REBUILDING THE WALLS
Nehemiah 4: 1-23 (p344) Sept. 12 ,2010
INTRODUCTION:
There is only on structure, built by man on earth that is visible from the few reaches of space. Do you know what it is? It’s the Great Wall of China. It took 1800 years to build it. They started construction in 220BC and they finished sometime during the Ming dynasty in the 1600's. When it was completed it was 6000 miles long… At one point 800,000 people were working on that wall day and night…some people spent their entire lives building this wall.
(Show pictures)
The Great Wall of China is one of the most extraordinary building achievements of all time…
But today I want to talk with you about another building project. A project we read about in the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was a Jewish man living in Persia. He served as a cupbearer to the King of Persia…The cupbearer is "Head of Security" (like Jim Richter for T.E.) He samples, checked and made sure everything that made its way to the King was safe. If the wine was good the King could drink it…If it was poisoned Nehemiah fell over and died…the job had its risks!
But one day Nehemiah's life would be changed forever. In the first chapter in verses 2 and 3 he's talking with his brother, and he asks "How are the Jews in the Holy Land doing? And how is Jerusalem?
And his brother says, "Things are not good. The wall has been broken down. And the gates have been burned".
And Nehemiah sits down and weeps. It breaks his heart…and he prays.
Folks when something breaks your heart and you pray be careful, because God is going to move you to action…and God does. He moves Nehemiah to act. He gets permission from the king to go home and rebuild the walls…to restore the temple, to rescue his city. In fact the kind is supportive…he gives Nehemiah lumber from his own forests to repair the gates.
But when Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem he discovers things are much worse than he feared. You see the wall of a city was much more than its defense. it was the symbol of strength and dignity--and Jerusalem's strength and dignity lay in complete runs.
An so here's what he does to really the people in
Nehemiah 2:17-18 (P343)
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Everyone gets involved…even the ministers (the priests) get their hands dirty. Entire families come together for this rebuild.
I believe there is a great lesson here.
I GOD WANTS ALL HIS PEOPLE TO BE PART OF THE CONSTRUCTION JOB.
[I kid with Beau…He oversees constructions for a building company…I ask if he's the guy in the Silverado pickup with a clipboard telling everyone else what to do. We've seen pictures of road crews repairing streets after storms where one guy is working and 5 other guys are standing around the truck smoking and talking. "He must be the new guy"]
[One of my favorite stories is about the 3 little boys who were bragging about how fast their father's were. The first little boy said, "If you shoot an arrow at a target…my Dad can beat it there. The 2nd little boy said, "Oh yeah, if you shot a bullet at a target my Dad would beat it there...And the 3rd little boy said, "That’s nothing…my Daddy works for the Hwy Department and he's so fast he gets home at 3:00 and doesn't even get off work until 5:00]
Nehemiah is a beautiful story of what can be accomplished when all God's people come together in faith to build something for his glory.
Nehemiah 3:1 records " Eliahshib, the high priest and his fellow priests want to work and rebuilt the sheep gate…verse 2 says "the men of Jericho built the adjoining section…verse 3 " The Fish gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah.
And through the entire chapter it records how different people, different families all come together to build the city.
No one was too good to work…no one was above anyone else. In part Nehemiah the priests set the example for everyone else to follow. That is an essential truth for God's building projects.
In the church of Jesus Christ it's just as essential. That's why Peter writes
1 Peter 5: 1-5 (p 859)
Nehemiah ached for his city…God gave him the vision and the resources, but the leadership, the High Priest, the other priests, the elders all set the example…It was a beautiful picture of God working through his people in his way.
Ladies and gentlemen… the church of Jesus Christ is not suppose to be a place where a minority of people accomplish a majority of the work. It is not a place where someone sets in the Silverado exercising power. It is a place where leaders have such servant
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heart's that they set an example for all other servants to follow. And the church of Jesus
Christ is a place where each of us gets involved in ministry for the building of his Kingdom.
[I loved watching H.D. fold clothes and move boxes for our medical clinic. It is awesome to watch Melvin picking up food from KY Harvest every week for Fern Creek Highview Ministries to feed the hungry. Its awesome to see Scott Walls asking to see our deacons not just attend meetings but become great servants--examples for the church…as he is.
When I see David Kiser teaching our 4 year olds and working in the nursery, and Jeff Hale Sr. poring out his life into our students at Josh's and Ben's side it makes my heart soar… when Stan Raley is leading marriage groups with his wife Barbara. I know they have gotten out if the Silverado and hits the ditch with a shovel. I can go on and on and on…but the only way you can really be an effective leader is to get your hands dirty in the construction of God's Kingdom.
You can be the Priest or Levite that is to busy to get involved, or you can get off you donkey like the Samaritan and do ministry. Only one of these 3 was fulfilling the greatest of commandments…2 were spectators.]
It is so easy to become a spectator in Gods building project…here's how you can tell if it's happened to you…and your focus is blurred, and selfish preferences have enveloped unified building.
II WHEN GREAT THINGS ARE DONE FOR GOD OPPOSITION ALWAYS OCCURS
"When Sauballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed"
Sanballat is the governor of the Samaritan people. He liked things as they were. He liked his place of power and control. He doesn't want to see a revival of the Jewish Capital. He sees this construction project as a threat to his authority.
And so he starts talking trash…."what are these feeble Jews doing? This building project will never work! Their bunch of amateurs! There using burned out stones."
And he finds a second voice (you always will) Tobiah the Ammonite joins in "This is a piece of junk! If a fox climbed on it the walls would crumble"
I wish I could tell you if you start living for God and building for his glory you will never be criticized…but the opposite is true.
There will be people that do not want change. There will be people who like being in control and feel threatened. Jesus stated very clearly in John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble"
You will hear the enemies voice "you're not good enough! You're not spiritual enough! The enemy will do whatever it takes to discourage your efforts.
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And even in the church there will be individuals who don't want to grow, don't want to build…it impacts their control and it makes them less significant. And churches that are lead by the voice of critics will never build anything beautiful for God…Its not their voice we should listen to…It’s the voice that says "Nehemiah…Go, do this for me…I'll provide the resources, the people and the victory.
Here's how Nehemiah responds…He doesn’t get discouraged…He doesn't stop building. Instead he does what we all should when we face this opposition…He prays.
Nehemiah 4 :4 (p 344)
God, I'm not going to take mater into my own hands. I'm putting it into your hands…you take care of this and I'll keep on building.
How many times do we come down off the wall to placate the Sanballats + Tobiah instead of keep building and let God handle it.
And in spite of the opposition verse 6 says "They rebuild the wall half its height, for the people worked with all their hearts"
But Sanballats + Tobiah aren't finished "These people are servers. They're making progress. We need to stop them NOW!
And in verse 11 they employ psychological warfare. They tell the Jews "You'd better watch your back. Because before you know what's happening we will be there! And we're gonna put an end to this insignificant little project.
And then Nehemiah puts on a leadership clinic. He hires more people to guide the workers. and tells them in verse 14 "Don't be afraid. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome! Fight for you brothers! Fight for your sons and daughters! Fight for your wives and homes"
And in verse 16-21 Nehemiah had half the people doing the work. While the other half were standing nearby with spears and shields.
That resonates with me because I find in ministry…there will always be Sanballats and Tobish's who threaten your brothers, and sons and daughters and family…but when someone has your back your not too afraid…by the way…they never came… it was just a threat.
Nehemiah 6:15 says the walls were completed in 52 days (WOW! less than 2 months) verse 16 says "When all our enemies heard about this, the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self confidence because they realized that this work had been done. with the help of our God"
So instead of God's people becoming overwhelmed with discouragement and dismay…It was the enemy who ended up getting discouraged and dismayed because they saw what was accomplished was way beyond anything humans are capable of doing.
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I believe this is a story for Fern Creeks Christian Church. He brought us to this new facility on Oct. 16, 2005…
But just like in Nehemiah's' story God wasn't just interested in rebuilding the wall. He was interested in rebuilding the people. And he's not through building…some will be satisfied, some will not like the change in the status gou.
But remember … the only building material that’s going to last for eternity is people…Children people, student people, older people, Hispanic people, single people, married people.
God's people are the living stones of his wall of reconstruction…and this project will never be too big…it will never be completed until Jesus returns. And the only workers he has to stand on that wall are you and me. And the chief cornerstone…the stone that began this building project is Jesus…It was rejected by men, cut chosen by God.
Listen to 1 Peter 2:4-10 (p857)
The church has Jesus Christ as our foundation stone---and we as his people are built into a spiritual house…that brings others in…we belong to Him, we are a holy nation, royal priests…why, so we can build a Kingdom of light in the darkness. all for His praises and glory.
