king. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:32.759 So you see, Nehemiah put prayer above everything else. 00:07:32.819 --> 00:07:34.360 He was a careful strategist. 00:07:34.860 --> 00:07:36.399 He didn't put strategy aside. 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:38.120 He didn't put aside the need to plan. 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:42.739 He didn't put aside the need to examine things practically before he took action. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:47.120 But before he did any of that, he actually prayed to God. 00:07:47.620 --> 00:07:49.419 And that's what he's doing here as well. 00:07:49.479 --> 00:07:52.159 He came with confession, with supplication. 00:07:52.679 --> 00:08:00.259 And he confessed to the Lord all that had been true of their previous failure, of their sin against God. 00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:04.899 And that's the pattern that the Bible always sets for ourselves. 00:08:04.899 --> 00:08:06.399 Yes, it's fine to plan. 00:08:06.459 --> 00:08:07.539 Of course we need to plan. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:09.319 You need to plan as a congregation. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:10.539 You're planning as a congregation. 00:08:10.939 --> 00:08:14.659 It's something that goes on all the time, not just in times of vacancy. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:20.459 It's something that goes on in the life of every congregation that wants to be true to the gospel and true to God. 00:08:20.779 --> 00:08:21.539 There's a strategy. 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:22.339 There's a planning. 00:08:22.539 --> 00:08:23.239 There's an examination. 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:25.560 You have to look at things as they are. 00:08:25.620 --> 00:08:28.139 You have to see how to assess the matter. 00:08:28.500 --> 00:08:29.079 All of that. 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:32.699 But before all of that, you don't actually start with a plan. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:34.039 You start with prayer. 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:38.240 And we always need to remind ourselves of that, folks. 00:08:38.340 --> 00:08:41.579 Myself, as much as anyone else, and those of us who preach the gospel, 00:08:42.079 --> 00:08:48.559 it's very easy in times when life is so busy and so many other things to attend to, 00:08:48.819 --> 00:08:51.299 that we spend all too little time in prayer. 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:52.879 And that's what the devil wants you to do. 00:08:53.379 --> 00:08:55.019 He wants you to begin with a strategy. 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:58.000 He wants you to apply your own mind to the strategy. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:02.759 And, of course, you have to apply your mind to the strategy, to the plan, to what you're going to do. 00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:04.679 But you begin with prayer. 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:08.299 You ask the Lord to guide you in your planning. 00:09:08.419 --> 00:09:13.299 You ask the Lord to guide you in what you're going to set your mind to by way of, 00:09:13.379 --> 00:09:16.700 whether it's rebuilding or whatever task it is. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:19.960 That was Nehemiah's starting point. 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:22.179 That must be our starting point. 00:09:22.179 --> 00:09:29.539 And after he had prayed, he carried out this inspection, this inspection of the situation at Jerusalem. 00:09:30.699 --> 00:09:32.399 And that, too, is important. 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:39.079 And that's why, as a congregation, that's what you're doing at the moment in a time of vacancy. 00:09:39.539 --> 00:09:42.579 You're carrying out an inspection of how things are. 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:50.300 You're seeking that the Lord will guide you into the future, that he will guide you as to the provision of a settled ministry over you, 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:52.700 meantime blessing the ministry you've got. 00:09:52.800 --> 00:09:56.740 All of that is part of the ongoing assessment that you're making. 00:09:57.060 --> 00:10:05.660 And you have applied and you've rightly set up groups that will actually help towards the fulfillment of that plan. 00:10:05.659 --> 00:10:07.559 You've got the deacon's court. 00:10:07.659 --> 00:10:08.639 You've got the Kirk session. 00:10:08.839 --> 00:10:10.879 You've got the vacancy committee meeting shortly. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:20.419 All of that is part of the structure that God has given you and you have set up in order to actually set out how you hope the future will work through. 00:10:21.459 --> 00:10:23.659 But you begin with prayer. 00:10:24.779 --> 00:10:31.720 And all your prayer meetings are so important, whether they're meetings in the weekly prayer meetings or the Saturday prayer meetings, 00:10:31.720 --> 00:10:40.600 whatever meetings you have for prayer, these are there as the first and starting point for any congregational planning or strategy, 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.200 whatever else we need to do on a practical level. 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:46.300 Prayer first, planning second. 00:10:47.040 --> 00:10:48.080 That's how it always is. 00:10:48.160 --> 00:10:51.279 That's how it is, as you read here from the book of Nehemiah. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:59.440 The inspection is carried out, but first of all is preceded by the prayers that he made to God, 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:01.520 the confession that he made to God. 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:08.400 Go back to the first chapter and you'll see all of that as he continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:18.420 And as he came, as we said, before the king as well, you find there that he prayed to the God of heaven. 00:11:19.140 --> 00:11:20.340 What are you requesting? 00:11:20.460 --> 00:11:21.200 The king asked him. 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:24.160 And then the next thing you read is, so I pray to the God of heaven. 00:11:25.380 --> 00:11:27.360 I don't think the king heard that prayer. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:33.680 It wasn't necessarily a prayer that was spoken out, but this is immediately what Nehemiah did. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:36.700 When the question came from the king, what are you asking for? 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:37.620 What are you requesting? 00:11:38.019 --> 00:11:40.019 I immediately prayed to the God of heaven. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:46.080 In his soul, he uttered this probably quick prayer, just instant prayer for God's help. 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:55.680 And all of that is so significant for our own lives and for the pattern of our congregational life as well. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:58.599 Inspection preceded by prayer. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:01.059 And then you have this exhortation. 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:03.459 When he came to verse 17, 00:12:03.460 --> 00:12:33.080 The exhortation. 00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:39.740 As I said previously, involves two important motivating factors, we can call them. 00:12:40.800 --> 00:12:49.879 Points that Nehemiah put before them that were designed to motivate them, to drive them onwards in the task that lay before them. 00:12:50.400 --> 00:12:53.080 And the first one was the removal of derision. 00:12:53.780 --> 00:12:58.060 You may not think that's very important, but it's not an accident that is actually mentioned. 00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:03.199 Come, let us build a wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision. 00:13:04.339 --> 00:13:07.259 What he's saying is, look, Jerusalem is a joke. 00:13:07.259 --> 00:13:12.919 They're making fun of Jerusalem amongst our enemies. 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:18.259 And that was something the Lord himself had prophesied through the likes of Jeremiah. 00:13:18.479 --> 00:13:24.079 If you go to chapter 29 in Jeremiah, you'll find the same in his Lamentations. 00:13:24.199 --> 00:13:27.259 After the destruction had taken place, Lamentations 5. 00:13:27.839 --> 00:13:30.559 They mention that Jerusalem is at derision. 00:13:30.699 --> 00:13:31.419 What does that mean? 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:33.000 They're being mocked. 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:34.779 They're being mocked by their enemies. 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.480 They're a derision in the face of pagans. 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:39.919 And others as well. 00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:49.399 That's what Nehemiah is focusing on as he brings this matter before those who are going to help him build. 00:13:49.980 --> 00:13:51.700 We are a derision. 00:13:51.700 --> 00:13:51.780 Derision. 00:13:52.420 --> 00:14:01.620 Well, of course, you're always going to meet with an element of derision as a Christian or as a Christian congregation or in your work for the Lord. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:06.060 There always will be, to some extent or other, a measure of derision. 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:10.740 But derision is deserved when the church has become worldly. 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:18.780 Derision is deserved when things have fallen so far back that you can hardly distinguish the church from the world. 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:20.460 I'm not saying that about you, of course. 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:25.720 But it is true of the church in the wider sense, in the age that we belong to. 00:14:26.379 --> 00:14:34.480 And you'll find people throughout the country raising their voices, sometimes to no avail or sometimes to added derision. 00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:38.940 And added derision sometimes, sadly, from people who are confessing Christians. 00:14:39.940 --> 00:14:50.019 Who don't see that the Bible actually does not speak in favor of certain lifestyles and behaviors being added to a Christian profession. 00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:53.919 Or to a Christian congregation, to a Christian denomination or church. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:15:04.519 And when the church becomes worldly, then the derision is deserved to a great extent. 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:09.360 And we're very much in a similar situation today, aren't we? 00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:15.379 Because you'll find sometimes that people of the world who make no pretense of being Christians, 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.079 no pretense of being other than opposed to the gospel, 00:15:20.500 --> 00:15:26.240 you'll find that they will rightly find fault when the church's proclamations are mostly political 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:29.019 or at odds with the teaching of the scriptures. 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:32.179 That's a derision that's deserved. 00:15:32.379 --> 00:15:33.779 That's a mocking that's deserved. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:35.259 What do we do about that? 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:36.980 How do we react to that? 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:40.220 Well, the same as Nehemiah. 00:15:40.299 --> 00:15:45.439 Again, you go back to the first chapter and you'll find that he focuses especially, 00:15:46.079 --> 00:15:47.120 as we said in verse 4, 00:15:47.120 --> 00:16:02.679 And then he made his confession, as we said, of the sins of the people of Israel. 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:04.340 We have sinned against you. 00:16:04.379 --> 00:16:05.600 And he didn't leave himself out of it. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:07.100 We have sinned against you. 00:16:07.460 --> 00:16:09.799 Even I and my father's house have sinned. 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:14.599 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, 00:16:14.740 --> 00:16:17.559 and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 00:16:20.979 --> 00:16:24.379 When did I last weep over the condition of the church in our nation? 00:16:26.699 --> 00:16:28.859 I have to answer that question myself. 00:16:29.539 --> 00:16:31.000 When did you last weep? 00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:35.959 When did you find yourself grieved at heart? 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:41.860 Not just a passing acknowledgement of the way things are in our nation morally and spiritually, 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:49.000 and indeed in parts of our nation where the church has fallen back to worldliness in its 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:52.320 proclamation, in its life, and in its lifestyles. 00:16:52.660 --> 00:16:54.139 When did I last weep over that? 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:59.820 When did I spend time on my knees, as Nehemiah did here, thinking about how desperate that situation 00:16:59.820 --> 00:17:03.620 is, and how it needs to be changed, and how only the Lord can change it? 00:17:03.800 --> 00:17:05.140 This is what Nehemiah did. 00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:09.340 He prayed, but as he prayed, he prayed for the removal of that derision. 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:11.380 We are in derision, he says. 00:17:11.620 --> 00:17:13.120 We're a mocking, we're a joke. 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:17.960 And he appealed to God for that to be changed. 00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:25.520 And it should not just grieve us, friends, but it should also stimulate us, shouldn't it? 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:31.519 When we find that the Lord's cause is a derision in our land. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:35.000 It should put us to shame. 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:43.059 It should make us more determined to be true to God in every possible way we can, at every 00:17:43.059 --> 00:17:44.700 possible occasion we can. 00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:52.980 that our public witness will include our particular commitment to the Lord and to his cause and to the values of his gospel. 00:17:52.980 --> 00:18:03.380 And that's why this was a motivating factor for Nehemiah to put to the people, the removal of this derision. 00:18:03.500 --> 00:18:05.480 Now you see the trouble we are in. 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:10.319 How Jerusalem is devastated. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:14.519 That we may no longer suffer derision. 00:18:15.059 --> 00:18:17.539 Let us build for the Lord. 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:20.399 That's what he put before them. 00:18:23.579 --> 00:18:27.839 And the second thing was that the hand of the Lord was upon him. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:38.579 And that too is such an important factor in motivating the people to build and to restructure things in Jerusalem. 00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:40.819 The hand of the Lord was upon him. 00:18:40.959 --> 00:18:45.659 It's a phrase that you find more than once in Nehemiah, frequently in Nehemiah. 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:51.639 And what he says here, the hand of the Lord was upon me and the king as well. 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:54.959 The king had spoken to me certain words for his encouragement. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:57.100 But he put them in that order. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:08.900 Because what's more important to him than Artaxerxes and the king and his backing and his support was the hand of the Lord was upon him. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:11.700 And these are wonderful words. 00:19:11.840 --> 00:19:15.240 They may be nowadays seen by people as very old-fashioned words. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.180 The hand of the Lord was upon him. 00:19:17.220 --> 00:19:19.079 But that's what happens when God blesses you. 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:24.420 When God blesses you, what he's doing is in a spiritual way putting his hand upon you. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:32.299 And when God blesses this congregation, as he has blessed them in the past, as we pray he blesses them in the present and in the future, 00:19:32.600 --> 00:19:37.880 what is actually happening can be described as God spiritually putting his hand upon you. 00:19:38.380 --> 00:19:39.519 That's what we pray for. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:40.960 That's what we seek. 00:19:41.259 --> 00:19:45.019 That God's good hand and hand will be upon you for good. 00:19:45.019 --> 00:19:55.839 And you take that as God's promises in the Bible, along with the need to remove the derision that's against the church in our day. 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:59.119 And you feed that into your own prayer life. 00:19:59.740 --> 00:20:01.579 You feed that into your prayer meetings. 00:20:01.740 --> 00:20:08.480 You feed that into your outlook, your way of, your mindset in approaching the need of the present time. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:12.420 The removal of derision. 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:18.920 You come to the Lord and you ask, Lord, as you say, as Nehemiah teaches us, 00:20:19.740 --> 00:20:20.480 Lord, we have sinned. 00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:30.299 You see, we can say tonight, we've not been part of any departure into any specific heresies away from the truth of God. 00:20:30.620 --> 00:20:33.240 Other denominations may, other people, other groups may. 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:37.299 But not that we're saying of ourselves, we're better than other people, essentially. 00:20:37.420 --> 00:20:38.599 That's not why I'm saying it. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:44.660 But what I'm saying is, even if it's true as it is that we haven't actually abandoned the truth of God 00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:48.220 and just entered into different types of heresy or false teaching, 00:20:48.660 --> 00:20:54.539 still, we, as Nehemiah did, place ourselves with the people of our agency, 00:20:54.700 --> 00:20:56.680 Lord, we have sinned. 00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:05.440 We don't extricate ourselves from the confession that we're making of sin and of the need of God's forgiveness. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.420 You find the same in Daniel in chapter 9. 00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:12.060 Daniel was a holy man, man of God. 00:21:13.120 --> 00:21:18.000 Yet when he came to pray to God in regard to the sin of the people he belonged to, 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:20.259 he didn't say, Lord, they have sinned. 00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:23.039 Lord, I'm separate from this. 00:21:23.360 --> 00:21:25.820 I'm confessing sin, but I'm confessing their sin. 00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:27.819 No, he said, Lord, we have sinned. 00:21:28.539 --> 00:21:29.559 We have done this. 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:30.899 We've done this as a people. 00:21:32.159 --> 00:21:36.460 And we need to maintain that outlook that the Bible brings before us 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:40.319 to incorporate ourselves and to maintain that we are part. 00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:45.839 Even if we haven't actually ourselves engaged in any type of sin like that, 00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:48.240 still we belong to the cause of God. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:50.399 We belong to his church on earth. 00:21:51.439 --> 00:21:55.039 And so we bring our petitions before him and say, 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:56.740 Lord, we have done this. 00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:00.559 Please restore us. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:03.539 Build up your cause again. 00:22:04.659 --> 00:22:06.139 Bring us back to yourself. 00:22:07.099 --> 00:22:09.460 Give us leaders that will value the gospel. 00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:12.680 Give us people who will lead us in the things of God. 00:22:13.259 --> 00:22:14.599 Who will be holy leaders. 00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:17.319 Who will not be ashamed of the gospel. 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:22.359 Who will put aside ideologies that are at odds with the gospel. 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:29.199 And that's how Nehemiah faced the situation. 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:32.459 And the response, of course, was wonderful. 00:22:32.639 --> 00:22:35.000 In verse 18 you find the response of the people. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:38.099 I told them the hand of my God had been upon me for good, 00:22:38.419 --> 00:22:41.039 and also the words that the king had spoken to me. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:43.139 And this was their response. 00:22:43.140 --> 00:22:47.440 After he had said to them about the derision in which Jerusalem was held, 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:52.020 and of the way in which here the hand of God was upon him, 00:22:52.100 --> 00:22:53.580 and the king had given support, 00:22:54.259 --> 00:22:56.200 then they said to me, 00:22:56.580 --> 00:22:58.640 Let us rise up and build. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:03.000 Let us rise up and build. 00:23:04.040 --> 00:23:07.920 And these words should have an echo tonight in my own mind, 00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:09.200 and in your own mind as well. 00:23:10.740 --> 00:23:12.380 Let us rise up and build. 00:23:13.520 --> 00:23:16.400 Let us commit ourselves all the more day by day 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:17.940 to the cause of God, 00:23:18.020 --> 00:23:20.080 to the building up of the cause of the gospel, 00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:21.340 wherever we're placed. 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:25.100 This is why God has placed us in the world. 00:23:25.099 --> 00:23:28.299 Let us rise up and build. 00:23:28.399 --> 00:23:31.279 Now let's not be discouraged by anything that's going on around us. 00:23:31.679 --> 00:23:35.559 Let's not be discouraged by having to wait this time 00:23:35.559 --> 00:23:39.299 before we come to have a new settled ministry over you, 00:23:39.339 --> 00:23:40.399 which we're praying for. 00:23:41.019 --> 00:23:43.459 Meantime, let's rise up and build. 00:23:44.339 --> 00:23:49.219 Let's continue to serve the Lord in his gospel where we're set. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:51.039 Inspection. 00:23:52.179 --> 00:23:52.899 Exhortation. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:54.959 Thirdly, confrontation. 00:23:55.099 --> 00:23:58.740 You find it in verse 10 and then verses 18 to 20. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:02.639 In confrontation from these individuals that are mentioned there. 00:24:02.819 --> 00:24:05.559 And the opposition that they set out, 00:24:05.639 --> 00:24:07.759 it's significant to note their names for one thing. 00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:11.619 Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, who is an Arab. 00:24:12.659 --> 00:24:14.719 Sanballat, the Horonite, 00:24:14.939 --> 00:24:16.559 it's a Babylonian name 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:19.879 associated with what is at odds with, 00:24:20.059 --> 00:24:21.279 or at enmity with, 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:25.899 the cause of God during Nehemiah's day and other times. 00:24:26.539 --> 00:24:26.980 Tobiah. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.079 Tobiah is a Hebrew word, 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:32.960 and Tobiah actually means, 00:24:33.339 --> 00:24:34.680 the Lord is good. 00:24:36.019 --> 00:24:36.779 Isn't that amazing? 00:24:36.879 --> 00:24:41.160 Here's somebody who is completely in with those who are enemies of the Lord 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:42.539 and enemies of his cause, 00:24:42.539 --> 00:24:44.559 yet he's carrying this name, 00:24:44.819 --> 00:24:45.839 the Lord is good, 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:46.440 Tobiah. 00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:49.859 And sometimes you find that conundrum, 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:50.299 don't you? 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:52.759 People who really ought to be 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:54.659 very different to what they are, 00:24:54.759 --> 00:24:55.240 whether it's 00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:56.920 by their name 00:24:56.920 --> 00:24:57.920 or by their confession 00:24:57.920 --> 00:24:58.899 or whatever else they are. 00:24:58.900 --> 00:25:00.880 But this man is an enemy of God. 00:25:01.900 --> 00:25:03.060 Names really, at the end of the day, 00:25:03.100 --> 00:25:03.720 mean nothing. 00:25:05.540 --> 00:25:07.580 It's the person and the behavior of the person 00:25:07.580 --> 00:25:08.720 that means everything. 00:25:08.860 --> 00:25:09.940 So here's Sanballat, 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:11.060 the Horonite, 00:25:11.140 --> 00:25:12.140 a Babylonian name. 00:25:12.600 --> 00:25:14.620 Here's Tobiah carrying a Hebrew name, 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:15.720 meaning the Lord is good. 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:17.100 He's an enemy of God. 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:18.380 And here's Geshem, 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:19.240 the Arab. 00:25:19.360 --> 00:25:19.780 In other words, 00:25:19.780 --> 00:25:20.680 he's not a Jew, 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:24.320 so he doesn't really have an affiliation with the Jewish people 00:25:24.320 --> 00:25:26.180 that Nehemiah belongs to. 00:25:26.180 --> 00:25:30.860 And the three of them form an anti-God coalition. 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:33.400 That's what Nehemiah is facing. 00:25:34.019 --> 00:25:34.600 If it was bad enough, 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.480 it was just one person in charge of the opposition. 00:25:37.620 --> 00:25:39.720 But the three of them have coalesced. 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:42.039 They have got a coalition here 00:25:42.039 --> 00:25:44.259 of enmity against Nehemiah 00:25:44.259 --> 00:25:45.880 and opposition to the gospel 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:48.519 and opposition to God and to his truth. 00:25:50.900 --> 00:25:54.400 And what they say, of course, to him is significant as well. 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:57.100 And their strategy becomes obvious 00:25:57.100 --> 00:25:59.560 as you read down through to the end of the chapter. 00:26:00.220 --> 00:26:01.820 They all have official authority. 00:26:02.660 --> 00:26:05.460 They're not just individuals acting without authority. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:08.360 They're political officials in that area. 00:26:09.320 --> 00:26:11.019 And therefore, they carry that authority 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:13.300 and they make it known to Nehemiah 00:26:13.300 --> 00:26:15.800 this is actually what he is now challenging. 00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:19.980 And our faithfulness to God, of course, 00:26:20.059 --> 00:26:23.720 will always carry something 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:26.119 which will be opposed to that extent 00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:29.139 by the people that are in opposition to the gospel. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:32.480 And what they're really saying is, 00:26:33.180 --> 00:26:34.960 how dare this Nehemiah 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:39.159 try and encourage people in our district, 00:26:39.659 --> 00:26:43.759 in our particular area of authority? 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:47.019 How dare he come and bring this message 00:26:47.019 --> 00:26:51.660 and bring this kind of plan 00:26:51.660 --> 00:26:55.640 before us who are in charge of things here? 00:26:56.460 --> 00:26:58.319 And he goes on to, even more so, 00:26:58.579 --> 00:27:00.359 there's a threat, of course, to the empire. 00:27:01.940 --> 00:27:02.920 Have you come? 00:27:02.980 --> 00:27:04.660 He says, what's this thing you are doing? 00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:07.220 Are you rebelling against the king? 00:27:07.220 --> 00:27:11.660 Doesn't that sound up to date? 00:27:13.180 --> 00:27:15.920 Are you rebelling, they say, against the king? 00:27:16.220 --> 00:27:17.360 What they're really saying is, 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:21.360 are you here to carry out seditious purposes 00:27:21.360 --> 00:27:24.220 and plans and actions against the king, 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:26.319 the person who rules the whole empire? 00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:27.279 Is that why you're here? 00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:28.319 Is that your plan? 00:27:30.299 --> 00:27:31.559 You've heard it before, haven't you? 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:34.299 Go forward to the book of Acts 00:27:34.299 --> 00:27:37.240 and the apostles faced the same thing 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:38.339 when they went out with the gospel. 00:27:38.460 --> 00:27:40.799 For example, chapter 17 of Acts, 00:27:40.919 --> 00:27:43.419 verses 5 to verse 9 there, 00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:44.559 you find in Athens, 00:27:45.299 --> 00:27:49.440 a mob was stirred up to oppose Paul 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:51.559 and those who are helping him with the gospel. 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:54.359 Some of them are persuaded when he preached there, 00:27:54.460 --> 00:27:55.799 but a great many, 00:27:56.299 --> 00:27:58.440 and the Jews, he says, 00:27:58.559 --> 00:27:59.539 were jealous, 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:01.319 taking hold of some wicked men, 00:28:01.399 --> 00:28:02.019 of the rabble. 00:28:02.019 --> 00:28:03.480 They formed a mob. 00:28:03.819 --> 00:28:05.339 They set the city in an uproar. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:07.180 They attacked the house of Jason, 00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:09.379 seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 00:28:09.940 --> 00:28:10.980 When they couldn't find them, 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:13.680 they dragged Jason and some of the brothers 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:14.940 before the city authorities, 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:15.720 shouting, 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:19.160 these men who have turned the world upside down 00:28:19.160 --> 00:28:21.059 have come here also. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:23.359 And Jason has received them, 00:28:23.700 --> 00:28:24.900 and they are all acting 00:28:24.900 --> 00:28:27.879 against the decrees of Caesar, 00:28:27.879 --> 00:28:30.519 saying that there is another king, 00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:31.680 Jesus. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:38.200 And you find the same thing in chapter 19, 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:40.240 if you go forward to read that for yourselves later. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:42.980 But this is what Paul faced. 00:28:43.619 --> 00:28:47.059 He faced this threat from the opposition 00:28:47.059 --> 00:28:49.859 to the gospel and to what he was trying to do, 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:52.799 just as Nehemiah did all of these years before then. 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:56.440 And what's said before Nehemiah, 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:57.740 as was before Paul, 00:28:58.259 --> 00:29:00.799 how dare you come and challenge the authority, 00:29:01.099 --> 00:29:02.299 the political authority, 00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:04.059 the authority that we carry 00:29:04.059 --> 00:29:06.440 as governors in this land? 00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:08.879 Or then in Paul's day, 00:29:09.639 --> 00:29:10.379 here is something. 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:12.119 Are you challenging Caesar, 00:29:12.399 --> 00:29:13.079 the emperor, 00:29:13.779 --> 00:29:15.259 saying that there's another king, 00:29:15.419 --> 00:29:16.119 King Jesus? 00:29:16.619 --> 00:29:16.819 Well, 00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:18.879 the gospel always does that. 00:29:20.659 --> 00:29:21.679 And don't be surprised 00:29:21.679 --> 00:29:23.000 if people come forward and say, 00:29:23.500 --> 00:29:24.639 why are you doing this 00:29:24.639 --> 00:29:26.079 against lawful authority? 00:29:27.700 --> 00:29:28.779 Your lawful authority 00:29:28.779 --> 00:29:30.000 is your king, 00:29:30.159 --> 00:29:30.659 the Lord. 00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:32.000 And that's, 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:32.799 I'm not suggesting 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:35.099 we go out into the world tactlessly, 00:29:35.980 --> 00:29:37.299 and just with a kind of 00:29:37.299 --> 00:29:38.200 human, 00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:40.439 unbelieving bravado, 00:29:41.159 --> 00:29:42.460 take on the authorities, 00:29:42.460 --> 00:29:44.400 as sadly some people are 00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:46.620 in this very occasion itself 00:29:46.620 --> 00:29:47.180 these days, 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:48.680 taking on lawful authority 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:49.400 in the governments, 00:29:49.779 --> 00:29:50.660 whether it's in France 00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:52.220 or in this country itself. 00:29:53.180 --> 00:29:54.539 And let me say in passing, 00:29:54.700 --> 00:29:55.700 it looks to me that that 00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:57.779 itself is fueled 00:29:57.779 --> 00:30:00.460 by an opposition to truth, 00:30:01.019 --> 00:30:02.220 an opposition to the gospel, 00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:04.059 an opposition to God. 00:30:04.980 --> 00:30:06.279 I'm not saying it's all to do 00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:08.039 with the Islamic religion. 00:30:08.600 --> 00:30:10.100 There may be an element of that in it, 00:30:10.099 --> 00:30:12.119 but this seems to me 00:30:12.119 --> 00:30:14.659 to be a power and ideology 00:30:14.659 --> 00:30:16.259 that's simply anarchic, 00:30:17.459 --> 00:30:19.259 that wants to challenge authority, 00:30:19.559 --> 00:30:21.079 whatever authority it is. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:23.959 And that will always be something 00:30:23.959 --> 00:30:24.879 the gospel faces. 00:30:25.199 --> 00:30:26.000 Are you chasing, 00:30:26.419 --> 00:30:28.480 are you choosing to actually, 00:30:28.879 --> 00:30:29.399 they're saying, 00:30:29.639 --> 00:30:31.419 are you choosing to confront 00:30:31.419 --> 00:30:33.919 and to challenge this authority, 00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:35.099 the authority of the king? 00:30:37.919 --> 00:30:39.139 What am I to face? 00:30:40.099 --> 00:30:42.059 That great challenge in his day. 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:44.359 Paul had to face it in his day. 00:30:44.779 --> 00:30:46.159 We have to face it in our day. 00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:49.500 Because the idea of the world, 00:30:49.619 --> 00:30:49.819 of course, 00:30:49.879 --> 00:30:52.799 is that it's the world's opinion 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:53.579 that matters. 00:30:54.819 --> 00:30:56.799 It's secular opinion that matters. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:58.859 It's unbelieving opinion 00:30:58.859 --> 00:30:59.559 that matters. 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:02.619 It's the majority opinion 00:31:02.619 --> 00:31:03.319 that matters. 00:31:03.819 --> 00:31:04.899 That's what you'll be told. 00:31:04.900 --> 00:31:07.140 Are you challenging the opinion 00:31:07.140 --> 00:31:08.560 of many people, 00:31:08.740 --> 00:31:10.519 of the majority of the population, 00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:11.900 who don't want the gospel? 00:31:12.220 --> 00:31:13.160 Are you challenging that? 00:31:13.280 --> 00:31:14.840 Yes, of course we're challenging that. 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:16.560 That's what the gospel does. 00:31:17.560 --> 00:31:18.720 That's why God has given us 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:20.920 the task of building his cause, 00:31:20.980 --> 00:31:23.340 of being part of God's own building work. 00:31:24.500 --> 00:31:27.780 And they finished by a reply to them. 00:31:27.779 --> 00:31:29.420 And they said, 00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:31.619 Are you rebelling against the king? 00:31:32.700 --> 00:31:33.139 Well, 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:36.019 the way he replied is significant, 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:36.440 isn't it? 00:31:36.599 --> 00:31:37.879 He didn't just out and out say, 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:38.920 Yes, we are. 00:31:40.819 --> 00:31:42.000 What he said was, 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.259 the God of heaven 00:31:44.259 --> 00:31:46.440 will make us prosper. 00:31:48.539 --> 00:31:49.859 And we his servants 00:31:49.859 --> 00:31:51.180 will arise and build. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:54.380 But you have no portion 00:31:54.380 --> 00:31:55.579 or right or claim 00:31:55.579 --> 00:31:57.319 in Jerusalem. 00:32:01.720 --> 00:32:02.279 Unbelieving, 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:04.420 secularist, 00:32:05.660 --> 00:32:06.380 atheistic, 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:10.299 whatever kind of ideology it is, 00:32:10.299 --> 00:32:12.579 it has no place 00:32:12.579 --> 00:32:15.299 in the work of the gospel. 00:32:16.579 --> 00:32:17.720 It has no place 00:32:17.720 --> 00:32:19.899 in the ideology of the church. 00:32:19.919 --> 00:32:21.000 It's true to the gospel. 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:22.980 You have no right 00:32:22.980 --> 00:32:24.700 or portion 00:32:24.700 --> 00:32:25.519 or claim. 00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:26.720 It looks like they were actually 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:29.220 trying to influence Nehemiah 00:32:29.220 --> 00:32:30.980 so that he would take them on board 00:32:30.980 --> 00:32:33.379 and they would be part of this process 00:32:33.379 --> 00:32:34.720 and they would just 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:37.180 manage to infiltrate his plans 00:32:37.180 --> 00:32:39.240 and then just try and sideline him 00:32:39.240 --> 00:32:40.200 or try and take over. 00:32:40.299 --> 00:32:41.299 It looks like that was 00:32:41.299 --> 00:32:42.019 what was in their mind, 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:42.680 their strategy. 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:45.180 Nehemiah saw through it. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:46.359 Now he says, 00:32:46.579 --> 00:32:47.759 This is not your work. 00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:49.599 This is not for you. 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:51.680 We are the servants 00:32:51.680 --> 00:32:52.720 of the God of heaven 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:53.759 and he 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:55.779 will make us prosper. 00:32:57.139 --> 00:32:57.960 Now, friends, 00:32:58.039 --> 00:32:58.700 take these things 00:32:58.700 --> 00:32:59.399 with you tonight. 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:02.119 Take them into your own situation. 00:33:03.119 --> 00:33:03.559 Individually, 00:33:03.799 --> 00:33:04.720 your family life, 00:33:05.220 --> 00:33:06.579 the congregation's life. 00:33:06.579 --> 00:33:10.740 and continue to be confident 00:33:10.740 --> 00:33:14.159 that as you serve the God of heaven, 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:16.960 he will make you to prosper. 00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:19.680 And whoever it is you meet 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:22.220 that tries to thwart that, 00:33:22.779 --> 00:33:24.840 that tries to divert you from that, 00:33:25.660 --> 00:33:26.779 this must still be 00:33:26.779 --> 00:33:27.799 your outlook 00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:28.740 and your approach. 00:33:28.740 --> 00:33:32.620 and your confidence in God. 00:33:33.259 --> 00:33:33.660 That's really, 00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:34.120 if you like, 00:33:34.900 --> 00:33:36.160 you could give a title to 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:37.500 or study this evening. 00:33:37.579 --> 00:33:38.759 One possible title would be 00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:40.460 The Practical Result 00:33:40.460 --> 00:33:42.440 of Confidence in God. 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:44.400 Because when your confidence 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:45.559 is in God, 00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:46.680 this is the God 00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:47.759 you have confidence in. 00:33:48.019 --> 00:33:48.740 The God 00:33:48.740 --> 00:33:50.220 of heaven. 00:33:50.220 --> 00:33:51.799 the God 00:33:51.799 --> 00:33:52.539 who is above 00:33:52.539 --> 00:33:54.019 the Caesars 00:33:54.019 --> 00:33:55.660 and the Nebuchadnezzars 00:33:55.660 --> 00:33:59.839 and the Artaxerxes 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:00.779 of this world. 00:34:01.700 --> 00:34:03.120 And he will cause us 00:34:03.120 --> 00:34:04.880 to prosper. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:07.120 May it please him 00:34:07.120 --> 00:34:07.740 to do so. 00:34:07.799 --> 00:34:08.280 Let's pray. 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:11.599 We thank you, Lord, 00:34:11.740 --> 00:34:12.820 for the many promises 00:34:12.820 --> 00:34:13.599 that are attached 00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:14.300 to the gospel 00:34:14.300 --> 00:34:16.260 and to our service 00:34:16.260 --> 00:34:17.380 of you in the gospel. 00:34:17.900 --> 00:34:19.179 We do confess, Lord, 00:34:19.179 --> 00:34:20.919 that we find ourselves 00:34:20.919 --> 00:34:22.799 coming so far short 00:34:22.799 --> 00:34:24.759 on so many occasions 00:34:24.759 --> 00:34:27.339 of being what we should be 00:34:27.339 --> 00:34:28.839 in our lives personally 00:34:28.839 --> 00:34:31.099 and in our service for you. 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:31.759 But we thank you 00:34:31.759 --> 00:34:33.339 that you are the God 00:34:33.339 --> 00:34:34.539 who is the great forgiver 00:34:34.539 --> 00:34:35.219 of our sin 00:34:35.219 --> 00:34:37.259 and of our lapses. 00:34:37.379 --> 00:34:38.059 We give thanks 00:34:38.059 --> 00:34:39.480 that you are able 00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:40.099 to restore, 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:40.699 that you are able 00:34:40.699 --> 00:34:42.379 to build up your cause. 00:34:42.679 --> 00:34:43.219 Lord, we pray 00:34:43.219 --> 00:34:44.319 that you would use us. 00:34:45.019 --> 00:34:46.019 Use us in this day 00:34:46.019 --> 00:34:46.679 and generation. 00:34:46.919 --> 00:34:47.639 Use us against 00:34:47.639 --> 00:34:49.119 the darkness 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:50.119 the atheism, 00:34:50.679 --> 00:34:51.380 the secularism 00:34:51.380 --> 00:34:52.139 of our age. 00:34:53.139 --> 00:34:53.880 And help us 00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:54.739 to do so, Lord, 00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:55.639 peacefully. 00:34:56.440 --> 00:34:57.339 Enable us to do so 00:34:57.339 --> 00:34:57.980 tactfully. 00:34:58.719 --> 00:34:59.679 Enable us to do so 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:00.359 in a spirit 00:35:00.359 --> 00:35:01.460 that will truly be 00:35:01.460 --> 00:35:03.279 of the Lord himself. 00:35:04.219 --> 00:35:05.619 A spirit of calmness 00:35:05.619 --> 00:35:06.199 and of peace 00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:06.839 and of tact. 00:35:07.799 --> 00:35:08.679 And grant your blessing, 00:35:08.799 --> 00:35:09.039 we pray, 00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:10.319 to the gospel meantime. 00:35:11.159 --> 00:35:12.099 And throughout our land, 00:35:12.179 --> 00:35:13.359 when there's so much unrest, 00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:15.199 throughout the whole of Europe 00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:15.900 at this time, 00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:16.920 which seems to be 00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:18.139 at boiling point, 00:35:18.900 --> 00:35:20.260 Lord, we pray for your people 00:35:20.260 --> 00:35:21.220 in that situation. 00:35:22.019 --> 00:35:23.380 We pray for these places, 00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:24.720 these nations of the world, 00:35:25.539 --> 00:35:26.720 that you would grant to them 00:35:26.720 --> 00:35:27.500 not only peace, 00:35:27.619 --> 00:35:29.700 but the extending of your kingdom 00:35:29.700 --> 00:35:30.700 and its authority 00:35:30.700 --> 00:35:33.000 and the authority of Christ himself, 00:35:33.820 --> 00:35:34.900 that there may be many 00:35:34.900 --> 00:35:35.680 who will come even 00:35:35.680 --> 00:35:37.099 through these troubled times 00:35:37.099 --> 00:35:38.119 to bend the knee 00:35:38.119 --> 00:35:39.780 in submission to you. 00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:41.360 Receive our thanks, 00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:42.400 we pray in his name 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:43.920 and for his sake. 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:44.340 Amen. 00:35:46.160 --> 00:35:47.460 Our final psalm tonight 00:35:47.460 --> 00:35:49.380 is Psalm 102. 00:35:51.800 --> 00:35:52.599 Psalm 102, 00:35:53.039 --> 00:35:54.400 which we find associated 00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:55.220 with the rebuilding 00:35:55.220 --> 00:35:57.619 of Jerusalem, 00:35:57.820 --> 00:35:58.280 of Zion. 00:36:00.340 --> 00:36:01.220 Psalm 102, 00:36:01.340 --> 00:36:02.099 the second version 00:36:02.099 --> 00:36:04.940 on page 368, 00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:08.160 verses 14 to 19. 00:36:10.300 --> 00:36:12.019 Well, it's 14 to 20. 00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:14.960 Thy saints take pleasure 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:15.820 in her stones. 00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:16.980 Well, we're saying 00:36:16.980 --> 00:36:17.820 from verse 13, 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:18.180 I think, 00:36:18.260 --> 00:36:19.039 Thou shalt arise 00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:19.980 and mercy yet, 00:36:20.700 --> 00:36:21.660 Thou to Mount Zion 00:36:21.660 --> 00:36:22.539 shall extend, 00:36:22.740 --> 00:36:23.760 her time for favor 00:36:23.760 --> 00:36:24.579 which was set. 00:36:25.220 --> 00:36:25.639 Behold, 00:36:25.720 --> 00:36:26.960 is now come to an end. 00:36:27.079 --> 00:36:28.139 Thy saints take pleasure 00:36:28.139 --> 00:36:28.920 in her stones, 00:36:29.539 --> 00:36:30.220 her very dust 00:36:30.220 --> 00:36:31.139 to them is dear. 00:36:31.660 --> 00:36:32.680 All heathen lands 00:36:32.680 --> 00:36:33.760 and kingly thrones 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:34.960 on earth 00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:36.099 thy glorious name 00:36:36.099 --> 00:36:36.840 shall fear. 00:36:37.420 --> 00:36:38.599 God in his glory 00:36:38.599 --> 00:36:39.380 shall appear 00:36:39.380 --> 00:36:40.579 when Zion 00:36:40.579 --> 00:36:41.340 he builds 00:36:41.340 --> 00:36:42.039 and repairs. 00:36:42.760 --> 00:36:43.519 He shall regard 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:44.420 and lend his ear 00:36:44.420 --> 00:36:45.820 unto the needy's 00:36:45.820 --> 00:36:46.620 humble prayers. 00:36:46.700 --> 00:36:47.559 The afflicted's prayer 00:36:47.559 --> 00:36:48.559 he will not scorn. 00:36:49.320 --> 00:36:50.120 All times 00:36:50.120 --> 00:36:51.460 this shall be on record 00:36:51.460 --> 00:36:53.120 and generations 00:36:53.120 --> 00:36:54.180 yet unborn 00:36:54.180 --> 00:36:55.720 shall praise 00:36:55.720 --> 00:36:57.200 and magnify 00:36:57.200 --> 00:36:58.280 the Lord. 00:36:58.960 --> 00:36:59.320 And so, 00:36:59.440 --> 00:36:59.920 these verses 00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:01.460 from verse 13 to 18, 00:37:02.059 --> 00:37:03.180 Thou shalt arise. 00:37:03.179 --> 00:37:11.399 Thou shalt arise 00:37:11.399 --> 00:37:17.440 and mercy yet, 00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:22.719 Thou tomb and Zion 00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:27.299 shalt extend, 00:37:27.300 --> 00:37:32.600 her time for favor 00:37:32.600 --> 00:37:37.180 which was set. 00:37:37.180 --> 00:37:39.460 Behold, 00:37:39.460 --> 00:37:46.800 is now come to an end. 00:37:47.360 --> 00:37:52.220 Thy saints take pleasure 00:37:52.219 --> 00:37:56.379 in her stones, 00:37:56.379 --> 00:38:01.319 her very dust 00:38:01.319 --> 00:38:05.819 to them is dear. 00:38:05.819 --> 00:38:11.139 All heathen lands 00:38:11.139 --> 00:38:15.359 and kingly thrones 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:17.980 on earth 00:38:17.980 --> 00:38:22.059 thy glorious name 00:38:22.059 --> 00:38:24.740 shall fear. 00:38:24.740 --> 00:38:31.180 God in his glory 00:38:31.180 --> 00:38:35.180 shall appear 00:38:35.180 --> 00:38:39.800 when Zion he 00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:44.579 built and repairs. 00:38:44.579 --> 00:38:49.980 He shall regard 00:38:49.980 --> 00:38:54.319 and lend his ear 00:38:54.319 --> 00:39:00.219 unto the needy's 00:39:00.219 --> 00:39:04.380 humble prayers. 00:39:04.380 --> 00:39:09.500 Thou afflicted's prayer 00:39:09.500 --> 00:39:14.119 he will not scorn. 00:39:14.579 --> 00:39:16.860 All times 00:39:16.860 --> 00:39:19.019 this shall 00:39:19.019 --> 00:39:22.319 be on record 00:39:22.319 --> 00:39:27.319 and generations 00:39:27.319 --> 00:39:32.819 yet unborn 00:39:32.819 --> 00:39:35.099 shall praise 00:39:35.099 --> 00:39:39.420 and magnify 00:39:39.420 --> 00:39:42.639 the Lord. 00:39:42.639 --> 00:39:44.379 Let me just check 00:39:44.379 --> 00:39:44.819 with the church 00:39:44.819 --> 00:39:45.079 over there. 00:39:45.179 --> 00:39:45.579 We're just using 00:39:45.579 --> 00:39:46.579 this door to my right 00:39:46.579 --> 00:39:47.719 here and this one 00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:48.059 as well. 00:39:48.420 --> 00:39:49.000 Okay, we'll use 00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:50.099 both doors here 00:39:50.099 --> 00:39:50.579 at the front. 00:39:51.779 --> 00:39:52.699 Now may the grace 00:39:52.699 --> 00:39:53.940 of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:39:54.019 --> 00:39:55.219 the love of God the Father 00:39:55.219 --> 00:39:56.319 and the communion 00:39:56.319 --> 00:39:57.279 of the Holy Spirit 00:39:57.279 --> 00:39:58.299 be with you now 00:39:58.299 --> 00:39:59.199 and evermore. 00:39:59.199 --> 00:40:00.099 Amen. 00:40:00.099 --> 00:40:00.159 Amen. 00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:02.199 Amen. 00:40:02.439 --> 00:40:02.980 Amen. 00:40:02.980 --> 00:40:03.279 Amen. 00:40:03.279 --> 00:40:03.619 Amen. 00:40:03.619 --> 00:40:04.000 Amen. 00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:04.159 Amen. 00:40:04.159 --> 00:40:04.339 Amen. 00:40:04.339 --> 00:40:04.599 Amen. 00:40:04.599 --> 00:40:04.879 Amen. 00:40:04.879 --> 00:40:05.019 Amen. 00:40:05.019 --> 00:40:05.179 Amen. 00:40:05.179 --> 00:40:05.379 Amen. 00:40:05.379 --> 00:40:05.719 Amen. 00:40:05.719 --> 00:40:06.039 Amen. 00:40:06.039 --> 00:40:06.399 Amen. 00:40:06.399 --> 00:40:06.899 Amen. 00:40:06.899 --> 00:40:07.179 Amen. 00:40:07.179 --> 00:40:07.419 Amen. 00:40:07.419 --> 00:40:07.819 Amen. 00:40:07.819 --> 00:40:08.000 Amen. 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:08.119 Amen. 00:40:08.119 --> 00:40:08.279 Amen. 00:40:08.279 --> 00:40:08.460 Amen. 00:40:08.460 --> 00:40:08.699 Amen. 00:40:08.699 --> 00:40:09.000 Amen. 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:09.119 Amen. 00:40:09.119 --> 00:40:09.319 Amen. 00:40:09.319 --> 00:40:09.659 Amen. 00:40:09.659 --> 00:40:10.019 Amen. 00:40:10.019 --> 00:40:10.339 Amen. 00:40:10.339 --> 00:40:10.939 Amen. 00:40:10.939 --> 00:40:11.299 Amen. 00:40:11.299 --> 00:40:11.739 Amen. 00:40:11.739 --> 00:40:12.059 Amen. 00:40:12.059 --> 00:40:12.199 Amen. 00:40:12.199 --> 00:40:12.319 Amen. 00:40:12.319 --> 00:40:12.519 Amen. 00:40:12.519 --> 00:40:12.799 Amen. 00:40:12.799 --> 00:40:12.960 Amen. 00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:13.139 Amen. 00:40:13.139 --> 00:40:13.279 Amen. 00:40:13.279 --> 00:40:13.519 Amen. 00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:13.960 Amen. 00:40:13.960 --> 00:40:14.439 Amen. 00:40:14.439 --> 00:40:15.039 Amen. 00:40:15.039 --> 00:40:15.519 Amen. 00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:16.119 Amen. 00:40:16.119 --> 00:40:16.659 Amen. 00:40:16.659 --> 00:40:17.059 Amen. 00:40:17.059 --> 00:40:17.279 Amen. 00:40:17.279 --> 00:40:17.659 Amen. 00:40:17.659 --> 00:40:18.059 Amen. 00:40:18.059 --> 00:40:18.579 Amen. 00:40:18.579 --> 00:40:48.559 Thank you.