Okay, coming back to our study
now in the book of Nehemiah. And this evening we're looking
at Nehemiah chapter 2. And as my usual method is, I'm
always looking for a title to the message when I was looking
and reading over this chapter. And I'm taking the title for
the message from what is said in verse 20. And here's a phrase
that caught my attention. The God of heaven the God of
heaven, He will prosper us." Now, the God of heaven, the God
of heaven, He will prosper us. Therefore, we His servants will
arise and we'll build because God will prosper us. I think of that scripture over
in Romans 8, if God be for us, Who can be against us? If God
is pleased to prosper us for Christ's sake, who can be against
us? The Lord our God has prospered
His people and has prospered us exceedingly and abundantly
for one reason, because He is gracious, because it has pleased
Him to do so. We studied Sunday from Romans
5, where sin abounded, grace does much more, abound. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And we can say and affirm with
the Apostle Paul, it is by the grace of God that I am what I
am. Now remember months earlier,
Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven. Remember Nehemiah chapter
1, look at verse 5. And I beseech thee, O Lord God
of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and
mercy for them who love him, for them who observe his commandment."
Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven. Now, four months later,
his prayer is answered. Nehemiah was chosen to lead the
people, the people of God in the reconstruction of the walls
of Jerusalem and installing and rebuilding those seven or eight
gates that we read about in chapter three. All those different gates,
the fish gate, the horse gate, the water gate, the fountain
gate, the dung gate. One gate was designated to take
the waste, the sewage out of the city. I love the confidence
of Brother Nehemiah, don't you? The God of Heaven, He will prosper
us. We have no need to be pessimistic. All the promises of God which
are exceeding and great, of all the promises God has given us,
Not one word will fail. Not one promise of God will fail. All that He has promised, He
is able to perform. I love the confidence of this
brother Nehemiah. He's saying, how can we fail? We are involved in the work of
God. And especially believers and
preachers of the gospel, especially in preaching of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ that has sent us, certainly He will prosper
the preaching of the gospel. He will bless His Word to the
salvation of His people. You remember the promise in Isaiah
55, 11? So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth.
It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereinto
I have sinned." How can we fail? God has sent us to preach the
gospel and we shall prosper. We never, we never preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in vain. Never. The gospel when
preached will either be a saver of life unto life or a saver
of death unto death. But it will always accomplish
the purpose of God to the salvation of his elect or to the condemnation
of the reprobate. Remember the Apostle said in
2 Corinthians 3.14, he always causes us to triumph in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We have the victory over all
things in Christ because Because what? He has prospered us. It
pleased Him to do so by His sovereign purpose, by His sovereign grace,
by His sovereign mercy. Now, as we look at chapter 2,
I divided it into several different portions. Verses 1 through 8,
we see Nehemiah makes his request before his king. Remember, he's
before this pagan king, his name is Artaxerxes, and he makes his
request before the king and is granted by the good hand of God
that was upon him to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. Look at
verse eight. And the king granted me, after
Nehemiah had made his request, and the king granted me according. according to the good hand of
my God that was upon me." Now, take a look at verse 1. It says,
it came to pass. And it came to pass. Now, I love
that statement, don't you? We read it many times in the
Word of God. It came to pass. And we know
why it came to pass, because the Lord brought it to pass. God arranged in His wise and
good providence, God arranged all these things that are happening
to Nehemiah for the good of his people and for the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Nehemiah had prayed four months
earlier and waited for the Lord to open the door. I'm sure he
didn't pray just one time four months ago. I'm sure he prayed
continually unto the Lord and eventually as he waited upon
the Lord's good providence, you know what happened? The Lord
opened the door. Nehemiah didn't kick the door
down, the Lord opened the door. David said in Psalm 27, instructing
his people to wait upon the Lord. And again I say, to wait upon
the Lord. Sometimes we make great mistakes
by seeking out our own timetable. You're not guilty of that, are
you? Seeking out your own timetable instead of seeking the will of
the Lord and submitting to the will of the Lord. waiting, asking,
requesting, and then waiting for the Lord to open the door.
If the door is not open, then it's not, obviously it's not
the will of the Lord, is it? So sometimes we make great blunders
by seeking our own will, our own timetable, instead of waiting
upon the Lord and seeking His will. When Nehemiah was before
the king as the cupbearer, notice it says there, that verse one,
the second part, that wine was before him and I took up the
wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had not been before time
sad in his presence. Now, obviously Nehemiah had been
a servant to the king for a long time, so much so that the king
knew all about Nehemiah. Nehemiah served the king with
joy and gladness as an honor to do so, even though he was
a slave in that house, yet he served with honor. He served
with a good spirit about him. And the king said, you have never
been sad in my presence. Verse two, wherefore the king
said to me, why is your countenance sad? Seeing thou art not sick,
this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. And then it says there,
Nehemiah was fearful. Now remember this king in this
kingdom, his word was done. If he would been so pleased to
dismiss Nehemiah or to have Nehemiah executed, it would have been
done. No doubt that Nehemiah was fearful that he may be in
trouble. And I said to the king, Notice
how he honors his office. He honors the office of the king. You see, the powers that be are
ordained of God, are they not? Let the king live forever. Why
should not my countenance be sad? He explains the sadness
of his heart. When the city, my city, the place
of my father's sepulcher, the place where my father David was
buried, and many of those of Judah were buried, that lies
in waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire, then
the king said to me, for what dost thou make request? And I
love this part right here. Nehemiah immediately flies to
the throne of grace. He doesn't immediately address
the answer, he doesn't immediately answer Artaxerxes, but he prays
to the God of heaven one more time. What does thy request? It says
in verse four, the king asked, but notice immediately, Nehemiah
prays to the God of heaven. And I thought this. with good instruction for us.
What a privilege we have to fly to the throne of grace, to find
mercy, to find grace to help in our time of need. We don't
have to go to a certain place. We don't have to come a certain
way. But in any time, in any place, in any form or fashion,
God has given us the privilege to call upon him in prayer. Now,
you can't outlaw prayer. They may outlaw prayer from school
and from the courthouse and from different places, but you cannot
outlaw prayer in a believer's life, in his heart, because he
cries unto God continually. And we have a privilege to do
so, to fly unto God and ask for mercy and grace to help in time
of need. In Philippians chapter 4 we read
this, Be careful for nothing, or anxious about nothing, but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request
be made known to God. There is an encouragement that
God gives unto us to call upon Him in prayer. He said let your
request be made known to God. Pray without ceasing and in everything
give thanks. Now listen to this, I'm not overstating
this. If we pray according to the will
of God, we shall have our request heard and answered. Did you get that? If we pray
according to the will of God, We shall have our prayers heard
and answered. Now here's the reference. Don't
turn, let me just read it to you. 1 John 5, this should be
familiar to you. And this is the confidence that
we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us. Now I wanna pray according to
His will. I wanna say as the Lord did, not my will, thy will
be done. that if we ask anything according
to His will, He heareth us, and we know that He heareth us, Whatsoever we ask, we know that
we have the petition that we desire of Him. When we ask according
to the will of God, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have
those petitions because if we can pray according to the will
of the Lord and ask His will to be done. Now, notice, if you
will, down to verse six, And he said unto the king and the
queen, the queen also sitting upon their throne, Thou hast
for how long thy journey shall be, and when wilt thou return? And then it says here, So it
pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time that I may
go. Now, you see how the Lord and
His providence is working in the heart of our desert seat.
The Lord has arranged this meeting, has arranged all things. You
see, we read in the Proverbs, The book of Proverbs, Proverbs
21, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and he turns
it like a river wherever he's pleased to send it. And Artaxerxes
heart, his mind, his will is in the hand of Almighty God and
Almighty God manipulates him to accomplish his will and purpose. God has not changed. He's the
same today as he was in the days of Artaxerxes. Verse 7, 8, 9,
Artaxerxes granted the request of Nehemiah, because the Lord
moved his heart and mind to do so, not according to the merit
of Nehemiah, but rather according to the, as it says there, according
to the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon
me. Now everything about our Lord
is good. His power is good. His will is good. His hand of sovereignty and providence,
it is good. Everything about the Lord is
good. We read that God is light and
in Him there is no darkness at all. Everything about Him is
good, is glorious, is it not? The Lord is light and the Lord
is love. There is no darkness or evil
in Him whatsoever. The Lord is good and His good
hand, Nehemiah said, is upon me. That's true of every believer
in Christ. The good hand of the Lord. His
hand is the almighty hand, is it not? He said, no one can pluck
the sheep out of my hand. His hand is the almighty hand. None can stay his hand. And his
hand is the good almighty hand of God that's upon every creature. We're called the sheep of his
hand, are we not? Hand of the Lord is almighty
to save. We read about this in Psalm 34. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Taste and see that the Lord is
good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. On one of my journeys out west,
I don't remember what year it was, But driving down the highway,
the big old semi went by me. And I remember looking on the
back of that semi, and this verse was written, oh, taste and see
that the Lord is good. Well, I just rejoiced in that
all the way to wherever I was going. Oh, taste and see that
the Lord is good. And He is. We know that by, not
only by reading it in the Word, but by the experience of it in
our heart. The Lord is good and He seeks
the good, the eternal welfare and good of His people. Now,
here's something else we see in verse 9 and verse 10 and verse
19. Then I came to Jerusalem, I came
to the governors, I came to Jerusalem beyond the river and gave them
the king's letter. Now the king had sent captains
of the army and horsemen with me Now here he has opposition,
doesn't he? When Sanballat the Hornite and
Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them
exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of
the children of Israel. Look over at verse 19, that when
Sanballat and Tobiah and this other man, this third man, Geshem
the Arabian, heard heard it, heard that Nehemiah said, we're
going to rebuild the wall. They left us to scorn and despise
us and said, what is this thing you'll do? Will you rebel against
the king? Evidently, they forgot to read
the letter that Nehemiah had from the king enabling him to
build the wall. Vain opposition was encountered.
These three men, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, stood up against
Nehemiah, probably some of the same men that opposed Zerubbabel
in the building of the temple, you remember back in Ezra chapter
four. But look one page over, turn
to Nehemiah chapter four. Nehemiah chapter four. And listen
to the further ranting of these men. But it came to pass that
when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth
and took great indignation and mocked the Jews. And he said
before his brethren in the army of Samaria, said, what do these
feeble Jews do? Will they fortify themselves?
Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day?
Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which
are burned? Now, Tobiah The Ammonite was
by him, and he said, even that which they build, if a fox goes
up on it, he shall even break down the wall. You see what he's
saying here? You feeble Jews, you're going
to build this feeble wall, and if a fox jumps on it, it's going
to break it down. And we'll read on just a minute
back to, you see the enemies of the Lord are always opposed
to the purpose of God. They're always opposed to the
will of God. We shouldn't expect any different
today, should we? That whole sinful nature that
so permeated every human creature upon the earth, so permeated
with with sin and rebellion against God, the carnal minded enmity
against Almighty God. The truth and purpose of God
will always have opposition. The truth and purpose of God
will always have opposition. Moses, the leader of God, who
brought the people out of Egyptian bondage by the power of God,
who through the power of God, all them miracles, the parting
of the sea, and when he was out in the wilderness with those
people, they were ready to pick up stones and kill him. See the
rebellion in the heart of every sinner. The truth and purpose
of God will always have opposition. God killed a whole generation
of those Jews in that 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
These men here opposed the Lord. And in the Lord Jesus Christ
in His day, they opposed Him. They oppose the apostles. Later
they oppose the reformers, Martin Luther, John Calvin. Many of
them died or burned to the stake because these evil men opposed
the will and purpose of God. We should not be surprised in
our day when the gospel we preach is hated and despised of men,
is it not? Our Lord said, if they've hated
me, Make sure that you know that they will hate you also. Also. Now, look at verse 10. They were grieved, Nehemiah 2,
10. They were grieved Exceedingly. I mean, they just weren't a little
bit annoyed. They were grieved exceedingly. Exceedingly. It says in the Young
Literal Translation, this verse is rendered, "...it is evil to
them, a great evil to them, that a man hath come to seek good
for the sons of Israel." They were exceedingly mad. They said, this is a great evil.
that you come to seek the welfare of the people of God, the people
of Israel. Aren't you glad there was a man
sent from God who came seeking the welfare of the people of
God? We read in John chapter 1, there
was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came
for witness to bear witness of the light that all men through
him might believe. There was also another man sent
The God-man mediator sent of God to seek the eternal welfare
of His covenant people, the Lord Jesus Christ. And those He came
to save, what's going to happen to them? Those He came to save,
they'll never perish. He said, All that the Father
giveth to me will come to me, and those that come to me I will
unknowwise cast out. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth His Son made of a woman. He was a real man. Made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law, the
Lord Jesus Christ came seeking the welfare of the children of
Israel. And my friend, those for whom
he died, he saved with an everlasting salvation. And he justified every
one of his elect with his own precious blood. None can perish
for whom Christ died. So too were the Pharisees in
the day of the Lord when the Christ of God was sent to accomplish
the salvation of His people, to seek their eternal welfare,
the Lord Jesus Christ faced cruel, fierce, hatred, evil, and opposition."
How many times did they pick up stones to stone Him? How many times did they grab
Him hand and foot to try to cast Him over a cliff? but they could
not harm him until that appointed hour, him being delivered by
the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God, he put away our sin by
the sacrifice of himself." Now, in verse 11, Down through verse
20, Nehemiah was blessed to serve his great God in leading his
people to rebuild the wall. That was their security. That was their safety. You remember
the temple had been completed, but yet it was exposed to the
enemy That city needed to have a wall to protect them, and this
wall here is a picture of God's wall of power and grace as He
surrounds the church of the living God. And He is our protection. Now, the temple had been completed.
Ezra the scribe had come to Jerusalem some 13 years earlier when the
temple was completed. And now the Lord Jesus Christ
sends his faithful servant, Nehemiah, to construct the walls around
the city to protect the people and to protect the temple and
the priest that they might approach God and worship God through a
blood sacrifice. The Lord will raise up his servants. for a certain time and a place
to accomplish His purpose. Why did the Lord wait 13 years
after the temple was completed to send Nehemiah? Because it
pleased Him to do so. Why didn't He send him 13 days? Why did He wait 13 years? because it pleased him to do
so. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he. And we see all through
the Word of God how the Lord raises up the servants of the
Lord for a special time, a special occasion, for a special job,
with a special certain message to a people. God raised up one
man, Philip, out in the desert and sent him to one man to preach
the gospel and the Lord used that message to teach that man
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who's this man? He's
reading Isaiah 53. Who's this man talking about
himself or some other? You remember he began at the
same place and preached unto him the Lord Jesus Christ. God will raise up His servant,
in His time, for His purpose, and send Him with His message
to accomplish the eternal purpose of God. We see that in the preaching
of the Gospel all the time, don't we? All through the Word of God.
Peter was sent to the house of Cornelius. The apostle Paul was
sent as an apostle to the Gentiles to bear the name and lift up
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now at first Nehemiah did not
tell any men in the city what God, notice it says in verse
12, I rose in the night after he'd been there three days, I
rose in the night I and some few men with me, neither told
I any man what God had put in my heart to do." I love that
statement, don't you? "...what God had put in my heart
to do, neither was there any beast with me, save those that
rode." From verse 13 down through verse 16, Nehemiah surveys the
city, surveys the problem, and counts the cost, sits down, counts
the cost, no doubt he's praying unto God for wisdom and leadership
and understanding of how to get this mighty task done. At first, Nehemiah does not tell
anybody what God has put in his heart to do, but later he does. Now, this is what happens when
the Lord is pleased to save a sinner. He puts it in our heart. to believe
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to honor Him. Those
thoughts of trusting Christ and believing Him and submitting
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, those thoughts are never there naturally. If you have any heart to believe
the gospel and to love the Lord Jesus Christ and to embrace Him
and bow to His Lordship, it's only because the Lord God has
put it in your heart. to do that. We often say that
salvation is a heart work. Salvation is a work of God upon
the heart and in the heart. And we mean by saying that He
works upon our mind, He works upon our will, He works upon
our affection. He makes us willing in the day
of His power so much so that He moves us to believe Him and
to confess Him as all of our salvation. He does that. It's a work of God that he does
in the heart of God. Then it says in verse 17, after
he views the situation and knows what God has put in his heart,
then he says in verse 17, I said to them, you see the distress
that we're in, how Jerusalem lieth waste? The gates thereof
are burned with fire? Come, let us build up the wall
of Jerusalem, that we be no more of reproach. Verse 18, Then I
told them, The hand of my God which was good upon me, was upon
me." Now he goes back to that same thing, "...the good hand
of God was upon me, and the good hand of God had granted and blessed
me, as also the king's word that he had spoken unto me." And they
said, after hearing the message that God had put upon his heart,
and the purpose that God had put upon his heart, they said,
Well, we don't like that. Well, we don't think that's right.
Well, there'll sure be a lot of work for us to do. Let's just,
can't we just, can't we just forget that?" They said, let us rise up and
build. Now you see again the providence
of God. God working in the heart of Nehemiah,
the servant of the Lord. He declares the message that
God had given him and the purpose of God, the reason that he has
come. And God so worked in the heart by His providence of all
these different men. And you can read in chapter 3.
all the different men, all the different trades of men, businessmen,
merchantmen, druggists, and all the different people, they all
come together under one banner, the banner of God, to accomplish
the purpose and will of God. So they said, rise up and build. Let's get busy. So they strengthened
their hand for this good work. Now when is a work a good work?
When it's God's work, is it not? That's always a good work. He told them, come let us build
the wall. Then I told them the good hand
was upon me. And he also said, I have a letter
from the king, commanding me to build the wall. Rise up, they
said, and let us build. The people had a mind. It says
over here, turn over here to chapter 4, look at verse 6. Back
to chapter 4 of Nehemiah verse 6. I thought this was interesting.
So we built the wall, and all the wall would join together,
unto the half thereof, for the people had a mind to work." Now,
it says over in chapter 6, you know how many days they worked
and the wall was completed? Fifty-two days. Wow! Fifty-two days and the wall was
completed. Why? They had a mind to work. God gave them that mind to work,
to accomplish God's will and God's purpose. Rise up, they
said, let us build. So they were strengthened. You
see, when we go doing the work of the Lord, we're never alone.
We're strengthened. They strengthened their hand
for this good work. Our strength is God. You remember
the Apostle Paul said, I can do all things to Christ. That
strength is me. Philippians chapter four, verse
13. And without him, we can do what? Nothing. But with him, we can
do all things. It's always good when we desire
to work for the glory of God. You remember in the book of James,
he said, faith without work is dead. These men believed God
and went to work, didn't they? Why did they do that? They believed
God. We never work to be saved, do
we? Or to be justified. We never
work to maintain our salvation. But we're always motivated, believers
are always motivated by love and gratitude. The love of Christ
constrains us. The Apostle Paul put it this
way, therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you
know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. It's not in vain. We never labor in the gospel
ministry in vain. He always causes us to triumph
in Christ. Look at verse 19, Sanballat,
Tobiah, and Geshem, when they heard this, they laughed us to
scorn. They despised us and said, what
is this thing that you do? And notice what they said here,
they accused them of treason. Will you rebel against the king? No, we're here at the king's
request. Then answered I them and said
unto them, the God of heaven, the God of heaven, the good hand
of God, the God of heaven, he will prosper us. Therefore we
his servants, we will arise and we will build, but you have No
portion. You have no right. You have no
memorial here in Jerusalem. Now, a couple of things I'll
let you go. The God of heaven will prosper
us, therefore we will build. You see, the purpose of God cannot
fail. Can it? The purpose of God cannot
fail. It says over here in Psalm 1,
"...whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." You remember it was
said of Joseph down in Egypt. You remember God sent him there
for the good of Israel. It said of Joseph, "...whatsoever
he did, the Lord made him to prosper." God's people prosper. God's people prosper because
the Lord provides for us. That's why we prosper. That's
why we prosper. And I'm talking about prospering
spiritually. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory. The God of heaven will
prosper us, therefore we will build. The purpose of God cannot
fail. The Lord said, I'll build my
church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
And we know from reading Nehemiah 6 verse 15, turn over there so
you can mark that. Nehemiah 6 verse 15, So the wall
was finished in the twenty and the fifth day of the month, Elah,
in 52 days. Well, I tell you what, when the
purpose of God and the will of God is involved and God strengthens
our hand, all things with God, all things are possible with
Him. Anything too hard for the Lord?
With Him, all things are possible. But notice the judgment. that
Nehemiah pronounces upon the enemy. The last part of verse
20, you have no portion, you have no right, you have no memorial
in Jerusalem. The enemies of the gospel have
no salvation and no spiritual blessings. As a matter of fact,
if you look back over here at Nehemiah chapter 4, Nehemiah
doesn't pray for them, he prays against them. Look at Nehemiah
chapter 4. Verse 4, Nehemiah 4, 4, "...Hear,
O God, for we are despised. Turn their reproach upon their
own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity." He
doesn't pray for them, he prays against them. "...And cover not
their iniquity. Let not their sin be blotted
out from before thee, for they have provoked thee to anger before
the builders." So built we the wall, and the wall was joined
together unto the half thereof, for the people had a mind to
work. The enemies of the gospel have
no spiritual blessings, no right, no portion, no portion for unbelievers,
no blessing, no grace. You see, God is our portion. Psalm 16, The Lord is a portion
of mine inheritance, and the cup, thou my cup, And he maintains
our lot. The Lord is our portion. And
then he says, you have no right. Everybody thinks they're entitled
to everything in our day, don't they? No right. Unbelievers are
not entitled to any blessings, while believers are entitled
to every spiritual blessing in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
he says, you have no memorial. In other words, you have no inheritance
here. You have no inheritance. We're
unbelievers, there's nothing but the wrath of God to look
forward to. But believers have an eternal
inheritance in Christ. So He has made us heirs of God
and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this
promise and I'll be done. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. who according to his abundant
mercy have begotten us into a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance that's incorruptible, undefiled,
that fadeth not away, that's reserved in heaven for you."
You see, in Christ, We have all spiritual blessing. He is our
portion. He is our right. He entitles us to blessing in
Him, and He is our inheritance. May the Lord bless His words.