Finishing the Job
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Finishing the Job
Finishing the Job
15 So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
It done what the devil and all his cohort wanted to stop failed ....
To see how amazing this statement in verse 15 is, let's review:
B. The actual time line of these events
1. Receives report about condition of Jerusalem from brother - Kislev (winter) 444 BC
2. Receives permission to go from Artaxerxes - Nisan (April) - 443 BC
3. Arrives in Jerusalem - August 1, 443 BC
- would have required time to get supplies, make trip
4. Wall completed - Sept. 21, 443 BC
- so when you put this all together, it was less than nine months from when Nehemiah heard this news to when the wall was completed!
- it was less than 2 months from the time he arrived in Jerusalem to when the wall was completed.
- This verse is a great testimony to the power of God, and to what can be accomplished when God's people set their minds to work.
Illustration - when we get the power of God and all Christians working together nothing is impossible.
Whenever the Lord does a mighty work in the life of the church or in our personal lives, we often experience a “spiritual high” of sorts.
If we are healthy, we’ll take a minute to enjoy what He has done and recount the journey; both with it’s joys and difficulties.
This is one of the most productive times we can have as a believer-the times when we stop and remember the journey.
Remember the journey - $800 offering and no children's SS curriculum .... no bulletin, no VBS and no children's program
This helps prepare us for the next part of our walk with the Lord and hopefully, teach us using both good and bad experiences.
The bad is where we struggle.
We tend to camp out in a few places with the bad.
We talk about the negative in a light that places little to no blame on ourselves.
We talk about the negative with a “could’a, should’a, would’a” attitude, without intending to think about a fix for next time.
We bury the negative as if it never happened.
Then, sometimes, hopefully not too often, there are circumstances like we see in today’s passage.
We see in verse 15 that the wall was built in a miraculous time period.
We see the focus upon the enemies outside the wall (16).
And a focus upon the enemies inside the wall (17).
Today we are going to look at the end result of the miraculous, but not in the way that we normally see it.
Today shows us that the end result isn’t always peachy.
Sometimes when we, as a church, or you and I as an individual, follow the Lord’s leading and guidance there are more conflicts with which to deal.
Finishing the Job requires:
Finishing the Job requires:
I Miraculous Completion
I Miraculous Completion
15 So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
neh
The importance of finishing.
- It has been said, "There are a lot more people that start well, then that end well."
- I want to ask you this morning, Are you committed to doing both?
8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
cc
- A great verse from the NT that illustrates this point is .
6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
- What is especially disturbing about this is that letters are going back and forth from Tobiah to some of the leaders in Judah.
- Verse 18 says that there was even some sort of oath that had been taken, and that the "alliance" even involved inter-marriage.
- For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
- We're saying that we ought to be greatly encouraged as we see God help someone finish.
- Are you committed not only to starting well, but finishing well.
- So even though the wall is up, God allowed this situation to persist (cf. )
- One important lesson we always need to remember from this book is that, yes, Nehemiah finished the wall in am amazingly short period of time...but on the other hand, God had other things for him to accomplish.
- (if time -- on white board, go through different stages of life and show how the Lord often has unique challenges at each stage ---- point is -- we're never done)
- We're saying that we ought to be greatly encouraged as we see God help someone finish.
- Are you committed not only to starting well, but finishing well.
Raising you children
- Often parents start off with a "bang."
- Putting a great amount of emphasis on this area.
- But then as pressure to do other things grows, or challenges with children become stiffer...some parents don't finish the task.
- It's harder (and often takes more time) to sit down and answer a young person's questions from the Scripture.
- It's harder to stay in there and keep loving a child who may be rebelling.
- And even if you "finish the job" from your perspective, there's no guarantee that the child is respond to your teaching and be God's kind of person.
- But are you committed to doing all you can from your perspective and finish the job?
- Or are you going to take your cues from the world that wants us to believe children at age 9 or 10 are smarted than most grown-ups anyway, and they are nature enough for total freedom on all areas and don't really need mom and dad anymore.
Improving your marriage.
- Chinese -- Americans begin their marriages very "hot," end up very cold.
- Does that have to be true?
- Are you committed to not just starting well, but ending well.
- We're seeing in these verses this morning that God can help someone finish a project like a wall around a city, surely he can help us continue to build our marriages.
- INPUT - What kinds of things would you want to be able to say in your heart at the death of your spouse (if God has you precede them in death)?
Projects in ministry
- Its easy to be all excited about a ministry when you first start it.
- But what happens after several months, or several years?
- Are you committed not just to starting well, but to finishing well?
- These verses show us that God can help us do both.
- Another truth that flows out of these verses is:
- The way Nehemiah "words" verse 16 is very important.
- INPUT - What was it he said the enemy recognized?
- INPUT - How else could he have said this?
(They recognized the great job I did).
- James Montgomery Boice said - "If ever there was a time when Nehemiah could have been tempted to sit back and take credit for his success, it would have been when the wall was completed. But he did not. What he did do shows his greatness. Toward the end of chapter 6, we learn that Nehemiah gave glory to God."
- INPUT - What does this statement show us about Nehemiah's heart?
- Boice goes on to make a very interesting comparison I'd like us to think about for a moment:
"Since Nehemiah had come from the winter capital of Babylon, I cannot help but think of the contrasting words of that earlier Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, who had conquered Jerusalem."
Finishing the Job requires:
Finishing the Job requires:
II God is Glorified
II God is Glorified
16 And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.
look at the statement
“cast down in their own eyes”
wow - is that not what we want?
“disheartened in their own eyes”
God id it -----
We must come to end of our rope and be cast down in our own eyes.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
How Nehemiah Did It
- The way Nehemiah "words" verse 16 is very important.
- INPUT - What was it he said the enemy recognized?
- INPUT - How else could he have said this?
(They recognized the great job I did).
They saw God and Nehemiah did not take the credit
- James Montgomery Boice said - "If ever there was a time when Nehemiah could have been tempted to sit back and take credit for his success, it would have been when the wall was completed. But he did not. What he did do shows his greatness. Toward the end of chapter 6, we learn that Nehemiah gave glory to God."
- INPUT - What does this statement show us about Nehemiah's heart?
- Boice goes on to make a very interesting comparison I'd like us to think about for a moment:
What do people see in me and you that causes them to recognize God in our lives.
What do people see in me and you that causes them to recognize God in our lives.
Illustration -
Finishing the Job requires:
Finishing the Job requires:
II God is Glorified
III Facing the Opposition
III Facing the Opposition
17 Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them. 18 For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. 19 Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.
vs 17 - letters going back and forth
so much nonsense gossip and disruptions
Inside loyalty to Tobiah was being exposed
We are behind you as long as it does not effect us .....
vs 18 - they had an oath to Tobiah ?
Now that the wall is finished on to the next stage
Life is that way to
We have challenges as teens
Young adults
Young parents
etc....
Now for Nehemiah's next challenge .....
You wish that chapter 6 ended at verse 16.
- but the rest of the chapter tells us that Tobiah and his cohorts are still keeping up their letter writing campaign.
- What is especially disturbing about this is that letters are going back and forth from Tobiah to some of the leaders in Judah.
- Verse 18 says that there was even some sort of oath that had been taken, and that the "alliance" even involved inter-marriage.
- So even though the wall is up, God allowed this situation to persist (cf. )
- One important lesson we always need to remember from this book is that, yes, Nehemiah finished the wall in am amazingly short period of time...but on the other hand, God had other things for him to accomplish.
- We're saying that we ought to be greatly encouraged as we see God help someone finish.
- Are you committed not only to starting well, but finishing well.
Leadership is more of a burden than a reward most days. Somebody has got to do something and so you stand up to lead. You have a vision of things should be and how to get there. You spend your days and nights in earnest labor, rallying the troops, lifting spirits, encouraging people to do the right thing and then finally you see success is on the horizon. Yet, even in the midst of success there are often moments of disappointment.
Sometimes it is the people inside our circle that can disappoint us the most. We’ve trusted them, leaned on them and counted them as friends. Yet, we find they have a propensity to tolerate the untolerable and it is not because they are more inclusive than we are, it is simply for something as petty as an economic or social advantage.
What are you not finishing
God Glorified
Disruptions Nullified