The Pattern of Missions in Nehemiah

Intro

On Sunday morning I preached from Nehemiah 2:9 with the title, “There Came a Man.”

This is what grieved exceedingly the opposition who wished the work would not continue forward...

Nehemiah had a desire to go

“Send me, that I may build!”

2. Nehemiah had a disagreeable opposition

Before Nehemiah ever made it to Jerusalem, he already had an opposition who was grieved exceedingly that a man came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel…

Why were they so mad?

He came…

Tonight I want to look at the pattern for missions from the book of Nehemiah:

First off - what is a missionary?

A Bible missionary is someone who has answered God’s call to preach the gospel and is sent out by a local church to plant Bible-preaching churches in a foreign land… especially where Christ is not named.

The essential parts of a missionary:

a. God’s call to preach the gospel

b. Sent out by a local church

c. Planting Bible-preaching churches

d. In a land where Christ is not named

The term “missionary” does not occur in scripture, but the role certainly does…

The missionary does not go because he is emotionally burdened for souls he will one day meet, but because he is obedient to the command of Jesus Christ and the calling of the Holy Spirit.

The primary purpose of Biblical missions is not to feed them, educate them, doctor them or build them houses, but to preach the gospel to every creature…

Paul was the final apostle named “one born out of due time”, but we do not have “apostles” any more today…

Pattern for missions in Nehemiah:

1. God calls the missionary to the field

Nehemiah had the burden and desire to go

He sat down, wept, mourned certain days, fasted and prayed before the God of heaven…

A burden for a people alone is not necessarily a call from God…

We should be burdened for all people…

Nehemiah’s calling was driven by a burden for the broken, but after 120 days of praying it was the “good hand of my God upon me” that paved the way for Him to go…

Acts 13:1–4 KJV 1900

1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

I do believe God gives our missionaries a burden for the brokenness of the people in their fields…

When God called me to preach, I knew He was calling me because at one point I could confidently say, “I can’t do anything but preach in order to be in God’s perfect will.” Anything outside of yielding to the call to preach would have removed me from God’s will.

Often times our missionaries echo, “Why shouldn’t we be sad about the fields lying in waste and being destroyed?”

The greatest advocate for giving God 100% in my life has always been missionaries…

Every single prayer letter, “We need more laborers.”

2. They pray and God sends them to build

Nehemiah 2:4–5 KJV 1900

4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.

A. The first place they usually go is language school. It takes many months of very hard

work to learn the language so they can speak to and preach to the people they have gone

to win.

B. They usually visit home every now and then. It is called a furlough. During that time,

they serve four main purposes:

1. They see their extended families (Dads, moms, etc.).

2. They report to their supporting churches.

3. They raise any extra needed support or make up for the lost support of churches who

quit on them.

4. They get special American medical care often not available in their country of service.

3. They collect support to go

Nehemiah 2:7–9 KJV 1900

7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. 9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

A. To Work in foreign countries.

1. In most countries, a foreigner is not allowed to hold a job. So the churches give the

money that pays for the missionary’s house, food, car, insurance, retirement, and other

needs for the work in that country.

2. The missionary gets to give all of his time to winning souls and starting churches.

3. He doesn’t get in trouble with the nation he is visiting who views his employment

there as stealing the jobs of their own citizens. While it is legal for a person visiting

America with a visa to hold a job here, that is not true in many nations of the world.

B. Churches and missionaries are partners.

1. The Great Commission Jesus Christ gave to the church was to go into all the world and

preach the gospel to every creature. To fulfill that command, each church either has to

send all of its members around the world to preach the gospel and start churches or

pay to send missionaries to help them do it.

2. The missionary helps the church obey God by going and the church helps the

missionary obey God by sending. It is a partnership.

C. Most American missionaries spend an average of 2 years traveling in America from

church to church telling about the country they are going to and asking for support. This

period of time is called deputation.

D. Churches often support a missions board to be of special help to missionaries. Here is a

list of some of the things a missions board can assist the church with in sending their

missionaries:

1. Do their American taxes since they live out of the country.

2. Provide special insurance to help missionaries in case of emergency.

3. Help provide an evacuation plan if the missionary is in danger.

4. Assist the missionary on the field with encouragement, experienced advice, and

materials (Bibles and discipleship).5. Act as a clearinghouse to receive all of their support from churches and transfer it to

the foreign country through international accounts.

6. Provide further (besides the sending church) validation and testing of doctrinal

soundness and ethical behavior.

7. Holding funds set aside for furlough, work funds, and on-field projects.

8. The missionary stays under the authority of their sending church but the missions

board assists the church in caring for the missionary on the field.

4. They will face opposition

Nehemiah 2:10 KJV 1900

10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

5. They separate from comfort

900 miles for Nehemiah

Leaving a palace for a broken down city

Our missionaries:

Died to life

Mark 8:35 KJV 1900

35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

Mark 10:29 KJV 1900

29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,

Left the comfort zone

Decided to risk failure

Said goodbye to family and friends

Humbled themselves to ask churches for help to go

Given children to the Lord

Committed to a lot of hard work

Conclusion:

We are all commanded to be witnesses, just not foreign missionaries. We see the differences in

Acts 1:8 - But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall

be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem (local), and in all Judaea (state), and in Samaria (next

state), and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

In light of that thought, one man said, “If you are not a missionary, you are a mission field.”

EXACTLY TWENTY-SIX GUARDS

Have you ever felt the urge to pray for someone but just ignored it or said you would do it later?

A missionary on Furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan.

“While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through

the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping

overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to

collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey

back to the field hospital.

Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I

treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord.

I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident. Two weeks later

I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had

treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines.

He said, ‘Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight.

We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into

your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.

At this, I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone in that jungle campsite. The young man

pressed the point, however, and said, ‘No, sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My

five friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were

afraid and left you alone.’ At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped

to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this

happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him

this story:

“On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf.

I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so

strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would

all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?”

The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn’t concerned with

who they were, he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.