Real People; Real Work
Notes
Transcript
Review
Review
Turn to Nehemiah 3.
We have seen how that in 444 BC, Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem with the king’s commission to rebuild the walls of the city. Nehemiah scouted out the situation and planned for the work, but no sooner had he done this than he faced his first opposition. His cause was mocked, despised, questioned, and maligned. It was even suggested that he was going to rebel against the king of Persia, which was completely absurd. Under those baseless attacks, Nehemiah appealed to the higher authority of God, he rested in the blessing of God, and he committed himself to the work. And so the work begins in chapter three.
Introduction
Introduction
Read Nehemiah 3:1-4.
Now I realize that the passage of Scripture that I just read may not be the most dramatic narrative that you’ve ever heard.
It’s not as exciting as the story of David and Goliath.
It doesn’t have the soaring beauty of the Psalms.
It’s not the lawyer-like thesis of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
It basically says “so and so built this part of the wall while so and so built that part of the wall” and so it continues on repeat for the rest of the chapter.
You may be thinking, “Pastor Tim, you just read the first four verses. How many weeks are we going to be here?”
Now before you think about getting up and leaving out of sheer boredom, I want you to understand this: the names that we just read of people and of places may mean very little to you, but these were real people engaged in a very real work.
We may be separated by 2400 years of culture and technology, but human nature hasn’t changed. As they struggled to raise their families and build the walls of that city, they experienced the same emotions, questions, and fears that you do today.
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The organization of the work - Nehemiah 3:2-4
Earlier this week, Dr. Beal mentioned how that every year at Ambassador, they have a Valentines banquet that is hosted for all the faculty and students. My sophomore year of college, I was selected to plan for and lead that event. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing because I had never done anything like that in my life. Plan and host an event for a couple hundred people? It scared me to death.
The valentines banquet committee was a group of students that were selected to work alongside me on this event. Together we planned the theme to be a winter wonderland, the menu, the decorations, the music, and we coordinated all of this with the college staff while working on a shoestring budget.
I tell you what, planning for that banquet was like a baptism of fire for me. That was my hardest semester of my college experience. Between being a full time student, working a part time job on campus and preparing for the banquet, I had a lot of late nights and prayerful tests and papers.
One lesson I learned was this: organizing is not glamorous work, but it is necessary work.
You know what’s interesting? Nehemiah, the main character of this book, is not mentioned one time in chapter three, yet his fingerprints are all over it because he organized the people for the work.
Eliashib and the priests built the sheep gate and beyond.
The men of Jericho travelled up and built the section of the wall next to them.
Zaccur the son of Imri and his family built next to them and so the entire circumference of the city was delegated by sections to different people and different families.
Read verse 32.
People were delegated to build the wall all the way back around to the sheep gate.
Someone had to organize the work. That someone was Nehemiah.
Application: How organized a person are you? I get it that everyone is wired differently and some folks are better organized than others, but you can rest assured, organization is a necessary work.
Organization touches every area of our lives so I could make many applications here, but Solomon in Proverbs gives us one specific area:
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Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, And look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: And doth the crown endure to every generation?
Your finances don’t organize themselves. Either you get them organized into a budget or you delegate it to someone who can do that for you.
On similar note, it’s not likely that someone else is going to put together a plan for you concerning your care in the twilight years of your life or the care of your family and any dependents you may have. You should have life insurance. You should think about your children’s future as well as your own.
But you know what is the greatest mistake of all? It’s to be organized concerning your physical life but completely haphazard concerning your spiritual life.
There’s plenty of Christians out there today who have their financial ducks all in a row. They regularly check their bank statements and they know the status of their 401k, but they have no plan for developing their relationship with God.
You want a simple plan for developing your relationship with God?
Have a daily time of worshipping God - like Job did. Worship Him as you read and meditate on the Scriptures. Worship Him as you talk to Him in prayer. Start each day consciously trusting Him for grace so that Jesus shines through your life.
When Sunday morning rolls around, there shouldn’t be a question mark whether or not you’re coming to church. Come to church every time the doors are open and come with a mindset to serve. Come with a mindset to encourage someone else. Come with a mindset to always point others to Jesus.
There’s plenty of Christian parents who are doing everything in their power to ensure their child has a good education and a good career but they pay nominal attention to the condition of their child’s soul. Nurture that child’s heart with Bible instruction and pray over that child’s spiritual needs.
After I lead the Valentines banquet that year, thankfully, it turned out pretty good and I heard a lot of positive feedback from staff and students alike. But boy I can’t imagine the embarrassment I would have felt if it had gone haywire because of poor organization.
What would I have felt like if the food came out burnt?
What would I have felt like if while we were all sitting there, the decorations that were suspended from the gym ceiling on top of us?
I can tell you what I would have felt like: I would have wanted the earth to swallow me up and quickly end my misery and my embarrassment!
But hear me: how much more embarrassment will you feel at the Judgment Seat of Christ because you were disorganized in your spiritual life?
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The leading of the work - Nehemiah 3:1
I’ve already said that Nehemiah was the leader of this project, but don’t miss the fact that verse one tells us of a man who stepped up to the plate when a man was needed most.
Read Nehemiah 3:1.
“Eliashib the high priest rose up…”
Somebody had to rise up! Somebody had to pick up some tools and get working. As the high priest, Eliashib was the right man. He wasn’t a stonemason by trade. His arms weren’t used to setting stone in place for hours on end, but he decided that somebody needed to rise up and that somebody was him.
We’re going to see later on in the book that Eliashib and his family had their faults, but in this he did the right thing. He was a leader in the work.
Application: Men, rise up and lead. We live in a country where women are having to step up and lead their families and lead their communities because men are not. So men, rise up and start leading in the home! Make a plan and do everything you can to ensure the spiritual growth of your family.
Lead your family to church.
Lead your family in prayer.
Lead your family in relating Bible principles to the ordinary circumstances of life.
Lead your family in the work of God.
Sometimes there’s this notion that creeps into our thinking that only members of the clergy can do the work of God.
Only pastors can do the work of God.
Only evangelists like Dr. Beal can do the work of God.
But everyone else, for the most part they just come to church to watch the work get done.
Application: Hear me: we don’t have assigned seating in the local church: one section for workers and another section for spectators. Why? Because we’re all supposed to be working together at the work of God just like Elashib and the priests were doing.
In Nehemiah chapter three, Eliashib and the priests aren’t busy leading in worship at the temple. You don’t find them offering sacrifices on behalf of the people. No, they had their sleeves rolled up and they were laying stone one on top of another, but I have no doubt that they were doing the work of God as they built those walls.
Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of kings.
How are you involved in the work of God here at Cornerstone Independent Baptist Church?
The work of God for you may be repairing an old building like the Jews rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.
The work of God for you may be singing in the choir.
The work of God for you may be dedicating yourself to the ministry of prayer.
However it may look in your life, God’s will is that every Christian be involved in the work of God.
Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Conclusion
Conclusion
Real People; Real Work: that’s what we find in the opening verses of Nehemiah chapter three.
Like Nehemiah and the Jews of old, let’s rise up and commit ourselves to lead in the work that God has called us to do.
Invitation
Invitation
Be specific.
