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Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: Would you open your Bibles please for one final time, at least this go around, to the Book of Nehemiah. Let's just take it to Nehemiah chapter 1. I know we have gone through these 13 chapters, but we're going to take a fresh look in a different way. You know, we have spent 18 weeks, including today, 17 in the past, 18 including today, looking at Nehemiah.

We've looked at his career from cupbearer to King Artaxerxes Longimanus, the king of Persia, to being a building engineer in the city of Jerusalem, to becoming the first governor of that city. But we're going to kind of go back and look at the big picture. I want to look at mega themes that come from this book, and I've written them down, they're in your worship folder.

Throughout this series, we've been working off of a principle. In fact, anytime we look at a scriptural passage from the Old Testament as New Testament believers, the reason we do is because we're working off the principle in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 that says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God."

Not some of it, not just the gospels, not just the New Testament. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And we've worked off the similar principle that Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10, when he said, "All these things happened to them," them being Old Testament people, "all these things happened to them as examples and were written for our warning."

So we have example and warning in the Old Testament. We have found that in this book. Nehemiah has been an example, a good example, of sensitivity, humility, spirituality. The people of Jerusalem have, for the most part, been good examples.

Examples of hard work, diligence, cooperation, but sometimes they have been to us bad examples. Example of compromise and backsliding and disobedience, as we saw last week. There are enemies that are written about in the Book of Nehemiah. Do you remember their names? Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem. These are the men opposed to the work of God being done in that city. They also serve as examples, bad examples, to warn us of what can happen.

There were two very wealthy brothers. They were also very wicked brothers. They were wild, they were immoral, and they often used their money to cover up the dark side of their lives. These two brothers went to church. In fact, they went to the same church. They gave a lot of money to that church. And one of the brothers died.

And the brother that died came to that church right when a brand new pastor had taken the pulpit. The old pastor retired. This young pastor was fiery, uncompromising, just wanted to speak the truth. And he could see through the facade of these two crazy, immoral brothers.

So one of these brothers died. The surviving brother comes to the pastor, asks him to do his brother's funeral. But he comes into the office with a check. And he says, "Pastor, in my hand is a check that is going to cover all of the new building expansion you're trying to do. It'll cover it all. But I'd like you to do me one solid, one favor. Tomorrow at my brother's funeral, I'd like you to address the people who come and say that my brother was a saint."

So the pastor nodded and promised to do precisely as the man said. Took the check, went to the bank, deposited it into the church's bank account. The next day at the funeral, people were gathered, pastor was up in front by the casket, looked down at the open casket and said, "This man was an ungodly sinner. He was wicked to the core. He was unfaithful to his wife. He beat his children. He was a notorious cheater in business. But compared to his brother, he was a saint."

Let me just say that compared to Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, everybody in Jerusalem, no matter how bad they compromised, they were all saints. We're going to look today at five mega themes. These are just themes that I have chosen and looking over this book this week, figuring out a good way to end this book in a way that is applicable. I've come up with five overarching principles that both encourage and warn us. Five mega themes.

Here's the first. Great cities can fall. The first thing I am confronted with when I open the Book of Nehemiah is the fact that great cities can fall, because the book opens up with a city that had fallen. Jerusalem had fallen. It was a city in shambles. That's the first report Nehemiah heard. When he asked Hanani, who had just come back from Jerusalem, what the conditions were like, this is in chapter 1, if you have your Bibles open, verse 3.

"The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down and its gates are burned with fire." The reason that is significant is because it hadn't always been this way. Jerusalem had been a city of renown, known all over the known world as a great city.

David made it so. 450 years before this, King David, the second king of the united 12 tribes of Israel, brought that nation and the city of Jerusalem into a golden age. He built roads, he built walls and forts. He united the kingdom, expanded the kingdom, secured its border, ended long-standing threats to the nation, and then he passed it on to his son, Solomon, who continued that golden era.

Solomon was so known and Jerusalem was so renowned that people from all over the world, kings, queens, took note. In fact, one of the visitors of Solomon was a woman by the name of the Queen of Sheba. And when she came and saw the temple and the buildings and the meals provided for the staff and all that was going on in the city of Jerusalem, the Bible tells us, "there was no more spirit in her." Took her breath away.

And she said to King Solomon, "The half was not told me. This is far better than I had heard." So Jerusalem had become at that time the political, spiritual, and economic hub of a vast kingdom. And now we look at Nehemiah chapter 1 and we've considered it already, but here is a great city that had fallen. Now, why did it fall? Well, you know the story, but in brief, in 930 BC, a guy by the name of Jeroboam said to Solomon, "We're splitting, we are not united with you anymore. We hate the taxation. We don't like the economics. We want to do our own thing."

So he took 10 of those tribes and split the kingdom in two. Both of the kingdoms, north and south, became so wicked, filled with idolatry year after year that eventually, as God promised, he took them captive, or he let them go into captivity. 722 BC, the Assyrians took the 10 northern tribes away. 150 years later, 586 BC, the Babylonians did the same thing. By the time we get to Nehemiah, there's a new boss on the block. And that is Cyrus. And Cyrus is the king of the combined forces of the Medes and the Persians. And the city of Jerusalem is broken down and the gates are burned with fire.

Let me just remind you that history is littered with once great civilizations, great cities that have fallen. Let me give you a few names. Nineveh, Babylon, Carthage, Alexandria. All of these are just archeological ruins today. Pompeii, Ephesus, Herculaneum, Petra, Persepolis, and Jerusalem. When you hear that, and Jerusalem, that should give you pause because you wouldn't expect Jerusalem to be included in a list like that.

Because Jerusalem, after all, was God's city, uniquely God's city.

Female Announcer: You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, friends like you help bring clear, verse-by-verse Bible teaching to people searching for truth in a world that often feels confused, divided, and uncertain. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource designed for times like these. When you give, you'll receive City in Shambles, Pastor Skip's complete 18-message study through Nehemiah on CD, plus digital download. In these messages, you'll discover how God works in seasons of spiritual and cultural collapse, how prayer and obedience become the starting point for renewal, and how ordinary believers can respond with faith instead of fear. We'll send this resource as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer.

Skip Heitzig: Now, here's the special invitation for you. Hi, I'm Skip Heitzig, pastor of Calvary Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the author of the devotional Soaring Above It All. If you're a believer who longs to see the big picture of God's Word, but maybe you've felt overwhelmed or you've been unable to make all the pieces of God's story fit together, I wrote Soaring Above It All for you. From Genesis to Revelation, I've highlighted the Bible's big picture, distilling key passages, events, people, themes, and significance. This approachable overview of scripture will help you stay engaged in God's Word daily. My hope is that as you read through the Bible, this devotional will enable you to better understand God's truth and His heart and plan for your life. Pre-order your copy now on Amazon or wherever books are sold.

Female Announcer: Now, let's return to today's teaching.

Skip Heitzig: In 1 Kings, God calls Jerusalem the city which I have chosen for myself to put My name there. My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. But you know there's a principle in the New Testament. I know you know it and it applies here. "To whom much is given," finish it out for me, "to whom much is given, much shall be required."

Jerusalem was given much. God had warned them back in Deuteronomy 28 and 29. If you disobey me, you're going to fall. Here's His words. Deuteronomy 28. "You shall be plucked from the land that you go in to possess." The very next chapter, Deuteronomy 29, he continues that thought, and he says it's going to get so bad if you disobey Me that the other nations around are going to look and say, "Why would God let this happen?" And the answer will be, "Because they have forsaken the covenant which He made with them."

Have you ever wondered what happened to those seven churches in the Book of Revelation that Jesus wrote to? Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Laodicea. All those seven churches. What became of them? At one time, they were hubs in great cities, hubs of Christian influence in great towns. If you were to visit those places today, you would realize there is no visible church there at all.

There may be Christians in the area, very small percentage, but there is no evidence of Christianity in those places. All of that to say this. What happened to Jerusalem can happen to any city, any nation. Any city or any nation that turns its back on God, this can happen to. I checked again this week, opened my wallet, and looked on the back of a $1 bill and there it is. It says right there, "In God We Trust."

Stamped on our coinage, "In God We Trust." So I thought, "I wonder if that's just a one-off." Is that just on the $1 bill? So, picked out a $10 bill. Different face on the front, but on the back there it is again. "In God We Trust." And so I thought, "Well, that's interesting. I'm just going to keep going."

I have somewhere a $2 bill. Just so rare, I just thought I'd hold onto it. And I couldn't find it on the $2 bill, but then down at the bottom, it says, "In God We Trust." So I started thinking, is that true? I know at one time it was. I mean, that's part of the founding documents of our nation, "In God We Trust." That was a pillar. What God is it we trust in? Are we trusting in mammon, the god of money? Are we trusting in ourselves as we're our own god, our own bosses?

Truth is, as a nation, we are leaving God. We have left God. We are now reinterpreting the history of our nation. It is being taught differently in schools today and purposely, at least in some cases, purposely leaving out the obvious foundation of our country. Let me just remind you of it, just a couple of things. Back in 1620, there was something called the Mayflower Compact. Now, you know what happened, the Mayflower came to our shores to establish a government in the New World.

The Mayflower Compact was an agreement made aboard the ship, the Mayflower, as it was still docked out at sea by Cape Cod, Massachusetts. And before it came ashore, 41 of those people aboard signed this framework that would become the founding of the new government, self-government of this nation. And here's just a section of it. "Having undertaken for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith, we do solemnly and mutually combine ourselves together."

In that statement, they were saying, "We have come to this nation to give God the glory and to advance the gospel." Their words, "the Christian faith." That was 1620. 23 years later, four of the colonies in the new world drew up the Constitution of the New England Confederation. Among other things, they wanted to band together to have intercolonial commerce and fight off any enemies that would come.

But they wrote this. "We all come into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely to advance the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ." "And to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity and peace." Can you imagine? That's how our country was founded. With men who said, "We want to preach the Gospel, give glory to God, and advance the Christian faith and the liberties thereof on new soil."

Well, there are many such examples in our documents. But let me just advance that a little bit further. In the 1800s, a guy sent from the government of France named Alexis de Tocqueville was sent to America to examine it, to study this experiment, it was called, in democracy. He eventually, he started at first to just study the prison systems in our country, but he wanted to know why this democracy was working and what the difference between the French government and this new government were.

And among the things he wrote and said, it is purported by some that he wrote this, and I'll put this quote up. "I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers. It was not there. In her fertile fields and boundless forests, and it was not there. In her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. In her democratic congress and her matchless constitution, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great."

What happened to Jerusalem should give us pause as a nation. One nation under God, perhaps at one time, a nation perhaps that has left God. Great cities can fall. Great nations can fall. But let me take you quickly to a second mega theme that gives you a little more hope. Ordinary people can help.

One thing that strikes me about the Book of Nehemiah, it's a story about ordinary folks, all about ordinary people. Remember the lists of names, four separate times we encountered and avoided in this book, a list of very difficult names that I decided not to read, for the most part. When I did, I got in trouble. Nehemiah himself was ordinary. Nehemiah was not a king, Nehemiah was not a prophet, Nehemiah was not a priest. He was a cupbearer. He was the chief of staff for a king in Persia.

But he decided to cooperate with God's plan. In Nehemiah chapter 3, if you have your Bible open, Nehemiah chapter 3, it gives another list of names, but this time not just a list. Rather, it gives us the names and the locations of the people who built the wall. We went through that. Let me remind you of who is on the list in this chapter.

I read about priests, Tekoites, that's people who live in Tekoa, 5, 6, 8 miles away, men of Gibeon, another local village, goldsmiths, perfumers, merchants, leaders, and their daughters. Sounds like a bunch of ordinary people. In fact, let me just push that a little bit. I think if anybody could say, looking at the walls of Jerusalem, "This is not my job," it would be goldsmiths, perfumers, and priests. And I'm guessing that when they came home every night, their muscles ached. They were not used to that labor.

But they gave themselves willingly to the work. They pitched in, ordinary people from all walks of life, doing their part in spite of opposition. The message of Nehemiah, or one of the messages of Nehemiah, is that God can and does use anyone who is willing to be used. We mentioned in this book in one of our studies, "You take care of the availability, and let God take care of the ability."

Don't say, "I don't have the ability to do that." Just be available and watch how God equips you to be able to do what He calls you to do. God's callings are God's enablings. What God asks you to do, He will equip you to pull off. One of my favorite passages in 2 Chronicles, chapter 9. "The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." So it just takes, it's as simple as Romans 12:1. "I present my body to you, Lord, as a living sacrifice."

Female Announcer: Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God's Word with people around the world, offering biblical truth and hope in a time when many feel discouraged or overwhelmed. And this month, we'd love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you City in Shambles, Pastor Skip's complete 18-message study through Nehemiah on CD, plus digital download. These messages will encourage you to respond to brokenness with prayer, repentance, and courageous faith, and remind you that God still rebuilds what's been torn down. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Music: Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the cross. Cast your burdens on His word. Make a connection, with connection.

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Male Announcer: Ready to go deeper in your faith and discover your calling? The School of Ministry at Calvary Church in Albuquerque is designed to equip you with practical Bible teaching, hands-on ministry training, and real-world experience. Whether you're called to lead, serve, or grow, this is your next step. Classes are forming now. Visit calvarysom.org to learn more and apply today. That's calvarysom.org. The School of Ministry at Calvary Church, your calling starts here.