Now I want to direct your attention today to a book from the Old Testament. It's called the Book of Nehemiah. It's one of the historical records taken from the Old Testament. And I want first of all to read some verses from chapter one. The Book of Nehemiah chapter one. Verse four says, 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. Let us bow for prayer. Our Father, we bow in thy holy presence, and we thank thee. We can come to thee with thanksgivings. Thank thee for the pleasant circumstances in which we are found, and for every blessing that we enjoy from thy bountiful hand. But our hearts go out to others in other parts of the world today who are living in places of danger. Some, under conditions of want, we pray for them. Bless the missionaries who are working amongst them. and those who are seeking to help them. Take our thanks for thy kindness to us, and bless us now as we study the word for the Lord Jesus' sake, we ask it. Amen. Now, in turning to the book of Nehemiah, I want to remind you that here is the record of one of the revivals that took place in the history of God's ancient people, Israel. Now, you will always find this, when God has a work to be done, He prepares His man or prepares His men. He prepares them. He has them ready for the occasion, and then having equipped them, He seems to move them in circumstances whereby they will be able to carry out God's work. Here then in the book of Nehemiah, we're faced in chapter one with this man as an exercised man. Now it is one thing to be observant and to understand the condition of things that prevails, but then we may understand these things and we may just simply shake our head and we may lament the condition and yet do nothing about it. But this man Nehemiah was an exercised man. I want you first of all to note from the opening verses of the chapter that he was in a prosperous situation. Now remember his nation had been in captivity and he was one of the captives. But it is obvious that while he was in captivity, he had proved himself to be a very valuable captive. In fact, he was a man who seemed to have an honorable position. Because when we read the opening verses, it says, The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hekeliah, that came to pass in the month Chisliu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace. You see, he occupied a prosperous situation. When we come to the closing statement of chapter one, he says, For I was the king's cupbearer. Notice then this man had a good position, a prosperous situation working in the palace. He was an honored man because he was the king's cupbearer. That is, the king had absolute confidence in this man. It wasn't every person that was allowed to be the king's cup-bearer, because in these far-off days, this was the manner in which they got rid of people if they disliked them. They didn't lift a gun and shoot them. It's true that some could take a dagger, But the easiest way was to put some kind of poison in the cup and poison them. So the man who was to squeeze the grapes and make the wine, or the man who was to fill up the cup of wine for the king, had to be a man in whom the king had absolute confidence. That is, he was a man who could be trusted. Here is a man then who had proved himself to the king. He had been promoted to a good position in the palace. He was the king's cupbearer. And while it is true he was in captivity, he had a good place. He would be absolutely sure of all his food. He would eat of the king's bounty, and he would lack for nothing. But then, In a position like that, sometimes a man would be apt to say, well, why should I care about others? I'm all right. Let them care for themselves. That perhaps is the attitude of a great number of people today. But may I suggest to all our hearts today that we also should be looking around and we should be exercised about others. Here was a man who was characterized by what I like to call practical sympathy. Now there is a difference between practical sympathy and pity. For example, a man may be standing on the street of a city in need, or we don't see so much of it today, I admit, but there was a time not so many years ago in certain cities Almost every corner you would see a beggar standing there with his bag or his can, waiting for the passing public to have some pity on him. In fact, you still see that in certain cities of the world today. A greater number of beggars, lame men, blind men, and so on. Well, now, if you have pity on these men, you may drop a diamond. But that's not practical sympathy. That's just pity. Practical sympathy is when you put your shoulder under the burden and help the man who's carrying the burden and you take half of the load on your own shoulder. That's practical sympathy. Now here I notice this man, Nehemiah, was a man characterized by practical sympathy. In verse two it says, And Hanani, one of my brethren, came. He and certain men of Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity and concerning Jerusalem. Notice, while he was in a good position in Shusha and the palace, for thirteen years certain others had gone back to Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra, and they were seeking to rebuild and re-establish the principles and practices of their nation. And after thirteen years, one of them visits again down in Shushan. And he is a man in a good, prosperous situation, but his heart is touched, and he begins to question these visitors who came to see him and watch what he asks. I ask concerning the Jews. Remember, these were God's people. Here was a man who had practical sympathy and he displays it in his interest in God's people. He asked concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. What was Jerusalem to him? It was a place of God's property. You remember it was there that the great temple had been built. It was there that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple. And he's exercised now about that capital city, Jerusalem. He's exercised about God's property, and he is exercised about God's principles. For they said unto him, 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 are burned with fire. Now, I want you to notice this. that while it was Nebuchadnezzar with his armies coming up from Babylon who had destroyed the walls of Jerusalem and they'd burned the gates and the whole place was lying in ruins there is a lesson to be learned from this for all of us today the walls were always indicative of protection and also indicative of separation when the high walls were built around these walled cities you know They first of all protected the people who were inside, and they separated them from the things and from the people who were on the outside. So the walls spoke of separation. They also spoke of protection. But then he also speaks of the gates. The gates thereof are burned with fire. If you care to spend some little time regarding the gates of the city, you would discover that it was at the gate that the councillors met. It was there that the fathers of the city met, in plain words, what you might call today the judges. That was the law court in the city. It was at the gate of the city that judgment was passed. It was there that decisions were made. But now, if the gates have been burned down, the principles have all gone. There's no righteous judgment being passed now. There's no one there to hear the case. And so therefore, every man would be doing that which was right in his own eyes. There was no righteous judgment. So the gates are burned with fire. The walls are broken down. But here's a man then who is concerned with practical sympathy. He's thinking of God's people. He's thinking of God's property. He's thinking of God's principles. And when he asked and he learned these things and he got the answer and he says, It came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned. He mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. He was a man then characterized by personal sacrifice. Remember, this is a man. that God has been preparing for a work that's got to be done. And here is a man who is an exercised heart. He wants to see things changed. He wants to see something done that will be like a revival for God's people and for the nation that would be reinstated and restored to true fellowship with God. But before that can take place, it starts with himself. He's a man then who is characterized by personal sacrifice. For it came to pass when he listened to the report from his brethren. He says, I sat down and wept. You know, it's not a childish thing to weep. It's a man thing. He's one of the men in the Bible that wept. He's not the only one. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ wept when he was here on earth. He wept one day when he was walking to the grave of Lazarus. And when he saw the two sisters weeping and the friends that were there in the mourners weeping, we have that terse statement in John chapter eleven, Jesus wept. The blessed son of God could weep tears of sympathy as he went to the graveside with the mourners. Then one day, as he stood, as it were, on the brow of the hill, looking over on the city of Jerusalem, again he wept. When he thought of the people of that city, and he said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered thy children together as a hen would gather her chickens under her wings, and you would not. Oh, he lamented over the city, he wept over them. But then again let me remind you that in the Garden of Gethsemane there was strong crying. He offered up his prayers. Yes, the Lord wept. Then I discover this at the great Apostle Paul, who we always think of as being a strong-willed, strong-character man. Nevertheless, he said he preached to the people in Ephesus for three years warning them with tears. He wept even when he preached. You see then it's not a childish thing to weep. Even when we come to the last book of the Bible, we discover that John the great apostle, he wept. So therefore here away back in the book of Nehemiah, he is a man whose heart is touched. He says he went down as it were and sat before the Lord and he wept. And he mourned certain days and fasted. Here was a man who was prepared to get before God, and a man was prepared to make personal sacrifice, fasting and praying. You know, when we think of it these days, there's not many of us that would be prepared to make the sacrifice that this man made. Yet when we take time to think of the great sacrifice that the Lord made on our behalf, what have we done in return? The Bible says, I beseech you by the mercies of God. You present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto him. This is your reasonable service. Well, now way back here in the book of Nehemiah, here is a man whose heart was touched. He was prepared to make personal sacrifice. in order to see the people of God blessed. He wanted to see revival. Wonder how many Christians listening to my voice today would be prepared to make personal sacrifice in order to see a revival at this time. We need revival. We need restoration. We need a stirring up. And if we're going to have a stirring up, it will call for personal sacrifice with us all. Notice now it leads to something else. It leads to his prevailing supplication. He fasted and he prayed. Now I want you to notice, first of all, that he prayed to the God of heaven. That was his approach to God. Now people don't pray like this today. The Lord said to his disciples, when they said, Teach us to pray, says, When you pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven. But way back here in the book of Nehemiah, when this man prayed, he addressed his prayer to the God of heaven. Now I'll ask you a simple question. Why didn't he present his prayer to the God of Abraham? Or to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Why didn't he pray to the God of Israel? Why didn't he pray to the God of our fathers? These are expressions you'll find in other parts of the Bible. But here Nehemiah prayed and directed his prayer to the God of heaven. He did this intelligently. You know why? Because God at one time had dwelt in the midst of his people. That cloud of Shakina glory had rested between the cherubim above the mercy seat in the holy of holies. But the day came when the glory had departed. And God was no longer in the midst of his people. That glory had been withdrawn. The people were in captivity. The walls of the city were broken down. The gates were burned up, and the temple had been destroyed. The people were without a king. They were without governors or judges. They were without an altar. They were without a sacrifice. Nehemiah recognized all this. And so he directs his prayer correctly, intelligently to the God of heaven. But notice what he does pray. First of all, he prayed with confidence. And three times over in this prayer, you'll find him saying, I beseech thee. You'll find that in verse five. And he said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven. Again in verse eight, remember, I beseech thee. Again in verse eleven, O Lord, I beseech thee. You see, this man intelligently is not commanding God, he's beseeching God. He knows how to pray. In his approach, he approaches the God of heaven. But now, see the confidence he has in God. The great and terrible God that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and reserve his commandments. Here is a man who has absolute confidence in his God. that if men will meet the requirements of God, God will definitely move in blessing. And he asks, Now let them here now be attentive, thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant which I pray before thee now, day and night. Here is a man who is going to lay hold on God day and night until he has an answer to his prayer. He's got confidence that God is going to move. But now, I want you to notice when you come into the latter part of verse six that his prayer is marked by confession this is what he says the day and night he is praying for the children of Israel and he calls them 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 notice then not only does he say the people have sinned that was a known fact But he puts himself in the very place of being one of them. And he's prepared right now to take part of the responsibility. And he says, we have sinned. It's so easy to point the finger at someone else. But here a man takes his place as it were. He sits with them. He stands with them. He's counted with them. I'm one of them, he says. We've sinned against thee. Both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee. Have not kept thy commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments which thou commandest thy servant Moses. Blame words. He admits that the awful state they're in is due to their own sin, due to the fact that they fail to keep the commandments of God. Now, following then his confidence in God, There is his confession to God. Then he moves on from there and he says, 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 that had happened. They had transgressed. They had failed. And they had been scattered. But now he takes the other side of this question. But if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though they are whereof you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now these are thy servants and thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy strong hand. You see, he was a man who not only could make his approach to God, But the line of his argument is simply on the basis of what God has said. He's praying the prayer of faith, and he's claiming the promises of God, so that God will keep his promises to them, that if they repent and turn back to God, that God will restore them to their former place. So in verse eleven again we have his remark, 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, to thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cupbearer. Take that expression now, who desire to fear thy name. Here is a mark of consecration. This prayer, then, I suggest to you, is marked by confidence. He presented his prayer to his God in confidence. In the midst of his prayer he makes open confession of the sin of which he and his family and the nation were guilty. And then there is consecration in the prayer those who desire to fear thy name. Let me say this, that others have learned this truth such as now Elijah. For a time Elijah thought that he was the only man in Israel that stood for truth, and God had to tell him there are seven thousand who have never bowed the knee to Baal. Now Nehemiah here recognizes this. There are other men beside themselves who desire to fear the name of the Lord. That's consecration. I personally believe there are a great number of Christians today who are exercised. Exercise because of the awful condition of things that are prevailing now. They're willing to give themselves to prayer. If only they had leadership like Nehemiah who led them out. There are those today looking for good leadership. My friend, listen, give yourselves to prayer. Pray confidently. Pray with confession. Pray with consecration. And you'll see what God is both willing and able to do. We need revival. We need men and women who are willing to pray. who are willing to lay the whole matter before the Lord, and are willing to make personal sacrifice in order to see the work carried through.