Adrian Rogers was a motivator, an encourager, and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances, and you'll hear that in today's message.
Now, let's join Adrian Rogers. Would you be finding the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, chapter 1? Today is a special day. We've been in a series of Bible studies on spiritual authority, but today, because of the urgency and the emergency of the hour, we're talking about bringing America back to God.
Now, let me tell you this. The America that I knew as a boy is gone, and I say that with a broken heart. The people of God in this Old Testament story that we're going to read in Nehemiah's day had been taken captive by a foreign entity and carried away into a strange land. And I must confess to you that America has been taken captive by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Now, God has blessed America. God gave us abundance, but the abundance has turned to greed. God gave us freedom, but the freedom has turned to license.
This nation was dedicated by our founding fathers to Almighty God, and now there are powerful forces in America that are endeavoring to make it illegal for us to make mention of His name in public places for boys and girls to carry Bibles to school or to wear Christian emblems on their clothing. America has been taken captive. Did you know that America is the most sinful nation on earth?
Now, you say, wait a minute. What about the pagan nations? They have not been given what we've been given. We have sinned against light. Did you know that the United States of America is doing more to corrupt other nations than any other nation? We are exporting pornography around the world. People are watching American movies and American filth around the world. And as Christians, we have been unfaithful to God. All of this has happened, as we're going to see in our study today, on our watch. And all of the problems, the debauchery in the world today is a monument to the failure of the church. I've already read the newspaper this morning, but it's like yesterday's newspaper. And the newspapers of the past years, crime, abortion, divorce, violence, suicide, drug addiction, alcoholism, unwed teen pregnancy, lust, pornography, fornication, adultery, sodomy, that is America.
So-called God bless America. And yet I believe there's hope. And while the message may, to begin with, sound pessimistic, it will end on an optimistic note. I want you to find out what happened to Nehemiah. And then I want you to take what happened to Nehemiah, and I want you to apply it to you.
When you read any Old Testament story or New Testament story for that matter, you ask three questions. Number one, what did it mean then? Study it to understand it. Then number two, you have to ask this question. How does it apply now?
But you're not finished yet. You tighten the focus a little bit. What did it mean then? How does it apply now? And then you ask yourself this question, what does it mean to me personally? Now, I'm going to ask you to listen today to the message this way.
I don't want you to go out of here saying what Adrian said to everybody. I want you to listen this way. I want you to listen to what God is saying to you. Now, will you do that? Will you say, Lord, do you have a message for me today?
If you can use the pastor to deliver it to me, fine. But I did not come to hear him. I came to hear you. I did not come to hear what he said to everybody else. I came to hear today my Father in heaven, your word for your son or your daughter.
Will you listen that way? What we need in America today is for a recovery because we've been taken captive and for revival to get back to where we ought to be and then to rebuild because we have lost our moral foundations. Now, what had happened is this. As I tell you again, in Nehemiah's time, the people of God had been taken captive and carried away to foreign land. Nehemiah himself was in that foreign land. As a matter of fact, he was a government official.
He was the king's cup bearer. And he'd met a brother who had recently visited Jerusalem. And he called the brother aside. And he said, what about our brothers, our sisters, those who were not carried away captive, the remnant?
What about the city, the city of God and the people of God? Brother, tell me, what is the situation? And Nehemiah's friend began to, his chin began to quiver. Hot tears welled up in his eyes.
And this is what he said. Verse 3, the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down. And the gates thereof, the gates thereof are burned with fire. Now, what are walls for? Walls are for protection. What are walls for? Walls are for separation. What are walls for? Walls are for conservation. What are walls for? Walls are for identification. But the walls were broken down. Now, what do gates speak of?
Gates speak of freedom and liberty. And in the Bible, the gates of the city of Jerusalem spoke of the glory of God. As you read the Psalms, you'll be impressed by how many times the Psalmist will refer to the gates of the golden city because those gates were symbolic of the glory of God. But now, the walls had crumbled. The gates are burned with fire and are ash.
The streets are filled with weeds and trash. And the people of God were in despair. Can you apply that to the church of the Lord God today? Walls of protection are broken down. And there's open warfare on Christians today. Walls of separation have broken down.
One of the things that grieves me is when pollsters today compare the church of the Lord Jesus Christ with the average Christian, they say they can find very little difference. And yet the Bible says, come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. Walls of protection, walls of separation, walls of conservation. We are losing the legacy that our fathers bought for us and freedom by freedom, truth by truth, spiritual riches by spiritual riches are being taken away from us as the devil comes and goes at will.
The walls have been broken down and the glory of God is in ashes. That's where we are in America today. Now, what do we need to do about it? I mean, what did Nehemiah do?
Remember, we have to ask ourselves this question. What did it mean then? Then what does it mean today in our day and in our time?
And what does it mean to me personally? I submit to you that Nehemiah did three things. The first thing he did was to visualize. The second thing he did was to agonize.
The third thing he did was to organize. Now, notice how he visualized. He asked his brother, he said, tell me what is the situation? He wanted to know the truth. A Christian is not a negativist and a pessimist, nor is he a dewy-eyed optimist. He is a realist who must visualize and see the situation as it is.
And I pray, God, that he will help me today by the Holy Spirit to help you to see the situation as it is. Remember that walls are for protection. But in America, our wall of defense has fallen. And today we're very vulnerable because that wall has crumbled.
John Curran wrote these words in 1808. Listen to it. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Did you know that our walls of defense and therefore our freedom is crumbling? A wise man said there are nine steps to the growth and then the disintegration of any nation, any society, any civilization. Would you like to know what those nine steps are?
Step number one, from bondage to spiritual faith. Number two, from spiritual faith to courage. Number three, from courage to liberty. Number four, from liberty to abundance. Number five, from abundance to selfishness. Number six, from selfishness to complacency. Number seven, from complacency to apathy. Number eight, from apathy to dependence, and that's right where we are right now, this point right here, from apathy to dependence. And number nine, from dependence back to bondage.
We are one step away. The walls of defense have crumbled and domestic walls have crumbled. America's homes are in serious, serious trouble. Many of our children today do not live at home with mother and father, and I know sometimes there are circumstances that are caused, that cause that that sin doesn't have anything to do with. But many homes have a father who's walked out of the house or never even bothered to marry the girl that he impregnated. Many children today are being raised by one parent who's doing all he or she can to put bread on the table, but most of the time the kids are latchkey kids wandering the street or using television with pornography and violence for a babysitter.
Children today do not even know who their natural father is. And Satan, because the walls have fallen, has leveled all of the artillery of hell against the homes of America. It's a tragedy. I'll tell you what else has fallen. Walls of decency have decayed. America is a billion-dollar business, and the devil has pipelined pornography into the living rooms of America's home. And many children are sitting there feeding on pornography. We have ceased to be shocked.
What was horrible yesterday is acceptable today and a stepping stone for something worse tomorrow because it seems like we have eaten through the very bottom of the garbage pail. Walls of decency. We have accepted pornography today like baseball or taxes. It just seems to be everywhere. And the pornographers will say, what a man sees doesn't affect him.
Well, then why do people spend so much money on advertising if what people see don't affect them? In our public schools, prayer is out. The Bible is out. Evolution is in. Humanism is in. Homosexuality is in. Illicit sex is in. Abortion is in.
Venereal disease is in, and God is out. That's America. Drugs, drinking are ravaging. America's young people. Walls of decency have fallen. Let me show you how far they have fallen. Do you know what people are asking today?
I cannot believe it. They're asking, does character make any difference in the election of a public official? That the question would even be asked.
Does character make a difference? Well, let me ask you a question. Does God make a difference? Do we want the blessing of God on our nation and on our nation's leadership?
Can God bless debauchery? Let me ask you another question. Does wisdom make a difference? Can a man with a rotten character have the wisdom of God? Let me ask you another question.
Does example make a difference? Do we want our boys and girls to have a national leader they can look up to? I can remember as a boy reading about honest Abraham Lincoln.
I can remember reading about George Washington who knelt in the snow in Valley Forge and prayed for his ragtag continental army. Does trust make a difference? I mean, if I cannot trust a man to keep his marriage vows to his wife, how can I trust him in other matters?
Does character make a difference? Absolutely. But walls of decency have fallen. Walls of doctrine have fallen.
The truths of God's Word. The basic premise of our faith is being eroded away. And we're told that we must tolerate a new and a modern gospel for a new and a modern age.
But if it's new, it's not true. And we cannot tolerate that which is intolerable. The walls had come down and as a result, God's people were defeated. They were living in a survival mode, not a revival mode.
They were just holding on. They were disgraced. Verse 3 says they were in reproach.
The place where God had put his name was now the place of God's shame. They were defenseless. No walls. The enemy could come and go. And they were in despair. The gates were burned. And the gates speak of the glory of God. Now, folks, if you have the spiritual eyes to see it, that is a picture of America today. We have been taken captive. The walls have decayed.
The gates are burned. And the first thing that Nehemiah did was to visualize. He got this picture in his heart and it broke his heart. So the second thing he did was this. He agonized. He began to pray because when he visualized the problem, then he agonized in prayer. Look, if you will, now in verse 4. And it came to pass. When I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. It's not enough to see the ruins. We need to weep over them.
Nehemiah did. Now, what was this prayer like? Let me give you the four elements of this prayer. First of all, it was a prayer of contrition. The Bible says that what he saw broke his heart. You know what is wrong with us today? We are more interested in professional football, the World Series.
We're more interested in the latest sports event, golf or vacations or money or flowers or gardens or whatever it might be. America and the church has forgotten how to weep. Jeremiah wept salty tears over the people of his day. Nehemiah wept over the people of his day. Jesus, as he saw Jerusalem under impending judgment, convulsed in sobs. When's the last time you shed a tear over some soul that was mortgaged to the devil? When's the last time that you broke down and literally wept before God? The things that break the heart of Almighty God ought to break our heart.
Somebody has described the church of the Lord God today as a dry-eyed church in a hell-bent world. I suggest that it is time to weep. Our city is worth weeping over. Our children and grandchildren are worth weeping over. Our homes are worth weeping over.
This nation is worth weeping over. The lost souls of men are worth weeping over. The glory of God that is being trampled in the dust when the gates have been burned with fire ought to move us to tears.
And if you're not moved to tears, I suggest you get alone with God and say, God, break my cold heart and have mercy upon me. But not only was it a prayer of contrition, it was a prayer of confession. Look in verses five through seven. And I said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments. Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now day and night for the children of Israel thy servants and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee.
Both I and my father's house have sinned for we have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the judgments which thou commandest thy servant Moses. It's a prayer of confession. And notice that it was a twofold prayer. It was a prayer that confessed national sin and personal sin.
Now, you know the problem with many of us? We're glad to confess the sin of the drug dealer, the pornography, the Hollywood mogul, the fast talking politician. But God says, if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.
The Bible says that judgment must began at the house of God. I'm not a pornography pastor. I'm not a drunkard.
I don't peddle dope. I'm not in favor of abortion. But let me say this.
The Bible says, happy is the man that condemneth not himself in the thing which he allows. It happened under our watch. And let me tell you that the moral situation in America can be laid right at the footsteps of the church of the Lord God because we have failed to preach as we ought to preach, speak as we ought to speak, live as we ought to live, give as we ought to give and go as we ought to go. And it is a monument to our failure. We have lost the moral consensus in America today.
And why? Because the people of God have failed. And when Nehemiah prayed, it was a prayer of contrition. It was a prayer of confession. And it was a prayer of confidence. Look in verse 8, if you will.
I love this. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant, Moses. Here's a prayer that is based on a promise of God. All true prayer is.
All prayer has the confidence of Almighty God. And the word of God and Nehemiah is reminding God of God's own word. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant, Moses, saying, if ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations. And God fulfilled that promise. But notice verse 9, but put a circle around the word but. But if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence and will bring them unto the place where I have chosen to set my name there. And then Nehemiah says, now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand. What's he saying? What is he saying?
He is saying, ah, Lord God, there's nothing too hard for thee. Though they be in the uttermost parts, I will bring them back. I will restore them if they will repent and turn to me. You dare say that we cannot bring America back to God because what you're saying is God can't do it. It's an insult to God to say we can't have revival. As long as there's God, there's hope. Nehemiah's day was a desperate day.
Think about it. The walls are crumbled. The streets filled with weeds and trash. The gates burned.
The people in despair, disillusioned. But Nehemiah got the city on his heart and he visualized and they agonized a prayer of contrition, a prayer of confession, a prayer of confidence, and it was a prayer of commitment. Now, this is very important.
I want you to see this. Look, if you will, in verse 11 of this same chapter. He says, O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cupbearer.
Now you say, pastor, why did you call that a prayer of commitment? Because Nehemiah had a job. What his job was is this. He was to bring food to the king, the pagan king. He served in the king's court and had a very high job.
Don't think that this is the job of a servant. He was the king's companion. He would come in and eat with the king to cheer up the king, but before the king would eat, the cupbearer would take a sip and then say, king, it's all right. The cupbearer would take a taste and say, king, there's no poison there.
It's good. That's the job of a cupbearer. To be at the very highest place, most intimate fellowship with the king, that's what Nehemiah did. And Nehemiah knew that he was about to take his job, yea, his life in his very own hands. He was about to go to the king and ask the king for a favor to return and rebuild the walls. And he said, I prayed to God because I was the king's cupbearer. And I said, oh God, give me now favor in the eyes of this man.
He wasn't content just to see the ruins and weep, but there was commitment. Now, here's the third and final thing. First, you visualize. Secondly, you agonize.
Thirdly, you organize. You see, the Bible teaches that faith without works is dead. And the Bible teaches that when we pray, that that prayer should energize us and gear us to action. And we cannot do more than pray until we pray.
But when we pray, then we must act upon our prayers. Go into chapter 2 and look, if you will, beginning in verse 1. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan in the 20th year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him. And I took up the wine and gave it unto the king. Now, I had not been before time sad in his presence.
Why not? Well, you walk in before the king as the king's cupbearer with a face like it's been on the bottle of iodine and with tears in your eyes and a frown on your face. He would remove the tears and the frown by removing your head.
You didn't do that. I mean, you're not to make the king sad. He's got enough problems of his own without having to have some winey cupbearer around. And now the king sees him. And the king says in verse 2, Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad?
Seeing thou art not sick, this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. And he says, Then was I very sore afraid. He had committed a social faux pas.
He had done something that was very politically incorrect. And the king remonstrates with him. Verse 3, And I said unto the king, Let the king live forever.
Why should not my countenance be sad? When the city, the place of my father's sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire. Now notice verse 4, Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. Here was a man who'd been praying for four months and he is still praying.
Reminds us of what the Bible says that we're to pray without ceasing. And the king says to him, Well, Nehemiah, what do you want? And Nehemiah said, Oh, God, help me to give the right answer to the king. And I want you to see something now that Nehemiah is going to get some help from King Artaxerxes, but he is not getting help from King Artaxerxes. He is really and truly getting help from Almighty God.
Why? Because when the king said, What do you want? He says, God, you help me. He turned to God. And the Bible says that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. And as rivers of waters, he, God, turns the king's heart wherever he will. And so you might think that King Artaxerxes was doing something for Nehemiah, but it was God doing something for Nehemiah. And so notice what Nehemiah had. Nehemiah knew he had to have three things.
The same three things that Adrian needs, that you need, and America needs. And this is what he asked for after he prayed. And I said unto the king, If it please the king and thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father's sepulchres, that I may build it. And the king said unto me, The queen also sitting by him, for how long shall thy journey be?
And when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me. You need the king's permission. You need the king's authority.
That's what we've been preaching about. Would you ask God for his blessing, his hand upon you, that you might have the king's permission, the king's authority, that the king of kings would use you? I was speaking to a preacher friend of mine one time about something that needed to be done in the Southern Baptist Convention.
He was a very powerful leader in the Southern Baptist Convention. And I said, Sir, what do you think about this? He said, Adrian, that's a good plan. He said, I want you to do it. And he said, I want you to remember that I am behind you to the last drop of your blood.
I know what many of you are thinking. You know, God used our pastor. God used Brother Jim and God used Brother Phil. But friend, God has chosen you. God has a job for each one of you, a job for you, for you, Sir, and you and you. And what you need to do is to come to the king and hear the king say, even so, sin, I, you. The king's permission, that's one thing he had. Tell you what else he needed, not only the king's permission, but he needed the king's protection. Look in verse 7. Moreover, I said unto the king, if it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river that they may convey me over until I come into Judah.
Now he's going to be passing through hostile territory. And so are we. This world is not our home. We are living now in Satan's headquarters, hell's domain, and we need, we desperately need, in these desperate days, the protection of Almighty God. And he said, King, would you write something? Would you give me something? I want your protection over me. And friend, you know, God has given me the same thing. God's given me his Word. God has given me not only his authority, but God has given me his protection, his Word to see me through. And nothing can come to me, though it come through him and he allow it for my good and his glory. And the third thing I need and you need is not only the king's permission and the king's protection, but the king's provision.
And here's the third thing he asked for. Look in verse 8. And he said, and also I want a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace, which appertains to the house and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall enter into and the king granted me, now listen to this, the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me. That it was.
It wasn't King Artaxerxes. It was Almighty God who gave him provision. May I say this? That God's work is never, ever stopped because of insufficient funds. Never. Insufficient obedience, insufficient faith, insufficient commitment, but never because of insufficient funds. God will never say, you know, Adrian, I'd really like to help you, but I'm a little short right now. I just don't have what it takes. And so I don't have the timber for you to build with.
I don't have the stones for you to build with. No. When we line up with God, God lines up all of the universe behind the people of God. Don't you believe that?
You know what we do so many times? We ask God to give us what we already have. What God is looking for is obedience. What God is looking for is love. What God is looking for is faith. And when we get serious about serving the God of heaven, the king of kings, we'll have the king's permission, we'll have the king's protection, and we'll have the king's provision. I believe that.
And we will be able to get back into the job of rebuilding the walls, resetting the gates, reclaiming that which the devil has taken away and laid waste. Now, you listen to me today. I am not preaching a sermon. I am talking to you. God brought you here to hear what I have to say to you. I am not asking you to remember what Adrian said. I'm asking you, oh, God, do you have a message for me today?
God, what do you want to do in my heart and in my life? We give without sacrifice. We pray without fasting. We witness without tears.
Is it any wonder that we sow without reaping? Folks, would you listen to this man? America is in trouble. Listen to me. Serious trouble. You say, well, I think I'm going to make it all right. You don't understand what's going on out there. You may not make it all right, but even if you do, what about your children?
What about your grandchildren? What about people in pagan lands who will never hear the gospel because the greatest gospel-sending nation in all the world died, not from what someone else did, but of moral suicide. God wants to bless this nation. Know God. He will stir us and move us.
