some present great preachers of the past and you'll have somebody come through and you'll go oh that's their pastor oh I can tell you know who where they were under and how they preach and things like that and there might be a you know you have these preachers like an Adrian Rogers who alliterates alliterated alliterations I mean it's it's mind-blowing to listen to all these alliterations and somebody may try that and well that's great I like that and but you realize well I'm not built like that I can't do that But they try to emulate that, they try to copy that. You know, Roloff, of course, never preached with notes, and so then there'd be guys that tried not to preach with notes, and that wasn't really good. And so I heard one not too long ago, a few years back, and it wasn't good, man, it was not good. And I think Hiles had this thing, he had a problem in his throat with the mica, a problem in his throat, it cleared his throat and cleared his throat all the time. And then they said, I don't remember many of them, but they said there was a lot of preacher boys, they'd go around clearing their throat like Hiles. Yeah, imitation, flattery, it's the highest form of flattery some people say. J. Frank Norris, I don't think anybody in here would have seen Frank Norris preach at all. J. Frank Norris, that's too far back I think. Brother Boonstra knew him, obviously went to his school. But they say that I've read in a kind of a biography of J. Frank Norris had a very distinct style that he would stand very straight and have a hand in one pocket and one hand would do, I mean, he had a very distinct manner that he preached. And I actually got to hear Oscar Wells preach, oh my goodness, early 1990s, and he was in his 90s, and he preached just like J. Frank Norris. He would stand there and he would just, He imitated, that's what he was using, that's what he imitated. And we do that, don't we? We imitate, we emulate people that we admire, that we think a lot of because maybe we feel like their abilities operating in our life will maybe replace some deficiencies that we know that we have. I don't know, we could psychoanalyze that forever and ever. But you know what I like is that it's not really how God works. God doesn't work that way. And in our passage tonight, here's what I want to show you tonight. We're going to see how God takes a very different man from Ezra. and he uses him where he is, he uses him as who he is, and he uses him with what he's equipped with. And this is good, because sometimes you can look at yourself and say, what can I do? I can't do that, and I can't do this, and I can't do that, and I don't have that ability, and I don't have that background. Well, just hold tight, okay? Hold tight, because listen, God uses all of us where we are. Now, I want to show you this tonight. Remember in Nehemiah, he was in Shushan, the palace. That is a modern Iranian city of shush, like you tell your kids, shush, right? You didn't know you were so close to speaking Persian. But this is where Nehemiah is. Hey, let me remind you this. This is where Esther was. This is where Mordecai was. Her cousin was there. Daniel would be there under Darius, who was the king before Artaxerxes. So you have quite a history here in Shushan in this area. Speaking of Daniel, archaeologists had uncovered a tomb there in Shushan and it was called Shush Daniel. It was an inscription over it, Shush Daniel. And many believe that might have been the grave the tomb of Daniel that we have here in the Bible. It was the epicenter of the Persian Empire. Now watch this. This was the center of it all. This was the Washington D.C. of the Persian Empire. I think last week I said something about the Babylonian Empire. That was a little earlier. We're up to the Persian Empire here in Nehemiah. And so this is the Washington D.C. of the Persian Empire. And think about this now. Washington D.C. really is like one of the last places you would ever imagine THAT GOD WOULD TAKE SOMEBODY OUT OF TO DO SOMETHING GREAT WITH. IT MIGHT BE SOME PLACE WHERE GOD'S JUDGEMENT MIGHT FALL AND JUST BURN THE PLACE UP AND WE'D ALL PROBABLY BE BETTER OFF. I REMEMBER WHEN ONE TIME THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT HAVING A SHUTDOWN, A GOVERNMENTAL SHUTDOWN BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T COME TO AN IMPASSE OF HOW MUCH MORE MONEY TO BORROW, RIGHT? THE DEBT CEILING, RAISING THE DEBT CEILING. AND I REMEMBER THE LATE, THAT SOUNDS WEIRD TO SAY, BUT THE LATE RUSH LIMBAUGH SAYING, Great, let it go because that means if it's shut down, they're not doing dumb stuff. And it's like, well, that's true. This is really kind of how Washington DC operates. This was Shushan. It was the Washington DC of the Persian Empire, okay? And so, This is where Nehemiah is. I said last week he was the king's trusted advisor. He had connections within the government of the Persian Empire, obviously. He was obviously chosen because he had some ability for this. I'm going to show you this. Go back to Daniel, or forward, however you like to look at it. Go to Daniel chapter 1. Look at this setting here we see here of those people that when Israel came into this time here, the Babylonian Empire, but we're looking at the Nehemiah's time, we're looking at the Persian Empire. Look at verse 1, Daniel chapter 1 verse 1, And the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon under Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand, and with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the house of his God, and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God. And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes, children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace." I mean, this was the upper crust. This was the top of the intelligence of Israel, in whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision, the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. You know them as Daniel, and then you know them also as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These were the top of the top. They went out and found the best. You see what they did with them, right? I don't know if you really realize this. As far as I can tell, Daniel was a eunuch. He was made a eunuch. And he stayed that way, obviously. But they found the best. the most intelligent, the brightest, the best looking, the most capable people to put within the government. And it would be hard for me to guess that Nehemiah wasn't like these. Nehemiah was very much accomplished, obviously, to get into the place where he was as a cup bearer and advisor and chosen to work before the king. Why? Because he was able and because he was gifted and had some... Here he is with really a high-ranking position within the Persian Empire. What am I saying here? I'm saying tonight that Nehemiah really was a somebody. He really was. I want you to notice something here though. We're back in Nehemiah. And Nehemiah is equipped with some things already. Nehemiah, think about this, he's been in the inner workings of, let's say, D.C. You know those people that are aides to senators? And they have positions, those that clerk for judges. I think it was Ted Cruz who clerked for which Supreme Court Justice he clerked for. And what happens when you get these jobs, you get to understand the inner workings of the beast. Right. And this is really where Nehemiah is. He's equipped with the knowledge of what's going on in the inner workings of the Persian Empire. He understands the ins and outs of the Persian legal system. Don't let that just pass over you real quickly because we'll look at this again. He understands the legal system. He understands the governing system. He has been at the very least a bystander, if not active, and the building and the expansion of the empire. These cupbearers, remember, they were like advisors. We saw last week, these cupbearers, who was the one that lost his name, that actually started as cupbearer, went on to be king. See, he understands that a country or an empire that is not protected from outside enemies will be destroyed. Watch, he's in all of the inner workings of how the Persian Empire fights battles and protects itself and keeps itself intact in the way it is. He's been all a part of this. It's a part of his job. And so here, Nehemiah had the knowledge of a nation building, he had connection to resources, and he had a personal relationship with the king. This dude's connected. He's connected. And all of these were needed. Watch this. They were all needed and they were all used to accomplish the goal of the burden that Nehemiah had for his homeland in Israel. Do you remember? Paul did this too. The apostle Paul used the Roman government when it was necessary. There are times that Paul took beatings, right? And then over at Philippi, it's like, should you have beaten a Roman citizen? Uh-oh. This isn't good. At other times, before the flogging started, he said, excuse me, sir, is it okay to flog a Roman citizen? I'll be right back. Goes back, comes back. Why don't you go ahead and be on your way? It was illegal. Watch, Paul used his Roman citizenship at times to further the gospel mission that he had from God. And I know that sometimes he didn't, sometimes he just got flogged. But I think especially of Philippi when he brought up such a, and I think this is a lesson for the United States in how we operate within our own nation. Hey, Paul took a stand, I believe, at Philippi, he took the stand to pave the way for that new church there, he planted it at Philippi, to have all of the Roman freedoms that were due them under the law. Yeah, we just had an issue here in Springfield with one of the pastors that was here at the hotel that we stay at quite often. I'm not gonna say the name yet, but essentially they canceled our reservation. They made the state, here's what they said to the pastor, all churches do is just wanna rip us off. He said, huh? We don't. I mean, we've put people there for quite some time now. They have all of our information on file. The same individual is still working there, right? Some Indonesian man. And he's just like, yeah, churches, they just rip people off. He didn't send the credit card authorization. So I get a call from the pastor. I said, oh, I did, but here, I'll send it again. I mean, this stuff should be on file. And went back and forth. And finally, the pastor said, you know, you're not a nice guy. Why would you just assume that churches just rip people off? You can get out of my hotel. Cancel the reservation. He calls me. He goes, our reservation's canceled. I'm like, huh? He goes, he's still yelling. I was like, what? Yeah, it was weird. It was bizarre. Yeah. You know what? The only reason I want to do something about it is not for us. But listen, this is going to get worse and worse and worse in our nation. And somebody needs to set down a stake in the ground and say, listen, you can't do that. You can't do that. It's not legal. In some words, it's called discrimination. Could you imagine if the guy said, I tell you what, the only thing that ever happens around here is those Asians just rip us off. I mean, it would be all over the news. They'd be shut down. But no, you can say it about a church. Man, how did I digress? Oh, I know, because Paul was establishing something, I believe, for that new church at Philippi to have the rights that they were supposed to have under the Roman law. So what am I saying? The biggest thing I'm saying here is Paul used the Roman government when he needed to. And so is Nehemiah. Listen, Nehemiah is connected. He's going to use all the power of the Persian Empire to get the burden that is on him accomplished for God. That's neat. How does Nehemiah use what he's equipped with? How does he do this? Nehemiah chapter 2. You didn't think we were going to get there, did you? Look at verse 7. Moreover, I said unto the king, If it please the king, Let letters be given me unto the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come unto Judah." Remember, he was sad. The king says, what's wrong with you? You're not sick or anything. This is sadness of heart. And he said, uh-oh. And he told him, how can I be happy when my city is burned down, the walls are down. And Artaxerxes says, what do you want? And he says, I want to go back and build the walls. And this is where we come to in verse 7. Moreover, I said, here it is. I want letters to be given to me. What is that? Legal documents. Legal documents from the Persian Empire. This is the empire on the planet, friend. In Paul's day, it would be letters from Caesar. It would be legal documents from Caesar saying, let Paul do this, and let him do this, and let him do this. Of course, he never had those. But Nehemiah is asking for them. He's asking for them. I love it. And, let the letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over until I come into Judah. What is he going to do? He's going to leave this area where Shushan is. He's going to travel over the Tigris River. He's going to leave Iran. He's going to go west over that Tigris River. He's going to travel through Iraq. He's going to go about 980 miles in this trip across this Persian Empire. All along the way throughout the Persian Empire, there would be a government, I guess you would, for lack of a better word, governors installed in certain provinces of the empire that had jurisdiction over people coming and going throughout the empire. And as he was going through all of these locations, all of these provinces on his way to Jerusalem, on his way to Israel, he would give these letters, these documents to those governors and they would say, oh, yeah, that's a legal document, you can go right on through. What do you need? Do you need anything? Okay, sure, here you go. I mean, he had it made in the shade, man. It was awesome. It really was. And so, he's gonna go there. It would kinda be like if you were in school and you had to have a hall pass. And you pass four or five teachers on the way to the restroom, and they say, why are you in the hallway? You'd be like, here's my pass. Okay. Now, they pat you down for weapons and all sorts of awful stuff. Yeah, I should even joke about that. But it's like a hall, he had a hall pass. That's pretty cool, across the empire. And here it is. The letters would also show this, that Nehemiah's business, that burden he had, watch this, the burden he had became something that was sanctioned by the king, which gave him all of the authority to do his business. That's awesome. It really is. Hey, can I tell you something about us today? If you are indwelt by the Spirit of God and you have the Word of God, do you know we have all of the authority from Heaven to do our business wherever we travel on this planet? We have authority from heaven, right? Our government doesn't understand this at all, do they? They don't like it actually. More and more they're not liking it. But listen, this is the same as what Peter said. Hey, we obey God rather than man. Why? Because our authority to do our business is from heaven and not from man. And this is what Nehemiah had. from that human government, he had authority to go. Now look at verse eight. He's gonna get more, look at this. And a letter unto Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertain to the house. and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me according to the good hand of my God upon me." You notice what Nehemiah said? Why would the king do this? Because God told him to. I like that. I love God intervenes in the affairs of man to accomplish his will. Absolutely he does. And here's these letters to Asaph. Here's another legal document. When he shows up, he says, here it is. I need timber. I need some wood. I need you to haul some lumber over. Where's it going, Nehemiah? Israel, huh? Yeah, it's going to Israel. Okay, are you sure? It's what the letter says, buddy. King's signature, here's the seal. All right, all right, yeah. So before Nehemiah ever leaves to do any work, before he ever leaves this Shushan, the palace, He gets all of his legal issues in place. He has all of his ducks in a row legally. He's operating, watch this, he's operating within the confines of the government and he's operating, watch this now, within his skillset. He's operating how he was bent within like, The gifts that he had, within the gifts that he had been given, that the king noticed that would depict him even to be the cup bearer in the first place. He's ready to go. Do you see at the end of verse 8, according to the good hand of my God upon me? Nehemiah. This is who God used to build the wall. And this is what God used this legal system to get the wall rebuilt at Jerusalem. You know what I notice about Nehemiah? He is so different from Ezra. Oh, my goodness. These guys are so different. Ezra, the king, you know, the king still had to allow Ezra to go back as well. Remember that? Back when Cyrus allowed him to go back. But Ezra, watch this. You know how Ezra prepared? He didn't go through the legal system. He wasn't plugged in like that. Ezra prepared by prayer and fasting. He was different. You know, when he was offered this royal band to go back with him, to bring him back into Israel to build the temple, he said, he said, bless God, you know, we're living by faith. I don't need a bunch of government to come along with me. I need the government to get out and I'll go on by herself. God will get us there. That's how Ezra was. He said, I don't want a band. God will bring us over. I don't need the government to help us. Right? Yeah. And I like that too. It's good too. He was a man of God. He operated differently. He prayed and he fasted this way. And of course, we know that Nehemiah prayed and fasted as well. But when it came to any government involvement, no, Ezra said, not a chance. God of heaven is going to take care of us. Nehemiah worked in the government, right? He asked for those letters, for a safe passage. He asked for the legal documents. Watch this, Ezra operated from the place of a priest and a scribe. Nehemiah operated from the place of a government official. Listen please, God used them both. Just who and where they were. God uses different people, doesn't he? Isn't this good? This is a great reminder. Because I know at times we can look at those around us, those that you want to emulate, those that you think, if I was like that, I could do this. You can look at some people with their ability in whatever you do. Maybe it's in your trade and in your job. Maybe it's in your craft and in the things that you like to do like quilting and things like that. You could look at some ladies quilt. Do men make quilts? Really? But you'd look at them, right? And you might look at some quilt and you're like, oh, my. That's incredible. And you might look at the personality of the one building the quilt and be like, I'm not like that. They just have a tenacity. I don't know what it takes to build a quilt. I'm totally making things up here. But you know what? I mean, you can maybe want to emulate the quilt itself and go, how did they do that, right? How did they do that pattern thing, right? Whatever it is. No, we can do that. We can look at people. We can look at people within our trade and within our expertise as pastors. Pastors can look at other pastors and then go, my goodness, you're right. And they can look at that. Watch, and you can get discouraged because you're just not quite like that one. You can get discouraged because, boy, I tell you what, that guy is so quick on his feet. The way he thinks, the way he reacts, the way he talks, the way he responds, the way he handles the employees and the way he handles the office. I mean, it's incredible. I'll never be like that. You can look at some people's personalities and you say, I just can't go out and share the gospel like that. There's no way. I'm just not like that. Good news. You don't have to be like that. God uses us right where we are with our personality, with our background, with our history, with how long we've been in Christ or how long we haven't been in Christ. He uses everybody where they are. Amos was a farmer. He was a father probably too, but he was a farmer. He said, my dad isn't even a prophet, we're not of the prophets, we're just a bunch of farmers. But then you had Habakkuk and Zephaniah and Zechariah, they're prophets. Amos said, I'm not a prophet, I'm just a farmer. God used them both. Moses knew all the inner workings of Egypt, which gave him access to Pharaoh. God used him. David loved to fight. Man, he was a fighter. God used him. Peter was a fisherman and a loud mouth and never stopped talking, and God used him. Praise the Lord. I don't have the fishing thing down. I got the other two things down. Paul was a Pharisee. He was taught under Gamaliel. He had a brilliant mind, brilliantly educated, most likely what we know on the Council of the Sanhedrin. The true academic, God used him. Apollos was probably one of the most eloquent preachers you might have ever heard, and God used him. Timothy, from a dysfunctional home. Yeah, from a dysfunctional home, an unbelieving father, a believing mother and grandmother. Paul said that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures, which was able to make thee wise unto salvation. He knew the Scriptures from a young age, but obviously it wasn't until he met Paul that Paul led him to the Lord. Yeah, he didn't have the same background as Paul. Lydia, just a businesswoman selling purple stuff. Would you like to do that, Miss Barbara, sell purple stuff? If it made money, I don't know, maybe. Lavender, okay. Here's the point, saints. Whatever you came into the kingdom of God with, God will use it. No, no, no, I'm not talking about, you know, we don't change when we come in, that we don't become more Christ-like. You understand that you, you in here are much more mature than that to know what I mean by that. But listen, God uses us. And He hones us. And He makes us better. But listen, you and I, we're not going to get out of some of our personalities. It's who we are. And it's what God uses. It's what He uses. I love it. Never does God tell us to be like somebody else before He can use us. And listen, the only thing He has promised to make us like, the only person He's promised to make us like is who? Amen. God will use you as you. He absolutely will. With your idiosyncrasies, with your fears, with your abilities, with your weaknesses, with all of your connections, your inabilities. Let me warn you something tonight, though. It removes any excuses why you can't be used of God. Well, I can't do that. Listen, whatever God burdens you with, you can do, because if God has put a burden on you, right? He's equipped you to do it. He who hath begun a good work in you, what? Will perform it. He does the performing of it. So everyone, every member in a church, and you should be a member of a church, every member of a church has a place where God wants to use them. Let's do the first Corinthians chapter 12. Let's end with this. When you find first Corinthians chapter 12, would you stand? And we'll close with this. beginning in verse 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 12, For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit Are we all baptized into one body, whether it be Jew or Gentile, whether it be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit? For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I am not of the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? Or if the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now God hath set the members, every one of them, in the body, as it hath pleased Him." I think this is why we need to be very careful of going from church to church to church to church. God places in the body whom He wills. And I believe God should have all of the say. I love when people come and say, we're praying about where the Lord wants us to be. We're praying about that. That's a very wise thing to do. As it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? Watch this. But now are they many members yet one body? Every member of Crimson Avenue Baptist Church has a function to play in this body. What burden has God placed upon your heart? Can I tell you, if the burden is on your heart, God has equipped you for that. He's chosen you. Hey, we're moving forward as a church. And God wants to use you. Just be you. Let God make you like Christ. Let the Lord conform you to His image. And just let God use you in all of the way that He's made you already. And He'll plug you in where He wants you. And then, watch, the glory of it all is you'll know that He did it, not you. Because some of you go, I'm not very usable. Nehemiah hadn't even been to Israel. Never knew nothing but living in that Persian empire. Our Father, thank you tonight that you use us, every one of us, are usable to you. Please, Father, deliver us from that tendency to look at others and say, well, I'm not like that. I can't do that. I can't do that. Father, you have something for all of us to do. I just pray you'd help us to trust you in that and to be busy about what you'd have us to do. There's work to do here. There's work to do here in Nixa. There's work to do in our country. There's work to do in the world. Father, you've equipped us and made us the way we are, and we pray we would be usable to Thee in every way. We thank You in Jesus' name. Amen. The instrument's going to play. The invitation is open. However, the Lord has spoken to you. Do you have a burden? Do you have a burden for this city? Do you have a burden for the people of this town? Do you have a burden for your country? Do you have a burden for your neighborhood? You know, God has given you that burden. That burden is on you. Your eyes, maybe you've had a time in your life when you say, Lord, please God, open my eyes. Let me see what's really going on around me. Listen, God will use you in that burden. Just allow Him to do what He wants to do. Just follow Him. Spend some time preparing and praying and fasting. and then allow God to use you where He wills. Maybe it's a neighbor. Maybe you see a burden and you say, Lord, I don't know how to do this one. I don't know what to even do here. Can you show me what to do with this one? God wants to use you. Absolutely. Let's be dismissed in a word of prayer tonight. We'll have men's prayer Saturday morning. Visitation weather is getting just beautiful. Still waiting for rain. It's kind of dried up. Certainly we're going to get a little more rain. I hope. We're going to be in trouble if we don't. Although we need to get all of our dirt things filled in. Boy, I tell you what.