Let Us Arise And Build

Take your Bibles, please, and be finding the Book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah, chapter

2, and verse 11—page 783, if you have one like I have. Well, all right, the Book of Nehemiah. We’re thinking, this morning, on this particular subject: “Let Us Arise and Build”—“Let Us Arise and Build.” This is the story of the rebuilding of the walls ’round about Jerusalem under the leadership of God’s man, Nehemiah.

And, I begin reading, now, where we commenced our study last Sunday—chapter 2, and verse 11: Nehemiah says, “So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.” Now, boys and girls, that means his horse. He called his horse a beast. He wasn’t talking about his wife or anything like that: “…neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass” (Nehemiah 2:10–14).

That is, there was so much rubbish, and so much debris, and so much rubble, that

he could not even get past. Oh, these principles will be true in the building of your lives. You have a family to build, and these principles will be true in the building of your family. You have a business to build, and these principles will be true in the building of your business. We have a church family and a church fellowship to build, and these principles will be true here. These are great eternal, vital principles, and you will remember that, last week, we told you three things to look for when you study any passage of Scripture: number one, what it meant then; number two, what it means now; and, number three, what it means to me personally.

Now, keep those three in mind, because if you will take any verse of Scripture and ask, first of all, when you read it, “What did it mean then?” and, study it in its context, and then, ask, “What does it mean now?” and see what it means in our modern day and age, and then, go one step further and apply it to your own life, the Bible will just burst aflame right in your hands. And, the truth of it will leap up off the page down into your heart and will fuel you.

Now, Nehemiah has received a commission from the Lord to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that were decayed and broken down and fallen, leaving the people of God without defense, and leaving the people of God in despair. I want you to notice six principles that Nehemiah practiced in building the walls.

I. Nehemiah Fixed his Focus

The very first thing he did was to fix his focus. Look, if you will, in verse 12 of chapter 2—verse 12. Nehemiah says here, “And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon” (Nehemiah 2:12).

Nehemiah had a mandate from God. Nehemiah was a man who knew how to get alone with God. And, remember—he fasted, he prayed, he wept, and God had told him what to do. Have you done that? Have you gotten a leadership from the Lord? Are you just wandering aimlessly like a ship without a rudder, like a ship without a compass, and a ship without a sail? Are you just putting yourself in neutral and letting life push you around? Or, do you have a focus? Do you have a goal? Do you have an aim?

I want to tell you: God has a plan for your life. God has something that He wants you to do. You are special to God. God made you special just like He wanted you. And, God has a job for you to do. And, the same God who has called you is the God who’s equipped you. You can’t do what I do. I can’t do what you do. You can’t do what they do. They can’t do what you do. But, I want to tell you, God has a job for everyone. God has a plan for every life. And, oh, would to God that you would get alone and fix your focus on that plan to find the will of God for your life!