R323 When The Walls Comes Tumbling Down

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message when the walls come tumbling down. In just a moment, Dr. Wilton opens God's Word for us as we study the Word, but know that we're open to pray with you even now at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673, 24 hours a day. And now today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. Please take a copy of God's Word this morning and turn with me to the book of Nehemiah chapter 1. The book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, when walls come tumbling down. As we look at ourselves and as we analyze our own lives, we see walls both built and come tumbling down constantly. I think that when one talks about walls come tumbling down, we can think about this both positively and negatively.

Negatively because there are many of us who build up walls around about us, walls of pride, walls of an unforgiving spirit, walls of hatred, walls of anger, walls of insecurity, walls of pain and walls of hurt. There are all kinds of walls that need to come tumbling down. Here in the book of Nehemiah, we're going to discover that the wall that was broken down needed to be rebuilt because this was a positive wall. It was a wall that provided protection. It provided a preservation. It provided a sanctuary, an asylum. It provided a sense of security and a sense of belonging. And every single one of us this morning can identify with the walls of life. When walls come tumbling down, I was speaking to a man who was absolutely broken hearted because the marriage that he thought was intact suddenly came crumbling down around about him and his wife left him.

It happens in all different circumstances. I have a very dear friend who has gone to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, pastor of a church in El Dorado, Arkansas. My wife and I knew them as a couple very well and I still don't know all the details about what happened, but apparently his wife left him. And I don't know what all the circumstances are, but this man, this pastor of a great church in January of this year wrote a letter to the chairman of deacons, invited someone to preach in that Southern Baptist church on Sunday morning. And at the end of the week, my friend went up into the pastor's study and hanged himself.

Two beautiful children. You see the walls had come tumbling down. Life had crashed in around him.

And there'd been many days since I heard about his death that I have wished that perhaps I could have been there, that I could have helped him to reconstruct those broken walls. But they came tumbling down. I've watched parents, I've watched parents such as ourselves when our children are just but little babies and they are so precious. And there's that spark in the eye and you just want to gobble them up. On our deacons retreat this weekend, one of our couples had a tiny little, their little baby boy, and we all just wanted to gobble him up all the time.

I mean, he just got passed from one person to the next and there's that marvelous glint, that joy that we all experience. And we as parents, sometimes our children begin to grow up and then they get to that age, 11, 12, 13, and all of a sudden the light begins to go out in their eyes. And all of a sudden that same little child, that boy, that girl that once gave so much joy to mom and dad, all of a sudden brings so much heartache and so much pain. And mom and dad do everything they can and it seems like the more that they love their son or daughter, the more the son or daughter pushes them away.

The more angry and the more hostile they become, the more distance they want to run, the more they want to do everything that they possibly can, seemingly so, to break mom and dad's heart. And they look at this child and they basically are saying the walls are coming tumbling down. I spoke to a man, if you had gone to him the week before I spoke to him, he would have said to you, he would have said to me, pastor, I have a wonderful job and I have insurance and I have a home and I'm taken care of and I've been at my work for 20 years already. And one day he went to the office and he was retrenched, he was laid off, there was a reorganization in his company and they had to lay him off. And I remember sitting there looking at him and praying with him and loving him and he was telling me how his heart was so broken and he didn't know what to do and basically what he was saying was my walls have come tumbling down. It's happened in marriages, we say well this happens out there outside the church, no sir, it's happening inside the church. Marriages that are falling apart, couples who once upon a time they had so much time for one another, they would drive extraordinary distances to see one another. They would talk on the telephone and they would get on the telephone at 10 o'clock at night and he would say well what would you like to talk about tonight?

And she would say no well you talk first, no well you talk first and they actually end up talking about nothing and eventually both of them fall asleep on the telephone even though they are 200 miles apart and they carry flowers to one another and they open doors and they are so much in love and they get married and children come and there's great rejoicing and then all of a sudden the walls begin to come tumbling down. Things begin to happen, hearts are broken and lives are destroyed and the walls come tumbling down. I love what happened in the life of Nehemiah and these people that were gathered together with him because when the walls came tumbling down, they had a response that was so God-centered and so God-glorifying and I want us to read about it this morning together. Let's read together in Nehemiah chapter 1, the words of Nehemiah son of Herkalia in the month of Kislev in the 20th year while I was in the citadel of Susa.

Hanani one of my brothers came from Judah with some other men and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile and also about Jerusalem and they said to me, those who survived the exile are back in the province and are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire. When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and obey His commandments. Let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house have committed against you.

We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses saying, if you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the father's horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my name. They are your servants and your people whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.

I was cup bearer to the king. May the Lord write his word upon our hearts and may he translate his word into the circumstances of our own lives today. There are four indicators of the walls that came tumbling down here in Nehemiah chapter one.

Let me share them with you because they are not unlike our own predicament. Number one, I want you to note in verse three that the survivors were in trouble. That's what verse three says. Verse three says, they said to me, those who survive the exile are in trouble.

How strange. What dramatic irony. How awful to think that people who were survivors would be in trouble. Not unlike ourselves, don't you think? There are so many times that we make resolutions and we become survivors of our human predicament. And yet within the context of our survival courses we still find ourselves amidst the perplexion of the troubles that surround us. We are a people who are constantly trying to survive our circumstances.

Just think about it. We make resolutions on January the first. We say no more chocolate cake, no more ice cream, no more fatty stuff. Limit ourselves to only one diet coke a day to make us feel better.

We cut back, then we go to the doctor and we find out that our cholesterol is just as high as it ever was. And we say to ourselves, wait a minute, I have survived the exile and yet I'm still in trouble. I've met people in all walks of life who've made resolutions. They've come back to church. They've come to sit in God's house. They've begun to read God's word. They have saturated themselves in the presence of God's people. They have prayed and they have become survivors of their predicaments. And yet when they turn around, they discover that they are still in trouble.

That is perhaps one of the most disheartening things. Don't talk to parents who love their children. I know some parents who love their children so much they would give anything. They would give their bank accounts. They would give their homes.

They would give every possession. They would give their status. They would give their friends. They would give anything they could possibly lay their hands on to reach out to that son or that daughter to try and do for them what they know they need to do because those parents can see the end of the broad way. And the parents know that the broad way leads to destruction and yet they find themselves in constant trouble. But note in the second place, not only were the survivors in trouble, but the people were in disgrace.

Now that's a remarkable thing when it comes to an understanding of God's word. Verse 3 says that they survived the exile. They were back in the province. They were in great trouble, but their trouble didn't stop there. They were in disgrace. They weren't in disgrace with themselves. They were in disgrace with those who were observing their trouble. I think that the old proverbial saying is good that when one ends up in trouble, it seems like coals of heat upon one's head.

You see, what we're going to discover here is that when Nehemiah came back into Jerusalem and he discovered the perplexion and the difficulties that were confronting them, it wasn't just the trouble that they had to deal with. They had to deal with the disgrace that came upon them by those who were observing their trouble. I had someone say to me one time, I don't think I can ever come back to church again. And I said, why? They said, well, my son has done this, that, and the next thing. And I'm going to be in disgrace.

This was apparent. I said, oh no, oh no, sir, please, not one, but not in God's house, not among God's people. I want you to know, my friend, if you're in trouble, if your marriage has fallen apart, if your children are struggling, if you are struggling, you may be in trouble, but among God's people, you are never in disgrace. You know why?

Because we are sinners saved by the grace of God, that's why. But I want you to note in the third place, the Bible says that the walls were broken down. I love that. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down. It eventually gets to the point where there's enough talking, the wall is broken. I had a couple come and speak to me one time and, boy, I tell you, we talked and we talked and we talked and we talked and eventually I looked at them and I said, can I tell you something? And they said, what? I said, your marriage is in trouble.

They said, what? I said, your marriage is in trouble. The wall is broken down. You see, friends, sometimes we are so intent on trying to fix something that we refuse to get back to the beginning point. Sometimes we are so intent on getting saved that we forget that we can never be saved until we recognize what it means to be lost. You don't get saved, my friend, out of the innate goodness of your heart. You get saved out of the absolute desecration and degradation of a sinful heart in the presence of God.

Without repentance, there is no salvation. The wall is broken down. There's a fourth thing that happened. The gates were burned with fire. Now notice that in verse four there, it's as if this was to make matters worse.

I mean, can you believe the audacity? The Bible says that the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire as if it wasn't enough for them to have suffered in that way. It's as though they are putting their heads in the dirt and they are tramping their noses under the dirt and they are burning even the gates down. When Nehemiah came into Jerusalem, he discovered not only the desecration of the wall, but even the gates had been burned with fire. There was no semblance of any protective agency for the people of Jerusalem. Everything had gone. They'd reached the end of the line. There was no protection.

There wasn't even a gate there. It had been consumed up. You see, sometimes, my friend, when the walls come tumbling down, it's as though everything has gone. I wouldn't be surprised if my dear friend, Dr. Floyd, who took his life in January, right there at those moments before he passed into the kingdom of heaven, I'm convinced with all my heart, even though I wasn't there, that this man of God, this man who understood the word of God, this man who must have been in unbelievable turmoil, he must have got to the point at which he said, oh God, not only is the wall broken down, but the gates have been burned with fire.

There's no hope. Oh, I want to say to you today that when we begin to understand what happened here to Nehemiah and to these people, my friends, even when the gates are burned down with fire, even, my friend, when survivors are in trouble and people are in disgrace and the walls are broken down and the gates are burned with fire, I want you to know that what he was about to say is even if you've been taken to the farthest ends of the world, even if you've gone so far away from God that nobody can even recognize you, that when you call on the name of Almighty God, he will restore you and according to verse 9, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I've chosen as a dwelling place for my name. What incredible hope there is in the gospel.

Forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message in just a moment, but there has been such an outcry about this wonderful book from Dr. Wilton. Here's Dr. Don to tell you a little about Saturdays with Billy. My book, Saturdays with Billy, is about an extraordinary relationship with a precious man who impacted lives across the world. You don't want to miss this opportunity to be inspired by his life too. If you'd like a copy, call us at 866-899-9673.

That's 866-899-9673 or meet us online at tewonline.org. Now back to today's teaching with Dr. Don. Is there anybody who's gone too far? Is there any circumstance out of reach of Almighty God? And so the question is this, what did Nehemiah do? The walls had come tumbling down, what did Nehemiah do? Let's look at it, five things Nehemiah did.

They're very simple, but they are profound. Number one, he sat down. I love that, don't you?

Look at verse five, verse four. When I heard these things, I sat down. See, that's my greatest problem. I'm never prepared to sit down. One of my favorite sayings, as you know, sometimes I sits and thinks and other times I just sits.

You know, there's nothing wrong with just sitting. And in the world in which we live today, my friend, which is going at 100 miles an hour, what God is trying to say is simply this, why don't you be still and know that I am God? Sometimes we've just got to say stop. We've just got to say stop. Now, my wife and I, we've got three children and every once in a while, you know what happens to us? I know this never happens to any of you, but it happens to us. We find ourselves going in 5,000 directions all at the same time. I mean, it's like this, you know, which ball game and which way, up this way and down that way.

I told you, my wife doesn't drive a motor car, she drives a taxi. I mean, it's this up there. I mean, we got up this, who's getting up? Who's got the alarm clock?

Okay, which breakfast? You want this? Okay, let's get this. Okay, now you get back and who's got a meeting and why did you get back over there and who did you get there? And after a while in the family, everything is just going at 100 miles an hour and you know what eventually families have got to do? Sit down. Silence is very strange, isn't it? We're going and the music going and the stove going and the oven going and the toaster going and the motor car going and everything else going. The only time we ever sit down is when our heart stops going and Nehemiah faced with the most unbelievable circumstance.

Can you believe this? He sat down. And sometimes my wife and I, we don't do it often enough. We'll call in the family and we'll all get into the living room and they'll come down. Now this is a major thing, folks, to call the family all together at the same time. This involves months of calendar planning and we finally get it to where all five of us come together and we sit down in the living room and I can guarantee you this, one of my sons inevitably within 30 seconds says, okay, all right, well, what? What is this?

And Mom or Dad will say, we just want to sit with you for 10 minutes. But what's the agenda? What's the item here? What did we not do? Who left their socks? I bet it was Dad. And that's when I adjourned the meeting right on the spot. He sat down. As churches, my friends, we need to just sometimes stop and sit down in the presence of God.

In deacons meetings, sometimes we need to just stop in the presence of God. Number two, he wept. He wept. Oh, how profound this man wept. What did he do about the walls come tumbling down and I heard these things, I sat down and wept. Oh, is there anything more wonderful in the presence of God than a righteous person weeping before the throne of God?

We don't weep enough in his presence, my friends. What did Jesus do when he came to inspect Jerusalem? The Bible says Jesus wept.

That's what he did. The shortest verse in the Bible. I don't know what it was that he did, but maybe Jesus just came to that point where he looked out over Jerusalem. Now he had many sermons. He had things that he could have said.

He knew the whole lot because he is the whole lot. And he came to Jerusalem and he looked out over the city and he saw the condition of the people and he saw the needs and the Bible says Jesus wept. Sometimes it's not a sermon we need to hear.

Sometimes it's not a circumstance that we need to analyze. Sometimes we need to just sit down and weep. Number three, he mourned. He mourned.

Now that's very interesting in verse four. For some days I mourned, I mourned. Morning he put on sackcloth and ashes. We're going to see it in chapter nine when we get there that they put sackcloth and ashes in verse one as they prayed and they fasted and they mourned. They went into a state my friends where it was as though they were being confronted by the funeral procession of life. You know why?

Because when the walls come tumbling down, it's as though you're suffering a death. Something is so sad. Number four, he fasted. He fasted.

Note there in verse four. For some days I mourned and fasted. I wish I had time. I promise you I'm going to come back one of these days and preach on fasting. The Bible says there are seven reasons for fasting. I'm going to give them to you. You won't be able to write them down.

I'll be too quick. Number one, because of the judgment of God according to Joel chapter one and verse 14. Number two, because of public calamities. Things that go on in our nation, we need to fast together as believers. Number three, because of church related issues and problems according to Luke chapter five. Because of what happens in the church, we need to fast before God. Number four, because of other people's problems and needs in Psalm 35 and verse 13.

You know somebody who's got a need, a son or a daughter or a neighbor, fast and God will answer your prayer. Number five, because of our own personal problems according to 2 Samuel 12 and verse 16. Number six, because of approaching danger according to Esther chapter four and verse 16. When we know that there's danger, we need to fast before God. And number seven, according to Acts 13 and verse three, when we ordain ministers to the gospel, the Bible says it is such a significant thing in the life of believers and believers and of his church that we need to go into a time of fasting.

What is fasting accompanied by? Number one, prayer according to Ezra chapter eight. Number two, confession according to 1 Samuel chapter seven verse six and Nehemiah chapter one and Nehemiah chapter nine. Number three, accompanied by mourning according to Joel chapter two and verse 12 and number four, humiliation. According to Nehemiah chapter one, according to Nehemiah chapter one and verse nine, he sat down and he wept and he mourned and he fasted but he did one more thing, he prayed, he prayed.

He prayed a prayer of adoration and praise and remembrance and confession and celebration and affirmation and intercession as he fell down upon his face before God and he said, oh God, the walls are tumbling down oh God, the walls are coming crashing down oh God, the walls are just a tumbling down and he fell down upon his face. Before we get away, would you open your heart not to just the teaching of Dr. Wilton but what he wants to share from his heart next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I pray this prayer with me right now. Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. If you just gave your life to Jesus Christ, welcome to the family. If you rededicated your life, either way, Dr. Wilton has free resources he wants you to have if you'll call us at 866-899-4200. Or meet us online at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org