Doctor Michael Usaf. Hello, my friends. You couldn't have heard me for any length of time without knowing my absolute commitment and fidelity to the Word of God and to the essence of the Christian faith and the centrality of the Lord Jesus Christ. The other day, when I heard somebody, church leader of all people, saying that we need to reinvent Christianity in order to save Christianity, in other words, he's going to water it down, he's going to change it, but still call it Christianity.
So I wrote this book, Saving Christianity. Please request your copy today. Get your copy of Saving Christianity from Leading the Way Today. Call us. Speak to a ministry representative at the Ministry Call Center at 866-626-4356.
And online, we are at ltw.org. That's ltw.org. Thank you for choosing to make Leading the Way with pastor and author Dr. Michael Youssef. Part of your day.
Many people see the Bible as a book of outdated, irrelevant fables. But when you discover the truth in God's Word and faith is ignited in the Author, you experience abundant life. Let's join Dr. Michael Yusuf in Nehemiah chapter 2 as he looks at rebuilding our broken walls. The man who ignited The evangelical modern evangelical missionary movement as we know it.
was not an ordained minister. He was not a theologian. He was not a preacher, he was not a pastor, he was not a priest. In fact, He was a cobbler. Obviously, I'm telling you this for a reason.
Because today and the coming days, I want to be challenging every single one. regardless of who you are and what age. not to fall into this lie of Satan. That says What can I do? I'm only one person.
Only one family. What can I do? I'm a software engineer, I'm a small business owner, I'm an executive in a company, I'm a salesman, I'm a professional. What can I do? I'm aware of what's going on around me, but what can I do?
So whatever you do for living has nothing to do with how God Can truly use you to rebuild the broken walls that we see all around us. Amen. The man I'm talking about His name with William Carey. In the late 1700s, the churches in the country of England They were self-centered. They were myopic.
And William Carey had only one message. Remember, he's not a trained theologian, he's not a trained preacher. He was not opening different passages of the scripture every day, he just had one message. That God laid on his heart, that he took it all across the land. And it was from the book of Isaiah, chapter fifty-four.
Verse 2. Enlarge the place of your tent. Do not hold back. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. And then he would always conclude it With this mantra.
Expect great things for God. Attempt great things for God. Because we have A great God. Yeah. God used this cobbler.
With such passion for mission into the dark lands. To do great things. For God. He became infectious. and tens of thousands of people.
Come forward. and went about serving the living God all across the world. William Carey himself Did not just preach it. He himself volunteered and went to India, and there God used him to do great work. Question.
Did he face opposition? You better believe it. The worst opposition came. From the clergy. From the church leaders, from the bishops.
We have begun the series on rebuilding our broken walls. Learning from the example of Nehemiah. This man, too, like William Kerry, he was not ordained minister. He was not a theologian. He was not theologically trained.
He had no official capacity whatsoever within the religious of Judaism, the religion of Israel. He was a layman. He was a professional. And he saw the desperate need, and by God's grace, he reached out and met that need by God's power. That's what a vision is.
You see the desperate need and say, God, what can I do? How can you use me to meet this need? Same question. As would William Carey. Did Nehemiah face opposition?
You better believe it. You're gonna see it throughout the series. But because he had the supply line I talked about in the last message wide open between him and the Lord 24 7, because he has spent four months in prayer and fasting and crying out to the Lord. God powerfully used him to overcome the opposition. As you look at this chapter, chapter 2 of Nehemiah.
He teaches us several things, three things to be exact. He is teaching us to face fear with prayer. He's teaching us to face opposition. with courage. And he's teaching us to face timidity with vision.
Let's go through this together. He faced fear with prayer.
Now I'll make you a promise. I make your promise. That if you ever come to the point in your life when you say, God, I want to discover my spiritual gift and I want to use my gift for your glory. I want to accomplish something for your glory. The moment you say this, I'll make your promise, all of hell is going to break loose.
Chief among the opposition is going to be your own fear. But you've got God's power.
Okay. And when you have God's power, you are going to come to the place of death. You say, wait a minute, Michael, you said the open line? Supply line. Gives you victory, it's the secret to victory.
Now you tell me I have to come to the place of death. Oh. You have to come to the place of death before God can use you. Death to self. Death to personal self-ambition.
Death to a sense of security. Death to the sense of entitlement for comfort. My beloved friends, listen to me from my heart. I tell you, that is the bane of evangelical Christianity today. We don't want to do that.
We want to be liked. And we want to be appreciated, we want to be accepted. And the list goes on and on and on. That is what's hindering the work of God. But Nehemiah felt the burden so much.
In his heart and his soul and his spirit, he did not only pray and fast for four months, he did not only heard and listened to the voice of God. But that intense burden for what's happening to God's people, to God's honor, and to God's name, it burdened him so much it began to show on his face. Look at verses 1 and 2, Nehemiah 2. The king noticed how Nehemiah's burden now was carried on his face. I told you in the last message, he was so close to the king.
I dare say, probably the most important person to him. And he sees what was going on and showing on his face. And he said to him, What's wrong? Do you know what Nehemiah said right after that when the king asked him? He said, then I was very much afraid.
Really, I was terrified.
Okay. Wait a minute. Remember. This is the moment he's been praying for. This is the moment he had been fasting and crying out to God for.
This is a critical moment. This is a crucial moment. Is the moment that he's been waiting for, and he says, I was terrified. My knees were knocking. In fact, it's probably mouth was dry as a cotton and trying to swallow hot.
I'm trying to answer, and his hands probably were shaking as he's pouring the wine. I know it's not in the Bible, but they understand what I mean. It's a great imagination. His hands were shaking, and the wine was going all over the place, flushing all over the place. Here's the truth.
Are you ready for it? There is nothing wrong with being afraid. There is nothing wrong with being afraid. All the men and women of God who did great things for God in the scripture, every one of them felt fear. The difference between those who did great things for God and those who did not is those who did great things for God overcame their fear with prayer.
They refuse to let their fear paralyze them. How did Nehemiah face his fear? Verses 3 to 8. Let me put it in a use of Language. I sent out a text message.
What did that text message say? It's not in the Bible. But trust me. Probably went something like this. Lord Verse 4.
The king said, What is it you want? Oh, I never thought you'll never ask. When he asked this, again Nehemiah said, Oh man, this is my chance. You know what he said? He said, Then I pray to the God of heaven.
Because The supply line was open. All the time. Nehemiah. needed only A second of prayer. That's so yes.
Question. Why was Nehemiah afraid? Ezra chapter 4. It's right there next to Nehemiah, book of Ezra, chapter 4, give you the answer, but I'm going to give it to you because of the bravity of time. Let me tell you about the laws of the Medes and the Persians.
They can never be reversed. They are set in stone, they are cemented in concrete. And the previous king, Cyrus. issued a decree That the walls cannot be built. He issued the decree.
In other words, Nehemiah. is asking the king for the impossible. He wants him. to destroy The laws of the Medes and the Persians. which the globe understands and now in history we understand it.
No wonder he was shaking in his boots when the king said, What is it you want? Here I'm asking for the impossible. But Nehemiah, obeyed God, not his fears. And so he proceeded. To what I call an extremely bold ask.
I think the word bold does not even Explain it. He said, I want time off. From work. Remember this guy's close to the I mean no he can't replace him that easily. But that's not all.
He said, I want it with full pay. Then he asked, For a decree, this is the impossible. A decree to build the walls. of Jerusalem. Impossible.
Why? As I told you, he's going to be reversing the laws of the Medes and the Persians of his previous king. But that's not all. He said, I want you to send with me. Your Secret Service details.
to protect me. But that's not all. He said, I want you to give me a purchase order. on your personal credit card.
So I can buy all of the supply that I need for the rebuilding of the wall and the gates.
Now that's what you call gumption. I am convinced that the king had to be absolutely impressed beyond measure. At the audacity. of Near Mmi. He did not only ask him to violate the previous king's ruling.
But to finance it as well. That can only happen. When You have the supply line open with the king of the universe.
Now I'm gonna level with you. When I think of our insipid prayers, When I think of our self-centered prayers, Okay. When I think of our timid prayers. When I think of our sporadic prayers, When I think of our half-hearted prayers, I cannot prove it to you from the Bible, but I'm convinced God is insulted. Look at verse 8.
And the king granted All my requests. Why? He tells us why. Because the gracious hand of my God was upon me.
Now, don't miss this point. Don't miss this point. Who gets the credit here? Not near Maya. Oh, not even the king.
God gets all of the glory. Yeah. We face our fear with Prayer. Secondly, we face opposition with courage. I have to tell you at the outset that some of you know this.
That commitment ain't cheap. Are you with me? Commitment and cheap. Look at verses nine to eighteen. As soon as Nehemiah gets to Jerusalem, Immediately the opposition starts.
Verse 10. And there were some ballot The Horonite and Tobiah, the Ammonite, and all of the mosquitobites. They came out of the woodworks, but listen. Whenever you attend something great for God, All of these mosquito bites will always show up. And those mosquito bites will always criticize your every move.
They will always belittle your every effort. They will always question your motives. They will always, always nap at your heel everywhere you go. And because misery loves company, You go down to verse 19, and a third was added. Geshem the Arab.
Misery loves company. They got them all. But Nehemiah's attitude was this: Listen carefully. Don't let the cratics get you down. Don't let the opposition It slow you down.
Don't let detractors detract you. Don't let those who are doing nothing for God stop you from doing something for God. In fact Opposition will always be there. It's what you do with the opposition. In the face of opposition, what did Nehemiah do?
He went out at night time. Look at verse 11. He went out in the night time and he was inspecting. The horrors of the destruction of the wall of Jerusalem and the burnt gates. He goes out at night time.
While all of Israel slept, He was awake. Doing some inspection. While all of Israel rested, Nehemiah walked. Inspected, studied, surveyed, probed, and prepared. And even while his critics What a sleep.
He was awake. He was listening to God and he was obeying God. What was he doing? He was rejecting fear. He was stepping out of his comfort zone.
He was experiencing loneliness of leadership. Parents understand. Kids don't understand, but parents understand. The loneliness of being a parent. Christian leaders of all stripes.
Understand this challenge. Sensitive believers. Know how that feels. Please listen to me. Today, everywhere you look, It has become painfully obvious.
that the walls of our culture are shattered. that the walls of our churches are burnt. That the walls of our families are broken down, that the walls of the cities are in rubbles, that the gates of our schools are burnt down. Leaving our children and families vulnerable to Satan's attack. If you know what some of those curriculums, and I've been reading about this, what these curriculums and schools are teaching our children, you'll be heartbroken and horrified.
You see, we send our children to school to learn, but instead they are taught to detest their country and deny their faith. Instead of learning to succeed in life, they are taught political correctness, safe sex, despising the founding fathers. Oh, yeah. The walls are broken down and the gates are burnt. But the question is Who?
will be The Nehemiahs. of our generation. May God give us not just listening ears. but obedient heart. The protective enclosure Of our moral walls and spiritual gates have been turned into rubbles.
Most professing Christians today are biblically illiterate. They don't know how to respond. No wonder the church liked the surrounding culture. is ravished. There can be no doubt that institutional Christianity has failed.
But we must never confuse institutional Christianity with biblical Christianity. Amen. And while the surrounding culture is littered with the rubble of moral relativism. The true word of God stands supreme as the only secure wall against cultural decay and decline. I know and you know.
As we survey the wreckage of our culture, much as Nehemiah surveyed the wreckage of Jerusalem. We can get overwhelmed. And I do on occasions, thank God doesn't last for very long, but we can get overwhelmed with the enormity of the task. As we see friends and neighbors. Who once believed in the authority of the scripture now have bought into this Satan's lie.
Of denying the infallibility of the word of God, we can get discouraged and we can get despondent. But remember, like Nehemiah, we serve a great and mighty God. Like William Carey, we need to stand firm against the opposition, and we need to say to one another, Expect great things for God. Attempt great things for God. Because we have A great God.
We face fear with prayer. face opposition with courage and Face timidity. with vision. How did Nehemiah build the wall?
Now, I've asked the question deliberately this way, because Nehemiah did not build the wall. Did you know that? He did not do it. After surveying the task, His message to the people, verse 17, very simple. Let's build the wall of Jerusalem so that we no longer be in disgrace.
Don't miss this. Don't miss what I'm going to show you here. Nehemiah did not say, you must build. Or I'm going to build and I want you to pray for me. No.
Doesn't work that way. Doesn't work that way. He said, Let us rebuild. And that is the attitude of any genuine, true God-called Christian leader. Nehemiah was not a boss.
There is no such a thing as a boss in the church of Jesus Christ. Nehemiah identified with the people. Nehemiah never expected them to do anything that he is not willing to do more himself. Nehemiah never shouted orders from an ivory tower, but he got down in the trenches, as we will see in the next message. Nehemiah communicated a vision.
what God can and will do. There is no telling what God can and will do with the committed few. Regardless of the scoffers, regardless of the antagonists, regardless of the opposition, regardless of the critics. I want you to hear me write. For God is greater than all of the critics.
God is greater than all of the oppositions. God is greater than all of the mockers and the ridiculous. Asking yourself the question. Am I a constructionist or am I an obstructionist? Do you prefer to tear down or build up?
Do you seek to encourage or discourage? Do you seek to spread optimism and faith, or do you spread doom and gloom? It is my prayer. that every single person in this place, anybody who's listening, Say, let's build. Let's build together.
And as God removes all of the sambalats and all of the tobias and all of the geshems, we are left with the constructionists. We are left with the builders. We are left with those who courageously would say, Let's turn the world upside down. And when that word was used, it was not used of a few thousand people, it was used of a twelve fishermen and a church persecutor. They said they turned the world upside down.
But remember this: we'll always encounter the Sambalots and the Tobias and the Geshins. Always. Whenever you begin to do great things for God, Will you face them? Will you go forth with courage and confidence? For opposition does not intimidate us, obstacles will not stop us, and critics will not hinder us.
for doing great things for God. and attempting. Great things for God. For we have. A great God.
Thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef for this episode in his series, Rebuilding Our Broken Walls. This is Leading the Way. Would you like to know what it means to follow Jesus? You can begin by going to ltw.org slash Jesus.
There is a great FAQ page as well as ways to connect with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor. ltw.org slash jesus Now, before I say goodbye today, allow me to quickly mention a free resource from Dr. Youssef that's available just for asking. Along with members of the Global Leading the Way team, Dr. Youssef shares his heart on several topics of engaging content, and it's all in his monthly magazine called My Journal.
You'll not only read about ministry highlights and resource specials, but also biblical insights into current world events and trends. Who doesn't need a biblical perspective in these challenging times?
So get your free trial subscription started and on the way to your mailbox today. Again, this encouraging monthly resource is called My Journal. Call, speak with a representative at 866-626-4356. Or you can also order online at ltw. Yeah.
That's ltw.org. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yousap. Mm-hmm.
