No portion, No right, No memorial

Intro:

Nehemiah 2:20 KJV 1900

20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 4:7–9 KJV 1900

7 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, 8 And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. 9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

Nehemi 4:7-9

James

Nehemiah 4:9 KJV 1900

9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

James 5:16 KJV 1900

16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Nehemiah 4:9 KJV 1900

9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

James 5:16 KJV 1900

16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Science confirms the presence of an Almighty God. God has given man the ability to study and to learn of HIM in many aspects of what we experience or can experience with our senses.

And even if you cannot recognize the science around you, you do not know what you have until it is gone.

Has anyone ever lost electricity in your home? You might say, Oh no, what about the ice cream in the refrigerator, I mean what about the kids food for dinner.

Has anyone ever gone without the air conditioner?

I grew up in a small church that had a gas heater. On cold days, my dad would have to get to the the church early enough so that it would be warm enough for church.

Oh but when the propane ran out or when my dad did not get to church early enough, oh how I missed the heater and subsequently valued its importance.

One time in church I stood too close to the heater and found out that my jacket was made of plastic. I knew we were poor, but after that incident I knew why my jacket did not work so well.

Some of us do not realize the value of heat and cold, unless we need one or the other.

If you put a pot of water on the stove to boil, but have no heat, all you have is a pot of water.

When it comes to heat, science has identified several specific quantities and one very important quality is something called the boiling point.

The freezing and boiling point are dependent on several factors. It can get very complicated and I am not pretending to understand the nuances of boiling and freezing points, nor am I a physicist, but I can say with some certainty that boiling an freezing points are different for different substances and change as a result atmospheric pressure and surrounding vapor pressure.

Water is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's streams, lakes, and oceans, and the fluids of most living organisms. It is vital for all known forms of life, even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients.

At higher elevations, where the atmospheric pressure is much lower, the boiling point is also lower.

Water’s boiling point at sea level is 212 F or 100 C. That is the the exact temperature necessary to kill bacteria and germs.

To put this in perspective, the water heater in your home comes standard at 140 degrees F, but it is recommended that you set your water heater to 120 degrees for safety reasons.

At 110 to 112 degrees, it will take at least twenty-five minutes before that water can cause any skin injury.

212 is the boiling point of water. So, did you know that 211 degrees is also extremely hot.

So what is the difference between 211 and 212. 1 degree.

At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And with steam you can power a train. Applying just one extra degree of temperature to water means the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a large machine.

This message of just one more degree strikes a cord spiritually.

It reminds me not to quit too soon.

The bible says, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Fervent: dālaḳ; ἐκτενής, ektenḗs, ζέω, zéō): “Fervent” (from Lat fervēre, “to boil” [Walker, W. L. (1915). Fervent. In J. Orr, J. L. Nuelsen, E. Y. Mullins, & M. O. Evans (Eds.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Vol. 1–5, p. 1107). Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company.]

Walker, W. L. (1915). Fervent. In J. Orr, J. L. Nuelsen, E. Y. Mullins, & M. O. Evans (Eds.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Vol. 1–5, p. 1107). Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company.

I might be only one step or one degree or one more prayer meeting or one more church service from healing in my body, one degree from deliverance from addiction, from peace in my home, from receiving the gift of the Holy ghost, from seeing my family saved, from seeing my coworkers saved, from seeing my children saved, from seeing a breakthough in my worship, breakthrough when i praise, from seeing my church have revival.

The difference of ONE degree is indescribeable!!!

So church keep praying, and keep working, keep fighting, keep trying! You just might be one degree away from your miracle!!!

Nehemiah:

The story of Nehemia -

God promised to bless Israel if they obeyed his commands and to curse them if they did not. Despite this knowledge, Israel chose to disobey, worshiping foreign gods and intermarrying with other people. Unfortunately this led to captivities by the Assyrians in 722 BC, Babylonians 586 BC and the Medo-Persians 539 BC.

Nehemiah was not just a random person.

Nehemiah was a Jewish Governor and cup bearer under King Artaxerxes I.

God will use whomever is obedient.

In , Nehemiah inquired about the Jews that were left in captivity and was given the report that they were in great affliction ().

, When he heard the report, he sat down and wept and mourned certain days, and FASTED and prayed before the God of heaven.

At the notice of a bad report, the first thing Nehemiah turned to was His God. Church, when we are made aware of a bad or sad report, the first place we must go to is to JESUS!

So Nehemiah prayed, . It is a beautiful prayer. He calls on the true God, “I beseech the, O Lord God of heaven…Let thine ear now be attentive...”

You can describe the prayer of Nehemiah as effectual and fervent. Because he then put his prayer and his faith in action. Nehemiah as the cup bearer sought permission, from the King to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.

Not only did the king grant him permission, he also provided safe passage and the tools and equipment to rebuild. .

Nehemiah was given permission in 455 B.C. to return to Jerusalem to build the walls that had been destroyed by captivity and neglect.

Nehemiah was feeling great and chapter 2 of Nehemiah seems to be almost joyous, until you get to verse 10 of Nehemiah Chapter 2.

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.

Sanballat and Tobiah were not just sad, grieved means deeply disturbed. They did not like what they were seeing, they did not like what they were hearing. They did not like that Nehemiah was being blessed.

How many of you know a Sanballat or a Tobiah in this church?

There will always be those that do not like that you are being blessed. They don’t like it when you are healed, they don’t like it when God blesses you with a new car, they don’t like it when God blesses you with a new job, they don’t like it when you are starting to be used more in leadership in the church.

“Oh she is a Sunday school teacher, but do you know what she used to be?” Oh you know who you are. Some of us can be quick to judge and quick to dismiss. Careful with the Sanballat and Tobiah spirit. Sanballat and Tobiah represent those outside the church family.

Brother/Sister don’t become weary of the Sanballat or Tobiah in your life, hold on to the promises and provision of the Lord. Keep praying, keep working, keep teaching Sunday school, keep witnessing to your family, keep being involved in church, keep coming to church, keep praying for your lost son, daughter, husband, wife, keep helping your pastor, keep blessing the pastors family, keep loving the people that don’t love you back.

You might think your boss is the Devil on Earth, keep praying!

Neh 2:12

Nehemiah 2:12 KJV 1900

12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.

Nehemiah 2:11 KJV 1900

11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

So Nehemiah came to the walls and inspected them. He did covert nighttime inspections. He devised a great plan. He even reported to the people how God had been good to Him and how the King had treated him. If you read verse 18 you get the feeling that Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem are a distant past.

Nehemiah 2:18 KJV 1900

18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

Neh 2:18

Everyone was encouraged and ready to start the rebuilding process.

BUT!!!

Nehemiah 2:19 KJV 1900

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

Not only did the enemy not like what they heard, they started to laugh and ridicule.

Just when you think that your naysayers have been quieted, just when you think you have arrived to a place in God, just when you think that there is peace in your home…Sanballat, and tobiah and Geshem show up.

But I love the Boldness of Nehemiah for in verse , he says, “The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.

Some of you need to turn to the Devil, or to your affliction, or to the disease, or to your addiciton, or to your problem, IN THE NAME OF JESUS!…you have no portion, you have no right and you have no memorial in my life.

When you receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, when you are baptized in the precious name of Jesus, you can say to the Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem in your life, with the same boldness of Nehemiah, you have no portion, you have no right, you have no memorial in my life.

Portion: tract, territory, heritage. What this means is that, when Gods work is accomplished in your life, the naysayers, the people that were there to make fun of you and put you down, the disease, the addiction, cannot share in the end result. They get no credit and they are cut off from the inheritance.

Right: This is a legal term. A right is something that you are afforded because you are a child of God, a living creature. It is used very commonly in our society and discussed by many when trying to determine, what is a right. One such right is the right to life. In the 2nd amendment, we talk about a right to bear arms. It is a legal term that designates what is yours. When God begins his work in you, no one, can take it away, no one has any moral or legal entitlement, except the one who you give it to.

Memorial: commemoration, i.e., a place or object to remind one of something. Us as humans, we are experts at making memorials of the bad things of the past, of the short comings, of the sin we used to be in only reminding us of our past failures. Let me assure you. When God forgives you of your sins, when you are baptized in Jesus name being submerged in water, your past, your past, has no bearing on you.

When God completes his work in you, no sin, no disease, no strife, no problem no addiction will have a heritage, legal entitlement nor memorial in your life.

Philippians 1:6 KJV 1900

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:

Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

2 COr

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV 1900

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Say it with me, you have no portion, you have no right, and you have no memorial in my LIFE.

CONCLUSION:

If you thought that this is where the story ends, you are unfortunately mistaken.

Nehemiah gathered all the people. Everyone of them. He set families to work together, sons and daughters. All occupations, priests, goldsmiths, merchants. Nehemiah describes a beautiful account of how every person played a part in the rebuilding of the wall. Church everyone of you is needed to complete the Lords work. We are stronger together, working in harmony, in one mind in one accord than apart.

In chapter 4, tobiah and sanbalat come back again to make fun. And when this happened, Nehemiah Prays again.

And then the enemy did not stop at their war with words. When they realized that the breaks in the walls were being strengthened, they decided to come and fight.

Nehemiah combined faith in an Almighty God, with works…saying,

Nehemiah 4:9 KJV 1900

9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

The bible goes on to say the they worked with one hand and held a weapon with the other, watching day and night for an attack from the enemy, they did not even take their clothes off to wash them. Church, don’t grow weary in well-doing. Don’t let your guard down.

Chapter 6 describes that the enemy came back 5 more times, and even sent a false prophet and prophetess to speak false things into Nehemiah and the children of Israel.

Nehemiah 6:16 KJV 1900

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.

52 days later the work was completed and Everyone, everyone, the enemies and the heathens that were amongst the people of God, perceived that this work was wrought of our God.

Keep on praying and keep on doing. When it is completed in you, everyone will see that Jesus Christ is working in your life.

You may just be one degree away from what you need. The difference between right now and your breakthrough is just one more degree, one more prayer service, one more day of fasting, one more altar call.