Who’s the shortest man in the Bible? = Nehemiah = "Knee-high-miah"
+ But if you study the life of Nehemiah nothing could be further from the truth
+ He’s one of the giants of the Old Testament = He’s among the best of the best
+ And yet how familiar are we with him? = How often have you heard a sermon about him?
+ And yet he both IS a great character and he HAS a great character
+ There’s so many qualities about Nehemiah that we could learn from, benefit from
+ So many lessons within story of ook of Nehemiah that we could directly apply to ourselves
I believe the Lord would have me begin a series on the joys of the Christian life
+ Galatians 5:22 BUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE, JOY, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
+ Everything with God starts with love = But joy is close behind
+ And so to understand what joy is as a Christian = And how to guard those joys = Important
But the moment we set that as a topic we must understand we’re only going to have joy in the Chrsitian life if our life is lined-up with God’s Will and Purposes
+ We’ll not have true joy if we are not truly within the Will of God
+ And I’ve become convinced that we need to examine the Will of God
+ Not just for our own life individually = But collectively as a church
That’s why I want to start down this path that can lead to joy with Nehemiah
+ I want to look at Nehemiah = Look at his personal traits = Personal qualities of character
+ Look at the highlights of the book that bears his name
+ Esp. with regards to the motivating purpose of his life = How it was accomplished
+ Some of the big picture lessons from the book = How they directly apply to us today
+ And to admonish and encourage us that if we can grasp those applications = L earn those lessons = Turn lesson into practice and bring our lives in line with God’s Will and Purposes
+ Then we can explore what true Biblical joy is
+ And we can look at some of the most common joy-robbers
+ And we can consider how to prevent the theft of our joy
This morning I want to lay out the case for Nehemiah
+ To examine the major qualities of Nehemiah’s character
+ That really ought to make him one of the greatest heroes in all the Bible
+ To anyone who says they love God and want to love Him better
Now yes we ought to strive to be like Jesus = But He was perfect
+ And there’s always going to be a sense within us which we know we’re going to fall short of that perfection = We ought to try for it = To strive for it
+ But I think it can help us to look within the life of another imperfect human being
+ Who was real and flesh and blood
+ Whose life is laid out for us in such a way that he comes to life before our eyes
+ And we can watch that life played over and over again as much as we want
+ And study it to the depth of detail that we can learn what he knew
+ And try to do the things that he did = Try to master the skills that he demonstrated
+ With the great and grand and glorious purpose of making us more what God wants us to be
And as we as individuals become more of what God wants us to be
+ And we do it together collectively then we as a church = A body of Christ
+ Will be more what Christ wants us to be
+ And we can be greatly used of God = A mighty witness = A strong tower
+ A great lighthouse in our Jerusalem = And when we go forth to our Judea, and Samaria
+ Through our missions to the uttermost parts of the earrth
Who was Nehemiah? = Consider that quesiton with me for just a few moments
+ Who was Nehemia? = What was he like? = What were his goals? = What drove him? = What was his passion?
+ Well we have a pretty good record in the Word of God = Let’s take a look
[easton] Nehemiah = "comforted by Jehovah"
+ Really we could stop right there on that fact and camp out a while
+ How else are we going to have real and lasting joy in this life
+ Apart from the unique comfor that only God Himself can give
+ In the midst of a life that is so full of heart-aches and tragedies?
Nehemiah could certainly identify with that = [Neh. 1.1-2]
+ [easton] Son of Hachaliah = Brother of Hanani = Probably of the tribe of Judah, v.1.2
+ Family probably belonged to Jerusalem = v.1.2 = [1.3 = 7.5-7]
+ One of the "Jews of the dispersion" = In his youth appointed to important office of royal cup-bearer at the palace of Shushan = [2.1]
+ A trusted position = A position with some risk
+ King Artaxerxes seems to have been on terms of friendly familiarity with Neh. = [2.2-3]
+ As we’ve seen from Hanani and others he learned of the mournful and desolate conditions of the Holy City = Filled with sadness of heart = [1.4]
+ When the King asked Neh. the reason he was so sad he explained = [2.4-8]
+ And so he obtains permission to go to Jerusalem and act as a a governor
[tc] And so one of the first things we could say about Nehemiah is that he was patriotic
+ "Inspired by love for your country" = We should love our country = Desire the best for it
+ Even if it’s hard to love = It’s to our benefit = [Rom. 13.1-6]
+ 1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, [and] giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and [for] all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
+ 1 Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
+ And again if we are going to speak about joy in the Christian life
+ And making sure that our lives are in line with God’s Word so we can maximize our potential to experience that joy
+ Then here’s another good quality we could emulate in Nehemiah’s life
And here’s a couple more ways = [tc] = Prayerfulness and faith
+ [1.5-11] = There’s a man who really has a well-grounded relationship with his God
+ And his God is his Lord as well = Notice = [2.11-12 = 2.17-18]
+ And Neh. knows Jehovah as a God who can be trusted = [2.19-20]
+ Let me tell you this = Do you truly want joy as a Christian?
+ You’d better have a prayer-filled relationship with the God of Heaven
+ Grounded and settled on a strong faith in Him
[tc] That faith will help you have courage = [4.7-20]
+ And that faith will make you a diligent, hard-worker = [4.21-23]
+ And it will help you both do that which is right
+ And lead others in doing the same = [5.6-13]
CONCLUSION
Now if you’re not as familiar as you ought to be with this great man of God
+ Can you at least begin to appreciate why I think if you give a fair examination of his life
+ His choices = His actions = His thoughts
+ That he’ll become both a great example of faith = A great hero of the faith
+ And the lessons of his life and book can challenge and encourage us
+ To make sure our lives and our church is right with God
+ And built-up properly to honor the Lord
+ To put us well down the pathway of true Biblical joy?
We would do well to take heed to this good Godly man, Nehemiah
+ Not the shortest man in the Bible = But a giant among men
+ Who knew the comforts of God
+ And how to truly love his country, desire the best for his people
+ Who had a great life of prayer grounded on faith in his God
+ A courageous, hard worker who knew what was right
+ And who inspired others to do what was right with him
What a good man = And what good lessons for us to learn
INVITATION
Do we need the comforts of God this morning?
+ Unsaved? = Truly do
Saved? = Some trouble? = You can come and be comforted by God
+ Do we truly want what is best for those around us?
+ How is your prayer life?
+ Does the actions and decisions of your life demonstrate to others you have a strong faith in your God?
+ Are you willing to let God have His own way in your life today?
PRAYER = HYMN OF INVITATION, # 304, Have Thine Own Way, Lord
SOURCES: Online Bible + modules >
[easton] = Easton’s Revised Bible Dictionary
[tc] = Thompson Chain Notes # 2577
