Restoration Through Leadership
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning!
Please keep your Bibles open to Nehemiah chapter 6.
I was thinking this week about that amazing feeling you get when you finish a big project. Not just a small task, like cleaning a messy kitchen or rearranging the furniture, but a project that took weeks of effort, planning, and perseverance. When I was making cabinets, one of my favorite moments was delivery. Seeing my clients’ faces light up when they saw their new cabinets gave me a deep sense of satisfaction and purpose—it made all the long hours and hard work feel worthwhile.
Sometimes my wife and I will be driving, and suddenly notice a building standing where there was nothing but an empty lot just a short time ago. Construction seems to move faster than ever today. Yet, no matter the speed, the joy of completion is universal.
Today, our passage shows us what happened when Nehemiah and his team finished the wall. We see his role shift—from construction foreman to security manager and community leader. And, as we’ve seen over the past several weeks in Nehemiah, even when the work is done, people will still try to distract, intimidate, and derail God’s purposes.
God is a God who finishes what He starts—but He often uses imperfect people to do it. Today, we’ll see how He completed the wall in Jerusalem, how opposition continued even after success, and how He calls us to faithfully steward what He entrusts to us. By the end of this message, I hope we’ll see that true leadership isn’t about personal glory—it’s about faithfulness to God’s purposes.
In short, God accomplishes His work, protects it through faithful leadership, and calls His people to serve Him with undivided loyalty.
Here’s a brief outline for today:
God COMPLETES the work He began (6:15–16)
CONFLICT persists even after success (6:17–19)
God places His completed work in faithful CUSTODY (7:1–3)
God COMPLETES the work He began (6:15–16)
God COMPLETES the work He began (6:15–16)
15 The wall was completed in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul.
16 When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.
My, my, my - how the tables have turned! The enemies of the Jewish people, who had spent weeks trying to intimidate and kill them for their work on the wall lost their confidence. They realized that God was with the Jews because it could not have happened if the Lord wasn’t the one behind it. Nehemiah couldn’t claim the credit or the glory for what happened because everyone knew that God protected Him from Sanballat’s schemes and rebuilt the wall despite the conspiracy efforts.
God sent Nehemiah to Judah as a project manager with a task - Nehemiah’s commission was to finish the wall, and here we see him do just that. His tenacity for his calling helped him keep himself and those working with him to stay on task and avoid the distractions they faced from the outsiders who meant them harm. A leader needs to have tenacity and courage to lead well, otherwise, the distractions can become overwhelming and make goals unreachable. A leader, however, must not become the main focus here, but must be understood rightly in context with what they are - they are an instrument of the Lord to accomplish a task - there is nothing special in and of themselves; they are people used by God as one part of the body.
One of the ways God sustains His work through to completion is through the act of prayer. We remember in anticipation that He who began a good work in us will see it through to completion - amen?! In the New Testament, church elders are supposed to be about the business of prayer. We need to be praying for our people often - and let me assure, I pray for you often! I really appreciated Jarod’s leadership in this area specifically by setting up the prayer walk a few weeks ago! That is a real and palpable way to see biblical leadership within the community!
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.
Not to say that there is anything special about a pastor or any other church leader that would somehow make God hear their prayers with more emphasis and priority than anyone else’s, but a pastor is also sensitive to the spiritual needs of his congregation as the Lord gives him that gift and it informs him how to pray. I know that some need prayer for perseverance in the midst of their medical difficulties, others struggle with past or current addiction, there are marital difficulties and various kinds of sin that all scream for the need of a loving touch from our savior! I pray for these things to that end often - that Jesus would move through his church by the power of the Holy Spirit and draw people to Himself and put their sin to death.
Leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination.
Anonymous
This determination should be to come along side the flock and shepherd them towards Jesus. Christian leaders are human and imperfect and make mistakes that can cause great offense. But the important thing to remember that they are working - despite their imperfection and humanity - for the benefit of those they serve. They are often learning as they go and grow from their experiences in leadership.
I have experienced amazing amounts of grace at Sprague, despite my flaws - and I am extremely appreciative of that grace - it helps me know that we are working together as a partnership so we can all grow closer to the Lord. Nehemiah was a man, like many in the Scriptures, with remarkable character, dedication to the Lord and His people.
But notice verse 16 - when the work was completed, did the surrounding people say, “Wow! Nehemiah is awesome!”? No! What did they say? They were intimidated because they knew that the Lord accomplished the task of rebuilding the wall through Nehemiah’s leadership, and His presence with the Jewish people made them lose their confidence in all their scheming. God finished the wall despite their conspiracy to take Nehemiah out! God used Nehemiah’s leadership to send a resounding reminder to the neighboring nations that God was with Israel, and if you stand against Israel, you stand against the Lord Himself. Their attempts to intimidate the Jews failed because it was the Lord doing the work, and they recognized that.
Good and godly leadership should not draw us into how great the leader is, but how great God is! The modern church is all to ready to dive into celebrity pastor worship, but leadership that truly honors God is leadership that shepherds people to know and love Jesus more. A true leader doesn’t push their own theological imperatives or views, but preaches and teaches the Word and loudly declares the Gospel of Jesus Christ - that it is only by grace through faith that we are saved - that it is a gift from God, not of man, so that none may boast. The biggest thrill I have gotten from a complement to one of my sermons came when someone told me they were convicted by the Holy Spirit and lead to a place of repentance during a sermon. That is the biggest blessing I could ever ask for! When the Lord places a leader over us, we are called to respond with a spirit of cooperation with them as co-laborers (like the Jews were with Nehemiah working on the wall). If they are a good leader, you will grow closer to the Lord through obedience to the Lord and cooperation with those whom God appointed to that role! We rightly honor the intention of what the Apostle Paul said when he said,
1 Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.
Godly leaders are an instrument God uses to bring about His will and purposes in our lives, and therefore, we have a responsibility to God to submit to their leadership as they lead and shepherd us through His word.
God completes His work through ordinary obedience and faithfulness. And as He accomplishes His work, He protects it through faithful leadership, and calls His people to serve Him with undivided loyalty.
CONFLICT persists even after success (6:17–19)
CONFLICT persists even after success (6:17–19)
17 During those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.
18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.
19 These nobles kept mentioning Tobiah’s good deeds to me, and they reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
The wall is finished, but the opposition has not disappeared—it has simply changed shape. Sanballat and Tobiah are no longer attacking from the outside; now they are influencing from within. The danger is quieter, subtler, and in many ways more discouraging.
These nobles of Judah were men of influence and respect, yet their loyalties were divided. Through family ties and social obligation, they felt bound to Tobiah, even while claiming allegiance to their own people and to the work of God. As a result, they became messengers—carrying Nehemiah’s words to Tobiah and Tobiah’s threats back to Nehemiah—while simultaneously speaking well of the enemy.
The issue here is not relationships; it is loyalty. Leadership cannot function where allegiance is divided. A leader cannot serve God’s purposes faithfully while maintaining quiet partnerships with those opposed to His work.
This is why Jesus’ words are so penetrating…
19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
The basic principle here is that we can’t have divided loyalties - we need to focus our efforts on serving the Lord and recognize when something is encroaching to closely and we hold on to it to tightly. It isn’t about what a person owns, but who own’s that person’s loyalty. Jesus used the examples of earthly possessions and money to show that God doesn’t want what left-overs we’re willing to give him - he wants our hearts, our focus and our loyalty - nothing less than that is sufficient.
So lets be perfectly clear - we must be careful not to mistake discernment for judgment—or opposition to God’s work for personal disagreement. In the church, God is doing different things through people and we are all at different stages in our spiritual growth and development. God could be doing other things that we don’t understand - and we should never take a posture of opposition against the Lord!
4 Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand.
God knows people’s hearts and He is more than capable of handling any situation without our intervention or input. We need to guard our hearts against having a judgmental spirit against others and jumping to conclusions when we simply don’t have the information needed to come to those kinds of conclusions. We, thankfully, are not God!
In terms of these nobles in Judah, their loyalties were divided, making them less than useless to Nehemiah and what God was doing through him. They were trying to be a channel for Tobiah to have influence and intimidate the Jewish people - these men who were supposed to lead God’s people were instruments of the enemy to Nehemiah by serving as hindrances to what God was doing in their community rather than helping.
Do we want to be the kind of people who are knowingly or unknowingly working against what God is doing? These challenges happen within communities all the time - and unfortunately, the church is not immune. We spoke a little last week about the sin of gossip and how there are some who just gripped by it, despite their other various efforts to work for the Lord and serve the church. As believers, we are supposed to be different because we belong to a serve a perfect master!
Theologian and professor James Montgomery Boice said this:
If we are truly Christ’s, we have a new nature, a new set of loyalties, and a new agenda. We belong to a different kingdom.
James Montgomery Boice
God’s work on the wall was complete. As Nehemiah is shifting his attention on what to do next, the nobles compromise in their commitment to the Lord and their community by, in a sense, siding with Tobiah against Nehemiah. So even though the wall was compelted, the threat was not gone. This showed Nehemiah the scope of the work ahead of him - not only was he going to be facing opposition and pressure from external sources like Sanballat and Tobiah, but he was also going to have to face battles from within - from his own people.
One of the most discouraging realities of leadership is discovering that opposition does not always come from enemies—it often comes from within the very people you are trying to serve. Nehemiah now sees that his task is not finished simply because the wall is built. The deeper work—shepherding hearts, confronting divided loyalties, and protecting the community—still lies ahead.
God accomplishes His work, protects it through faithful leadership, and calls His people to serve Him with undivided loyalty.
God places His completed work in faithful CUSTODY (7:1–3)
God places His completed work in faithful CUSTODY (7:1–3)
1 When the wall had been rebuilt and I had the doors installed, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.
2 Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.
3 I said to them, “Do not open the gates of Jerusalem until the sun is hot, and let the doors be shut and securely fastened while the guards are on duty. Station the citizens of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some at their homes.”
Like a good leader, Nehemiah’s main focus is on the safety and security of his people. He knows the antics of the neighboring nations, how they hate him and the Jews and were conspiring against them. The tendency of most people is to look at their work when they’re finished, turn around and go home. For Nehemiah, completion did not mean abandonment. The finished wall and the community it protected required faithful oversight. He knew that he wall’s completion marked the very beginning of the work the Lord was calling him to do. Now he is acting more as a governor than a wall builder.
Let’s not forget what we saw recently:
14 Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah—from the twentieth year until his thirty-second year, twelve years—I and my associates never ate from the food allotted to the governor.
The King whom Nehemiah served as a cup bearer formally commissioned Nehemiah as the Governor of the land of Judah. His first task was to protect the city by building the wall - check! Now, the work of the Governor had to continue. We see Nehemiah delegate trusteed individuals to key roles under his leadership that allowed him to proceed with confidence in what was happening in Judah. It reminds us of an important concept that God does not entrust completed work to charisma, strength, or influence—He entrusts it to faithfulness and fear of the Lord. God is not looking for special people to influence the masses - He makes ordinary people special through being faithful to Him when circumstances are dire.
I have committed not to get too political in my sermons because more often than not, it doesn’t have a positive outcome - but here, the illustration fits too well to not mention it. Some of the biggest problems we have been facing in our country politically are because there are people in positions acting in accordance with their own political beliefs rather than the will of the leader who commissioned them. There are judges who treat their role as a political appointment rather than as an enforcer of the law. There are governors who lean on the ideology of their political party rather than on the best interest of their people.
Within the church, the New Testament describes for us structures of leadership and accountability for that leadership within the church. The two offices described for us are elder and deacon. We see the elders described specifically in :
1 I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed:
2 Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly;
3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
From this exhortation, Peter tells us that elders are to be willing shepherds who are eager to serve the church. Their lives are to be examples to the flock and their position should be one of humility, not authoritarianism.
We get a clear picture of the office of deacons in
8 Deacons, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, not greedy for money,
9 holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
10 They must also be tested first; if they prove blameless, then they can serve as deacons.
11 Wives, likewise, should be worthy of respect, not slanderers, self-controlled, faithful in everything.
12 Deacons are to be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently.
13 For those who have served well as deacons acquire a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
We see from Paul’s exhortations that Deacons are to be worthy of respect, not drunkards, not greedy, etc. The qualifications laid out here for deacons are very similar to what they are for elders - the primary difference being that elders are called to be apt to teach - they should have the ability to teach, accompanied by the desire to do so as well.
Just as Nehemiah appointed faithful men to guard what God had completed, Christ appoints elders and deacons to shepherd and protect His church—not as rulers, but as stewards. God does not finish His work and walk away from it. What He completes, He protects. And He does so by placing it into the care of faithful people who fear Him. Nehemiah understood that a finished wall without faithful guardians would not last. In the same way, the church is not sustained by programs or structures, but by Christ-appointed servants who guard what He has built. Completion is not the end of God’s work—it is the beginning of faithful stewardship.
God accomplishes His work, protects it through faithful leadership, and calls His people to serve Him with undivided loyalty.
Conclusion
Conclusion
In our passage today, we see Nehemiah’s transition from project manager to governor. It’s probably safe to say that when he made his initial plea to the king, he had no aspirations to become the political leader of Judah. He simply wanted to be faithful to the Lord and see God’s work accomplished.
Yet God’s plan often stretches beyond what we expect. Nehemiah’s role grew as the wall was completed—he moved from overseeing construction to shepherding a city, protecting it, and ensuring that the work of God would be preserved. And in doing so, he demonstrated three timeless principles for leadership and faithfulness that are just as relevant for us today:
God completes the work He begins. The wall was finished, not because Nehemiah was extraordinary, but because God was with him. When God starts a work in our lives, in our communities, or in His church, He will see it through—even when obstacles arise or opposition seems overwhelming.
Conflict persists even after success. The work was done, but Nehemiah still faced opposition—from outsiders, and even from within his own community. Leadership often means dealing with subtle, persistent challenges. We must remain vigilant and faithful, guarding our hearts and our loyalties, knowing that God can use even difficult people or situations to refine His purposes.
God places His completed work in faithful custody. Nehemiah appointed trustworthy men to guard the city and lead the people. Leadership is an exchange of trust, and God calls His people to steward well what He entrusts to us—whether it’s responsibilities in the church, in our families, or in our workplaces. Faithfulness is as important as the initial accomplishment.
So what does this mean for us today? First, it reminds us to trust God to complete His work. Second, it challenges us to remain faithful even when conflict arises, and third, it calls us to be faithful stewards of what God entrusts to us, whether large or small.
Nehemiah’s story is a picture of what God does through ordinary people with extraordinary faithfulness. He invites us to participate in His work—not for personal glory, but for the glory of God, for the good of others, and for His kingdom.
As we go out this week, may we be people who:
Trust God to finish what He begins in our lives.
Stand firm in faith even when opposition or discouragement comes.
Faithfully steward the responsibilities, resources, and relationships He has placed in our care.
May we, like Nehemiah, be faithful instruments in God’s hands, allowing Him to accomplish His work through us, protect it through wise leadership, and see His purposes fulfilled in our communities and His church.
God accomplishes His work, protects it through faithful leadership, and calls His people to serve Him with undivided loyalty.
