Transcript Nehemiah

Nehemiah
Part 1: Confessing Our Sins
View From Rock Bottom
• Have you ever hit rock
bottom?
• So far down you feel
you’ve lost yourself?
• So far down your only
hope is for God’s
deliverance?
• Would God take us
there?
Oh How The Mighty…
• Beautiful Jerusalem
• Song of Solomon 6:4
– “You are as
beautiful as Tirzah,
my darling, as lovely
as Jerusalem, as
awesome as an army
with banners.”
…Have Fallen
• Psalm 48:2 –
“Beautiful in
elevation, the joy of
the whole earth, is
Mount Zion in the far
north, the city of the
great King.”
Psalm 50:2
• “Out of Zion,
the perfection
of beauty,
God has
shone forth.”
But Jerusalem Fell
• Nehemiah 1:3 – “They
said to me, “The remnant
there in the province who
survived the captivity are
in great distress and
reproach, and the wall of
Jerusalem is broken
down and its gates are
burned with fire.”
How Did We Get Here?
• Why did God destroy
Jerusalem/Judah? IDOLATRY
• Jeremiah 8:19 – “Behold, listen!
The cry of the daughter of my
people from a distant land: “Is
the Lord not in Zion? Is her King
not within her” Why have they
provoked Me with their graven
images, with foreign idols?”
Which Is Adultery
• Jeremiah 5:7-8 -- “Why should
I pardon you? Your sons have
forsaken Me and sworn by
those who are not gods.
When I had fed them to the
full, they committed adultery
and trooped to the harlot’s
house. They were well-fed
lusty horses, Each one
neighing after his neighbor’s
wife.”
And For Lying, Theft, Murder
• Jeremiah 7:9-10 – “Will you
steal, murder, and commit
adultery and swear falsely,
and offer sacrifices to Baal
and walk after other gods that
you have not known, then
come and stand before Me in
this house…and say, ‘We are
delivered…?”
For Rampant Sinfulness
• “Alas, sinful nation,
people weighed down
with iniquity, offspring of
evildoers, sons who act
corruptly! They have
abandoned the Lord, they
have despised the Holy
One of Israel, they have
turned away from Him.”
The Need For Repentance
• Nehemiah’s response
• Neh. 1:4 – “When I heard
these words, I sat down
and wept and mourned
for days; and I was fasting
and praying before the
God of heaven.”
Genuine Repentance
• Nehemiah 1:6-7 -- “…let Your ear now be
attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer
of Your servant which I am praying before You
now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of
Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the
sons of Israel which we have sinned against You;
I and my father’s house have sinned. We have
acted very corruptly against You and have not
kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor
the ordinances which You commanded Your
servant Moses.”
Calling On God’s Justice
• Nehemiah 1:8-9 –”Remember the word
which You commanded Your servant Moses,
saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you
among the peoples; but if you return to Me
and keep My commandments and do them,
though those of you who have been
scattered were in the most remote part of the
heavens, I will gather them from there and
will bring them to the place where I have
chosen to cause My name to dwell….”
Repentance Brings God’s Favor
•
•
•
•
Remember Achan?
Joshua 7
Defeated at Ai.
Vs. 11: “Israel has
sinned….”
• Achan stole things
dedicated to God
• Stoned to death
• God relented
God Is Looking For Real Sorrow
• 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 – “I
now rejoice…that you
were made sorrowful
according to the will of
God…[which] produces a
repentance without
regret, leading to
salvation.”
Calling On The Name Of The Lord
• Nehemiah 1:11 – “O
Lord, I beseech You, may
Your ear be attentive to
the prayer of Your
servant and the prayer of
Your servants who
delight to revere Your
name, and make Your
servant successful
today….”
Great Works Require Great Faith
• And great prayer!
• “To be a Christian without
prayer is no more
possible than to be alive
without breathing.”
Martin Luther