Nehemiah Sermon 2
The Purpose Driven Life
(Nehemiah 1:1-4; 2: 11, 17)
Part 1: Rebuilding the Wall (Ch. 1-2)
A. Preparation (Ch. 1-2)
1. The Person Prepared 1:1,11
2. The Priority Elevated 1:2
3. The Pain Experienced 1:3-4
4. The Prayer Offered 1:4-11
5. The Participation Offered 2:11
6. The Purpose Stated 2:11,17
7. The Prayer Answered (2:1-10)
8. The Problems Analyzed 2:11-16
9. The People Enlisted 217-18
10. The Persecution Faced 2:19-20
11..The Person Trusted 2:20
A. The Person Prepared
“I was cupbearer to the king.” (v11)
One December day in 446BC a Jewish layman found out why he was on this planet. He had risen in exile to the high and noble position of preparing the wine for the King of Persia, and guarding him from being poisoned. God had a little, discouraged Jewish church in Judah, 900 miles to the west. It needed a wall around its capitol city for protection and pride and it needed to be turned back to God morally, ethically and spiritually. And Nehemiah was the man God wanted to do it with Him.
As cupbearer to the King, and a Jew, not a Persian, he was a man of unquestionable integrity who could be trusted. He was a man of bravery since the King’s protection was part of his job description. But more than this he was a man of spiritual maturity. The whole book reveals his closeness to God and his remarkable prayer life. He was in Persia but Persia was not in him. There were pagans all around him, but God ruled his heart.
Gibbon said of the Roman Empire as it crumbled, that all religions to the people were equally true; all religions to the philosophers were equally false; and all religions to the politicians were equally useful. But Nehemiah, had he lived today, would be one who said if you want to find God, look in the Bible and look to Jesus.
Finally, he was a man who assumed responsibility for his own life. He was not dependent upon circumstances for him to be faithful or joyful. He did not whine because he lived in exile; he shined for God and others. He did not sit around feeling sorry for himself, making excuses for his bad behavior. He took what life gave him and made something of his life. He got a lemon and made lemon aide.
Adrian Rogers told of the farmer whose boys had to work in the corn fields several hours every day while their friends were spending all day playing. A neighbor told him he didn’t need all that corn so he ought to plant less so the boys could take the summer off. His answer was, “I’m not raising corn; I’m raising boys.” Like most of us, our values in life are learned in the mundane duties of life.
On a more practical level, as one with access to the King, he had privileges, powers and royal protection unknown to most Jews.
Why are you here?
Everything in Nehemiah’s life up to this December day in 446 had worked together to make him THE person to build the wall of Jerusalem and join Ezra and Malachi in making religious reforms.
Everything in your life and mine, good and bad, has worked together to not only make us who we are, but make us useable to God for some particular task. As Mordechai told Esther,
“Who knows? It may be you have come to the kingdom for just such an hour as this.” (Esth. 4:14
This week (March 2005) 26 year old, Ashley Smith is on the cover of People Magazine. Baptized at an early age, she was finally getting her life back to God from alcohol and drug related problems. He grand parents had just given her the bestseller, “The Purpose Driven Life. All America knows her story. A crazed young man broke out of court, killing several people. He high jacked one woman and let her go. Then it just happened in a city the size of Atlanta that he forced his way into Ashley’s apartment. It just happened that he saw the book and asked her to read it to him. Through reading parts of the book to him and talking about the Christian faith she persuaded this troubled man to turn himself in.
She said to him, and in her interview that she felt God had let her apartment be the one he chose so she could keep him from hurting someone else. King himself told her she was his angel from heaven. And her grandfather said,
“We always knew Ashley would do something for the Lord, and this week she hit a home run for Jesus.”
Is your life purpose driven? Do you know God is preparing you for some special work or opportunity? Are you trying to discover what it is, develop yourself for it and dedicate yourself to it?
B. The Priority Elevated (1:2)
“I asked about the people.”
1. His Passions were Spiritual
Nehemiah’s brother (or close relative) did not have to hunt him down and ask for his help; he found them and asked them how things were in Judah. Nehemiah’s priority was the Kingdom of God on earth, which at that time in history was bound up with conditions in Judah.
He didn’t ask about real estate prospects he could invest in or health spas he could visit. He wanted to know about the people and the purposes of God. Jesus tell us, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things (Material Possessions) will be added to you.” (Matt. 6)
He was living for God in Persia. Priority number one to be used is to do what God is calling us to do right now which is to live the Christian life where we are, no matter what the circumstances.
Jesus was as faithful to God, working in the carpenter shop in Nazareth as he was when he walked to Calvary to die for you and me. Too many of us are looking for better surroundings before we make our mark. Our favorite term is “if only”. If only I had more money, time, schooling, etc. Jesus says, “He who is faithful in little things will be placed in charge of great things.”
2. His Possessions were Expendable
There is little doubt that Nehemiah was very wealthy. But, unlike most American church members, his wealth was not his passion or his priority. He jeopardized it by asking the king’s permission to leave and he spent much of it in the rebuilding of Jerusalem (5:14-19).
A strange fact is that the more we have, many times, the less we are concerned about others. A young pastor went to visit a man in his church during a pledge campaign for a building program. The man thanked him for coming but told him he wouldn’t be able to help for awhile. The pastor, looking at his beautiful home, his big landscaped yard; and his three cars in the drive way, looked shocked at the reply. The man sensed it and said, “Preacher its tough out here in the real world. A man has to live.” The brave young Pastor said, “Why?” and walked away.
C. The Pain Experienced (3-4)
1. The Bad News
The news was all bad from Judah. They were suffering “great trouble and reproach” (Amplified Bible). They had no peace. Their pagan neighbors were harassing them and their fellow Jews were cheating them. They had no pride. The city of God looked like a junk yard and was the laughing stock of the countries all around. They had no protection. The city wall was a pile of rubbish and the gates had been burned.
2. The Burdened Heart
“I sat down and wept and mourned and couldn’t eat and prayed constantly.” (v4).
These are Hebrew expressions for grief, the way we feel and act when someone close to us dies. It could have been a religious fast, but he was probably unable to eat when he thought about God’s people in such need.
We cannot manufacture this kind of grief. Our prayer should be that God would wean us away from our “Stuff” and give us a burden for something we can’t wear, play, eat, drive or live in.
Millionaire singer, Ricky Martin, had the world at his feet. Then he left it all when he saw some children from Thailand being sold into pornography. It broke his heart and disturbed his sleep and changed his life. He walked away from fame and money to do all he can to help children. God bless him. William Booth was Pastor of a prestigious English Church and gave it all up to minister to street children and neglected street people of London. Because he cared the “Salvation Army” was born and carries on his work.
Some super spiritual Christians might say Ricky Martin may not a Christian and resent my using him as an example. I don’t know- But I know many non-Christians who are more concerned about others than most Church members.
Enough Time- People love to avoid involvement by saying, “I don’t have enough time.” Two things come to mind- we all have the same amount of time. And, as our mothers used to tell us, “Boy, you find time to do the things you want to do.” The real cause of our lack of involvement is not lack of time but lack of concern.
D. The Prayer Offered (1:4-11)
The pain drove him to his knees for four months of praying, but before we look at the prayer itself, in the next sermon, we will look at the result of that prayer-
E. The Price Paid (1:11)
“Please answer my prayer/When I serve the king his wine today; make him pleased with me and have him do what I ask.” (1:11 CEV)
In four months of praying God showed Nehemiah he wanted him to put his life in danger by asking the king’s permission to leave for Judah (1:11-2:10); to ask for some materials to do it with (2:1-11); and to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (2:11). Later God led him to stay on as governor for 12 years (5:14)
Going before the king was scary and rebuilding the wall was sacrificial. It was dangerous to approach a Persian King. Middle Eastern Kings were notoriously fickle, suspicious and paranoid, and would execute anyone whom they suspected was the tiniest bit disloyal. Even Queen Esther, married to one of them, said it might cost her, her life to do so. Her attitude was, “If I die, I die!” (Esther 4:16)
Prayer and Effort- Concern drives us to our knees in prayer but prayer stands us on our feet with a job to do for God. Prayer is not our way of getting God to do what we want; it is His way of getting us to do what He wants. Maybe this is why we pray so little. Prayer is the most dangerous thing we do.
When I was 22 years old I had it made with a good job and a brand new 1961 Impala Chevrolet. I heard my pastor say praying, “Thy will be done” was the most dangerous thing we could do. I did it and the next thing I knew I quit my job and left on a 900 mile trip just like Nehemiah. I was headed to SW Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas with everything I owned in a 6’x 6’ “U-Haul” trailer.
F. The Purpose Stated (2:17)
“Let us rebuild the city walls and put an end to our disgrace.”
It wasn’t brick and mortar he was concerned about; it was what people thought about God’s people and their God. Unless our efforts are for God and motivated primarily to bring honor to him, we will get discouraged and give up.
We will offer help sometimes to people who do not want help. Some people will accept our help and then turn on us like the Israelites turned on Moses. And if we see ourselves working for them we will be discouraged, but if we see ourselves working for God, we will find staying power. We know he does not measure us by success but by faithfulness.
Some workmen were working on a new church building. A man asked one man what he was doing and he said, “I am driving nails with a hammer.” Another said, “I am placing one brick on top of another.” He asked the man cleaning up after the workers, pushing his wheelbarrow of scraps, what he was doing. The man stopped, looked proudly up at the top of the Steeple, took off his hat and said, “I am building a house for God”
Conclusion
We are all here for a purpose and that is to link ourselves up with God and let him do something good and useful through us.. For Nehemiah it would be a wall. For you and me it could be to build a Christian home; to win a neighbor to Christ; to help a friend or loved one die; to bear up under a burden we cannot shake; etc. It doesn’t have to be something spectacular.
Just this week I heard a Focus On the Family broadcast honoring the good, caring and courageous kind of man James Dobson is. The show ended with a sound clip from Dobson’s first video series.
In it Dodson told of going to the hospital when he thought his dad was dying. As he and his wife were driving there he thought of how he and his dad went hunting when he was a young boy. Brushing back the tears he told Shirley that sitting in those woods with his dad on those cold, clear mornings, he would think of the bond with his dad. He said, sitting there, all he could think of was, “This is the best man I know. When I grow up I want to be just like my dad.” Dodson then said, “My goal in life is for my kids to say the same thing about me.”
That is a project worthy of us all.
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