In ancient times walls were built almost exclusively for defense. As in the case of the Great Wall of China. Which is known as one of the seven wonders of the world. The Great Wall was built over a period of 2,300 years! It is the longest man-made structure in the history of the world and has a total distance that exceeds 13000 miles! The work began on the first section of the wall in the 7th century BC, nearly 3000 years ago! However, it was not completed until 1878! The wall was built as defense from Mongolians, which were their ruthless enemies.
On a much smaller scale there were similar walls around the city of Jerusalem. During the captivity these walls that surrounded the city were broken down and destroyed and thousands of Jews were taken captive. Please turn with me to Nehemiah 2:1-8 I'm going to read verses 1-8 in a moment. But first I want to give you a little background. Nehemiah was the king's cupbearer, but he was also an enslaved Jew who had been captured during that time. He was basically just a slave serving in the kingdom. So, what we're about to read could have meant serious consequences or cost him his life depending on how the king would respond to his request.
READ Nehemiah 2:1-8
So not only did Nehemiah ask this pagan king if he could go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of defense around the city, but he also basically asked the king to pay for the supplies to do it! What a bold thing to do but it was God's plan for Nehemiah. Praise the Lord he acted upon God's leading. So, this morning I would like us to look at "The Need for Walls" and why they should be maintained, re-enforced, or even rebuilt if necessary.
We're going to look at steps Nehemiah took to accomplish this and the reasons that made it necessary to do the work of rebuilding the walls and then make an application on how that can relate to spiritual walls in our own life.
The first thing Nehemiah did was…
I. Recognized The Need
Word got to Nehemiah about the walls in Jerusalem from fellow Jews.
(Look back with me at Chapter 1:3) It says, "And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire."
Nehemiah now knew the walls and gates of Jerusalem lay in ruin
After hearing the need he had a desire to do something about it
He didn't wait to see if someone else would step up
He got busy and took matters into his own hands
B. In the same way the city of Jerusalem had physical walls, we too need to have
spiritual walls of protection.
**The Bible says in Proverbs 25:28 "He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."
All of us have spiritual walls that need to be built up in our lives and maintained and sometimes strengthened or rebuilt.
Satan longs to destroy and tear them down. In fact, that is his desire and priority so he can make our Christian life ineffective.
He wants our spiritual walls in ruin so he can wreak havoc in our lives. They are spiritual walls of defense that we all need!!
**Remember Jesus's words to Simon Peter? Luke 22:31 “And the Lord said,
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:” He would love to do that to every one of us…and he can, and will if we let our down our defenses! With our defenses down we are no match for Satan!
C. The first step in having our spiritual walls be what they need to be is
recognizing the need for them to be there in the first place, and then to build them and do the work according to God's plan.
Nehemiah could have been content in his job as cupbearer in the kingdom.
He could have just kept quiet and not spoke up and went about his business.
But that would've got the job done. Nehemiah had to act.
James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
The second thing that Nehemiah did was…
II. Surveyed The Damage (Let's look at Vs 13-15)
13) "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."
14) "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."
15) "Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned."
Nehemiah knew if he was to rebuild the walls, he would have to know the extent of the damage and what areas needed the most attention and repairs.
God had directed Nehemiah's steps so far
He knew God would help him come up with the best course of action to rebuild once he had surveyed
God knew when Nehemiah saw those broken walls it would further cement in his heart and mind the need to rebuild.
B. If our defensive walls against Satan are to be what they should be…
1) We too need to see what needs to be fixed and what needs to be corrected or strengthened.
2) Spiritually speaking we need to examine ourselves and see what
areas are the weakest, and what areas need to be strengthened.
*We just had the Lord's Supper last Sunday night. In I Corinthians 11:31
Pastor always reminds us that it says "…let a man examine himself…"
3) Surveying the walls or examining ourselves is SO vitally important in staying right with God in our spiritual walk!
The next thing that Nehemiah did was…
III. Faced The Opposition
(Look we me in Vs #19)
"But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, what is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?"
It wasn't very difficult for Nehemiah to recognize the need, or to survey the damage for that matter. But it was an entirely different thing to face opposition to the work of God.
It was very apparent that there were those that did not want the work to be done. They did not want the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt.
So, Nehemiah was immediately made fully aware that there would be resistance to what he was trying to accomplish.
This was the true test of his metal, to see the kind of man Nehemiah was!
B. If you and I are going to live pleasing to the Lord, walking in the Spirit, as we . already know there will be stark opposition!
As you know that opposition first and foremost comes from Satan himself.
But he uses so many different methods, and sometimes people, possibly even family to accomplish it.
But we also need to understand that outside of Satan, our own flesh will be the toughest opponent we will face in living for God!
In Romans 7 vs. 18 & 24 Paul speaks about the opposition from or flesh. Vs. 18 says; "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not."
Then in vs. 24 you can almost hear the desperation & frustration in Paul's voice when he wrote.
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
To be quite honest with you Romans ch. 7 can be somewhat depressing knowing that we have this old man, this carnal nature completely opposed to what we're trying to do in Christ. But praise the Lord for then comes Romans chapter 8! Paul explains as Christians we can have victory, we can have those spiritual walls of defense against Satan if we walk with God in the spirit of God!
Which brings us to what Nehemiah did next…
IV. Started The Work (Read vs 18 look at
verse number 18 with me)
"Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the
king's words that he had spoken unto me And they said, Let us rise up and build. So
they strengthened their hands for this good work."
Nehemiah had taken the necessary steps so far to follow God's plan for preparing. Now it was time for them to get to work and build the walls!
Again, Nehemiah could have gone back after he had surveyed the walls. He would have known the great need and thought it's just too far gone there's no hope! It's a lost cause it will never be what it was before!
.
*I think we see a lot of this in modern-day Christianity. The Holy Spirit shows people their needs, but that's as far as it goes. They are either apathetic or content to go on with life in the status quo. Or they are too broken, too far from God that they feel it's a lost cause it can never be what it once was again! I can tell you that's a lie of the devil! Ask King David after adultery and murder, ask the Prodical son after pulling food scraps from a pig's trough just to survive, ask Peter after walking over 3 years with Jesus Christ and then denying Him, or countless others in throughout scriptures. Ask them if it's too late! It's never too late in God's economy if you're willing to take that first step in turning back to Him, rebuilding those spiritual walls of your heart and being right with Him again. He will always welcome us back with open arms.
That's the only way that true revival can come in a wayward heart.
The work had to start before it ever could be completed. When God made it clear to Nehemiah and he obeyed God's leading.
*When I was young my mom used to tell me when asking me if I'd completed a job yet that she had given me. She'd say: "You'll never finish what you don't start!"
Not a profound statement whatsoever but so very true and applies to any work that needs to be accomplished.
B. Jesus said in John 9:4 "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."
1) That can apply to any work whether it's work for Christ in our daily life. Or whether it's working on strengthening our inner man.
2) The Lord will reveal for us when and if we need work and where, the question is will we be willing to do the work? And for it to ever get accomplished we first have to start.
If our inner man lies in ruin, needing repairs. How can we effectively be the Christian we need to be, the witness we need to be, the mate we need to be, the parent or grandparent we need to be? And so on…
*I believe we've clearly seen "The Need For Walls" in our spiritual life against Satan, and against our flesh, because of the many things that Satan throws at us to keep us a mediocre Christian.
There are several walls that need to be strong in our spiritual life but like with any structure as Brother Tim M. could tell us whether it be a building, or a city, you have to have at least four walls to be enclosed and protected. So, I went to quickly give you four walls this morning that I believe we need to stand strong and for us to be spiritually effective.
The first wall is…
The Wall of Prayer
Referring to your own personal, individual prayer life.
I think you'll agree with me that this is one of the toughest areas to be successful in. It takes work, it takes sacrifice, and it definitely has its opposition. But it is such a necessary wall!
The second wall is…
The Wall of the Word of God
It almost sounds cliche at this point as many times we've heard it from the pulpit from multiple speakers and preachers…But you have to be in the Word of God daily! There's no substitute for this wall!
Without it we have a very weak defense against Satan and his devices.
**The last two walls have to do with the Church**
The third wall is…
The Wall of Christian Fellowship/Friendship
Never underestimate the benefits of Christian fellowship. It gives us strength, it gives us accountability, it gives us unity with co-laborers working for the common goals with the same purpose in Christ’ local church. Iron sharpeneth iron!
I can't begin to tell you how much over the last two and a half to three years that this has meant to me personally! The fellowship we have with others in God's house is so important. There's no family like God's family!
The fourth and last wall is…
The Wall of Preaching/Teaching
God uses preaching and teaching to reaffirm in us all those things that we've been doing in our own personal life throughout the week to build ourselves up spiritually.
Preaching has always been a key component to spiritual growth in the life of a Christian!
