Intimacy With God
The Work of Revitalization • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The Work of Revitalization
The Work of Revitalization
Well good morning everyone and welcome to Burr Oak. If you are visiting today we would invite you to fill out one of our connect cards either on the back of the pew in front of you or online at burroak.org. We we are about half way through our series on The Work of Revitalization. We have finished Ezra and are now headed into Nehemiah.
To this point we have looked at how revitalization is primarily the transformation of the human heart. The focus is to draw us closer to Yahweh and away from the idols that we worship instead. This starts on an individual level, but also applies to the corporate level when the church comes together. We have also discussed, that as we navigate the path of revitalization we are not taking steps towards a finish line but rather are looking for markers to indicate that we are heading the right direction.
We have also discussed how in revitalization we look both forwards and backwards. In being forward looking it means that what we do today we need to be intentional about as we are building for future generations. In being backwards looking, we see how Yahweh has been faithful in the past, and we rest in that assurance that he will be faithful to us now.
Most often when people think about a church that needs to go through revitalization they think of a stagnant church. A church that has just become comfortable, they no longer reach out to people they simply care for the needs of the people who have always been there. Two weeks ago in our message we saw when we looked at the markers of a complacent church was that one marker was a church that is busy just to be busy.
What we need to understand is that just because a church is really active does not means that is being productive in exalting God, edifying the saints, and evangelizing the lost. The key to an active church is to make sure that all we do flows through and from the church’s three purposes. And those activities need to be done strategically and with an intentionality. What this means is that the church needs to know what to say “yes” to and what to say “no” to.
But how do we get to that point? How do we come to know what to say “yes” to and what to say “no” to? The Bible tells us that if we need direction that we are to ask God and he will give us the wisdom.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Now if you are like me one of the things you will wrestle with, is understanding when you have heard from Yahweh or not. And that is something you grow in as you grow in an intimate relationship with him. The key to growing in an intimate relationship with Yahweh is humility. So as we come to his word today seeking out his wisdom, let us start by having our hearts and minds brought to attention with our focus verse.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Please pray with me. Father we thank you for this day. You have blessed us by allowing us to come together. May what is said and done here today be done unto your glory. Father as we turn to your word we ask that you open our hearts and minds to receive your word. May you comfort us, may you challenge us, may you convict us. Father thank you for all the blessings you have given us. Amen
The title for our message today is Intimacy With God: Providing Comfort and Courage and we will be looking to Nehemiah chapter 1. If you brought your own Bible or want to follow along on your device please turn there now. If you are using the blue pew Bible it is on page 438, or you can follow along on the screen.
Let us hear the word of the Lord.
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel,
2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.
7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.
8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,
9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’
10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.
11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.
May the Lord bless the reading of his word.
As we consider our passage for today we are going to look at three biblical truths; Yahweh’s Comfort, The Call of Prayer, and The Answer to Prayer.
Yahweh’s Comfort
Yahweh’s Comfort
Through the books of Ezra and Nehemiah we see three main characters. Zerubabbel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. There tends to be a different aspect highlighted by each of these three men. Zerubabbel is tasked with reestablishing proper worship of Yahweh. As far as character and qualifications we are not given much on him. What we are given however is his name in the genealogies throughout Scripture.
He is listed as the descendent of David.
19 and the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei; and the sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister;
And he was listed as the ancestor of Jesus.
12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
And while we may not know much about him, Zerubbabel serves as evidence of Yahweh keeping his word and providing that seed that will crush the serpents head.
With Ezra we saw a little more of the specifics of the man. Ezra was a descendent of Aaron the high priest. Ezra was this new priestly figure that taught the people to live by Yahweh’s word.
5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest— 6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.
What we see through these first two men is that Yahweh is preserving both his seed and his word. Both which find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, the living Word, the Son of God.
We now come to Nehemiah. We are introduced to him right at the start of this chapter.
1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel,
We are given his name and as usual, his father’s name showing the line that he belongs to. We are then also given his location and the time stamp that these events take place. It is not until the last verse of our reading for today that we learn more about the particulars of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 1:11 (ESV)
… Now I was cupbearer to the king.
So what is it that we are to see about Nehemiah? What is it that about this man, that is to point us towards Jesus and towards Yahweh’s bigger plan? This is actually embedded within Nehemiah’s name. While we spell and pronounce his name Nehemiah, the transliteration from the Hebrew would be closer to Na-hem-yah.
Nehemiah = Na - hem - yah
His name is made up of two Hebrew words, nahem which means to comfort or to console and the word yah which is the shorten form of God’s name Yahweh. Nehemiah’s name is the indication of what we are to see. That Yahweh comforts. Yahweh has brought his people through, Yahweh’s word still stands, and now Yahweh will provide comfort. As we read through Nehemiah the practical outworking of this in 445 BC is the provision of a godly civil lead and the building of the wall around Jerusalem. But what does it mean for us and how do we get to that point of comfort.
I find it interesting that after being introduced to Nehemiah and the problem that the Jews in Jerusalem are facing, that the very next thing that we read is not Nehemiah’s detailed plan of how to fix the problem. Rather it is the insight to a man that intimately dwells with his God. And the way that we see this is through Nehemiah’s prayer.
The Call of Prayer
The Call of Prayer
Most Christians if you ask them how important prayer is, they would say it is extremely important. But if you pressed to see what their prayer life was like, it may be harder for them to answer that question. Prayer is something that we often take for granted. This can be for many different reasons. Maybe we have never been discipled in how to pray. Maybe we are self conscious and so we do not like to pray, especially in front of others. Maybe life is too busy and finding that time to stop and be intentional in our prayer seems daunting. Maybe we have grown complacent because we only cry out to God when things are bad and right now life is pretty good. Whatever the reason may be, far to often we overlook pray.
Yet the Scriptures indicate that pray is vital to an intimate relationship with God. And not by just telling us so.
17 pray without ceasing,
But by showing us how to pray. There are 650 prayers within the entirety of the Bible. The Bible consists of 66 books, that is nearly 10 prayers per book. The Bible has 1,189 chapters. That is nearly one prayer every other chapter. Prayer is vital to the Christian because prayer is vital to the people of Yahweh. It is how we communicate with him, it is one way we grow closer to him. Prayer has power in it. Charles Spurgeon has a couple good quotes on prayer.
The goal of prayer is the ear of God.
Charles Spurgeon
True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.
The Secret Of Power In Prayer, Volume 34, Sermon #2002 - John 15:7
Charles Spurgeon
Or as A.W. Tozer stated,
Prayer at its best is the expression of the total life, for all things else being equal, our prayers are only as powerful as our lives.
A. W. Tozer
Our prayer life is the indication of our intimacy with God. Our intimacy with God is the indicator of how we will walk in his power.
Peter Adam in his commentary on Nehemiah really focuses in on this opening prayer that we read. In leading into this prayer from Nehemiah Adam states.
Ezra & Nehemiah: Walking in God’s Words Weeping, Mourning, Fasting and Praying
We sometimes feel anger or despair rather than grief at the sin of God’s people. Our anger or despair is often a way of coping with our grief, but not the best way. We must learn to feel grief before we express anger. It is better to pour out our grief to God, as Nehemiah did. Notice the order in Chapters 1 and 2: first grief, then prayer, then action! This was not disabling grief, but enabling grief; it was not self-indulgent grief, but grief that resulted in sacrificial and productive action.
What a great insight into the inner life of Nehemiah. As Matthew Henry wrote, ‘he records not only the works of his hands, but the workings of his heart’.
As we look at his prayer in verse 5-11, Adam states that there at 11 things that a believer can learn from Nehemiah’s prayer.
It was the culmination of much prayer.
After hearing the report of the troubles in Jerusalem we see Nehemiah’s response.
4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
The great prayer of Nehemiah that we read is the result of grief induced prayer. Connecting this to our practice of prayer, Adam states,
Ezra & Nehemiah: Walking in God’s Words 1. It Was the Culmination of Much Prayer
What happens when we pray intensively, extensively and expressively is that we finally come to form the prayer we really want to pray, that is deep within us, and needs time and energy to come to the surface.
The “popcorn” prayers that run through our lives ought to lead to intentional and extensive prayers. Moving to Adam’s second point.
2. It began with God.
5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,
Nehemiah when he comes to his intentional prayer turns his attention towards God. It wasn’t towards himself, or even towards the problem. It starts with the acknowledgement of who Yahweh is and what he has done before. Connected to this is the third point.
3. It was a biblical prayer.
Within his addressing of Yahweh we see Nehemiah reciting other parts of Scripture.
9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
21 You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
It is okay to pray the Scriptures. When you do not know how or what to pray, you have 650 readily at hand to teach you.
4. It was a pleading prayer.
In humility Nehemiah comes before God asking him to hear his prayer. There is no arrogance or pride presented. There is not the demand for an answer. There is the understanding that he is coming before the creator of the universe requesting his intervention in the situation.
Nehemiah 1:6 (ESV)
6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants,
5. Nehemiah prayed for God’s people.
His plea is not simply for his own request but it serves as an intercessory prayer on behalf of the nation. I quoted Spurgeon earlier stating that the goal of prayer is the ear of God. What better way to use that time then for the benefit of someone else. Our prayers should not be just for our needs and wants, but for those around us to be drawn closer to God and see his blessings.
6. Nehemiah’s prayer recognised sin.
Peter Adam points out here that in Nehemiah’s recognition of Yahweh in the opening of this prayer, Nehemiah states that Yahweh’s people are to love him and keep his commandments. That at the heart of the sins we commit is our failure to honor and obey Yahweh. Adam states’
Ezra & Nehemiah: Walking in God’s Words 6. Nehemiah’s Prayer Recognised Sin
Sins of omission (things we fail to do), lead to sins of commission (things we do that are wrong). It is not enough to recognise difficult circumstances; we must also learn to recognise sin.
7. Nehemiah claimed the promises of God.
Connecting back to the previous point of sin, when we recognise our sin and ask for forgiveness, we should then also claim the promise that God has given us that he will separate our sin from us as far as the east is from the west. Two weeks ago in talking about recognizing sin I mentioned that often we get stuck and feel as though we will never overcome certain sin issues. Imagine adding this promise from Yahweh into your prayer.
Father, I repent and seek your forgiveness for my sins against you and against others. I thank you for you forgiveness and I ask Lord that you remember your promise to separate my sins from me as far as the east is from the west and remember them no more. Let me rest in the freedom that I have in your son Jesus and let me not be stricken by a guilty conscience.
Consider the power that may be in that prayer.
8. Nehemiah based his prayer on the saving acts of God for his people.
We have looked at this point before. This is where we look back to see what Yahweh has done for previous generations and trust in the assurance that he will again provide for us.
9. Nehemiah asked God to hear his prayer and the prayer of the fellow believers.
8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Indicates to us that the prayers of the saints are an incense that raises before Yahweh in his throne room. This ought to encourage us to prayer. And not just individual prayer, but corporate prayer. Our Lord wants to hear them, they are pleasing to him, why do we restrain from saying them?
10. It was a relational prayer.
Through out Nehemiah’s prayer we see this sense of the intimate relationship he has with Yahweh. It was not a rote memory prayer. Rather it was the prayer from that of a desperate heart calling out to the one who Nehemiah knew help the power to change the circumstances.
Regarding this Adam states,
Ezra & Nehemiah: Walking in God’s Words 10. It Was a Relational Prayer
It is wonderful to see that for Nehemiah prayer was not a system, nor was it a mechanical process; rather, it expressed the relationship that God had established with his people, and that Nehemiah and God’s people had with their God.
But how does one get to this point of relational prayer? That brings us to the last point.
The Answer to Prayer
The Answer to Prayer
It is not uncommon for the Christian at some point to wonder how they know when they hear God’s voice. To wonder how do they know when it is Yahweh that is giving them an answer. The answer to this is by spending time growing intimate with Yahweh. Coming to understand his character and his motives and desires as best as we can. Getting used to hearing what his voice sounds like. I want to show you what I mean by this.
I am going to play a portion of a son for you that was produces nearly 40 years ago. At that time it was a collaboration with the greatest vocal talents across many genres of music. There are 21 soloist. The original song is over 7 minutes long. We are going to listen to the about 4:30 minutes which will get us through all of the soloists. I want you to see how many of them you can name just by hearing their voices.
(PLAY WE ARE THE WORLD TILL THE 4:40 MARK).
We Are The World
How many were you able to name? Here is the list in the order that they appeared. Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jarreau, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Kim Carnes, Bob Dylan, & Ray Charles.
For me the voices that stood out the most were Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, and Ray Charles. For the voices you were able to pick out what was it about them that caused you to recognize them? Was it the distinctives or the nuances in their voices that caused them to stand out. Did the time you spent listening to them make them memorable to you?
The time we spend with Yahweh in devotion and in prayer is what causes us to become familiar with the distinctives and the nuances of his voice. As we grow to learn his character, to come to understand his motives and desires, the easier it become to know when it is him who has spoken to us. And as this happens we grow to realize that often the answer to a prayer that we have is right before us. This brings us to Adam’s 11th point.
11. His prayer concluded with a request that God would use him to answer his prayer.
Commenting on this point Adam states,
Ezra & Nehemiah: Walking in God’s Words 11. His Prayer Concluded with a Request that God Would Use Him to Answer His Prayer
We sometimes think of prayer as an escape from the world. We sometimes use prayer as a way of avoiding our responsibility for the world. Nehemiah prayed about the world and its problems. And his prayer made him alert to how he might play a part in God’s answer to his prayer.
Do your prayers make you alert to how Yahweh may want to use you to answer your own prayer? Our prayer times should not be just a list of the day’s complaints with a few requests for others. It ought to be a time of listening as well to how Yahweh wants to use us.
The struggle for many of us however, is that we believe that knowing the will of Yahweh is something difficult to come know. Family, I want you to understand that our God is so kind and gracious that he has made his will for us very plain and clear. So clear that in 3 spots int eh NT the author states “For this is the will of God.”
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
If you are wrestling with the will of God for your life I would encourage you to go and read these three passages in their fuller context.In closing his book that focuses on this topic Kevin DeYoung states this,
So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the Scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you’ll be walking in the will of God.
DeYoung, Kevin. Just Do Something (p. 120). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Nehemiah wasn’t simply a man that put a plan together to rebuild a wall. He was a man that had an intimacy with God that led to a mighty power within his life. Yet, as close as he walked with God he was still an imperfect man. What we will come to see is that while he does provide comfort through physical protection for the people, they are still afflicted by their sins. This is why there was a need for the Messiah. For the one who would not only provide and protect, but also bring comfort through the overcoming of the affliction of sin.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
This Messiah is Jesus who came and lived and died and rose again all in perfect conformity to Yahweh’s will. Jesus was able to do that because he was both man and God and had perfect unity within the Godhead. He brought comfort to his people through the shedding of his blood. He demonstrated what a prayer life ought to look like to draw us closer in communion with Yahweh. And he showed us the importance of being the answer to prayer.
The answer to our prayers today about our affliction is the same as it was 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ, the chosen son, the living word, the prince of peace.
END IN PRAYER