Nehemiah 12:43

"Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off."

'Tears may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning'. We see here at the close of thethis book the Lord gave joy to the people. The book began with the walls down, the city in distress and the people forsaken. But now, through the work of God for His people, worship is restored and the people give praise unto Him, Who is worthy. also that day they offered great sacrifices - with all the confusion, no doubt the sacrifices had not been offered faithfully; During their days of trascension, the sacrifices of God had been halted or neglected for fear of their enemies. But order is restored and civility is brought to the city. The walls offer them protection and shelter. The temple is the place and now let the people offer. Many came to offer for it was a time of sanctifying and glorifying the Lord for what He had done for them. Note: the difference between here that many sacrifices had to be offered up, but the Great Sacrifice was offered up in Jesus Christ for all mankind. How splendid is His ways and plans. He hath made an offering for us with a great SAcrifice of His love. 'For no man hath any greater love than that he lay down his life for those that he loves.' What has been your sacrifice offered up for Him? 'Here am I, O Lord send me.' 'Let your will be done in me and through me' Offer the great sacrifice of all that you are to Him. And rejoiced - the time of rejoicing was at hand; Sorrow and suffering is or a while, but rejoicing comes to those that look for it and wait for it. I would ask you, when was the last time you rejoiced in the Lord? When was the last time the people of the Lord rejoiced? It is so sad that many would even dare say, 'What is there to rejoice in?' They see the present or dwell on the past and know nothing of the workings of the Lord. 'Rejoice in the Lord and again I say, REjoice.' It is in Him, seek Him, see Him, offer unto Him and know the blessings of the Lord. Lift up voices and give praise and honor. Declare His mighty deeds and answered prayers and 'taste and see that the Lord is good'. What rejoicing in heaven over one soul that is saved. How much more over the work of God on a daily basis for those that will allow it. For God had made them rejoice with great joy - word study, made; God caused their joy to flow over and rejoicing is the result of it.

Nehemiah 11:2

"And the people blessed all the men, that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem."

the city needed to be filled to survive. They brought the people into the city. But there was still not enough to occupy the place. The need of the city was to have enough to run the day to day business of such a place. For what good is a city if no people inhabit it? Nehemiah set before the people to choose by casting lots for 1 out of 10 to move into the city. Those that were chosen to move into the city are found here in this chapter. and the people blessed all the men - those that had been chosen were praised by the others; I wonder if heaven will not be such? That the saints and angels will bless those that enter in. For those that had been vile and evil but heard the Master say, "Come unto Me", they obeyed and followed. enter in to the new city and the new heaven by the blood of Chirst. Here the blessing upon the men that willingly moved into the city. This means they had to start a new life, a new home. What shall be said of blessing on thsoe that leave father and mother and homes to go into a strange city for mission work; for the pastorate; for the calling of the Lord? Here the blessing upon the men that take up the place of going for the Lord. What shall be said of those that gave of their time, money and energy for the furtherance of the Gospel? Hear the blessing from the people for such. Hear the blessing upon the musciians, the labors with their hands for the Gospel sake, who used their talents for the Lord. See and know that the Lord is good and behold what the Lord is doing in the midst of His people. We shoudl look upon our own life and recognize where we are. Do the people praise us for our sacrifice? There are many vain and selfish people that need constant praise from men for their deeds and actions. Be content to know that the Lord is the remember of everything. He sees and knows those sacrifices, those prayers, those tears those efforts for the sake of the Kingdom. That willilngly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem - they were moved by the Spirit and obeyed; I look upon this phrase of 'willingly offered' more for the kingdom than to look at the actual content of this verse. What is it when God speaks to a soul and says, 'Stand aside. I will use you for My Names sake'? those that were called and obeyed and stood for the Lord in the ministry, in service in duties to be faithful for Him, Who is faithful. NOte: their are many that was invited, many that were touched and moved but they would not willingly offer themselves. They had too much invested in this world. They had too much to gain and they forsook the calling of the Lord upon them. But these are those that willingly step out for the sake of the call. Has the Lord spoken and touched your heart? Has He strangely warmed you to action? Will you obey? How long has He been calling and beckoning for you to willingly offer yourself? so many that I have watched where the Lord called them. They responded for a fleeting moment and then turned away back to the world. I have seen those that were not called and did not willingly offer themselves but was forced to go, and what disgrace they did for the kingdom. The Spirit lays hold upon the mind, heart and soul of one that God wishes to use. What would have happened if Finney would have said 'No'? of Spurgeonj? of Moody? of Carmichael? Of Hyde? And on and on it goes of those that need to go but are struglling of willingly offering themselves. Those that refuse God knows and He calls the next that will go. Choose you this day who you will serve. And 'follow, follow, I will follow on; anywhere, everywhere, I will follow on.'

Nehemiah 10:39

". . .And we will not forsake the house of our God."

The first part of this verse is in reference to the sacrifices being restored in the temple. Just as the Lord moved Nehemiah to rebuild the walls and the way of life in Jerusalem, the Lord moved others to rebuild the temple and restore worship. The people were to bring in the offerings and sacrifices to their appointed place. The priests were to do the work that was appointed unto them, as well, the porters, and singers. And then at the very close of this verse and chapter, we have this last phrase: And we will not forsake the house of our God - the whole reason of their demise, was that they forsook the Lord God; You can trace it through I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles that when the worship in the house fo the Lord was forssaken, sin arose and th epeople sinned against the Lord. It is so clear and true that the people which serve the Lord in church walk with Him. Those that forsake the church for whatever reason, fall into sin and sorrow. Whether it be an individual, family or a nation, those that forsake the house of the Lord shall find no peace. But yet look at the track record of so many. They may have begun in church but for whatever reason, they sunk out of it. They know they should be in it, but yet they arenot. And these are the very ones that wonder why their life is a mess and falling apart. The answer is easy, 'You have forsaken the house of the Lord, and in essence you have forsaken the Lord.' You cannot walk rightly with God and be absent from the church. Too many find excuses: 'I can't find a good church'; 'I don't like the preaching'; 'I don't like the music'; and on and on it goes. It is not about finding the right one, it is about serving in one. You cannot serve out of one. The house of the Shiloh was forsaken, mainly because of Eli's sons and their vilenss; the temple of Solomon was defiled by the idols and false worship; the second temple was destroyed because of their sinfulness in rejecting Christ; and the church today? Christ said to Peter, "Upon you I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it". The church will always be, the people that are the Lord's they are the church. But the houses of worship where the people gather is forsaken. Church attendance is down in the US to udner 16%. How can we possible expect the Lord to bless such sinfulness. How can we grow in the Lord when those that profess their Christianity cannot even attend faithful to two or three servcies a week.

Nehemiah 9:29

"And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandemtns, but sinned against thy judgements, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and with drew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear."

In the midst of this confession is this verse. Before and after is the detailed account of their folly and sin. And testifiedst against them - the proclamation of the truth from God unto the people; The Lord bears His testimony unto the peopel. He does not lie, and His ways are marvellous. He declares what shall be, what is and what has been. And when God testifies against a people, they are found in sin and their sin will find them out. He speaks the word against them for their sin has provoked Him and He being just will answer. that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law - God's true desire is for restoration and righteousness; It is not the Lord's desire to destroy the people but to see them follow as obedient people. He makes and causes the way to open for His people to return with all their heart. The restoration plan is found within the Word of God. Here is the law laid out; we are in sin and need a Savior; we are disobedient and no good can come of it; we are helpless without the Helper; we find His promsies, "Seek Me with all your heart and ye shall find Me." Here is the law of the Lord, walk in it. Stay on the straight and narrow way that leads to eternal life in Him. The law is published, declared and proven. don't be a part of those that are lawbreakers. For when you break the law there is a price to pay, judgment, justice and punisment must come. 'Thy law was found and I did meditate in it, day and night'. Knows the Word of God and think upon these things in relationship to your life. See the hand of God leading and directing you to spiritaul things. All these things are found in the law of the Lord. Yet they dealt proudly - the confession of the sins of the people; When a soul or a people lift themselves up to be something, they will quicly and painfully learn they are nothing. Pride is at the root of so many others sins. We refuse to humble ourselves in His holy Presence. Pride comes before the fall; why must we always learn the lessons of life the hard way, when He has made a right way for us? The hardening of ourselves against His ways, thinking that we know better. HEre is found the sin of pride, rooted in self. Put away the pride and humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will honor such a heart. But if these people will not humble themselves then God will humble us. and hearkened not unto thy commandments - they turned their ear away from the truth and refused to listen; The old saying, 'Hearing is not listening'. They are vastly different; I believe that there are many in this land that have heard the Gospel, but they have not listened to the ways of salvation. The prophets, preachers and teachers declared the counsel fo God, but the choice is whether the people gave ear unto the things being declared. God will make sure His commands are spoken and declared. We are left with the choice of listening or disregarding. The sin of purposely turning a deaf ear to the commands of God is to chose evil or good; sin over salvation and asking for pain and sorrow. It is almost as if the people beg for punishment because of their intentional turning away from His commands. How foolish of man, and wisdom is no where to be found. When a people fall, when a soul sins, it is found in this one truth, 'they would not hearken unto His commands and chose their own way. God will answer such folly of any. But sinned against thy judgements - the disobedience of not hearkening unto His commands leads to sin in His ways; They chose to sin and disobey and His judgments they were perverted and refused. This is the consistent way of man throughout the generations. It is the progressive slide away from the Lord when they chose sin over holiness, disobedience to obedience. The judgements of the Lord are right and good, walk in them, know them and adhere to them. To those that chose to defy and disobey, know that their sin shall find them out. We have no ability within our own selves, sin is ever the destroyer of our soul and life. SEek His judgments and find the way of peace and wholeness in Him. (Which if a man do, he shall live in them;) - the verdict passed on to a man that what he chooses to do in his heart, his life will be a reflection of it; No man can say that 'he is good and produce evil fruit'. Neither can a person say, 'They are evil and prodcue good fruit. For with what fruite you produce that is your nature.' We are in this generaion messed up over simple logic. You cannot get an apple from an orange tree. They do not exist together. The man that sins in the judgements of God cannot be righteous and pure. Neither to him that chooses to do right, can he produce evil ways. You produce exactly what is in the core of your soul and heart. And out of that comes the fruit of our life. Jesus said, 'Out of the heart proceedeth the evil things'. If he chooses to do the judgements of the Lord, he will find goodness all his days. And the only way to do this is to abide in Christ and this is the way of his life. Your living your life, which way are you living it? what is proceeding from your heart? What are you doing with your days? and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear - the heart that turns away and openly defies the Lord and will not listen to the Lord; Having ears to hear and cannot hear. Here we find the one that has hardened themselves against the Lord God Almighty. the fool hath said in his heart there is no God; this one that withdreew the shoulder is not far from foolishness. And both alike will find themselves in hell for such rebellion against God. This one that openly and unashamedly defies the Lord God's judgements and commands and choses his own way of life to settle into sin. What shall we say of this generation? Are they not far from this veryt verdict? Have we not seen the hardness, deaf hearing and pulling away from anything that might be good? And what shall we say of the church? Has she not fallen in like manner? How many have got out from us, who were not of us? They were of this make up and followed the piped pipers chorus into hell. They have sold their soul for a few moments of sensual pleasure and forgotten the one truth of all mankind, 'Eternity is coming'. this life may endure a short few years, but eternity is forever. Then what good does it do to withdraw the shoulder, harden their neck and close their ears from hearing. It leaves them wayward away from Him, the source of eternal life. They will cry out for all eternity, and lament, for that which might have been but never was. How horrible the plight of such fools as they are tortured forever for their own sinfulness and neglect of the Lord and His right ways.

Nehemiah 8:6

"And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground."

The work of true, glorious worship is found within this one verse. And Ezra blessed the Lord - all praise is to be given unto Him, Who is worthy; We do the opposite, we bless the people, and turn away from the Lord in blessing Him. Unto the Lord, we only offer our petitions. A rare thing it is to find one the worships the Lord in an impassioned way. Why is this? is it not taught? do they not desire to do it? Have we lost sight of Who He is? Many are the reasons and answers for such folly. 'Bless the Lord and all that is within me, bless the Lord'. Worship and adore His greatness. See the saints in heaven and how they bless and give praise unto Him. Be counted with the righteous who hold Him up. If you worship Him correctly, do it more throughout the day. 'SEven times during the day will I praise Thee'. And if you don't know how, then learn to give thanks, learn to see Him high and lifted up. Recognize His bountiful blessings; read in the Scripture all His attributes and wondrous works; declare Who He is. The great God - He is great and greatly to be praised; This is only one attribute of Who He is, He is grreat. Men take credit for being great, but only the Lord is great. Men are less and the same attriutes of description of God should not be made about man. This is horrible to think about. A boxer, who declares himself, 'the greatess', what shall be say we he meets 'the great God'? Who shall be great then? For when 'the greatess' meets 'the great God', all of his 'greatness' shall be revealed to be filthy rags and undone. and he shall say, 'All my works are nothing, all my accomplishments are poured out as nothing. You are great, and I am nothing'. Do not give the attributes of God unto men. What is it to be great? 'Markedly superior in character and quality; eminent and distinquished; remarkable in magnitude, degree, or effictiveness; notably large in size'. All of these are characteristics of 'the great God'. In each of His features these are true and worthy of adoring. His deeds are great and to be noted and praised. 'Consider His wondrous works'. And all the people answered, Amen and Amen - the people heard Ezra and were in agreement; What is it that the whole assembly responded in one accord? OH, that we might see it again. God's people declaring the 'Amen' to the things of God. Let all the people of the world attest to His glory and honor. Let it all come from geniune hearts crying out for it to be so. 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven'. what moves the people to such a place? It is the hand of God moving and directing them. With lifting up their hands - holy hands offered up to the Lord; The Lord is to be honored and the hands that He created are to be offered up for His service. How rigid and orthodox are the ones who will not lift up hands unto Him. They feel it to charismatic. The people of the Lord do so. What do you do with your hands? ARe they offered up to Him? Are you worshipping Him? And they bowed their heads - hands go up, heads go down; It is amazing to me to listen to worship leaders today, "Now everyone get up and worship". But almost every instance of worship in the Bible and in the movings of God's Spirit in revivals, the people went down. They humlbed themsevles in His Holy Presence. They did not lift themselves up to Him, they bowed to Him. Make sure you know what spirit you are of in worshipping Him. the heart of humility is down. And worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground - the place of true worship is to the ground, faces buried low; There is no room for pride. there is no place for exlatation of self. Bow the knee, lay prostrate, put your face down in the dirt. From dust we came to dust we go, we are nothing, He is everything. Let your heart and soul adore Him and put yourself in the true place of worshipping Him. He is worthy. Note the 24 elders, that at His Name being declared, they throw their crowns unto Him and fall down and worship. If those so close to His Presence do so, what should we do in prayer and worship? LEt our hearts learn humility before Him. Let us worship correctly instead of misguided emotional pleas of self gratification. All to Him I owe, all to Him I give. Is your all unto Him? Let the whole heart, soul and mind worship Him rightly.

Nehemiah 7:64

"These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood."

There was a census being done. Those which had come up out of the captivity, their families and those that were coming in to dwell at the city. Note:that during the days of Solomon they were well over a million men not counting women and chidlren. Now, they are counted less than 50,000. How much death, destruction and waste of life over their sinfulness. And how great shall be our fall, as we continue to provoke the Lord God Almighty. These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy - word study, sought/found; As they would be listing the families tribes, descendants they would make their genealogy tracable to their fathers. The Levites should be able to go back to Levi himself; the children of Judah should be able to follow their family line. Now the reason that they would have to seek for it, is because they lost it. Why search for something? It is lost. 'Seek and ye shall find'. How can you lose your family? They had been through death, captivity, and continued sin. For while they was in Babylon, they were told by the prophet Jeremiah to settle down, for they would be there for 70 years. They were to build homes, and start their families and restore true worship unto the Lord. What did they do of any of these three things? They settled down in Vanity Fair and sinned against the Lord. Within one generation they lost their family heritage. For they mingled with the nations of the world that was there in Babylon. They inner married with the heathen, whom the Lord had said to destroy. They gave their sons and daughters to the sons of hell. They took women into their homes that knew not the Lord. What shall come of this? Within one generation they will be removed from fearing and serving the Lord. Often I will have someone say to me, 'I can win them to the Lord'. They are referring to a lost person and desire to marry them. Usually the lost person, coerces the Christian to fall into sin. And secondly, why are they seeking marriage to an unbeliever; it is all out of lust, not love. For true love, is to Christ first and they would want to please Him first. Such actions only offend and anger Him. And this is just what the children of Israel did. And now returned unto the home land, they seek to be named among the genealogy of Israel. How many shall seek to find their name written in the Lamb's book of life on judgement day? 'but Lord, did we not preach and teach in Your Name'. And what shall He answer? "I never knew you". How many are the thousands and the millions seeking their registry with the church because they was baptized or joined the church, but where is the new birth? 'Unless a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.' But it was not found - how awful the day to be told, all that you thought of yourself is a lie; they could not find it. They wanted it; they needed it; they beleived it, but none of it was there. It could not be proved and therefore cast out.

Nehemiah 6:3

"And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cnanot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?"

Upon doing the work of the Lord it should be expected for the attacks of Satan's forces. Nehemiah's enemies, or the enemies of the Jews had set themselves over the people of Jerusalem. They loved it that the city had fallen and they had been carried away captive. Such is the hate of the enemies of our Lord, they love our demise. Nehemiah had set himself to the work and to restore that which was lost. This was a Divine work of God, that God had breathed into him. He was busy doing it, and the enemies will not be happy at our obedience. So they sent a message to Nehemiah that they wanted to have a meeting with him. 'Let's sit down and talk', this was their request. But in all honesty, was it not to distract and have the work to cease. So we have this verse which is the response to their plan. and I sent messengers unto them - word study, to send; He had received their invite and was responding to it. He could have ignored it and just proceeded on, but he chose to send a reply. So he chose messengers to return word to them. Why the plual, messagner(s) rather than the singular, messenger? Perhaps, for their own protection, there is strength in numbers. But he responds to them and sends forth the message, even though he knew it would not be acceptable to them. The church is sent forth in the same manner today, we are messengers. We have heard the powerful, ordaining, glorious news and are sent forth to bring the message to those that destain it and hate and reject it. Those things matter not, we are sent to delvier the message. 'Preach the Word, in season and out.' Let us not be disobedient messengers, having the message of the King and not go forth to send it. Let us speak that which is right and good. Give the message delivered unto your heart. The angels were sent at Christ birth to bear the message of 'One is born in Bethlehem'; the prophets of old were sent to speakto the children ofIsrael; elijah was sent to speak to King Ahab, 'Hast thou found me, o mine enemy?' But they was faithful in giving the message. Let us be faithful as well. 'So send I you. . .' No rise up and go and declare the message. I am doing a great work - Nehemiah's reply and reason of not being able to meet with them; He had come to rebuild. He had come to restore the broken places. It was a great work from many perspectives. They did not have the numbers; the enemy was all around; fear was overall of it.

Nehemiah 5:19

"Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people."

Nehemiah has worked and labored for the people to be established. When one looks at their efforts and labors, they want to know that it is not for nought. Solomon wrote, 'When I have labored, everything that I have made will go to one that did not labor; this is vantiy.' But Nehemiah was laboring for the city to be rebuilt and the people to be set up. And as he consdiers his works and labors, he wonders what how the Lord perceives them. Think upon me, my God - what are the thoughts of God toward me? Does He remember us? is He able to forget us? He Who is eternal, past present and future cannot forget what is always before Him. He, Who is omniscient cannot forget a person. When Christ was on the cross was His thoughts not of us? When the Spirit of God was brooding upon the deep in Genesis 1:2, was He not thinking upon us? He has always known us and thought upon us. How great are the thoughts of God toward us! He is my God, that is a personal declaration unto all the world. And His thoughts are toward me for His glory. What does God think of you? Do you please Him? Do you love Him? Can not the creation say to Him Who created us, 'All that I am is from Thy merciful hand'? His thoughts are of divine love; they are thoughts of mercy and blessing. How wretched the souls that think the Lord's thoughts unto them are evil continually. Is the Lord's thoughts evil? Can He Who is righteous think unholy thoughts? What of the sinner: His thoughts are not evil, to those that are in need of judgement and correction. Would we say about a parent that corrected their son, 'Don't touch the fire, it will burn you', that they are evil for correcting? Neither is our heavenly Father evil for correcting or judging the sinner who has rebelled against His holy plan of salvation. But every person shall give an account of their deeds and actions. His thoughts are good and pleasant to the soul that gives place to Him in their soul. Meditate on His thoughts toward thee. For good - Nehemiah weighed his actions in the light of God's mercy; Who can impart goodness except He which is good? The Lord was able to see and know all that Nehemiah had done and was doing to better the people and the conditions in Jerusalem. God honors and sees all the actions of man for His glory. And whether we receive good in this life time or not matters not, we shall receive our just rewards.

Nehemiah 4:14

"And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobels, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord; which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethern, your sons, and your duaghters, your wives, and your houses."

The enemy was swelling in their threats and desire to see an end of the work. In all work, the enemy will come to destroy. Remember, Satan is not out to simply maim or wound, he wishes to destroy the very child of God. But in the midst of the fear and threats, Nehemiah rises up and brings a word of hope and encouragement. And I looked - word study, to look; See the problem at hand. Too often the eyes are closed the minds are dull and the heart is hardened and we cannot perceive. Too many things restrict us looking at the matters at hand. Hindsight is wonderful they say, but what about in the heat of the moment. We need those that able to discern and wise, in the moment. Nehemiah had heard the threats and seen the impossiblity of protecting the people from attacks on all sides. His physical eye coudl see the dilemna and he could see his own inability to correct the problem. When it is such, with one eye on the problem, let the spiritual eye look upward. 'Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith'. Let us see Jesus, the mighty God, the blest Holy Spirit. For as we are looking at Him, He is looking at us. What does He see of you? in your mind? in your heart? in your soul? ARe you His completely? And rose up - there is a time to sit and a time to rise up;

Nehemiah 3:5

"And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord."

It would be easy to read of this and say all pitched in and helped. But the sad truth of almost all work is that is done by the few, or the majority but never the all. Here we read of workers of the family of the Tekoites, yet their nobles refused to help and do the work. What is it that compels men, that while work is being done, that they can watch and ridicule or neglect, but never help. For most if they see the work being done, they want to help and jump in and aid. But always there is the small group that puts the work to a hard task of not getting finish. And the work of building the wall was needful and a hard task. The wall, the gates and the doors were to be set. All hands were needed, why did these men refuse? Is this not their mark in history? That which is to be remembered of them forever, 'they put not their necks to to the work of their Lord.' And how many sit in the churces today with the same statement? There is many that sit passively watching, criticizing and waiting for some area ot complain. But their hands will not be dirty for the work. David said, 'I would rather be the doorkeeper in the house of the Lord, than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.' there is a job to be done, it does not matter what it is, it does not matter whether it will gain you credit or praise. Just put your neck to it and do it. Enough time has been wasted and squandered wandering who was going to do it. Rise up and be doing. For do we not know that we shall answer for what we did and defintely answer for what we did not do. How sad to consdier that many souls will answer that they would not help for they thought it beneath them.

Nehemiah 2:4

"Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven."

The king acknowledged the change in Nehemiah as he bore his cup. Nehemiah was the cup bearer and never came into the king's presence sad. But with the sorrow of his heart now open before all, he looked for the mercy of the king. He had trusted in the King of Kings and then he looked to see if God would use the king. Then the king said unto me - the king addressed the condition of Nehemiah; He had heard Nehemiah share of his sorrow. There are those that God puts before us to be a listening ear to our sorrows and joys. Thanks be to God for such that give ear to hear us. And what shall we say to those that are unheard? They have no one to listen to them, and they know not that the Master stands ready to hear them. And blessed more are they that not only hear but 'say unto us'. They speak words of wisdom and direction. They are the mouth piece of the Lord to our hearts and minds. They give good counsel. Now note that not all that give counsel are sent of the Lord. the devil sends his ambassadors as well. We need wisdom and discernment to hear the right words. And what shall we say if we change this word 'king' to 'King'. We have gone from speaking of man to speaking of the KIng of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is King Jesus. And what would our king say to us today, right now? The King speaks and what does He say to your heart. Are you weary? He speaks words of strength and help. Are you seeking? He gives direction. Are you lost? He is able to save. Are you confused? He speaks order. What does the King say? Every Christian should knwo the words of Christ to His chidlren, His church and to the world. So that when such times come we are not speaking simply the words of man but of God Almighty. His words are pure, and undefiled and they possess power. He put speaks the Word and power is ushered forth. For what dost thou make request? the king gives permission to ask of him; And what shall we say of our heavenly King? He has already declared to us, 'Ask, and it shall be given; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened.'

Nehemiah 1:11

"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."

The conclusion of this great prayer of Nehemiah. The prayer has been from the heart and the Lord, through His Holy Spirit has moved him to seek His face and do something about it. O Lord - the calling forth of His great Name; So often today, this phrase is used in taking the Lord's Name in vain. the world does it for they have learned it. But when God's people do it, it is to be abhorred. Some will make excuse that they are praying, they are not. They are simply using a reference without regards to the Holy, Presence of His Name. It is when you mention, 'O Lord', in your mind and heart you see Him, Who is high and lifted up. Just as when you address someone in front of you and call them by name; just as when you speak on the phone and say their proper name. You are entering into His presence and you address Him, ' O Lord'. I beseech thee - the third time used in this prayer; He has been pouring his heart out to the Lord. His final pleading with God is here in this verse. Let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant - a phrase used often in the Bible and one for us; Is it that the Lord cannot hear our prayer? No, He is able to hear all prayers. If He knows the intent of the heart, which is inward is He not also able to hear the words offered up in prayer. He is able! But this phrase shows forth the desperation of the one calling out to the Lord. They cannot be denied, they do not wish to be denied. They are not satisfied with prayer offered and left unheeded. The souls that offers such a prayer knows that the Lord is able, but they also know full well that sin cannot hinder the prayer. 'If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.' It is a solemn thing to consider the relationship of sinner and the holy Lord. Only out of His mercy and grace do we enter in. Now what of you dear child of God? Is your heart desire for the prayer to be offered and heard and answered. Or are you content that the Lord will not miss one word that you speak audibly or silently within your own heart. He is Lord and knows the heart and the intents of the heart. As Nehemiah, may we be so moved to beseech Him to give ear to our desperate conditions today. What conditions? the lost, the evil that is swelling, the church's loss of power, families destroyed and ruined and the addictions that have severed life in many a soul; oh, what a plight around us that leaves us crying out for His ear to hear. And to the prayer of thy servants - it is the plural prayer of those that are likeminded with Nehemiah; He was not the only one praying, others were in agreement with him. It is one of the mysteries how God moves His people to pray for the same thing, yet neve knowing the others. Many a soul prayer warrior becomes discouraged because they do not know about the others. Labor on brethern, you are not alone. The prayers of the servants are offered up for His kingdom and for His will. How wonderful to be a part of such a gathering of the servants of the Lord in prayer. This is the corporate sense of intercession. Individuals do it and many labor alone; but the corporate body has its members laboring together. ARe you active in this? Do you know what it is to be pray in such a manner with others? With many in the church neglecting the power of prayer, it is needful for us to join together. Let us be active in praying in agreement as touching the things of God. who desire to fear thy name - the beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord; These ones that Nehemiah is referring to fear the Lord. PErhaps he had joined them in worship or fellwoship and learned of their prayers about the city of JErusalem to be restored and the people to inhabitat the land again. Oh, how awful the millions who give no place to fear the God that holds their breath in His hands. It is foolish to think that you can live life and not have to answer for the sins of this life. but no fear of such things blinds men to continue on in their darkness and lostness. FEar Him, for He is God Almighty, make of heaven and earth and His ways are marvellous and wonderful. I will fear Him, for I am unholy and HE is holy; He is just and I am perverse; He is perfect and I am marred by sins of my flesh. FEar Him, for in the shadow of His glory shekinah we are laid low in the dust of our unworthiness and vileness. And prosper, I pray thee, they servant this day - this is the day that He has made what shall we pray for it? Many a false preacher will take the first two words here, 'And Prosper' and ask for that very thing. Others pray a prayer just to make through the day. They have no expectations nor desires.

Nehemiah 1:10

"Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand."

Nehemiah continues with affirmation of that which the Lord had promised and spoken. the prayer continues: Now these are thy servants - chosen by the Lord for His work; We are not our own; but we have been bought with a price. His precious blood and redeeming grace has found us. He is the Master and we His servants. I am not bent on serving myself, but what is the will of the Lord. He has invested in us with His mighty love and wonderful ways. 'Whom have in heaven but Thee; and there is none upon the earth besides Thee to me.' Now let us know the proper place of the servant. The servant does not tell His Master, but He tells the servant. He speaks, and we obey. It seems the servants of the Lord have gotten that mixed up today. They feel they know better than the Lord and that they can put in their tow cents. thy people - He has made them to be a people under His banner; We have become that which He desired, a people unto Him. We are not a people of this world, but found within Him. OUr citizenship is of heaven and it is eternal. A people that have above them the Name above all Names, the Name of Jesus. We become a people, becasue He blows upon us His holy desire. Jacob went down into Egypt with 70 and come up out with over 600,000 men, and they were a people unto Him. The church today is spread across the earth and they are a people unto Him. the numerical value does not matter, we are a people unto Him for His glory. All around the people are numbered with this world, they are servants to hell. How much comfort to know Whose we are , 'Thy people'. HE cares for His own, He loves them, and He will protect and provide for them. Whom Thou hast redeemed - the great gift of redemption is from the Lord; How shall they be saved? Hearing of the Word. Redemption from what? from our lost estate in sin and the flesh; 'therefore old things are past away and behold, all things become new'. Redeemed to what? A new creature in Christ, 'To as many as would receive Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God'. by the hand of God is this redemption done, man cannot do it. Unless the Son draws them they will not be saved. 'If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me'. The soul that is saved should be rejoice in their redemption and pray for those and testify to those that have not been redeemed. Read or sing the old hymn, 'Redeemed, How I love to Proclaim It'. by Thy great power - power proceeds from the very throne of God; What does man know of power? In all their inventions, can they set the stars, can they create everlasting gravity, can they form man out of the dust of the earth? "Ah, Lord God behold Thou hast created the heaven and the earth by Thy great power; and there is nothing too hard for Thee." In all their ways they seek for power, but power is in the Lord alone. His great power is what is executed to fulfill His desired end. Can we not see His power in our life? What He has done to reach us? to redeem us? He has made a way in the paths of life for those He loves. How great are His ways, past finding out. 'Is the Lord's hand waxed short, that He cannot save?' 'Is there anything too hard for the Lord?' The power of God is ushered forth for redemption and the saving of His people. Stand still and see His great power. Glorify Him, Who is all powerful and there is none that compares to Him. And by Thy strong hand - the hand of the Lord is outstretched on behalf of His people; sorrow and sin does embrace the hosts of mankind. What hope or deliverance is their from the bond of sin? Which is stronger, sin or the Strong hand of the Lord? Look unto the plight of mankind and all that they fight against. There is no refuge apart from He Who is mighty to save. When God stretches forth His right hand for favor or for wrath, who is able to stop it? There is no strength in this universe able to thwart the strong hand of the Lord. But yet how very few see and believe in this. They see the problem, the sickness, the lostness and they see it to great and nothing can help. How many souls are crying out today for help? They look up to the Lord but then go into the world for solace. Look at the church and Christian lives today, which is greater sin in the believer or the strong hand of the Lord? Yet, Christians use the excuse, "I tried to quit"; "I tried to stop". they speak the truth, "I tried. . ." deliverance is not in 'I' but in the strong hand of the Lord Who is able to lift us up and deliver us from all evil. Did Jesus not pray for us in that manner? 'Deliver them from evil or (the evil on).' He is able to do this and much more. Oh, that God's people would believe again in the power of His strong hand. Nehemiah was exerting his faith in the Lord and what He had done, what He had promised and what He would do. 'For there is nothing too hard for Him.' Do you believe?

Nehemiah 1:9

"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 palce that I ahve chosen to set my name there."

Nehemiah now concludes his plea started in verse 9. The Lord declared that if the people sinned, He would scatter them out of the promised land. they sinned, and He removed them. First, Israel was removed, then Judah was removed. But God declared that in the midst of their punishment they would turn back to Him, He would restore them. Nehemiah is invoking the promise of God's mercy upon His people in this verse. but if ye turn unto Me - turn, meaning they have turned away; The wrong's of their choices must be turned around and made right. they have turned their back unto Him. What has He done to deserve such treatment? Nothing; the folly is on the person or people that turns their back unto the Lord. And in the course of events, God's Spirit provokes them that they are heading in the wrong direction and need to turn around. How far can you go before you realize you are heading in the wrong direction? The son in the 'prodigal story', while feeding the hogs, it says, 'Came to himself'. somewhere along the way the Spirit prompts us to see our present condition and we are given a moment to choose to return and walk away from our present course of action. Many have shrugged it off and proceeded onward toward the black pit. But the child of God, out of God's mercy steers us back. With great mercies He will draw us. 'Turn unto Him, for we have turned away from Him'. there is no hope or salvation apart from Him. And keep My commandments - obedience is required; In verse 7, Nehemiah declares the wrong, the sin, they had not kept His commandments. It is not optional on this, but necessary. Jesus declared, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments'. Let our obedience be our witness of Who's we are. Let us adhere unto all that the Lord has commanded. How can we know all that He has commanded? Study to shew thyself approved unto Him. Upon being in the Word you will read and know that which He has commanded. Your obedience unto these things is your choice to obey. Whether great or small, obey Him. The Lord sees our actions and responses, may they be pleasing in His sight. 'This is My people and they have obeyed and kept My commandments.' And do them - the progressive state of obedience; I think far too many Christians think that keeping His commands a few times or sporadically is supposed to keep God satisified that we are making headway. But to 'do them' is to follow and obey consistently. It is the active choice of each day to know and do all that He has said. Upon this we can look at the wayward stance of many Christians and the church. ARe we consistent with prayer? are we consistent with witnessing? are we consistent with the Word? WE are as the wind, to do it for a season and then on to the next thing. But show me the child of God that is daily adhereing to His commands and and doing them I will show you a child that has joy and peace overflowing. Break the commands and the joy is running out of broken cisterns. Though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven - the punishment upon the rebellious people; They will be cast out and scattered abroad and they were. They chose to sin agains the Lord and God had warned of such decisions. 'Be sure your sin will find you out.' And Is the Lord not able to cast out to the uttermost? He draws them in and cast them out. He brings salvation to them from the uttermost and will send the wicked into the place of uttermost in punishment. Cast out of His presence; cast out of His hand; cast out of His shining light and mercy. There is no hope to those that are cast out. There is no redemption in the land uttermost. Oh, that we would see the uttermost land and know full well why souls are cast out. they are cast out of their choice of disobedience. We stand in the way to block, to warn, to advise, turn away from these choices and chose life. Yet will I gather them from thence - see the mercy of Him Who is able to gather; As much as He will cast out to the uttermost, He is able to redeem them from the uttermost. And when God sets His desire to gather, who is there in the heavens or earth that cannot resist Him? There is none. His desrie is toward His people; He wishes to gather us unto Him. And in the final judgement He will gather His sheep unto His blessed place. But before that time comes, let us know that each day, the Lord is willing to gather. There is no wayward sinner, backslider or unfaithful servant that the Lord is not willing to gather. He waits with outstretch hands to draw them unto Him. As a father reaches out to embrace and draw his child into his hug for embracing, so the our heavenly Father gathers His own unto Himself. Too often the children of God think they have been forsaken, left to themselves, deserted and abandoned. They feel this because their earthly life has been that testimony, people in their life have failed them. Do not compare man with God, nor God with man. He has said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.' He will gather us from whereever we are, 'from thence'. There is no place that the Lord will not reach down in mercy and bestow His grace and Divine love. And will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there - the Lord will perform all that He desires toward His own; The Lord had cast them forth and would gather the remnant together and bring them back to the promised land. His covenant was with Abraham and even though the chidlren of Irsael broke it, the Lord would restore them. A place prepared for them to dwell and worship Him. The place of Jerusalem, where He designed through Abraham, David and Solomon that He would dwell in the house of the Lord and He would be their God and they would be His people. The Lord established it. He has established to bring the church to their desired end as well. "I go to prepare a place for you'. And there He will gather us together and we shall be with Him forever. He has set His throne in the midst and His Name is adored and honored in the new heaven and the new Jerusalem. ARe you ready for that gathering? To you believe that He is able to do all that He has said? Then lift your eyes, for your salvation draweth nigh.

Nehemiah 1:8

"Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:"

The prayer continues to God. Remember - let the things of the past come back and recapture our minds and hearts; Nehemiah is not simply telling the Lord to remember, he knows full well that God cannot forget. He is reminding the Lord of His faithful word to His people. It is the same that we should do before the Lord. Remember what the Lord has said. Remember what He has promised. Remember what He has done and will do. These are things that should come before us and be rehearsed, lest we forget. For if a people is not remembering the good things of the Lord, they are forgetting. How much have we lost, seeing that we would not remember? If you ask about a childhood memory, 'do you remember?' the memory is a marvellous thing, but for many they cannot remember some details. Some hold onto memories that meant somethign to them, but the other person, it meant nothing and so they let it go. Sometimes our memories need jogged to remember, and once the details are being told, we remember. To avoid the sin of forgetting, rehearse it often. Your testiony is precious, rehearse it often lest you forget the details of it. the Lord does not forget, but there is no sin in reminding Him of what He has done and what He has promised. I beseech thee - this is the second of three times, Nehemiah uses this phrase; There is much passion in his prayer, and he is begging of God for his heart desire. Are you beseeching Him? Is there an earnest pleading in your prayers? To beseech is to pour yourself out in the request made before the Lord. the word that thou commandedst they servant Moses - the command of God to Moses for the people; Found within the first five books of the Bible is the commands of God to Moses. Nehemiah is setting up his prayer with God's own commands. but it is not the whole that he is referring to but he is pulling out a verse that reveals their plight. The whole of the counsel of the Lord is for our life. The word that the Lord has commanded is profitable for reproof, rebuke, teaching, instruction and edification. Let the counsel of the Lord guide, enable, profit our walk and testimony in this life. The Lord's word is sure and steafast and He has spoken unto men of old that it should be recorded and preserved for our benefit. But what good does the word that the Lord commanded profit His people if they do not read, memorize and study it? Let us give place to these treasures and hold fast to that that has been given. Saying, If ye transgress - Nehemiah now rehearses the words of the Lord back unto Him; That which has been said of the Lord, should be adhered to and taken notice. He has said it, does it not matter to His Own people? LEt us be of the mind set, 'If the Lord said it, then I will give place to it.' 'If', it does nto say 'when you transgress, but 'if you transgress'. 'All have sinned and come short of the glory of God'; but let it not be assumed that we must 'conintue in sin'. Sin is a choice of our own accord. 'If you transgress', then we have chosen to fail the Lord. Let not any child of God say, 'I will always sin and that is just the way it is'. This is in error against many Scriptures, "if" you sin. Let us know the Word: 'thou shalt call His Name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins'; 'now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling'; 'Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect'. Do not choose to sin agains the Lord. But the word here is 'transgress', which is to make void the law in our actions and choices. The word has been established, the commands uttered, the statutes shared and the law presented. 'To him that knoweth to do good and doest it not, to him it is sin'. And when one knows and chooses to sin, it is trangressing the law. Does our actions and choices say this of us? Has not the church transgressed the Lord's word? Have we not sinned against Him with our self made plans, unbelief, unfaithfulness and neglect? We have transgressed the word of the Lord. It would do well for us to quit trying to explain it away and find excuses and just admit it. The world trangresses against Him, but they are in ignorance. This does not excuse them, but it does show the contrast between the lost and the saved. But God's own people are without excuse, for we have His Word before us. Yet, we have still transgressed His commands. We have made the open choice to defy our heavenly Father and Lord. How great is our sin! I will scatter you abroad among the nations - He Who brings in can scatter out; the punishment for their transgression was to be removed from the promised land. He gave it unto them, and He can take it away from them. they were condemned becasue of their sin and God's judgement would meet them. How many times they were sent into captivity because of their transgressions. We would do well to learn from them. That if God removed His own people from the promsied land, can it not happen unto us? Yeas, surely if our sin is found out and we are weighed in the balances, we can be removed. But let us also consider the scatter out of the first church. When the persecution was great in Jerusalem and Judea, the church spread abroad, and the Gospel was carried with them. Even Daniel who was of those that were scattered, did he not bear a witness of the Lord unto the kings of Babylon and Persia. If the Lord desries to scatter us let us bear our witness for Him. But let us not be scattered because we transgressed.

Nehemiah 1:7

"We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgements, which thou commandest thy servant Moses."

Now in verse 5, Nehemiah is making reference to those that do keep His commands. But yet here in this verse, which is a confession verse, he makes it clear in what the problem is. The people have not kept the commands of the Lord. In the previous verse, he has confessed to all having sinned. We have dealt very corruptuly against Thee - the stated issue at hand; The sin of the our lives separates us from Him. We, is the plural pronoun, including all. It cannot just be 'them' or 'you'. Ownership is necessary for the church and national sinfulness. Daniel prayed, 'we'. And so let us recognize our sin. What is it? WE have dealt very corrruptly against Thee. 'Very' puts a exclamation point on the corruption. Has not each generation gotten more wicked? Is evil not spiraling out of control? having heard and known the ways fo the Lord we have done very corruptly against His ways. 'and be sure your sin will find you out'. He has told us to go up, we went down; He told us to move forward, we went back; He called it good, we called it bad; He spoke, we didn't listen; He commanded, we disobeyd. this is the consistency of our dealings with the Lord. How can such corruption be purged from us? It is a hard way in which we must go. And all these things are a personal attack against Him. Against the Lord Who gave us life, saved us and blest us, we have done these things knowingly against Him. And have not kept the commandments - as true a statement as can be made of the ways of man; The command of the Lord is clear and precise, and yet man has not kept it. To Adam and Eve, 'Don't touch the tree'; a clear command, and what did they do, they touched and ate. the commands of God are obvious. Our reaction is clear as well, we will not do it. The keeping of the commands is a matter of the heart. For if the heart does not will to do it, it iwll not matter. Many a relgious man has kept the commandments of the Lord, every one and been that much more a child of hell for their religious orothodxy. The heart wants to keep the commands from love for Christ. 'If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.' Do you love Him? ARe you showing your love by keeping HIs commands? For if you are not keeping His commands, then it is only natural to ask, 'do you love Him?' If a wife committed adultery would it not be natural for the husband to ask, 'Do you love me?' And so it is the same with the church today. Do you love Jesus? Then why are you nto keepign His commands. And if you are keeping His comamnd, then there is evidence of your love for Him. But if there be disobedience, then confess, repent and restore your servcie to Him. Nor the statues - the keeping of His laws; Do we know the law? Do we know the clear teachings of His statutes? Jesus would gather the people together and teach theme the ways of God. Found within our midst today is the Bible, the statutes of our Lord. Study it, memorize it and read it so that we might know the truth and the truth will set us free. Here confession is being made that they did not keep His commands, nor His statutes. they did not teach them, they did not apply them and thus the people did sin. Part of the problem today, is that the people do not know and they openly sin out of ignorance. Now, they are still resposnible for they have enough Bibles, only they do not make time to study. But they will answer on judgement day for it. 'Lord, we did not know,' many a person will say; and the Lord will answer, "I gave you My Word and you always had it before you. You simpoly chose not to read it.' Ignorance of the law is no excuse, says the law of this land; and it is the same for the church. Teach, know, meditate on the statutes of the Lord. Nor the judgments - the balancings of right and wrong; 'Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?' Yes, He will. His judgments are given as that which proceeds from His Own holy and righteouse nature. He sends forth His statutes unto His people; He declares the order. And depended on how one keeps the judgements, it is to be determined by the Lord whether they receive just rewards or just punishment. The chidlren of Israel had forsaken the ways of the Lord and the Lord kept His word that He would deliver them into captivity and not protect them anymore. He is keeper of His Own word. which thou commandedst thy servant Moses - Nehemiah begins with the law being given to Moses; As the chidlren of Israel became a people, a nation, they needed structure and order. This is found in laws. And when they came up out of Egypt, God made them stay at Mt. Sinai and there He imparted unto Moses the commandements. They were to be kept, they were to be adhered to. He recognizes the relationship of Moses, 'thy servant'. Moses was faithful to execute his office as leader of the people and to tell them all the whole counsel of the Lord. Are you the servant of the Lord? He has given you the commandments of His heart, have you declared them to the people? Are you walking in the Word of His command? Many a disobedient child of God has lost favor in His eyes because of their rebellion and sin. Let us be the people the Lord wants us to be and keep the whole law, do His statutes, His commandments and gvie place to worship and adore Him. LEt us be the servants of the Lord in great and small things for His glory.

Nehemiah 1:6

"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."

As he continues: Let thine ear now be attentive - the description of His parts active in the prayer; Consider the active parts of the body in prayer - heart, souls, mind, tongue, hands, body poistion, ears, eyes, nose, hair, everything in an effectual prayer is involved. He is describing the ear of God. What can the Lord hear? Is there anything that He cannot hear? 'I will not hear you, for your sins have separated us'. Being sure that the Lord hearing us is very important. Are we able to make sure of that? Yes, How? Search your hearts and see if there be any iniquity in us. 'If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.' To know that the Lord is attentive to us means that we abide in Him. We are not separated by sin, bu walking in holiness of Him. He speaks, and we hear Him; we speak, and He hears us. There is no misunderstanding between us and Him, we are one in Him. Oh, how few there are that has an unbroken spirit of fellowship with the Lord. They have unbelief, sin is present or lack of time before Him and they miss the assurance of knowing that He is attentive to their prayer. Understand that He stands ready to hear, but any doubt, sin that may hinder your prayer and be at one with Him. And thine eyes open - he continues with the parts of God indirect relationship with our prayer life; 'Let us make man in our image', said the Lord in the beginning of Genesis. Our bodily features must mirror His, mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. These are the facial features and they apply themselves in the work of prayer. Humility - 'I will not lift up my eyes unto Thee, O Lord'; 'Looking unto Jesus. . .'; 'Shew me Thy glory'. These all are in relationship to the eyes to behold. 'For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout all the earth to shew Himself strong. . .' Does He see you? Does He see what is in your heart? what is in your thoughts? Yea, He sees it all. There is nothing hid from Him except that which He limiits Himself to seeing. What does He limit? The same as His hearing, 'I will not look on sin'. 'I turn away My eyes from beholding your iniquity.' Let your fatih be assured that He is looking upon you and hears you. this will be your beginning in your prayer. For why go any further if you do not have confidence that He is present? Cast away your unbelief and let your heart and soul be resolved that God hears and sees us. That thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant - having gained His attention to the words and supplication his certainty rises; How many walk away from prayer time with attitude, 'I don't know if He heard me or not?' We fail in our walk of faith with such attitudes. If we know God, that He is able to see and hear all things, then He may hear my prayer. Why? For I am His servant. We have a relationship; He loved, died for me, and saved me. I am His, and He is mine. But I do not offend Him and demand for Him to hear me, His love for me compels Him to hear me. Nehemiah used the word, 'that thou mayest hear'; it is the attitude of permission. Do you just barge into a house of a friend, or do you announce yourself, or knock and ask permission? There be some places that they tell you, 'Just come on in.' But that is not right, and neither is it right to enter the presence of the Lord so rashly and brazenly. Ask for permission, 'may I enter?' He is not like the Esther's king, who had to outstretch the sceptre or it was your life. He is the Lord, that loved us and died for us while we was yet in sin. HE has made a way for us to enter boldly before His throne. But He is the Lord and we His servants. 'May you hear us O Lord, for we are Yours.' Which I pray before thee now - the declaration of his actions; Nehemiah is making an empassioned prayer before the Lord God. "Here is my prayer, O Lord'. Hezekiah went up before the Lord and stretch out the letter from the king of Assyria. Our prayer time is stretching out the desires of our heart before Him, the needs, the requests and the petitions. 'Let my prayer be acceptable before Thee now, O Lord'. 'Now' - it is the appointed time; 'Today is the day of salvation, and now is the accepting time'. Why give regard to pray tomorrow? It has not come yet; why brag that you prayed yesterday? It holds not merit for today. There is the now. 'I give myself unto prayer', when? Now. Pray now, while the Spirit is speaking and moving. give place to it and let not the moment pass. And I am before Thee, the holy throne. You are high and lifted up, exalted. there is the Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit; there is the four beasts that encircle the throne; there is the 24 elders; there is the seven spirits before Him. These are things that are 'before Thee'. Think upon these things. Day and night - the continous prayer offered until it is obtained; 'Morning, noon and night, will I lift up my prayer unto Thee'. Daniel prayed three times a day. the reference is used over and over, 'morning and evening' in making the oblation and sacrifice. The Lord does not sleep, and the prayer offered in the early morning is just as good as the night prayer. Let both be utilized for our walk with Him. When prayer is offered for something specfic, it occupies the mind and heart, there is much need to rehearse it before the Lord. Prayer is given throughout the day and into the night. Tragedy provokes prayer day and night. If one is in the intensive care unit, a vigilant fmaily member will offer prayer day and night for their health. How sporadic the prayers over the lost, over the families and the needs of our present life. LEarn a lesson from this, my beloved; offer prayer day and night. Begin with Him and end the day with Him. Let Him be thy Alpha and Omega,the beginning and the end; let Him be thy first thought and thy last thought in a day. For the children of Israel thy servants - who the supplication is made for; And we would do well to look upon the children of our people and pray for them, for they are perishing. Look upon thy own household, your family members and name them one by one, praying over them. Go out into the world and see the families of man, gathered for everything under the sun and know they have an eternal destination. But see, His servants, the church and know they were redeemed for a reason and in need of special prayer. Pray for the children of Israel, which is the church, and give specific prayers for them. They are in need. What are you praying for the church? Are you praying for the persecuted church? ARe you praying for the boundaries to be enlarged? ARe you praying for strength? for restoring of holiness? to be Spirit filled? Pray for the children of the Lord. And Confess the sins of the children of Israel - confession of sins, naming the iniquites of the people; As Nehemiah is making request, specifically for the children of Israel, he knows full well of their iniquity. And the sin must be dealt with before the petitions and supplications. 'If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me.' so let us make confession for the sins. what sins? Can we just simply ask for forgivenss over all sins and move on? No, we must identify and see the specific sins that hinder us and cause our fall. See the sin of self - pride, anger, emotions, unbelief, worldlyness, the weakness of the flesh, habits, thoughts, intents of the heart, look upn these things and see the folly of man toward a holy God. But the confession is for the sins of the chidlren of Israel, or for us, the sins of the church - unbelief, unfatihfulness, lusts, pride, selfish desires and amibitions, lack of worship, lack of prayer, neglect of the Bible. Name the sins, see the sins and confess them for they have sorely wounded us by quenching and grieving the Holy Spirit of God. A blanket effect of one short sentence asking for forgiveness will not suffice for the iniquity at hand. Which we have sinned against Thee - the acknowledgement of all have sinned and come short; Nehemiah uses the pronoun, 'we', to include himself in the sins fo the people. Many of the other saints know their own folly and align themselves with the 'we'. Saints, such as Daniel and Ezra. the stated fact of the matter is that 'we' have sinned against Him. We have failed; we have come short; we have allowed for Satan to gain a foot hold. It is wrong for the church to look at the lost world and say, 'They have sinned'; when we are just as guilty. Let not your pride and hard heart keep you from recognizing the sinful nature in all of us. Many a crooked judge will look down the nose at the wicked and accuse them and forget about the mote that is in their own eye. Both I and my father's house have sinned - the personal confession and the intercession on behalf of his home; Taking a direct responsiblity for one's own action is needful. The person that always cast blame on someone else and never takes their own punishment is in folly. But we see our present day and we know that it is I and my father's house that is to blame. Found within my own home is the sin of unbelief. My own wretchedness swells before my eyes and I am ashamed. For I know what I have done and not done, and I know my own and their sin. Let us cry out to Him Who is mericful not to strike us in His wrath but to have mercy upon our souls. We have sinned and we are found guilty before the righteous judge. What shall He do? May He speak favor to His people. 'Even though my house be not right with the Lord, He hath made with me a sure eternal covenant.' upon this I will cling, for He cannot lie.

Nehemiah 1:5

"And 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:"

We have seen the report given to Nehmiah; we have seen his response offered from the news, now let us hear his pray offered up. I beseech thee - it is a pleading prayer; It is imploring for the Father to hear and answer. There is a pressing need, there is a care and immediate attention is needed. How frivolous are prayers that do not beseech the heavenly Father. It is the personal prayer, 'I'. 'I' am doing this, this is what is on my heart. LEt us not desire for others to do what the Lord lays on our hearts. 'I' will arise and pray. 'But I give myself unto prayer. . .' David Brainerd, "Blessed be God, that I may pray." 'I' am the one beseeching Him, for there is much all around me that requires His mighty hand. Let us see the need and respond with beseeching before His holy throne. Why will God's own people not 'beseech' Him? Why will they run to someone else and forget that He and He alone is the only One Who can help? O Lord God of heaven - He is the God of heaven and earth; But Nehemiah is exalting his place in the heavnes. He is pointing out the fact that there is no other god but He that sits on the throne. He, alone is the only God in heaven. The God that rules heaven rules all. 'There is no other god but Thee'. God even declared that He made search if there was any other god and there is not; He is God of heaven and earth. the great and terrible God - "He is great and greatly to be praised"; Two attributes that describe Him to us. No doubt, we do not have any problem with great and the understanding of that; but terrible, the King James will distort our meaing if we do not give weight to it. Terrible to us today, is in reference to bad, awful or horrible; but here in the old King James it is related to awesome, mighty and glorious. It is my practice to remember Who I am beginning to pray to and I use this verse. (Also, found in Nehemiah 4:14) It is necessary that we focus on the Lord and Who He is, this will help in knowing that there is nothing beyond Him. No problem, difficutly, situation is greater than the Lord becauase of the very fact, He is great and terrible in all His ways. If this is not enough for thy faith, then answer the question, 'How is He great?' 'How is He terrible?' Is there evidence? He set the moon, sun and stars; He holds my breath, He created all things, He sees all things and He knows all things. NOw you are worshipping Him, Who is great and terrible. Still not enough, then go and mention the mighty miracles of His hand and see the wondrous works of Him. that keepeth covenant - He cannot lie; His word and His promises are sure and steadfast. The Lord made the promise and Israel was to keep their part. They failed to do so and thus they broke the agreement of the covenant. WE are offrered the same, a covenant, a better covenant than that of the old. OUr covenant is in Christ, 'You abide in Me, and I in you.' Let us understand the covenant of the Lord unto His people and that it is He that is able to keep it. 'Now unto Him Who is able to keep us'. And mercy for them that love him - what would we be without His mercy; That mercy imparted unto us, brings us to love Him. The soul that does not recognize God's mercy, has little love for Him. The soul that does recognize His mercy, loves Him completely. It is the gift of God upon us and for us. Count how many times He has imparted it unto us and continues to hover over us and in us. The God that keeps covenant, imparts His mercy unto those that love Him with the whole heart. Let our hearts be right with Him and receive His bountiful blessings. And observe his commandments - the reference is to those that are of God's people; Keeping the commandments of God is the needful part of any child of God. Nehemiah is recognizing the traits of one that has entered the covenant, they love Him and are keepers of His ways. This is evidence enough to know where your heart lies, where the church lies. Are we keeping His commandments? 'If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.' The obedeince is point indeed of where we are in our spiritual walk. To the soul that is found in disobedience repeatedly, they are not of Him. The sorrow in a child of God is over breaking one commandment. They knwo their fault and they work out godly sorrow unto repentance. We mark our path with obedience unto Him. This it the true test of Whose we are. How is it with you?

Nehemiah 1:4

"and it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mounred certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,"

In verse 3, we see the report and the news that is brought about Jerusalem. In verses 4 - 11, Nehemiah begins and cries out to the Lord. And it came to pass - o word study, to come; almost 400 times in the Bible is this phrase used; Coupling verse 3, with the news he received, with this verse, something is getting ready to happen. His response is provoked by that which had happened in verse 3. when I heard these words - the Lord gives us an ear to hear and a mind to perceive; People can speak, but they may never be heard. Many a sermon has been preached and the truth told, but there was no ears to hear. 'Having ears to hear, but cannot hear.' Why? They have closed their ability to do so. the hearing of the words should provoke some action. Then why can the Word of God be read or heard and no response follow? why can someone pray and no response follow? Why hear and no touch upon their life? Are you listening? Can you hear? 'Hear what the Spirit says unto the churches'. A prayer for ears to hear is a good beginning. A part of 'be still and know that I am God has to deal directly with be able to hear from the Lord. when was the last time you heard God speak? Has it been becasue you have been too busy? Have you never heard His voice? It is has to do with your ability to discern His voice versus your own voice or the voice of the world. that I sat down and wept - news has come of disaster and here is his response; Your legs are taken right out from underneath of you.
So shocked, so moved that there was nothing else to do but collapse. So he sat down, and the news was so horrific to him, he wept. What was the last news that you got when you wept? some people weep over nothing, other never weep. the news of Jerusalem sitting in desolation moved him, a godly move. God so stirs His people for such times and for such reasons. Tears express the sorrow from within and we reach out to to show our concern. the eye that nevers weeps misses out on something in this life. Isn't it a contrast that in heaven there will be no tears. And yet, in hell there is weeping and wailing. and mourned certain days - it could not be dealt with in a few moments; It had to be processed and mourning over days was his way of dealing with it. Death in a family brings sorrow for days, if not weeks. this is a lingering state of emotional turmoil upon the person. they cannot grasp it, they cannot process the events. Does eternity do this to you? Do you mourn over the sins of your life and those around you? This is a daily process for the Lord's intercessors. For they see in ways that most cannot. So note, that even though we can verses 3 - 11 in a minute, the events unfolding of this prayer are from days of mourning and anguish. And fasted - the sorrow made him withdraw from food and perhaps water; A fast is the work of affliction on our life and in our soul. WE fast to gain something. the art of fasting is a lost art among the church today. But there is a renewed call to fast for the church, for revival, for souls and for the sins of our land. Let the anguish over God's judgment be upon our hearts and minds and we shall know what it is to call for a fast. See the indepthness that Nehemiah is going to understand all of this. God is working on him to bring him to a place of decision for Him. And prayed before the God of heaven - prayer was wanton to be made; Where else to go but before the Lord with such news and reflection. Oh, how the Lord desires for His people to pray. How little we really pray unto Him. Let the anguish, the mourning, the pain, the hurt all of it begathered together and cast upon the Lord. "Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you." Let the cry go up and the prayer be offered, there is a need. If we would only learn t pray without asking amiss, and being selfish. And pray for the will of the Father to be done. Nehemiah wept; he fasted; and he approached the Lord with his desire in prayer. And oh, what a prayer he offers up. May we learn from him as we cotinue.

Nehemiah 1:3

"And they said unto me, 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 therof are burned with fire."

This is the beginning of one of the great prayers in the Bible. Nehemiah is the cupbearer for the king, in shushan the palace. The year is around 446 BC. This tells us that Judah was carried away around 603 BC, when the temple was destroyed and the walls of JErusalem was torn down. The children of Israel had to spend 70 years in captivity, which would have been around 530 BC. So coming up on an 100 years after that this is taking place. The Lord is moving His people toward reestablishing the work and worhsip in JErusalem. It is not an accidnet that Nehemiah is where he is. The report comes to him of the destruction in Jerusalem. Now note the destruction: the wall and the gates. But the first message is of the people: The remnant that are left . . are in great affliction and reproach - the people of the Lord are afflicted, who will arise and help them? Note the term used to describe them: remnant - for they were during the days of Solomon over a million men not counting women and children. And those that came up out of Babylon back to Judah, were fewer than 45,000. Their sins destoryed over 900,000 men, not counting women and children. We must understand the high costs of sin. It affects everyone around. ONly a remnant is left for God's Divine purpose. The second term used to describe them, province - they were not even acknowledged as a nation or a people, but a province, a region; In the destruction you lose all recognition of who you are as a people. they were captives, slaves, bondmen, servants, but not a nation, not an empire. And this small body is afflicted and reproached by those that are in authority. Their sins has placed them here. Their iniquity has been found out. If the church does not awaken and repent and restore holiness, we too will be in the same place. All these things were foretold by the prophets, and they were given multiple times to repent and turn away, but they would not. So for us, our time is running out. Even today, we are not called 'the church', but usually we are called, 'those people'. It is that we already have lost our specific identity. WE are removed from having a voice of reason and wisdom and we have been replaced by lusts and pride being born of self. And because they have no power, they are mistreated and abused by the leaders of that area. These that are in power there are the enemies of Israel. God spoke and warned the people, that their enemies would rule over them, and so it is. The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down - the physical assault on the people was only the beginning; With no wall up, there is no protection and the people are left open for threats and attacks. The wall being built secures something mentally and as well as identifying of there place of a safe haven. Nehemiah will rebuild the wall and the significance of that is important. But the wall being torn down left the people as a reproach for their sins. See the decline fo the church today, know the situation that we are in is the same. We are a reproach before the eyes of this world. A void, powerless body without faith, without holiness and no word for this present age. God is able to rebuild it, to make us again to be His glory and His arm of outreach for the lost and the dying. Make it your prayer, 'Restore the wall, O Lord'. the gates thereof, are burned with fire - the Babylonians had destroyed everything of security; No gates, no protection to keep out the enemy. The safeguards are removed and burned with fire. what of the church? The safeguards of God's Divine protection are removed. The enemy comes in and out with no problem. The safeguards of faith, righteousness and holiness have been removed for a long time. Set up the walls and the gates can be again used. the things of God are for direct purposes, and we should give heed to such things that for centuries blest the church. And what of the gates of your own heart? Do you recognize sin? the temptations of Satan? Are you safe from the allures of this world? Keep the safeguards of your mind, heart, tongue, emotins and let your life be found within Him. 'they made me keeper of the vineyard but my own vineyard I did not keep.' This is the testimony of many a fallen child of God. They would not safeguard and the enemy came in and did its best work of destroying them. Brought down in a fell swoop. Pray and cover yourself in His strength. LEan not into thy own understadning, but in all thy ways acknoweldge Him and He will keep you. 'For He is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before His Presence.'

Ezra 10:11

"Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives."

The sin that is being dealt with here is the sin of the people marrying other nations. Moses had given them the law that they were only to marry within their own tribe. They were not to marry, especially outside of the children of Israel. And yet we read that the sins began early as they sought to fulfill their lusts with strange women of the nations that God sought to destroy. The same claim is issued today. How many families are a mess over the fact that believers have married unbelievers. The cases where a believer has seen their loved saved is so rare. The hardship, and the children's rearing is enough to weep over the damage done to divided homes. And with all the divorce today in the church and outside the church, only an act of God could fix the mess of families today. They are married two or three times and that many mixed chidlren and step partents by half a dozen. Who could make order out of such chaos? Only the Lord. I wouldn't even know where to begin with such things. Yet the captives from Babylon are contaminated and are filled with iniquity against the Lord. Ezra instructs them how to make the wrongs right. It is no easy rememdy. Now therefore make confress unto the Lord God of your fathers - begin with confession; They were to own up to the fact of their transgression. It is a hard thing today to get people to where they confess their wrongs. they see themselves justified , happy and content in their sins. Unless they see eternity and know the judgements of the Lord against such sins, they will see no reason as to why to change. confession is not simply saying words of 'forgive me'. It is the ocndition of a contrite heart, a broken heart over their failure, iniquity and cost upon Christ for our sins. It drives a soul to seek the Savior for forgiveness. Anyone that can confess their sins and return to them without sorrow, is not a Christian. and do his pleasure - the things that please the Lord, what a thought to meditate on; 'Without faith it is impossible to please God'. The labor of life for so many is that for pleasure for themselves. Pleasure for God is faith, holiness, walking and abiding in Him. His Pleasure is about Him, not us. Cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light and let God have His perfect will to be done in us and through us. And when He has such a yielding vessel, His pleasure is magnified for now His glory can be done. Are you such that bring the Lord God Almighty pleasure? Or are you one that takes away His pleasure? And if you are unsure of the answer then know that something is not right and must be corrected. And separate yourselves from the people of the land - these nations were condemned; There could be no blessing upon Israel by aligning with them. There must always be a separation within the church and Christian's life. Separate from the world, for it is the enemy of God. Separate from the practices of the world, for it is evil and an offense unto God. Separate from people, for they steal your time to know the Lord. 'come ye out from among them, and be ye separate'. 'What business does light have with darkness?' Our ways are not to be like the worlds. The church has forgotten this because they bring the world into the church and saturate the people with worldly ways instead of holy ways. We are not to think like them, act like them, speak like them or go with them. And from the strange wives - they were not to unequally yoked; They were not to marry nor be with these other nations women. They would pollute, and pull them away from serving the Lord. We see Solomon as the greatest witness of the danger of this. You notice the responsbility is upon the men and what they had done. A man pursues a woman to be his wife, ask the question: Is it for God's glory? or Is it for lust? They pursued that which was sin, and it was lust that drove them to this. They did it, knowing that sin was happening. How can God ever bless known sin? He can't. the sin must be removed and they were told to put away their wives from them. Families that had been together for decades now separated and removed. How hard on all? Yet, when you enter into sin, their is a high price to pay. How high a price will we pay for our sins? If we are to make the wrongs right, it will costs us. It will cost plenty for our iniquity. and quite honestly, the church is not ready to pay the price, therefore the sin remains, and the blessing is withdrawn. 'Let us rend our hearts and not our garments and turn again to the Lord'.

Ezra 9:8

"And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage."

IN the midst of this prayer, there is the confession over the sins of the people, but there is also the hope revived for God to intervene. The sorrow over sin has provoked Ezra to cry out to God, a huge crowd has gathered as he laments. And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God - he recognizes the time that is at hand; Too often we do not understand the time we are in. Often it is after the fact that we see we had a moment to seize for His work and glory. Ezra is seeing that all that has happened in his coming to JErusalem is because of one thing, God's grace. In the midst of sin, God grants grace to the wicked soul. Whether that be while he is lost, or as a Christian, God imparts grace to restore the child and save them from His wrath. It is God's desire to save not to destroy. But the time period can not be understood, that we set a clock to it. For we know neither when it begins nor when it may end. Ezra says, 'a little space', a moment has been granted, now what do we do we this moment, that is the question. Many a soul squnaders God's grace and they miss it. But oh, how precious is the one that makes the most of it. EVen upon reading this small devotional, God's grace is extended, else you would not hear nor understand our time. The evidence of this grace was apparent from all that had happened. the king had granted favor, the people were come together and the temple had been rebuilt. This is proof of what grace was upon them. Look around you, do you see His mighty grace. Too often the scales are on our eyes and we cannot see. You awoke this morning, that is grace; for many a soul did not. You have a mind to read this and comprehend; go to the nursing home and see those with dementia and other problems that prohibit them from understanding. This is grace, a gift of Divine favor from the Lord. We do not have to have these things, God gives them. Your breath, your health, your place, all these are God's great gifts of grace unto us. to leave us a remant to escape - the hope of revivalo is found in the remnant of God; It is never in the crowds or the multitude, it is in the smallest of groups that God works and moves. It was the 120 in the upper room; it was Ezra and Nehemiah during these days; it was MOses, Aaron and the 70 elders during the years of wilderness. Are you in this group? there are signs that you are or that your are not: 1. you desire His holiness; 2. you see the sin of the land; 3. you are moved to intercede for them; 4. you know God is the only One that can help. These things compel you to seek others like you, and even if you cannot find them, you seek His favor and His Divine will. In the huge churches they are the ones and dozena; in the small church they are the ones seeking His hand. And to give us a nail in his holy place - word study, to give; Not a whole building, not a room, just a nail in the wall to hold onto. But He is the giver of such things. He gives a foothold to stand, lest we fall. He breathes life into us to live and to make a testimony against this evil generation. and God is able to take the nail and build His kingdom. And that nail is in His midst. It is not the majority as in the days of David, where the multitudes served the Lord, only a nail that holds them there. It reveals how desperate the time is. Under 16 % in church on Sunday of our total population, it is a nail. See it, for what it is. That our God may lighten our eyes - He is the one Who create the eye and opens the eye; Too many examples of opening of the eyes by the Lord to mention here and you should know very well those accounts. God smote Paul with blindness and then sent Ananias to open his eyes so that he may see. When sin has shut off the mercies and graces of the Lord, only God can open the way back to Him. God opens the eyes to see the condition of where we are. If He did not open, then man would continue in their spiral downward. You cannot see on your own, it is the Lord. and the blindness is why men stumble in the dark. Pray for the Lord to enlighten the eyes of His people and the lost that they may see. and give us a little reviving in our bondage - word study, to give; word study, revive; there is no hope of revival except upon those that God moves to seek Him. ezra saw the situation how bad, from what they had come from and where they were. They had no freedom of their own, they were slaves to the empire of the Persians. They come to the place that only God can restore and raise them up to Him. A 'little reviving' is the beginning of what may be a 'great reviving'. If a few get the touch of God, it can influence and grow to the masses. History records the one or ones that were moved with a little reviving that expanding to the nations. It was Evan Roberts who was a little revived when he prayed, 'Bend me, O God' and God bent him and Wales was impacted by thousands being revived. It was the one deacon and two elderly sisters that were praying and God breathed upon them and all the island of Hebrides was touched. There is hope in God with the one or the remnant. Are you apart of this? Do you seek revival? ARe you laboring for it? Ezra's prayer here in this chapter is a desperate cry for God to help and to move. have you prayed thus in like manner?

Ezra 8:23

"So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us."

Those of the capitivty in Babylon were beingg gathered together to return unto Jerusalem. Ezra had received the things of the temple to take back. And as they get ready to go on this long journey, there was much harm that lay in the miles before them. They needed the Lord's protection, deliverance and blessing. And so in purusing the will of the Lord to be done, they fasted and prayed. so we fasted - it is in the plural this work of holiness; Fasting is one of the lost disciplines of the church. When seeking the Lord, we are taught all that we need do is ask. And that is correct in inital situations, but what of the heavier things of spiritual warfare and specific needs. Souls are hardened against the Gospel; families are destroyed; and the work of the church is languishing. Is there not a cause that we fast? Solmen assemblies declared a fast of the people. there are many that fast on their own, but the whole of the church is not moved nor do they regard these things. There is power in fasting before the Lord, it is the supplication with resolve to move heaven and cause hell to fear. 'This kind can come forth by nothing but prayer and fasting.' And besought our God for this - seeking Him for the matter at hand; They fasted, and the work of beseeching for the needs around us is needed today. Many a child of God has not time to seek Him nor can they fast. They are not moved enough to consider the weight of such disciplines. They are given to their token prayers and hope for the best. All the while hell is enlarged for their tenacity of seeking claiming souls. But bind a group together that fasts and seeks the Lord's face morning, noon and night and the hell will be put to the worse. Why does the church lose the ground when we should know to seek Him? They have believed the lie, that their sin is to great; their love to faint and seeking and fasting is in vain. Let us cast off this sin of unbelief and know that God stands ready to do great and mighty things for His Names' sake. And He was intreated for us - the Lord God Almighty answer prayers; After they had humbled themselves, fasted, wept and sought Him, He heard and He answered. The prayer had not been actually answered until they were safe in Jerusalem. but their faith accepted that the Lord had heard them, He was intreated of them. Is there not one among us that canseek the Lord and be intreated by Him? OUr tears, our hearts desire, our prayers, our labors in traviling, our long nights, our early mornings, HE sees them all and is intreated. Let the people of the Lord not lose heart nor lose place before Him. He is the Lord and sees and knows all. He has moved us to seek Him so that we may find Him. HE stands ready to answer and He waits for us. Will you not rise up and seek Him this hour? Will you not labor before Him for His grace and mercy? Will we not prevail for the souls of men? for revival? for the church? for families? for the nation? May we not say at the close of the day, 'He was intreated for us'.

Ezra 7:23

"Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?"

How rare to hear of worldly leaders adhere to such conviction about service to the Lord? We read of many that know of God but do not follwo and obey. We read of those that should obey but heed not the Word of the Lord. Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven - His Words have gone forth and His command is given; What command is given? In reading the Bible we read of those things that are given unto us and to all people. The truth of the Gospel is spoken, read and declared to all men that they may know the truth. They are withou excuse. And for those that have the opportunity to hear from the man of God, and from those that have Bible's but never read them they put themselves in jeporady. For the command has gone forth already and will not return void unto Him, it will accomplish His desired end. Man has the responsbility to hear, understand and obey in all things, great and small. Let it be diligently done - key part of this verse, with diligence; Not just to be done, but diligently done. There is a wide difference in just doing something and doing it with diligence. We do well to learn this truth and see if it be found within us. How much the workof the Lord languishes over lack of diligence. Stir up the gift within thee that takes you to the place of diligence. One of the sins of many a Christian and the church is the work of the Gospel is done, but without diligence. There is no pressing urgency, no fervor to complete the task. An attitude of apathy is the sin of the lack of diligence. What lies at the root of the heart that lacks diligence? Be careful you are not lacking diligence in the work fo the Lord. For the house of the God of heaven - the king acknowledges the God of heaven, but not the God of this earth; The king is anxious to see the house of the Lord done for his kingdom's sake. Let us look upon the church, the house of God and see it to be built rightly. Let us condemn and cut away the things from the house of God that offends and causes sin. Let look to God Who is maker of heaven and earth and let Him build the house. 'Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain.' For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? great questions of the Bible; Know that wrath goes forth against those that do not fear nor regard the ways fo the Lord. The Lord had placed this desire within him and he set about the task. He was fearful no only for himself, but for his kingdom and for the next generation, his sons. Wrath is against those that do not obey in great and small things. The work is to be done, who is laboring? Who is preaching? who is praying? who is sharing? Is wrath not gone forth across the land because the work has not been done with diligence? Time has been wasted; times has been lost and sin and hell has gained ground. Do we not fear for our chidlren and grandchildren? What shall any man do when the wrath of the Lord goes forth? We are left to answer for what we have not done for His glory in building the house.

Ezra 6:15

"And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king."

That which God starts He will finish. Much has been set in motion by the Lord. WE have creation and we have redemption. Both of these will be completed upon His own Word. And this house was finished - it was God's desire to finish it and it was; God employs the ways of man and man himself to finish the work. He chose and raised up certain vessels of men. He moved pagan kings to set themselves in favor of it. He brought forth His word through the prophets to speak it and to guide the people. And that which was started, is completed for His glory. Can we see what has been started ? Do we know what good work God has begun in us? Let us ask for the scales to be taken away that we might see and know His business at hand. And yes, there will be some that will say, ' Is the Lord at work in this evil generation?' Not all believers can see and know His work. 'Having eyes to see, they cannot see.' Let us consider the work the Lord is doing in us. Have we begun with the work of redemption? Many a soul thinks because they made a decision and was batpized the work is done. It has only begun. I recently was reading John Wesley's Journal and when he was asked on the trip to South Carolina about his relationship to Christ, he could only answered that Christ saves and his own comment, "But I fear they were vain words". Is this your case? You want to know, but you do not know. And even though, you may have all the right answers you know in your heart there is still avoid. Then let the work be finished. LEt Christ save you completely and live for Him with joy and assurance. The second work to be finished is the work of sanctification. How little this is studied and discussed today. Almost abandoned. But that 'good work which He has begun He will finish'. It is the work of perfection; dying to self in order to live unto Him. See where you are here. Have you died to the world? the things of your life? personal things? and have you died completely to self? Do not be quick to answer without introspection on these things. The third work to be done and finished is His Divine will for His church. He began it; continues it and will complete it when He comes again for His bride. these things are in constant motion now, but working toward the finished end. Are you helping or hindering in these things? Let the joy of the Lord be our strength and let us pursue on for His glory of the finished work.

Ezra 5:2

"then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua th eson of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them."

We have much to consider in this verse. For it is descriptive of men of God and of the times of God's Divine favor. The house of the Lord needed rebuilt. the land had rested for the 70 years of the captivity which the Lord had said it would. another almost 15 years of time eclipsed before the actual point of beginning. Cyrus set things into motion around 536 BC, but here in this chapter we are already down to 520 BC. Why the delay? Why was it not complete in those 16 years? Solomon had built in 11 years. But we see that God moved these men to do it. Each of them with their purpose and a Divine moment in time. We have Zerubbabel, of the line of David, and the line of Christ. He was the govenor of the land. A man that we know feared the Lord and was blest by God. then we have Jeshua, Joshua, and we see him as the high priest. We have him described in Zechariah 3 as he stands before the throne being accused of the devil, and the Lord putting His blessing upon him. You see, they had a task to do that the Lord had raised them up 'for such a time as this'. These four men, we need to see, the work of God upon them, Haggai, Zechariah, Zerubbabel and Jeshua. What was the task? And began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem - God desired for the temple to be rebuilt and worship reestablished for the children of Israel; This was not man's desire, God breathed this holy desire within them. And we should be conscience that any desire that glorifies the Lord is breathed within us. Many a person in pride says, "Look what I came up with". It is the Lord and glory should be given to Him. And with this desire to rebuild the temple, we see the obedience of Zerubbabel and Jeshua, they set themselves to work. And with them were the prophets of God helping them - word study, to help; God gives us others to aid in the work that He wishes to see complete. Moses had Aaron; David had Jonthan and others; Paul at Barnabbas and Silas and Timothy; each one having someone put in their life to help. Many a soul thinks it is only them, but the Lord gives help just as we need it. And what if the Lord would ask you to do it by yourself? Then rise up and His Spirit will help. But in the majority of cases, God brings someone along side to aid. The prophets were given to encourage by the prayers and the Word of God being spoken. We have two of the minor prophet books, Haggai and Zechariah in which we gain a little more insight to the role these two played in helping. What has God called us to? What has happened to the task at hand? He has saved us and called us for a reason are we about the work? Let us understand our purpose and follow in obedience. "Redeem the time, for the days are evil".

Ezra 4:1

"Now when the adversaries of Judah and Bemjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel;"

The people of Israel, the small remmant might have been rejoicing, but know this for sure, the enemies of the Lord will not. and there are many an enemy of the Gospel that will not be happy when the work of the Lord begins again. Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin - the enemies of our Lord are our enemies; And what did Jesus do to His enemies? 'Pray for your enemeis, Love your enemies'. 'And He opened not His mouth to them'. Those that are not for our Lord are against our Lord. These are the lost, the worldly, the religious, the self made, the proud, those that do not regard the ways fo the Lord in their life. It is a host of them, billions upon billions on this planet are all around us. You go out in society, you are surrounded by the enemeis. they hate what we stand for, for they love nothing that wishes to change them or their life. They are products of lies, therefore they hate truth. Know your enemies. Too many Christians cannot even recognize who the enenmy is, we are in a great plight bec ause of this. 'Are you for my Lord or against Him?' 'Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me'; and if they, 'Yes'; then give me an explanation of your loyalty and belief in Him. You cannot take their word for it, those of spies and treasonous have entered into our camp because of this. LEt proof be given Whose they are. Heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple - they simply heard of it, they saw nothing; And that was enough for them to be pricked and offended at what they was doing. LEt the church begin to arise again and the adversaries hear of it. They will set their army to action to stop, thwart and dismantle the work. The devil knows what is going on and only the Divine hand of protection is our refuge. They had no proof, only word of mouth and that was enough for them. What does the enemy hear of the church today? How glad they are when there is silence and nothing to report. How glad when all is quiet about the work of the Lord. But let them hear that there is a stirring, they will respond quickly. they want to give no 1/4 inch for us to take footing again. They are methodical in their approach and they know that a man or woman of faith can undo their greatest works of evil. Then, O Lord, rise up and let them hear and see the wondrous works of Your great hand of mercy, grace and Divine love for Your people.

Ezra 3:13

"so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the peopel: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off."

The foundation had been laid for the temple. There was two generations present at this solemn assembly, the generation that remembered the original temple and the younger generation born during captivity. These two genreations represented the chidlren of Israel. One weeps, one rejoices. One sorrows, the other praises. May I say to you, that there is sorrow of such events taht provokes both tears and cheers. You are to rejoice in the moment for what it represents, it is a beginning of something new. For them the temple was being rebuilt. But it is also a time of reflection of what once was but will be no more. Life is made of the same things; what is, and what was. IN your life you need to discern the past and the present. Far too many are living in the past thinking it is the present. It is easy to that, but it misses the key point of turning to the future. Those that adapt to the present are able to live for the future. Those that are living in the past, cannot see the future. The church has to a great degree lived inthe past of days gone by, and the noise of the weeping of th epeople is heard for what once was. 'Oh, that I was as in days gone by'. They remember when the church was at its pinnacle. Lest you count my words and you who are looking for positive Pollyanna thoughts, hear me well. The church has lost its voice to change a culture. We have no ability to sway the hearts and minds of families, souls and a nation. And because that voice whihc was once power, it is no more and souls and morality is plummeting into hell. We must seek in the present to find our voice again. NOt in the man made methods, the denominational creeds and programs, but in the Word of God and In His Spirit. For in the past, the joy of those days was that the Spirit did rule and reign. But in most recent decades we have grieved the Holy Spirit because of the god of self. Let our joy be the 'joy of Thy salvation'. Let us rejoice in Him Who is past, present and future. Let us remember that tears may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning. Soon and very soon the joy of the Lord shall be found again. A people even now, a remnant, much like those gathered here in chapter 3, found the joy of the people in the foundation being laid. there are those that are laying the foundation again. And when the shout goes forth it will be loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off - let the voice of the church be heard afar off; In the nations of the world, let them hear the Gospel message, "Jesus saves, Jesus save, Praise the Lord, Jesus saves".

Ezra 2:62

"These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood."

There was a band of these that at the roll call of the tribes of Israel, that could not be found. they ascerted themselves by word of mouth, that they were. but no proof could be found, no recording, no documentation and thus, they were put out. I cannot read this verse and not help but think of those that believe with all their head that they are fine and everything is okay. And at the judgement seat of Christ when all the books will be opened they will have no proof of Whose they are. They beleive themselves to be of Christ, but they are not. For a child of God know Whose he is, 'These things have I written unto you, that you might know'. We are in a generation of masses of people perishing, without hope, without knowledge of their eternal destination. they have been tricked into believing that head knowledge of God is enough, they all know about Christ. but at that day they will hear the words, 'I never knew you; Depart from me, ye worker of iniqutiy'. they will beg, they will argue, they will try to plead, but there is no proof, their names are not in the Lambs book of life. these sought their register. . .but they were not found - word study, sought/find; throughout the Scriptures is this theme of seeking and finding. We have it explained here that although they sought for it, they could not find it. What good does it do for a person it seek truth if they do not find it? What good does it do if a soul seeks for God and not able to find Him? The Lord hath said, 'If you seek for me, ye shall find me'. So a soul that says they are seeking, they will find. But there are many that have not found, because they really are not seeking for Him. They may seek for all eternity in hell, but they will not find one point of truth to release them from punishment. therefore wer they, as polluted, put from the preisthood - polluted, unclean, unfit and removed; We find today the same truth for the children of men. If your iniquity remains you will be put out from the Presence of the Lord. Unto the church the days gone by when sin found within the priests would put them out of the ministry. today, sin is excused and they conintue in the role of priest. The Lordd's will be done unto His own. Our uncleaness and sin quenches and resists the Holy Spirit. What power can there be upon a soul such as this? We go from strength to strength in our own selves. Paul warned, 'that after I have preached to others that I myself shoudl be a castaway, set on the shelf no longer to be used.' May that fear compel us to seek and find and not let go of His mercies.

Ezra 1:1

"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,"

With this book we begin to see the transition between the children of Israel, specifically Judah from their days before exile to the days after exile. How the things of their life devleoped directly by the hand of the Lord. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia - all kings are established by the Lord; The Lord raiseth up kings and removeth kings. And see that what the Lord was getting ready to do, according to His time frame, is of His own making. He wastes no time when Cyrus begins to reign, the very first year. That the word fo the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled - the word fo the Lord will not return void; God is able and will accomplish all that He says He will. The prophet, Jeremiah, had spoken and declared the word fo the Lord unto the people and written it down for Zedekiah to know. The choice is then upon the person, are they willing to give heed to it. God speaks His word to declare unto the people of that which shall be. It is for them to adhere to His ways and know His Divine will. And when His word goes forth, it is to accomplish His desired end. He cannot lie, it is truth. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia - Who else is able to stir up a soul?; The Lord is able to touch the souls of men, women and children. He is able to touch individuals and whole nations, He is the Lord. All things under the heaven and in heaven is His, He rules and reigns over it all. And if He desires to touch a soul, Who is he that will forbid Him? Let the Lord do that which is right and good in His own sight. this king Cyrus was brought into rule for the Lord's desire. He put him there to rule over Persia and the nations of the world. Babylon had fallen and had lasted its appointed season, just like the Lord had said through His prophets, Jeremiah and Daniel. Now the kings of persia would rule, then Greece, then the Romans. Oh, look at what the Lord can do. some soul lost and perishing, He is able to stir them up to conviction and conversion. some falter child of God stumbling along, He is able to stir them up. His own church, powerless and faithless, He is able to stir them up for His glory. That he made a proclamation thoughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing - word study, made; there was something to be said, and as king he was able to announce it. the Lord had spoken to him and stirred him up for 'such a time as this'. there have been seasons of dearth of the Lord speaking and moving. What proclamation needs to be made throughout all the kingdoms of the earth? the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
Sound forth His declaration and let the Name of the Lord be exalted. Give ear, for the word is not only being spoken but has been written. It is preserved forever. Two things of this earth that shall last forever: 1. the souls of all mankind in eternal destination, the souls of the damned as well, as His church is preserved, He will not destroy them; 2. His Word, 'the grass whither, the flower fadeth but the Word of God shall last forever'. Hear the Word, speak the Word, read and study the Word and go proclaim it. Write it on the hearts of men and women in all the kingdoms of this world. This is the call of the church and every Christian. Have we done it? ARe we doing it?

II Chronicles 36:14

"Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem."

Do you see the destruction came from within? It was not simply the Babylonians, that they was such a mighty people and army. It was not the fewness of the numbers of Judah. It was the iniquity of the people that caused it all. Let us see the completeness of being defiled here. Moreover all the chief of the priests - when the priests are polluted the people will quickly follow; It is recorded that when the priests were holy the people had a refuge. But when the priesthood was defiled sin that angers God quickly happened. The preachers, lose their desire for God and the things of God, sin is happening. the neglect their Bibles, the prayer closests have cobwebs, and witnessing is nonessential for them, then truly the priesthood has fallen. God will always have His preachers and prophets, but the body of the priesthood is defiled and not fit for service. And these are the ones that set the example. I see directly related to the things of our present day, with the priesthood of the church. Pastors who have no prayer life, no Bible time and never share the Gospel messazge shows that they have fallen away fromt he things of God. Now if such things fall away, it leaves a vacum, it must be replaced by something; what? They fill it with the enjoyements of this life. Golf games 3 or 4 times a week. There is no sin in golf, or any other sport, except, when that is what they are doing with their time instead of the things of holiness. They fill it with the computer, movies, TV and other time honoring things and they neglect God. They are unfit to be preachers, teachers or anything else, having loved this present world more than Jesus. And if this is what is filing the pulpits today, it explains exactly why the church is in the sin sick condition that it is. But you get a holy priest, preacher, prophet and conviction and a right standard is declared as and example before the people. And the people - the people followed the example given unto them; It may be that the people dictated to the priests. It would not be the first time, spineless, jellyfish where filling the role of preacher. But a holy man will not tolerate sin nor unfaithfulness. But th epeople have rose up and sinned against the Lord. The people are sheep and need to be led, and if the pastor willnot do it, then Satan will make the most of it. He will lead them to his ways and possess their souls. transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen - it is just transgress, but 'transgressed very much'; What a horrible conlcusion to the kings of israel and judah. Israel had already been carried away, but Judah had a light from David. but what did they do? They 'transgressed very much'. Are we not here? Is our nation not sinning very much against the Lord? You see today that our society is so corrupt that it practices every vice of the abominations of the heathen. We allow sin so easily in our every day life. Morality is a hard thing to find, even among the church. Evil is spreading; homes and traditional marriage is exploding to destruction; children are no longer innocent; perversions sweep the young peopl and fill our land. what sin there is among us in the sight of An Almighty, Holy God. And Polluted the house of the Lord - the church is defiled and void of His Presence; It takes a hard time to find a church that is preaching the Gospel and a church family that is laboring for the things of God. There are many religious churches, going through the motions, practising fun loving entertainments; but very few, getting ready for eterntiy. The house of prayer is no longer a house of prayer. Which He hallowed - He made it holy by filling it with His glory; the Presence of God abided upon it and protected it for His own Names sake. It is His holiness and He will not allow for it to be desecrated. His Word is holy and will not return unto Him void. His Presence if holy and will not cast such a precious pearl before the swine. LEt us guard the things of His holiness and keep it before us, pure and undefiled. 'Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit?' He abides within His children, how holy are you?

II Chronicles 35:25

"And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordiance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations."

The death of the righteous is a horrible thing. The question that goes with this: Who will replace such a one? And Jeremiah lamented for Josaih - the prophet Jeremiah knew what was coming after Josiah's death; when you read the book of Lamentations of Jeremiah you see such sorrow and grief. Jeremiah had foretold of the 70 years of captivity, the destruction of the city. Is there not a reason to sorrow over this? Is there one today who sees and knows the sorrow that is coming? Is there one raising up their voice in anguish for the judgements that shall shortly be? where is Jeremiah? Who is Josiah? And all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day - a continaul honoring of the king; their songs remembered his greatness. And what was his greatness? It was that he turned his whole self unto the Lord and restored the peace of God upon the land. People recorded, remembered and sang of that greatness. The will of the Lord be done. Josaih exercised himself with his whole life and heart to accomplish thewill of the Lord. These songs gave honor unto that. And made them an ordance in Israel - word study, made; A national ordiance to keep the truth about him and what he did. The songs were to be sung. Much like the recongition of lower that flag to half mast for a person. and behold, they are written in th elamentations - the record of these things as the nation mounred; such sorrow is expressed here at the deatho of Josiah. The end of an era, so to say, for now the judgement is coming. You can see it in hindsight, everything changed here at this one man's death. I wonder when that time will come for us. They will say, 'Everything changed here.' There are moments even now, that shape and carve out such points. How frail is life, how short time is for us. Josiah made an impact, didn't he? What of you? What impact are you making on the life around you? Yes, even to the heights of a nation mourning. When Elisha died, Joash, the king of Israel came to mourn him; the king mourned the death of the prophet. Now, the prophet mourns the death of the king.

II Chronicles 34:3

"For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images."

It is almost like Amon, the son of Mannasseh, is just a blip to get to Josiah. for Amon only reigned two years. And now the young child of Josiah is brought to rule over Judah at the young age of 8. that means that Amon was 16 years old when he had Josiah. And no sooner was he old enough to think that he was thrust into being king. And with the evil of Mannasseh and Amon what good role model did Josiah have to teach him the ways of the Lord. Was it the grandfather, Manasseh, after he had humbled himself and was teaching his grandson his new found faith? WE do not know. But somewhere, somehow, God had the right influence in his life, because at the age of 16, he sought after the Lord. For in the eighth year of his reign - he was 16 years old; while he was yet young - immature and still void of experience; He had been king 8 years, but little is written of this time period. It was that God was sparing them until Josiah came of age. There was no major attacks, no major recordings of uprisings, God preserved him for those young years. But we do know this that from the age of 8 to the age of 16, he is learning of the Lord. How do we know this? Becasue at the age of 16 things begin to change. He began to seek after the God of David his father - this beginning to seek after God is only from God's Divine hand; a man or woman does not begin to seek for God on their own. For left to ourselves, the heart is despearately wicked and the flesh is corrupt and only seeks after sin. it is the moving of the Spirit drawing souls unto their Maker. He opens their understanding to see adn comprehend in ways that never did before. It is not the person, it is the Lord. It is the God of David. Perhaps he was studying of David's kingship and his love for the Lord and was able to see the direct tie between the Lord's blessings upon him and David's walk with Him. God puts things in our life to bring us unto Him. And Josiah began to seek God. It is truly one of the most encouraging and blessed of things to see a 16 year old seek after God. It is also one of the rarest things to see in the church today. Partly because church today, separates youth from the adults and they do not have the opportuntiy to be moved by the Spirit. It is not that the Spirit does not move in youth groups or activities, but the setting is different and not the same. Young people are emotional and a lot of times, many a camp fire and program has been emotioanl, and youth quickly change emotions for the Lord. As quickly as they resolved to serve the Lord, it is that quick that they fall into open sin. What was it that kept Josiah seeking after the Lord? It had to be something of substance. Something that held fast the things of the Lord in his heart and soul. And in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem - now he is 20 and 4 years has been given to seeking after the Lord; Now he is an young man and better control of his life. Maturity and experience of the kingdom has been gleaned and now action will be taken. and so he sets out to right the wrongs that is in the land. He has seen it and been exposed to it for the 12 years of his reign. No doubt, with the last 4 years seeking the Lord, he is moved with vigour against the false gods. For no child of God that is seeking the Lord can be happy with sin in the camp. You are moved against the things that offend God. Why are we in the condition we are in? Because the things of this nation, our churches and our families that are offensive to the Lord are not offensive to us. WE are not moved enough to purge the land. In the last two decades, legislative avenues have been pursued in great energy to stop and change the evil. I do not believe anything has been changed, but definitely the work has stayed the evil from growing. But I really don't believe the answer is to be in the legaslitive or in the white house. I believe the change is found in a person that is seeking the Lord. the power of the Lord comes upon a persona dn is able to change the landscape for His glory. Give me a young man that is seeking the Lord and he can do great things to purge th eland. Give me a group of young people that is seeking the Lord and I will show you a people that can turn the world upside down. The church is moaning and belly aching about purging the land, but there has to be a great seeking the Lord first. LEt us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light and seek the Lord with all our heart, mind body and strength.

II Chronicles 33:12

"And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,"

what shall we say? Here is one of the most wicked kings of Judah. He had shed innocent blood throughout the land. He cared not for anything of his father, Hezekiah. Hezekiah was to blame for some of this. For in his old age, God had granted him 15 extra years, and Manasseh was born during that time. And during those years, he was lifted up in his heart and did not serve the Lord as in his early part of his kingdom. Manasseh saw this and for whatever reason, turned completely away from the Lord. He did more to provoke the Lord than any other king of Judah. And God sent judgement upon him and Judah. Understand this truth, for our time is coming. when a people offends the Lord, He sends judgement, if they repent, God forbears; if they don't, then the next judgement and worse than the first. The judgements keep coming until the people humble themselves or are destroyed. It is the people choice. Now let us see Manasseh's wisdom, And when he was in affliction - his punishment was upon him; He had been drug through the briars and thrown into the cell. and there he came to himself and knew that he had sinned against the Lord God of David. Why does it always seem to take affliction for mankind to humble themselves? Why can we never repent and confess before the judgement comes? My great desire is to see that happen this time, in our age, before judgements comes again upon us. He besought the Lord his God - personal pronoun, 'his God'; Yet, he had not feared nor served the Lord up until this point. Only now, that he was cast away did he seek the Lord. And see th eLord God Who is merciful. For even though, he had done so much to provoke the Lord, yet God spares him. And he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers - humility is the first step; He 'greatly humbled himself'; this shows his true heart. Now lift up your eyes and see if there be anyone today that is 'greatly humbling himself' before the Lord God? ARe you? Is your church? We need a collective group of christians to seek the Lord for His mercy and His favor nwo before it is too late. Let us begin on our knees, for judgement is close at hand, and perhaps the Lord will have pity on us as we cry out to Him. We can learn, even from Manasseh, the wicked king of Judah. But a thought to reiterate with you, even though manasseh repented and humbled himself and God gave him freedom, how can you undo all the damage he had done before hand? Can you give life back to all the souls he murdered? Can you undo all the idols an dfalse worship he had taught and practiced to the people? With so much evil having covered the land, how can we undo all that has corrupted and tainted our life today? Oh, for God to rend the heavens and complete in us that which He desires. He is able to do abundantly above all that we ask or think. Let our faith believe in Him. Let us seek for His mercy for our land, for our churches and for our families. 'Wait upon the Lord; wait, I say, upon the Lord'.

II Chronicles 32:8

"With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah."

The king of Assyria has come and his host is great. Hezekiah and Judah is the target. this is a direct conflict arising between two groups, two peoples. Life it seems is found with this conflict. The devil uses it to discourage and to destroy. The righteous must stand up and take on the forces of evil. the passive and no ascertive allows for Satan to gain ground and take souls. Hezekiah knew that they could do nothing against this great army on their own. But with the Lord all things are possible. with him is an arm of flesh - see the enemy for who he truly is; He has no power over the Lord, for the Lord is God Almighty. There is none great than He. He made the arm of flesh and He is able to destroy the arm of flesh. The devices of this evil generation cannot prevail against the arm of the Lord. Do not allow for unbelief to dictate to you on these things. But with us is the Lord our God - faith tells us the truth; But where there is little faith, uncertainty arises and doubts assail. But with great faith all things are possible in the Lord. Let us remember the truths, God has said, and He cannot lie, that 'He will never leave us nor forsake us.' 'He abides within us, as we abide within Him.' 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.' This is the importance of knowing the word of God and exercising it in faith. 'For His word will not return unto Him in vain.' God is with us. to help us - word study, to help; God is not a passive watcher at a distance, He is near. His purpose He has declared that He will help us. Many Scriptures reiterate to the unbelieving, that God will help us. When? Now, today, this week, our whole lives. to fight our battles for us - God wages the war through us; God does not come down and take the battlefield for us. He has always worked the agency of mankind. Read the accounts of the mighty men of David and see how God worked through these mighty men. Any of the saints and through the churches history see how God worked through men that trusted in Him. They walked with Him and He fought for them. Read the account where Jehoshaphat and the army of Judah were told, they would not need to fight just stand still and see. And the Lord delivered them into their hands and they gathered the spoil. Read how Moses was told the chidlren of Israel would stand still and see how God would take care of the Egyptians. The God of yesterday, is the God of today and tomorrow. He fights for us and He keeps us. The will of the Lord be done. Some will ask, why did not the Lord fight for Stephen when he was stones or any other martyr? He did, and He gave them the greatest victory. Victory is not about winning the battle, its winning the war. The soul that is yielded to Him completely is willingly to die or live so long as the Lord's battles are His will. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah - faith is a marvellous thing when exercised; Hezekiah spoke and declared confidence in God and the people believed him. do people believe in our words of faith and strength? This generation is not at rest nor do they peace becasue they have not heard the words of the Lord. We have been silent and slow to engage in the battle and they have nothing of substance to anchor on. Let us be bold and confident in our Lord and take the field to engage in the battle. There is no longer excuse for backwardness, shyness or fear. Cast off these works of iniquity and put on the armor of light.

II Chronicles 31:21

"And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandements, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered."

It is the begininng and formative years of Hezekiah. He has reestablished worship unto the Lord. He has opened up and set the priests in their order. the people are rejoicing and the hand of the Lord is for them. What is the key to such success? And in every work that he began. . .he did it with all his heart - this is the lesson of life to be learned; If we would do much for Him, it must be complete in everything that we undertake. The man who never fails at any thing has never tried anything. the idea of attempting great things for the Lord is from His generous hand. Setbacks, failures and mistakes are sure to follow, but look how good the hand of the Lord is upon such as do everything unto Him. All the heart, whole hearted, this is the measure of one's resolve to see it complete and done. The half hearted ones never see the success or completion of many activites in their life, because of their lack of whole heart. You are asked to search your ownselves and see what heart you have for the work of the Lord. I know many a man who has worked with all his heart at his profession for over 40 years. He has been faithful, he has done it whether sick or healthy, good or bad times, he did it. But yet the work of the Lord is lacking. The need of the hour for the church is to see men and women of like passion of Hezekiah here that do it with all their heart. Now notice the four things that are done with the whole heart: the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandements, to seek His God - these four things are all related in relationship to God; We have the house of the Lord and his service. Tell me how the whole heart can be unfaithful to the services of the church? Tell me how a whole heart can steal the tithe? Tell me how can a whole heart not pray for the church and the people? The whole heart leads to such things for His glory. The law and the comamndements are about obedience and in the Word. A person that has whole heart unto the Lord will know the Word of God. They read it, memorize it and study it. they are able to keep His Word because they have put His Word into their hearts that they might not sin against Him. And they follow in obedience to keep all of it. The last one, seek His God. You can be active in working in the church, study the law and be found in obedience of His commands, but this is the driving part of a whole heart person, they desire Him. They seek for Him and they find Him for He is precious to them. They know His wondrous works because He hath made a way for them. They rise up and their thoughts are of their Beloved. They go through the day knowing that He keeps all their ways. They close the day and see His bountiful hand of mercy and grace that offers them this lifetime to seek and to know Him, before they meet Him. What say you of your life? And prospered - the Lord is able to bless and to destroy; the child of God that puts their whole heart into Him, He makes their way to prosper for His glory and honor. Their is proof of Who's they are and what He is doing through them. The evidence speaks, 'The Lord is with them'. And it is a glorious testimony about the riches of the Lord being imparted to His faithful ones. Not always is it monetary, which this generations seeks after. People judge that, 'If you got a lot of money and a lot of people, it is successful.' And to answer that in great theological terms, 'Baloney'! It is not about the weight in the eyes of man, it is about the advancement of the kingdom and the glory of the Lord. Is it eternal? And thus, here is a life of success and honor for Him, Who says to that soul, "Well done, well done". Is this your life?

II Chronicles 30:15

"Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord."

Hezekiah had restored right worship unto the Lord in Judah. He had sought to bring all of Israel back unto the Lord. For Israel had been removed for their sin. In his zeal and fervor, they sought to restore the passover. then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month - right day, wrong month; They could not get ready and so they moved the passover to the second month, so that they might not miss it that year. True legalists would have pitched a fit on that. So binding to the letter of the law, they miss the worship of the passover. For what could would it have done to have it the first month, if the priests were not ready nor the people had not been gathered as of yet? The priests and the Levites were ashamed - why were they ashamed? It is one of the things missing from today's servants, that we are not ashamed. View your life, see your sin, know your frailness and weakness. Now with all that on your mind and heart, enter into the Presence of the Most High God. Shame and contempt will fill your soul. He Who has given so much, she His blood, added His mercies, provided His Divine love, we have done so little. It is as the two that were doing gift exchanges, the first gave the deed to property and a house, clear and void; the second overwhelmed with the generosity, had only gone to the Dollar Store and purchased two items for $2.12. The second man was filled with shame over the poor quality of his gifts compared to the firs man who gave so much. And how are we in the Presence of the Lord, to Him Who has given somuch? Ashamed. And to the soul that is not ashamed, they are not saved but still in utter darkenss. Based on selfish desires and whims, it is still all about them. "I owe, I owe, to Him all I owe." The absence of shame among the Lord's people today, shows the sorrow of our condition. We are not ashamed of our own lives, nor of this world's plight. The lost are in a state of pride and selfishness, they know nothing of shame, until the place where every knee bows and every tongue confessese. And sanctified themselves - they could not hosts the passover in the first month because the priests were not sanctified; Even up to the day of the passover they were being sanctified for service. The people and the priests making themselves ready for Him. this is a daily service, to cleanse our selves. To set aside our lives and be all that the Lord would have us be. He is the only one that is able to make us holy and cleanse us. But it is the heart that prepares itself to meet Him and stay before Him. Part of our problem is the failure to be still before the Lord and cleanse ourselves properly. There is no shame, because they run over the confession part of prayer, "Now Lord, forgive me of all my sins." They do not even draw a breath but proceed on. I almost feel that the Lord wants to stop such prayers and say, "What sin do you want Me to forgive?' And with a question like that, we would have to get specific. We would be able to recognize and seperate ourselves from sin and be made holy, be sanctified.

II Chronicles 29:3

"He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them."

We have seen the four evil kings, take the children of Judah down to destruction. They have progressed worse and worse all along the 113 year history. And having arrived at the bottome, there is God's grace waiting to bring them back up. For such a time as this, God always raises up His man. Hezekiah is that man. Let us review again: Amaziah turned away from the Lord and worshipped false gods; Uzziah sinned against the Lord and was cut off from the house of the Lord; JOtham would not enter the house of the Lord and Ahaz shut the doors fo the house of the Lord. He. . .opened the doors of the house of the Lord - he set to work to reestablish the Lord's worship; It is to be found that God's man will restore the things that serve and honor the Lord. WE are in grave need of such a man as this for today. A Hezekiah, to come along and open up the doors that have been shut. The things for over 113 years lost, ground gained by hell, to be taken back and glorifying unto the Lord. What should our prayer be? Open the doors, O Lord and let Thy people worship Thee. And repaired them - there is work to be done to fix the problems; The doors had been damaged, barred. Many an old church you can drive by in the country or in the city and see the plywood boarding the windows and the doors. there is no worhsip there, for some reason the peopel built a church and the people worshipped but now there is not enought to fill the house. Who can fix such things? Only the Lord. man must make the effort to be used by Him and obedient to the things He is leading. Let us seek how the Lord would have us fix this problem today. What problem? Worship; prayer, Bible study, reading, witnessing and all the other things that go into walking with the Lord. It is a rare thing to find one at peace and filled with joy and love of the Divine things of God. It is rare to find one in love with the Lord. when shall these things be done? In the first year of his reign, in the first month - he began immediately; We have lost enough time, let us set about to reclaim and make up for lost ground. Hezekiah wasted no time but within the first six months of his reign had cleansed the temple and reestablished the worship in the temple. There was still the damage done upon the land, upon families, and upon the mind set of the people who had gone without worshipping the Lord for so long. And as we view the land, do we not see the same thing? It can not be overturned in a night, but set to work. Every hour missed, every day lost, every week is another gain for hell. Every week and every month is more souls in hell. How can it stop? When the Lord of Hosts stands forth and says, 'Let the desire of their heart for revival be granted.' Let it be O Lord, let it be!

II Chronicles 28:24

"And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels fo the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem."

First Amaziah, he turned away from the Lord; second, Uzziah, he transgressed against the Lord and was cut off from the house of the Lord; third, JOtham, he would not enter the temple of the Lord and now Ahaz, who shut up the doors of the temple of the Lord. Four generations of wickedness that step by step led the people away from the Lord and the place of being taught and adoring Him, Who created all things. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God - his father did not have him reverence the things of God; therefore, he had no problem with touching the holy things of God. Uzzah put forth his hand and touched the ark out of good ocnscience, but still with disobedience, and the Lord smote him. Ahaz in all his years only practiced ways to provoke the Lord to anger. And cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God - what an affront to cut away the house of the Lord; But is it not so, that those that have not been taught to respect the church, have no problem with seeing it just as any other building? they have no regards for it, it means nothing to them. They have no knowledge of the things of God for their fathers had begun the walk of going away from the Lord. Look upon our generation, it is not overnight that this evil has come. There has been decades and generations that have practiced evil against the Lord. And there has been no one calling out to return unto the Lord. Only recently has the Lord been merciful to awakening certain ones that give not rest, day or night, to calling upon the Lord. and yes, Hezekiah, is coming, but these four kings lasted 113 years. Over a hundred years of evil and slow descent away from the temple and the Presence of the Lord. How many people perish in that time, a whole generation. How many learn wickedness and practice it and teach it to their sons and daughters? Oh, great is the evil that allows for one step to go away from God. We should learn the lessons of histroy or we are doomed to repeat them. We have gone far enough away from the Lord. Is there no one that will arise and draw near? Mourning, lamenting and sorrowing with godly sorrow that worketh repentance for the sins of our generations. Can we not look back right now the last 113 years of our nation? Back to 1900, the second Great Awakening had occured pre Civil War; DL Mooday and Torrey had broadcast teh Gospel; the Welsh Revival was at hand; the outpourings of God's tender mercy was evident. And since those days what can we say, has there been any Spurgeons, has there been any Moody's or Torrey's, what has happened to holiness? Billy Graham has come and his days ended of the great campaigns and many souls saved. But what of holiness, has it been evident? That during his days of preaching, our society became more corrupt and more vile. His was a thread of hope. A return unto the Lord with whole heartedness is on our lives today. For without it, we shall reap the same judgement of Judah. And what good is it to have a Hezekiah or a Josiah, if they cannot undo the damage of these four kings and that of Manasseh? Woe unto us, for we have sinned greatly in these things. Who will seek His face for mercy?

II Chronicles 27:2

"And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit, he entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did yet corruptly."

Here is Jotham, the son of Uzziah. Thus far we have Amaziah; his son, Uzziah; and his son, Jotham. Now Jotham was thrust into position early on because of his fathers sin against the Lord. When Uzziah was smote with leprosy, Jotham was the acting govenor. He was able to conduct the business of the state. and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord - it is so rare to read these words; The vast majority do not do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. sin is to be found everywhere. In every king of Israel, they did evil; and the majority of Judah's kings did not do right. So when we read these words of Jotham, we can breathe a sign of relief. Finally, there is one that is desiring to fear and serve the Lord rightly. And then the next part, according to all that his father Uzziah did - oh no, this is not what we want; For Uzziah when he was strengthed allowed pride to swell up within him and he sinned against the Lord. You cannot do rightly in the sight of the Lord if sin is to be found. So we take these two phrases and put them together and we see that Jotham is better than Amaziah but not any better than Uzziah and not perfect with the Lord as was David. This is an awful way to gage the lives of people when comparing them to other men. But what say you? Where are you at? How is you life progressing? are you right with the Lord in all your ways? as your father? or as other men? We are to be perfect and wholehearedly given unto the Lord. howbeit - there is something more to add; IN addition to this past statement, something is getting ready to be pronounced. He entered not into the temple of the Lord - here is the continuance of evil to be found in this succession of kings; Amaziah, turned away from the Lord and was not perfect. Uzziah, sinned against the Lord and was smote and was 'cut off from the house of the Lord.' And now Jotham, would not even enter the temple. Do you see the progression away from the Lord? when such progression is evident in the generations there are two things that can happen. 1. they can repent and return unto the Lord and find His mercy; 2. they continue in this slide away from Him and judgement falls. Where do you think we are? We are on the slide and every generation that goes away from God steepens the slide and faster is the pace away from Him. Perhaps, Jotham would not enter because of what happened to his father. This is more likely so, he might have blamed the Lord, resented the temple for what it had done to his father. Regardless, he made a choice and would not enter. The people were allowed to worship, but he would not. Adn what is the saying, 'As the leader is, so goes the people'. And the people did yet corruptly - sin became more grosser; when the house of the Lord is vacated, the Presence of God is absent from the people. Thus, sin is easier to allow. And as the house of the Lord is being construed by man today, so the people remain perishing. As they stay away from worship, they gi ve place to the flesh and to the world. Sin becomes easy, for there is no truth given unto them to reprove and direct them. Show me a sinner, and I will show you one that is absent from the house of the Lord. The people have forsaken the Lord and they have forsaken His house of worship. Prayers are not offered up; children are not taught right and wrong. And every man did that wich was right in his own eyes. We are not done yet, it gets worse!

II Chronicles 26:21

"And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, adn dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land."

The progression of evil is to be found here. I would like to pull out over the next several devotions the theme of Judah's collapse. We know Israel's collapse was from Jerobaom, who made Israel to sin, by making the false calfs and leading the people away from the Lord and His house. But Judah was supposed to maintain the worship to the True God. Yet, they did not fair much better. Why does a nation fall? Why is the church powerless and losing ground? It doesn't happen overnight. There are real reasons why, and we need to see in the Scriptures what they are. And having learned it let us make the change necessary to seek His mercy and not His wrath. We have in chapter 25, Amaziah, who began this downward spiral. For he was the king who started out somewhat right, but quickly turned to the gods of Edom. And he died with the title of not fearing the Lord and doing evil in His sight. His son comes along, Uzziah, chapter 26, and we see his life start off good. But then pride overtakes him and he is smitten of God. His leprosy removed him from the palace and from his offical role as king. And we see the progression now begin with this statemetn, he was cut off from the house of the Lord. He wanted to worship, he did worship, but because of his transgression he is blighted by the hand of God. He is unclean, and not allowed to be among the peopl, nor in the temple. He is removed from society and left to mourn all his days, about 'what might have been'. For those in nursing homes, or shut ins, they used to grace the church, activities, responsbilities, offices filled and now they are cut off from the house of the Lord. And what of those who are in nations that attack Christians and prohibit churches from assembling, they are cut off from the house of the Lord. And what shall we say of the free world, where churches are found in abundance, yet very few are filled and overrunning. They have lost the desire to assemble and give little place to it. I remember my trip into Ukrain and Russia and Belarus after the change in EAstern Europe. The houses were filled at every service because the restrictions of worship had been so long on them. But now, they could worship and the people responded. Having been cut off from the house of the Lord, they now gathered faithfully. Perhaps, it may be to restore the true saint to worship theLord together and in His house, we must be cut off from the house of the Lord.

II Chronicles 26:16

"But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense."

Uzziah had been blest by the Lord. He was serving the Lord and feared Him. And we read here how quickly all that can change. But when he was strong - the Lord had made him to prosper; He turned his face away from needing the Lord and put his eyes on himself. The Lord gives strength and protection. But what does man do with it once they have it? Is he able to stay true unto the Lord after he is increased in goods and made safe? The Lord warns often of this folly. check your life, who do you rely? Whom do you put your trust in? 'Trust in the Lord'. His heart was lifted up to his destruction - pride settled upon him and this cost him that which he treasrued most; His flesh was touched by the Lord and he turned leprosous upon his anger at the priests for trying to stop him. His heart was the cause; 'the heart is desperately wicked who can know it'; 'out of the heart proceedeth evil'. The heart of Uzziah allowed for Him to think more of himself than he should have. Pride is a horrible sin and causes much anquish. Have you learned humility the hard way? Have you learned what it is to keep yourself down in His Presence? Many a man has fallen like Uzziah because of the sin of pride. It is a part of this flesh, that we should consider ourselves more than we are. Who holds our breath? Not I, but the Lord; Who created me? Not I, but the Lord; Who saved me? Not I, but the Lord. Then why do I think so much of myself? Is it not I, but the Lord. The lesson of humility and pride is an ongoing work, to die to self and live unto Him. And here is righteous Uzziah, the Lord had blest him, and yet he is brought to destruction. Many a man and family is laid lowed by this sin and God pronounces destruction upon them, their reputation, their ministry, their family. for he trangressed against the Lord his God - note the personal pronoun, 'his'; Yet, he did not fear the Lord enough, or he would not have trangressed against Him. is this not where our plight is? We have transgressed against the Lord. We regarded it as nothing, and sinned. Sin is taken to lightly today. We allow for sin and make way for it to be present. A Christian should abhor sin and flee from it. And here is Uzziah chosing to sin. Now lest you think I trample Uzziah too much, his sin is no different than mine or yours. It is a choice, a horrible choice against the Lord. Let the individual, the church, the nation, confess, mourn, repent of its sin. 'I have sinned, I will sin no more.' LEt us lean upon His mercy and redmeption of cleanisng. And went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense - word study, went; He had no right to enter the temple in such a manner, even if he was king. He had no right to seek to burn the incencse, it was the priests job. 'You take too much upon you'. And as he went in with this purpose, his heart was not right. He had iniqutiy abiding in his heart and upon his life. Oh, how careful we should be when we enter into His Presence. As we enter in on sunday for worship to adore and give praise, what is our spirit? What is our motive and ambition? LEt us fear the Lord, walk humbly unto Him and let no sin be found upon us.

II Chronicles 25:16

"And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; Why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel."

Amaziah had defeated the Edomites. And from a country that their false gods could not deliver, Amaziah took those false gods and made them his own. How foolish, not one bit of this makes sense. Why would you worship gods that could not deliver the people? God sends this prophet unto him to speak to him about returning. this prophet has no name. It is a mysterious thing to consider how many prophets are named and these that spoke but no name was given. They jsut simply did the work of the Lord. And it came to pass - word study, to come; the continuance of time unfolding in these events; As he talked with him - this discourse was happening; It was not a plain conversation, but the Word of the Lord was being spoken. When the servant of the Lord is speaking, listen. As he is talking pay attention. How many turn the deaf ear to the man of God, other things more pressing. Speak with lost people about their eternal destination, talking with them, and they cut you off and have no interest in what you are saying. It matters not, continue to preach, 'preach the word in season and out of season'; continue to speak to souls, give a witness againtst their souls; speak on, give a faithful witness to this world that they may know the truth and the truth shall set them free. That the king said, Art thou made of the king's counsel? great questions of the Bible; word study, made; The king knew who was on his appointed counsel. He knew this man was not to be there. But when the Lord sends, obedience is a must. And no doubt, even though the king did not want to hear this truth, it matter not. He was going to hear the Word of the Lord. 'The Gospel hath appeared unto all men'. And as for us today, if you are a child of the King, then you are on the King's counsel. You do have a place and a need to speak and to share the whole counsel of the Lord. And instead of him humbling himself and hearing the Word, hear his response, Forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? great questions of the Bible; He tells him to forbear, 'stop'. I feel like this so often, that when the Lord is speaking, someone would quote Roberts' rules of order to stop them. The prophet had asked the king why he brought the false gods back with him, verse 15. And as he continues the king tells him to stop and give reason of why he is speaking. Dad always said, 'Don't ask the question if your afraid of the answer'. The king threatens him, 'your not supposed to be speaking'. And if the king hath not given you place to speak then that was death. Oh, aren't you so glad that our Heavenly King, King Jesus, hath made a way for us to speak to Him. There is no limitations, no hindrances on His part. He hath made a way of prayer unto Him. Then the prophet forabare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee - word study, to know; The prophet listened to him, he stopped and gave reason as to why he was speaking and why he would say no more. The king's life was determined to be destroyed. And by the end of this chapter, Amaziah was destroyed and finished. Oh, how foolish to turn a dear ear unto the Word of the Lord. It is our fastest course to destruction. Families today, that won't listen, there is no other hope for them, apart from Jesus. Churches today, they won't adhere, floundering like fish thrown up on the bank, life but dying slowly. Our nation today, plummeting on a rocket train to hell, trying to get there just as fast as they can. And soon, the Lord will answer that desire, 'You have been determined to be destroyed'. what hope is there when this sentence is brought forth? There is none. Except to fall on the mercy and lovingkindness of the Lord. Plead with Him, 'Withhold Thy hand from Thy hot anger'. Give us the day to make amends. Our end has been determined, destruction is coming, is there no one that will plead with God? --
Because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel - God always gives His just reason for punishment; He does not strike without cause, His ways are right. The prophet wanted the king to know, just exactly why this was pronounced against him. And everyone ther heard it and knew the word of the Lord had been spoken. The prophet knew that he would not hear nor give place to his wise counsel. The fools of the earth, they are determined for utter death. 'Becasue you did this', you made your choice, you practiced your evil in bringing the false gods in of Edom. Your choice has sentenced yourself and the chidlren of Judah to punishment, death and wrath. Your choices matter to a lot of people. Think on these things, my beloved.

II Chronicles 24:20

"And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? becasue ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you."

This is the unfolding of tragic events. Athaliah had risen and killed all the roayl seed. Joash was the only one spared and hid in the temple of the Lord for 6 years. The priest at that time was Jehoiada, who feared the Lord and restored the seed of David to the throne. But when he waxed old and died, Joash did turn away from the Lord and they went to serve fasle gods. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada - word study, to come; the Spirit of God moving upon man to accomplish His desired end; The word of God was spoken to the people for their rebellion in turning away from the Lord. It was a recent discourse that I had that the Holy Spirit was not present until Pentecost. I wonder what he does with verses like this, where the Holy Spirit is at work here. The Spirit of God comes upon men to move them and direct them. Do you know the leading of the Spirit? Has the Spirit come upon you in such a manner for His work? which stood above the people - perhaps he was standing high on a platform, but I view this as his rank among the people; His father was the priest that restored the king and Judah to service unto the Lord. And now his son, following in the righteousness of his father, is used of the Lord. There must be men of integrity during every genertaion that will lead and speak the words of truth. For if truth be absent, then only falsehood remains. And so he stands to proclaim the words of the Lord and to lead the people in the right way. thus saith God - the words of the true prophet; That which proceeds forth after this statement is of the Lord. At such moments we are to sit up and give ear to His counsel. Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? great questions of the Bible; The question is asked to cast the occasion at what is to be. They have forsaken the Lord and pointing out here, the Lord's commandments. This disobedience takes us to the place that limits God from blessings and doing great things. And is it not the question for us today, "why?" Why do we do that which we know we should not do? 'To him that that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.' Do we not know this is the cause of why we are not prospering in this land? The church is not raising up and winning souls becasue of this disobedience. And until we return to His ways with all our heart, mind, soul and body, we will not propser. Here in this phrase is found the disease and the remedy of our peril. Because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you - this is the covenant that God made with His people; If they would serve Him, He would bless them and take care of them. But if they forsook Him, then He would forsake them. He cannot lie, brethern! He will hold to His very word. We should tremble and fear at this. For we are reaping exactly the same situation. WE have forsaken Him by the standard that He holds us to. You cannot cut out church services; you cannot minimize and delete prayer; you cannot neglect His Word; you cannot be a silent Christian. In all these things we have forsaken Him, do we not understand this? and now because we have done our deeds of neglect, He must fulfill His. He will forsake us. Now someone will want to argue about this and quote, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.' And I love this promsie and it is true. But consider the relationship of this promise. If a soul, a Christian, for a lost person has nothing in this, sins against God; they grieve and quench the Holy Spirit. they separate themselves away from the Presence of God. Now simply reasoning is here, if you are going away from God becasue of forsaking Him, then you are going toward something else. What awaits at the opposite point of God? SAtan. 'As a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.' So your direct choice to forsake, grieves the Lord, quenches His mercy and pushes away from His Presence, so as to forsake you and leave you to your own choice. Then how important is it to draw near unto Him and He will draw near unto us.

II Chronicles 23:13

"And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princess and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason."

And she looked - word study, to look; she was coming to see what the noise was. It was coming from the house of the Lord. There had not been any need for noise to come from there for a long time. But now the king was being ordained in the house of the Lord. She was brought to where the people were and she saw it. When you look out today what do you see? When you look at your own life what do you see? the noise came from trumpets. . .singers with instrument of musick and such as taught to sin praise - the combination of all these made the noise to be declared that something has happened; sucha thing was to bring the people to praise and worhsip the Lord again. When is the last time you saw the people of God worshipping in such a manner? The rejoicing over the work of God being manifested to such a degree that noise erupted in praise with singing and instruments. but was everyone glad? No, Then Athaliah rent her clothes - she had done her worst in killing the heirs to the king; she had ruled for almost 7 years. She was wicked and of the house of Omri. Again, we noted earlier that the wicked die a horrible death in this life. She was slain here for her wickedness. It was not her throne nor place to rule. But there was no one else able to stand up against her. Jehoiada waited for the boy to grow before executing his plan to restore the kingdom to the seed of David. It was high time for her to be removed. And her reaction was to rend her clothes and cry out. Treason, Treason - the act of betrayal of trust; Did she have a right to say such a thing? In her mind she was convinced that she did. Let us consider the true acts of treason found today: If treason is among the Lord's people where is it to be found? 1. betrayal of His Word; I find this to be the major cause of distrust in the Lord's ways, producing lack of faith. It keeps people away from knowing His promises and His Divine acts found throughout the Holy Scriptures. Be often in the Word, brethern! 2. betrayal of His Own Being; The Lord God Almighty is perfect in all His ways. His attritubtes describes His greatness and vastness. Yet, the Lord's own people know so very little of Who He is. A great source of sin comes from not being still and knowing God. 3. betrayal in service; We are servants to our Master and Lord. He commands and we obey, however, found today is disobedience and the work of God is hindered. Hell is busy, false religions are busy, but the Christian church is out of service. 4. betrayal in desire to Him; It should be our sole desire to please Him. Yet, we find desire within Christians to be toward everything else but Him. The zeal, the fervor, the passion is cold, weak and missing from many a soul for the things of God. These are just a few of the acts of treason found among the church today. No doubt, the numbers are greater than what has been mentioned. But what will we do about this? Will we change course? Will we surrender and submit to Him? We are found guilty and should seek His mercy for His generous hand of help. Go to Him, beseech Him for power, Divine love and a great faith. For He stands ready to give and to help at such requests. But let us not continue in the act of 'Treason'. to any government that convicts a person of 'treason' we know what happens to them. What shall the Judge of all the earth to do such a person guilty of 'treason'?

II Chronicles 22:10

"But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son ws dead, she arose and destoryed all the seed royal of the house of Judah."

Here is the continuance of evil. Ahaziah continues the evil of Jehoram. Ahaziah's mother was the dauther of Omri. Omri was the father of Ahab, who did so much evil in the sight of the Lord. Here is the third generation of this evil house. God had raised up Jehu to deal with them and to destroy them all the house of Ahab. God will judge and is able to put away all the evil that hinders us. Look upon the evil men of history, they were all destroyed in horrible ways. God judges the wicked here and in eternity. But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead - word study, to see; Jehu had slain him with the house of Ahab. And now what does this woman do? She arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah - she took her anger and slew the innocent; How often is this repeated of evil houses being vanquished off the earth? all the house of Jerobam, who made Israel to sin; all the house of Ahab being destoryed. Whole lines of families because of the evil of their heart God wipes them out. How careful should our decisions be, our life activities to safeguard the future generations? they sowed in iniquity and now they were reaping the wrath of God. Soon and very soon, this earth shall see the wrath of God unlike anything that has been before. The evil shall reap the just rewards of their sowing sin. And then eternity in hell for all their deeds. what lack of compassion and such evil to slay all the others. but even though she sought to destroy the whole line of David, one son was spared. NOt because of ahaziah, nor Jehoram, nor Athaliah, not even Jehoshaphat, but he was spared because of the covenant of the Lord with David. 'You shall always have a son on the throne'. God keeps His word. so that even in the midst of this evil genreation, God's Divine providence is working. He knows all and He is keeping His ways. Let us trust in the Divine hand of our God and lean not to our own understanding but His. His ways are right, let us be found in them. He is able to keep us and the generation to come for His glory.