R339 Is Your Name on the Wall?

We all could use some encouragement, and we'll find it together today in the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton here on The Encouraging Word.

Today's message is, Is Your Name on the Wall? That'll make more sense in just a few moments as Dr. Don takes us both to the book of 2 Chronicles 14 and Nehemiah 12 for today's Bible-based teaching. As we do so, we want you to know that we're here for you for many reasons, but especially to pray with you and for you. Sometimes you have a prayer request. Sometimes you want us to pray with you about a specific situation. In just a moment, Dr. Don is going to ask an important question of our nation. Are you praying for our nation? We'd love to join with you in that prayer. We do that both on the phone at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673 and online at www.tewonline.org. Now, Dr. Don Wilton. As we close out our study in Nehemiah today, we have a question that must be asked of our nation. We have a question that must be asked of each one of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ. Here it is. Is your name written on the wall?

Is your name on the wall? I want you to turn with me first of all to 2 Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 14. 2 Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 14.

Here's what the Word of God says. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. Then if you turn with me to Nehemiah chapter 12, I want to read just a few verses from Nehemiah chapter 12 beginning at verse 27. The latter chapters of Nehemiah have everything to do with what was done as they dedicated God's work back to God. Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 27. At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals harps and lyres.

The singers also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem from the villages of the Netophatites, from Beth Gilgal, from the area of Geba and Asmaveth, for the singers had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially they purified the people the gates and the wall. I had the leaders of Judah said Nehemiah go up onto the top of the wall and I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks.

May the Lord write his word upon our hearts. What was wrong in Nehemiah? What have we discovered about this great epic saga here in God's Word?

Three things basically. Number one the walls were broken down. Number two worship of God was in disarray and number three the people were divided and disunified.

In fact Nehemiah has to do with the exiles coming back together. I think so often of the world wars. I think of the first world war for example.

Unbelievable. 1914 all it took was one spark to ignite an unprecedented war. The Balkan states in Europe the armed camps that had begun to be set up people were divided the walls were broken down God was pushed into recess and out of consideration and in 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on the streets of Sarajevo.

Ironic isn't it? We're talking Bosnia Herzegovina. We're talking Yugoslavia. We're talking Serbs and Croats.

We're talking about a center of divisiveness that we have not seen since the second world war and when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 the incident itself did not warrant a world war but the incident itself provided the spark that began an unprecedented war. My grandfather Wilton fought in the first world war. He was a squadron leader captain in the royal air force. I love to read the accounts that he wrote back he flew in soft with camels and these airplanes that were open they had no parachutes obviously back in the first world war.

He was a fearless leader from all accounts. My grandfather was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross which is the air force equivalent of the Victoria Cross the highest commendation in the British Commonwealth for valor in the battlefield. My grandfather one time was shot down over enemy territory and my uncle Tommy who was his gunner was wounded very severely and granddad landed managed to crash land he stopped with camel and he climbed over and sat down apparently on top of uncle Tommy who was almost dead took the machine gun out of its nest and began to fire at the enemy that were coming across the field to capture them or to kill them before their plane burst into flames.

When he saw what was happening he managed to get uncle Tommy out and drag him into a river and they stayed in this river this half dead man and my grandfather got back eventually after days into allied territory and made it back safely to England they tried to ground my grandfather he said no way I'm in this for the long haul and he went back he was shot down three times and he survived the war. That's just one story we can talk about it in many different ways the second world war the Korean war the Vietnam war on and on and on and on it goes war tells us about something the walls are broken down God has been put into recess and the people are divided. No different to what happened in Nehemiah an absolute blueprint of what has taken place many times over not only in the United States of America but all over the world the question is this what did they do about it?

I've said many times that even though I'm glad I was not born in 1940 I wish if there was any time that I would love to have been alive would have been 1945 because I think the unprecedented celebration must have been a marvel to behold why because it signified the rebuilding of the walls it signified the reinstatement and the rediscovery of the God in whom we trust it signified the coming together of a group of people who many many hundreds of years ago were brought together by the grace of God and founded upon the principles of the word of God. What happened to Nehemiah? Well I want to share with you several things that these people did some of which we have already discovered. What did they do in order to carry out what God had given to them? What is it that makes this nation great? What do we as a nation need to guard with our lives? What is it that we need to be prepared to lay our lives down for?

How far is too much? How deeply and sincerely do we need to pray for our leaders? Well there were several things that Nehemiah did first of all they read and reread the law the bible tells us in chapter 8 and verse 18 that the law of God the commandment of God presented to these people the very central focus of everything they did as a nation reconstructing the broken walls. Ezra came in and he began to read and reread the law the commandments the ten commandments were at the focal activity of everything that they did. There was a move to do away with the ten commandments in any kind of public place in one particular state. Dr Carlson went to a meeting with some legislators and as he walked into this meeting there were editors and people from the media and a who's who of people when he walked into this room one of them a chief editor came up to him and said to him Chuck Colson I want you to know that I've been one of the leaders to try and eliminate the ten commandments from everything that we do in the United States of America. Of course Chuck Colson responded to him telling him that the ten commandments were the very focal point of the Judeo-Christian ethic that the words and the commands of God that were handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai were not up to negotiation or for grabs they were written and etched into the heart of every person every man and every woman and every boy and every girl and Chuck Colson told us a little while later as he spoke that that same man said to him sometime later that one of the greatest problems they have in the society in which they live up there near Washington is the amount of stealing that was going on and he said to Chuck Colson he said to him Dr. Colson what can we do about all the stealing and the thievery that is going on and he said well why don't you just put up a sign that says thou shalt not steal you see God understands us doesn't he he understands our need they read and reread the law what did it do for them it gave them spiritual understanding it caused them to be ashamed because of their sin and their waywardness and it caused them and allowed them to experience the miracles of God we can never experience the miracles of God if we don't understand the law of God but then secondly they wept together I read that in chapter 9 and verse 1 that they wept together I said to myself how foolish here's a group of people about to reconstruct the walls of Jerusalem and all they do is come together and weep well I think of all the weeping that we've done as a nation I think of all the tears here this morning and we saluted in pride as we saw American troops there changing God and honoring those who had given their lives in the reconstruction of the walls of America and we wept together there's something about God's people coming together to weep in the presence of God parents do that for their children legislators ought to do that for their government God's people ought to do that for their nation they wept together they read and reread the law they wept together but they also celebrated together chapter 8 verses 9 and 10 and on and on right throughout Nehemiah we read about unprecedented celebration God had moved across those prison courtyards and we had seen what God had done we just simply celebrated there comes a time where you've just got to say yes thank you Lord some of us are so frozen in our chosen condition that we're never willing to celebrate the presence of God some of us are so locked up in our own spirituality in our own modern day Pharisaism that we're not willing to let loose and to celebrate the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords I'm going to say to you my friend if we consider the Olympic spirit and the gold medal for which we all strive and we pray for how much more ought we not to celebrate the fact that God has come down upon these United States of America and he has blessed this nation beyond our wildest imagination choir thank you for helping us to celebrate today what an honor to celebrate our veterans in this place I believe we ought to stand more often and we ought to express our appreciation to the men and women who were POWs and who fought and who gave their lives in order that we might be free we need to be a nation who celebrate the grace of almighty God but they took it further they assumed leadership responsibilities I love that part chapter 8 verse 13 and it goes right throughout we begin to find right throughout you can look at chapter 12 and chapter 13 and chapter 14 you're going to see name after name after name after name what was Nehemiah doing he was celebrating the fact that as the walls were rebuilt as worship came together in a corporate sense as people were united by the grace of God that spiritual leaders began to pop up like popcorn popping in a microwave oven poop poop poop there it was it was all over the place started out as just a dry little uninteresting and boring kernel and it blossomed into something delicious and tasty and desirable by everybody that's the essence of spiritual leadership on the mirror image choir tour I said to them my brothers isn't it amazing how some of these young people on our choir tour are automatically assuming leadership you could see them they were just assuming leadership God was just dealing with them and when they began to assume leadership it was voluntary it was definitive and it was absolutely costly it is costly to be a spiritual leader it comes at a price it's not necessarily the popular thing to do not in America today it's not popular to stand up in a school and say I stand upon the principles of God it is not popular to say no I don't put that junk in my body it is not popular to say I'm not going to drink that beer it is not popular to say I'm not going to that place but in America today America America there are people who are assuming spiritual leadership they're all over this building upstairs and downstairs in the choir people assuming spiritual leadership our young people who are standing up assuming spiritual leadership what was it that they did what is it that we need to do how do you and I get our names written on the wall you don't have to go to Vietnam and die to get your name put on the wall you don't have to die in Normandy or Dunkirk to get your name put it on the wall you don't have to do some heroic deed in order to put your name on the wall you don't have to even stand in a service and allow people to acknowledge you to get your name on the wall what did they do they read and reread the law of God they wept together they celebrated together they assumed leadership responsibility but number five they realigned their focus they realigned their focus if you look at chapter 8 verse 14 through 18 you're going to find something rather remarkable happens because in chapter 8 verse 14 through 18 we have a duplication of what took place in Leviticus chapter 23 and verses 33 and 34 also in Deuteronomy chapter 16 verses 13 through 15 they began to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles now we look at this and we say to ourselves well the feast of the tabernacles that's just a ceremony we stood here this morning and we all pledged allegiance to the flag of the united states of america we sang the battle hymn of the republic we get together and we gather in stadiums and we salute america and we say is all we're doing is going through some kind of motion no my friends we are refocusing and realigning our focus that's what war does war makes nations realign their focus now i want to say something today i've heard it said by many spiritual leaders in this nation that if america does not turn back to god then perhaps what it's going to take in order for america to turn back to god is another war that's a tough statement why well if you were to have a hurricane come through our community i'll guarantee you every church will be packed the next day why because trials and tribulations force a nation to realign their focus you have a bombing in oklahoma city all the churches were packed out they empty again now because everybody's got over it accepting those who lost loved ones and will never forget it causes them to realign their focus you have a bombing in saudi arabia and we weep and we mourn and we cry out with anguish because of what's happening in our world but i'll tell you what a bomb blast in saudi arabia does it not only infuriates us but it activates us it causes us to stand up with indignation what happened at the munich olympic games in 1975 when those terrorists came in there and they butchered and murdered those incredible jewish uh athletes the whole world realigned their focus and there was an uprising and within the space of 10 years people have forgotten it again you see the walls were broken down and worship was in disarray and the people were disunified and god said go and bring my people back and rebuild the walls and these people did what god said and it made them realign their focus what was the feast of the tabernacles it was a time of remembrance please forgive the interruption we'll be back in just a moment but dr don wants me to remind you we're here to pray with you and for you live on the phone right now at eight six six eight nine nine word that's eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three or online at t-e-w online dot o-r-g that's eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three or t-e-w online dot o-r-g and you know there are a lot of resources on our website before we dive back into the teaching dr don wants to remind you of a very special resource that is the most requested resource we have you know i'd love to be a part of your daily devotional love to be able to send you the encouraging word daily devotion and be a part of what god says to each one of us through his word every day you can become part of that and receive one yourself from me just go online to t-e-w online dot o-r-g that's t-e-w online dot o-r-g and get your copy of the encouraging word bible devotion today again know that we're available for you 24 hours a day on our website at t-e-w online dot o-r-g now let's shift gears back into the sanctuaries dr don is preaching this message is your name on the wall god's people taken into the wilderness and they wandered around and the more they disobeyed god the more god said you're just going to wander a little more he never stopped protecting them but he just added on a few more years he said i'm going to do this until you realign your focus i'm going to keep teaching you and so he just made them wonder a little more and finally after 40 years god said i now believe that your focus is where it ought to be therefore i'm going to give you permission to go into the promised land and when you begin to read from that point and the division of the kingdoms and the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom and all the kings from soul to jeroboam you constantly find the realignment of their focus and here in nehemiah as the walls had been rebuilt the bible says that they realign their focus what an incredible thing god is calling upon our leaders in america in 1996 not only to look at that flag but to rediscover our focus to reinstate our focus to reinstate the values upon which this nation was grounded and founded they realigned their focus but number six they gave their blessings back to god chapter 12 verse 44 and chapter 13 verses 12 through 13 when god allowed them to rebuild the walls they gave it back to god people say to me preacher is tithing biblical go and read the latter chapters of chapter 12 and 13 and 14 of nehemiah you're going to read about it the first fruits the tithe god said bring it into the storehouse i've had people come to me and say to me reverend can i give my tithes other than to the storehouse no you may not not according to god's word it must come into the storehouse not because of what a preacher says but because of what god's word says if you give your money outside i'm not talking about over and above your tithe now i give over and above my tithe but according to god's word when god blesses we must according to god's word give to the storehouse to our own church to where we belong not to man but to god but then finally they separated themselves they separated themselves the bible says in chapter 10 verse 28 and following that these people as the walls were rebuilt and as they began to worship god and as the people became unified under god they separated themselves from pagan practices and alliances there was no compromise when we got down to miami florida we decided to take our young people to a restaurant called planet hollywood i'd never been there it's quite an experience we went in there there was all kinds of glitter and gold and glory we had a wonderful time our young people were so precious the moment we sat down they began to flash on those screens a movie that was about to come out called strip tease with demi moore and they showed this over and over and over and over and over and over again just little shots of it then when they were through that serving our food they all came out with the most wonderful t-shirts they gave t-shirts to all our young all of us they gave us t-shirts top quality t-shirts with a big sign across the front that said strip tease then when they were through that in planet hollywood in miami they came out they gave all the young people rings not plastic junk rings with a skull on it a death looking scar just like that on this ring well we got on the bus and we went back to our motel and we're having a good time i said to myself please don't be a killjoy don't be old fuddy duddy tonight and i took the microphone and i got up and we had the most incredible revival service i think i've almost ever been in i say to those young people do you know what that represents do you know what it means do you know what it is to wear a t-shirt with strip tees on it do you can you say it's godly and as i began to speak to the young people the power of god came down upon that bus a young lady stood up walked all the way from the back and threw a t-shirt in the garbage can then here comes another one and another one and another one the next minute their t-shirts all over the garbage can then i spoke about the skull i spoke about death not life i spoke about the fact that we were telling young people that jesus christ is the light of the world he is that light of the world and he's ready to bring a fresh illumination to your life as well i pray that as we've heard dr wilton preach and understand his heart and his passion for this passage both second chronicles and nehemiah but the challenge the challenge starts with a single step of saying yes to jesus christ we've been back and forth with dr don both in the studio and from the pulpit today as he comes back into the studio one final time i pray you'd open your heart to what he wants to share next are you ready to give your heart and life to the lord jesus christ i'm so happy to hear that why don't you pray this prayer with me today dear god i know that you love me very very much and i know that the lord jesus christ came and died on a cross so that i might be forgiven of my sin today i repent of my sin i confess my sin to you and i invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith in jesus name i pray if you've prayed that prayer let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of god this is wonderful i hope that you know how much i'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me call us so we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey it's our prayer that some of you have just prayed to give your life to jesus christ some for the very first time some you're rededicating your life and coming home to the family of god either way dr wilton has wonderful resources he wants you to have absolutely free if you'll just call us at eight six six eight nine nine word that's eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three or meet us online at t-e-w online dot o-r-g we want you to have these resources but we also want to pray with you and for you and help lead you and guide you and encourage you in the next steps our prayer again is that god would change us from the inside out allowing us to become the encourages that god calls us to be know that we're here for you both online at t-e-w online dot o-r-g and eight six six eight nine nine nine six seven three this program is sponsored by the encouraging word and your generous prayer and financial support