Fathers Day Expository Teaching From Nehemiah | Pastor Chris Searcy | 6.15.25

Fathers Day
Expository teaching from Nehemiah

Who was Nehemiah:
Position: Nehemiah was a Jew in exile because of the Babylonian captivity,which later became the Persian captivity after Persia conquered Babylon.

Faithful Jew: Deeply concerned with the welfare of his people and the holy city of Jerusalem.

Role: He was a cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes I.

Theme:
The Lord's protection of his people and the need for faithfulness and keeping the Torah and their faithfulness and worship.

What Happens:
Nehemiah led the effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.

Nehemiah 1:1-11

1 These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:

In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah. So I questioned them about the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

3 And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”

4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

5 Then I said:

“O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites.

I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have behaved corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that You gave Your servant Moses.

8 Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses when You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, 9 but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’

10 They are Your servants and Your people. You redeemed them by Your great power and mighty hand. 11 O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Nehemiah 2:3-5, 8
3 and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

4 “What is your request?” replied the king.

So I prayed to the God of heaven 5 and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

8…. And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

Nehemiah 2:16
16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers. 17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

Nehemiah 4:1, 6-11
1 Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews

6 So we rebuilt the wall until all of it was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

7 When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious, 8 and all of them conspired to come and fight against Jerusalem and create a hindrance.

9 So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.

10 Meanwhile, the people of Judah said: 

“The strength of the laborer fails,

    and there is so much rubble

that we will never be able

    to rebuild the wall.”

11 And our enemies said, “Before they know or see a thing, we will come into their midst, kill them, and put an end to the work.”

Nehemiah 4:13
13 So I stationed men behind the lowest sections of the wall, at the vulnerable areas. I stationed them by families with their swords, spears, and bows.

Nehemiah 4:15
15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their scheme and that God had frustrated it, each of us returned to his own work on the wall. 16 And from that day on, half of my servants did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor.

Nehemiah 4:23
23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the guards with me changed out of our clothes; each carried his weapon, even to go for water.

Nehemiah 4:14
14 After I had made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

Biblical Requirements for Women Seeking to Marry, pt 1 | Pastor Tre Townsley | 6.8.25

Biblical Requirements for Women Seeking to Marry, pt 1

• Ephesians 5:22-24, 33 ²² Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. ²⁴ Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. ³³ Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
• Genesis 2:18-25 ¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” ¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. ²¹ And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. ²³ And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” ²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. ²⁵ And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

What does the Bible require of the wife?

• To help her husband

Genesis 2:18

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 

• Carry his burdens with him
• Help him in the way he needs help

• You must respect your husband

Ephesians 5:33b

³³ Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

• Basic respect is not earned, it’s always given
• Soldiers in the armed services are taught to give respect even when their superiors haven’t earned it
• Public rebuke/disagreements (if they ever occur) are extremely rare
• Never discuss his failures with your peers

• Love and obey your own husband

Titus 2:3-4

³ the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— ⁴ that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

• No one should have more outside influence on your personal affairs than your husband

• Render sexual rights unto him

1 Corinthians 7:4

⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

• Buy-in and agreement from both parties are required
• Obstacles must be overcome together
• Sometimes you need prayer and supplication
• Sometimes you need prayer and supplements
• The goal is fulfillment of both partners within the confines of marriage

• Submission to his leadership

Ephesians 5:22-24

²² Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. ²⁴ Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

1 Peter 3:1-2

Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, ² when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

• It doesn’t mean become a ‘yes’ woman
• Sub: under   Mission: an important assignment accompanied by strong conviction 
• Support his convictions

• Excel them all

Proverbs 31:10-12, 28-29

¹⁰ Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. ¹¹ The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. ¹² She does him good and not evil all the days of her life. 

²⁸ Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ²⁹ “Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.”

Proverbs 12:4 ⁴ An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.

Biblical Requirements for Men Seeking to Marry, pt 1 | Pastor Tre Townsley | 6.1.25

Biblical Requirements for Men Seeking to Marry, pt 1

• Ephesians 5:25-33

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. ³⁰ For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ³¹ “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. ³³ Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

• The qualifications for the President of the US state that the candidate must be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years of age, and a resident of the US for at least 14 years. (US Constitution)
• To become an astronaut, you need to be a U.S. citizen, possess a master's degree in a STEM field, and have at least two years of related professional experience or 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time. Additionally, you must be able to pass the NASA astronaut physical examination. (NASA Astronaut Selection Board)
• To get married in the US, generally, both parties must be of legal age to marry in the state they are getting married in (typically 18), not already married, have the mental capacity to consent to marriage, and be free from any legal impediments to marriage, such as being too closely related, or lacking legal capacity. (State and Federal law)
• Just as we discover the laws of physics (we don’t author them because we did not institute matter and energy), we can only discover the requirements of marriage.
• While many focus on what the bible doesn’t say, focusing on what the bible does say will clear much confusion.

What does the bible require of the husband?

• Leave your father and mother and cleave to her 

Genesis 2:23-24

²³ And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.”  ²⁴Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

• Live with them based on understanding them (as equals with different functions/strengths)

1 Peter 3:7

⁷ Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

• Don’t be bitter toward her, but instead be joyful with her

Colossians 3:19

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

Ecclesiastes 9:9

⁹ Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.

• Be to Christ what you expect her to be to you 

1 Corinthians 11:3

 ³ But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

• Go in for life 

Matthew 19:6-9

⁶ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷ They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” ⁸ He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” 

• Render sexual rights to her 

 1 Corinthians 7:3a

³ Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her...

• Be satisfied (not content) with who you have

Proverbs 5:15-20

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well. ¹⁶ Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets? ¹⁷ Let them be only your own, and not for strangers with you. ¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. ¹⁹ As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love. ²⁰ For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, and be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

• Provide for her needs in this world 

1 Timothy 5:8

 ⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 

• Love her like yourself and if ever you have to choose…she wins 

Ephesians 5:25-29

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

• ‘The world’s love is always object-oriented. A person is loved because of physical attractiveness, personality, wit, prestige, or some feature or trait that we find appealing. This type of love is fickle, however. For once the trait that is found lovable is diminished by age, or someone more talented or gifted comes along, this fickle love ceases.’ - https://harvest.org/know-god-article/the-role-of-the-husband-in-the-marriage/

• While this certainly applies to marriage, it first describes Christ and His bride

Ephesians 5:32

³² This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.