Which Nobody Can Deny Series

Twenty-three publishers turned down Ted¡¦s book; this young author met rejection time and time again as he attempted to pitch his work as marketable. ¡§We don¡¦t have any use for your material, young man¡¨, Ted heard time and time again, ¡§because people just are not going to buy books written by someone named¡KSuess!¡¨ Millions and millions of copies stand as mute testimony to the wisdom of publisher #24¡Xand as a monument to determination!

And the people followed the great example set by their leader, Nehemiah. Here was a fairly ordinary guy doing a fairly mundane job, albeit for a great king. Here was a man going about the uneventful routine of his existence, but whom God chose for His great purposes and in whom God placed an extraordinary determination to see the task through to completion. And this determination rubbed off on others who became his co-workers and who shared the same dogged determination. Derek Kidner called this ¡§a triumph of concentration amidst every kind of distraction.¡¨

When we serve God, we need to have the same kind of stick-to-itiveness that Nehemiah and the workers had. And what is key to this kind of determination? I believe that a key component of this determination was, for them, and will be, for us, a focus on the vision that God has for us. When we are confident that what we are doing is exactly what God has placed before us, we will be more likely to maintain our determination. There was little question in the minds of the people in Jerusalem that this work was of God; Nehemiah had laid out for them a compelling vision and had offered proof of God¡¦s hand in everything, and the people tackled this project with determination.

And when we look at the challenges we face over the next few years of ministry together, let me say this clearly: we must have a joint, determined effort which seizes upon a God-inspired vision and which will not be denied. An attitude that says, ¡§whatever it takes, God, whatever I can do, I will do, that the vision You have given FCC will become a reality.¡¨

3. The power of a Testimony

Here is where we go right to the words of Nehemiah 6. The reality of the walls caused the surrounding, pagan nations and the enemies of the project to grudgingly admit that this was the work of God¡Xand to lose whatever confidence they had in themselves to oppose it! The people on the outside of the walls, those who had opposed the project, looked at the walls standing there, having been erected in an amazingly short time, and they had to say, ¡§this was the hand of God.¡¨

Interestingly, remember the many different groups which Sanballat had enlisted to join together in opposition to the rebuilding project? Look back at 4:7. Now what has happened? Their plots and plans have met with abject failure¡Xand because Sanballat has widened the circle of Jerusalem¡¦s enemies, there is now a wider circle of the recognition of God¡¦s power and glory! God uses what is meant for evil to bring greater glory to Himself!

And nothing less than this can happen through the ministry of FCC. As we become more and more the church that God has called us to be, even those who oppose the gospel of Jesus Christ and the work of His church will have to sit up and take notice that God is alive and that He works through His people. What a wonderful thing it was that the walls were rebuilt so effectively and so quickly, in such a way that there could be no doubt that God had done it. And what a wonderful thing it is every time we look around at what God is doing among us and are able to say, ¡§we can¡¦t explain it by our strategizing or our planning or even our great faith¡Xit¡¦s a God thing!¡¨ Which nobody can deny.