In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time.” And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province beyond the river, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the river and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent me with officers of the army and horsemen. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.
Summary Points:
-As you are praying, don’t overlook that you may be the answer to the need. “Why not me?”
-Don’t underestimate God’s power to accomplish His purposes through others, whether you like them or not.
-Don’t fear the enemy. Don’t ignore him either. Remember the resources we have been given to spoil his schemes. (The armor of Ephesians 6)
https://midtownchurchatl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/logo-full-Black-340x100-v2.png00Admin Midtownhttps://midtownchurchatl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/logo-full-Black-340x100-v2.pngAdmin Midtown2024-04-26 21:07:072024-04-26 21:09:32Nehemiah Pt. 2: Why Not Me?
As Christ’s followers we need the Hebrew Scriptures…The OT. 1st & 2nd Chronicles, Ezra & Nehemiah all one work. Historical context: Post exile Israel 458 BC. Exile is ending…Jews have been returning to Jerusalem. Two Governors, Sheshbazzar & Zerubbabel had rebuilt the temple with help from the Prophets Haggai & Zechariah over 20 years.
Now Ezra & Nehemiah arrive. They were two of the most influential shapers of post exilic Judaism. This is the part of the story that be believe is Nehemiah’s account of events [God inspired].
Where we are in the story of God and His people? This is an important book of history about humanity. How does this book echo themes we find in the book of Acts? You can also see echoes of Numbers & Deuteronomy [God forming His people into a Nation]. Here HE is Re-forming His people… and Nehemiah is His Leader.
Kingdom Leadership is what we will see from Nehemiah…Christ Like Leadership. As a leader Jesus was: Intentional / Relational / Cooperative. Our Vision here @ Midtown of Disciple Building flows from Scripture like this. Intentional / Relational / Cooperative
Our journey begins with a person who has a heart like God’s…
Nehemiah 1 NLT
1 These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.
This part of the work is 1st person, Nehemiah speaking
In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah.
This scripture is an important part of the history of God & His chosen people
We are given historical markers and know exactly when these events occurred
The Babylonians invaded but they have been overthrown by the Persians
Susa is also the location of the book of Ester
I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
He is focused on the welfare of his people…God’s people
The wall is the key issue… Nehemiah recognizes that the problem is the wall
There was hope for the exiles to return to the city…but a city with no walls…
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.
The magnitude of this news moved Nehemiah to ‘Action’ / Actions
He stopped his entire life [have you ever done this?] I did when my Father died!
He actively mourned…for days…He wept!
He fasted
He prayed to ‘The God of Heaven’ [Right God = Right Prayer]
What drove him to such radical action? It was his concern for others [NOT himself]
Kingdom Building starts with People! Nehemiah had great concern, compassion and care for people. Specifically the people of who were now back in Jerusalem.
‘PRAYER PREPERATION’
We cannot pray properly without God teaching & empowering us
This Scripture points us to the fact we need to prepare to pray [God Led]
Serious business requires serious preparation
In order to build Kingdom Life we need to prepare with Prayer!
WE NEED TO PREPARE FOR PRAYER
AFTER WE PREPARE… WE FOLLOW A BIBLICAL PATTERN OF PRAYER
5 Then I said, “O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of unfailing love with those who love Him and obey His commands, 6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for Your people Israel.
He begins by clarifying who he believes God is and How HE relates to His peps
He asks [begs] that God would see His persistence and listen to his prayer
I confess that we have sinned against You. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! 7 We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that You gave us through Your servant Moses.
Next is confession of sin: Individual / Family / Nation
Owning up to the specifics [Using the standard of God’s Law]
8 Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. 9 But if you return to Me and obey My commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for My name to be honored.’
Next He asks God to do what He has said He will do
This is basically asking God to enact His will
You can never go wrong with the prayer: ‘Thy will be done!’
God was true to His word about the scattering [Exile]
Nehemiah is asking God to now bring His people back to Jerusalem
10 The people You rescued by Your great power and strong hand are Your servants. 11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring You. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”
He then reminds God that His previous rescue of His people made them HIS
Nehemiah claims that status: SERVANT and as such asks that God hear him
What HE asks specifically is for the King to be kind and show him favor
In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.
He was in a place that he could get access to the King [like Ester]
Prayer is how WE begin to build Kingdom Life!
Preparation For Prayer:
Developed a heart for people that reflects God’s heart for HIS people!
Mourns, weep, fast, and listen for DAYS!
Put yourself in a position to hear from and speak to God.
A Pattern Of Prayer:
Recognition of who God is
Remembrance of God’s promises to care for HIS people
Confession of sin at all levels
Specifically focusing on the situation and God’s known will
Asking God to hear and act in accordance with HIS known will
Application Questions:
How are you going to change the way you approach God based on this Scripture?
How do you make prayer a bigger part of building your Kingdom Life?
Have you ever undertaken a study of ‘Biblical Prayer’? If not, why?
https://midtownchurchatl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/logo-full-Black-340x100-v2.png00Todd Briggshttps://midtownchurchatl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/logo-full-Black-340x100-v2.pngTodd Briggs2024-04-14 11:00:592024-04-26 20:59:41Nehemiah Pt. 1: Kingdom Building
12 Now after that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. 13 And they went away and reported it to the rest, but they did not believe them, either.
• We jump right back in to the account of what happened after the resurrection. The gospel here confirms the story that we see in Luke 24:13, the road to Emmaus. I’ve got three snippets from the text we can look at. • In Mark’s cliff notes version, verse 13 says “but they did not believe.” That is what he wanted to highlight from the interaction. The miraculous nature of Jesus altering his appearance, teleporting away from them before their very eyes, that’s not the focus. • Instead, we center in on the unbelief of the disciples. This is a refrain we see many times throughout chapter 16. Starting with verse 8, again in verse 11 and now for a third time “they do not believe”.
14 Later He appeared to the eleven disciples themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen from the dead.
• In verse 8 the angel told the women that Jesus would appear to his disciples. And now we get that part of the story. In Mark’s account it’s not an entirely joyous reunion. Jesus is hard on his disciples, chastising their unbelief. Again, we see a different focus from Mark. The gospel of John tells us how happy the disciples are to see Jesus. But Mark is all business, there is no time for details like that!
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
• He tells them to go. What are they to do? Preach. Where? Into all the world. To who? all creation. • Jesus tells them what he expects them to do next. He commissions them. • He has told them to go out and preach the good news. But how are they to do that? They just experienced firsthand their own disbelief. How can they possibly be effective at preaching the gospel themselves?
16 The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
• Vs 17 He tells them they will be accompanied by signs, that they will be filled with power! • Jesus explains that it will be miraculous, but from the Gospel of John we know it isn’t surprising. • John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” • Jesus says we will do more than he did in his ministry.
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.
• Mark starts out pretty sudden. There is no birth, no genealogy, just right in to it. • And similarly, the book ends. He’s gone and off they go! • the point Mark makes is that they listen, and the Lord worked with them. The gospel message was confirmed by the miraculous signs. That is the encouragement he wanted to leave his readers with. • It was the beginning of a new day; the Sabbath is over. Jesus is telling them they can do it, and they do. After a terrible track record of failing at every turn, verse 20 is almost unexpected. • Between verse 14 and 20 we see radically different men. • Jesus is now sitting at the right hand of God and we as his followers have a job to do.
What’s it all about?
His disciples had a job to do here, they were to continue his ministry. And I’ll tell you it continues with us. They didn’t finish the job, neither did the early church. You and I have a role to play. Jesus left us with some homework. So let’s check in, how are we doing with it?
How are we doing with the homework? We are to “go… and preach… the gospel”! Am I going? how is your life lived in service of spreading the good news?
We all are to build up the body, to grow the kingdom.
2 Corinthians 5:14 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
https://midtownchurchatl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/logo-full-Black-340x100-v2.png00Admin Midtownhttps://midtownchurchatl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/logo-full-Black-340x100-v2.pngAdmin Midtown2024-04-07 11:00:162024-04-10 21:35:21Mark Pt. 42: Now, Go
