Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome

Good Morning!

I’m Pastor Wayne and I’d like to welcome you all to the gathering of Ephesus Baptist Church.

As we gather this morning, it is imperative that we understand why we gather.

We gather to worship and exalt the name of the one who has become our salvation.

The right hand of the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ!

If you are visiting with us this morning, we want you to who we are...

We are all one family of faith: “giving our all to love God, love people, proclaim Jesus, and make disciples in our generation.”

That is our mission, our purpose, why we exist as a church.

We have a connect card in the pew in front of you.

I invite you to take one and fill it out!

If you have prayer needs, you can let us know about those as well.

I promise, our prayer team will lift you up soon.

You can place those cards in the offering plate when it comes around.

Who’s Your One?

Scripture Memory

Opening Scripture Reading

Introduction

We began last week in our passage, by looking at how Nehemiah provides us with four Biblical truths that will help us to stand firm and serve the God of the Impossible in obedient faith!

1. Celebrate all the work that God accomplishes through His people.

(6:15-19)

2. Conclude in your heart that God’s Kingdom work will be an unfinished task until Christ returns.

(7:1)

Introduction:

Chapter 7 of Nehemiah’s memoir serves as a transition from the building of the wall to something else entirely!

The wall has been rebuilt.

The doors are hung in place.

The people are celebrating the work God called Nehemiah to complete.

The enemies are humbled by God’s blessing upon His people.

All is right in the land.

Everything has been accomplished........ or has it?

Does that opening line sound like someone who believes they are finished?

It has been said that...

“There is always more to be done, and the doing is not meant to stop until this life is over.”

~ Anonymous

Explanation:

So what is next for Nehemiah, for Jerusalem?

There is no doubt that Nehemiah pondered these thoughts in his mind that September day when the last gate was set in place and the wall was complete.

I believe that Nehemiah was coming to the conclusion that his real mission had hardly begun.

Israel needed to be re-ordered and re-established in a way that would allow them to become what God had called them to be so that they could bring Him glory among the nations.

What had God called Israel to be?

1.

A Blessing to the Nations.

2. A Kingdom of Holy Priests.

3. A Chosen, Treasured, and Holy People.

Argumentation:

Ordinary old Nehemiah is about to begin the next phase of Revitalizing the Kingdom of God!

Nehemiah’s new work... was to bring into being, with God’s help, a truly godly, holy and mature Jewish community in “the holy city of the King.”

Prior to the rebuilding of its walls, Jerusalem had been an open city, broken-down, economically depressed, low in morale, under-populated, and in no way glorious to God.

Now that the walls were up, the human factors in this sad situation had to be attended to.

Nehemiah has to turn his attention to revitalizing the hearts of his people, which is a much, much more difficult restoration project.

The God-sized dimensions of this work will require a greater measure of faith on Nehemiah’s part because he is incapable of changing the hearts of his people in his own strength.

So what does he do?

He begins to restore the ways God had instructed His people to be Holy and Set Apart!

That is where we get our third biblical truth from.

3. Commit to living a holy life in service to King Jesus so that those who oppose the Gospel will see the Hand of God on your life.

(7:1-3)

1.

He appointed City Guardians and officials.

Guards or Gatekeepers were needed to protect the city from unwarranted entry from those who wish to cause harm.

The City needed to be secure and well led.

The gatekeepers guarded the city at all times but during the hours of the day when visibility was low, the gates were to remain shut and locked.

In the Genealogy that follows we know there were 138 gatekeepers.

Notice that in addition to the gatekeepers, Nehemiah also strategically gave responsibility to the people to guard their homes and defend their own communities within their city.

He also named his brother Hanani, and the governor of the castle Hananiah as co-administrators of the day to day leadership of the city.

When you are a leader, you want people beside you that you can trust.

Hanani was his brother who we met first in the citadel of Susa back in Nehemiah 1:2.

Hananiah was chosen because of the kind of man he was.

Nehemiah says in 7:2 that he was

A more faithful man than many.

A more God-fearing man than many.

Leaders need co-laborers they can count on!

2.

He appointed singers!

Nehemiah appointed singers.

Why singers?

Jerusalem was to be a community that worshiped God! Music is an important piece of worship!

Worship is essential to Revitalization!

Before God can revive His people the practice of worship must be restored.

Some of the singers that we are told about were the Sons of Asaph who wrote many of the Psalms in our Bibles, possibly including the lament psalm of Psalm 137:

3. Nehemiah appointed Levitical Priests!

The priests are going to be vitally important in restoring the religious practices of Israel.

They have to be weighed carefully to ensure that they are in fact in the line of Levi and in accordance with the commands of God.

Some were trying to claim that right, but Nehemiah was so careful that without ancestral proof they were excluded from the priesthood.

This may sound harsh, but we have to remember God has called Israel to be Holy, set apart for God’s glory and the spreading of God’s salvation throughout the world.

The Gatekeepers, the Singers, and the Levites were normally all called to temple service only, but in these desperate times, Nehemiah has appointed them all to the guard the sanctity of the city of God.

All of this should remind us that the church has guard post in place as well.

God’s Word, Church Discipline, and the priority and unity of membership in the local church are three guard posts that we should not take it for granted.

These guard posts were given to us by our Lord to help us to become the Holy Priesthood of Believers that He has called us to be.

If we, as God’s people don’t learn to protect the things that have been accomplished for the Lord and passed down and entrusted to us, then we shouldn’t be surprised when the enemies sneak into our walls and take us over from within.

Christ has called us to much more than that!

Church, we must hold firm to our faith and proclaim steadfastly the message of Acts 4:12 concerning Jesus Christ:

Ephesus, do not lose sight that these verses come on the heels of yet another series of attacks from enemies both within and outside the walls of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah wanted the people to commit to a holy life in service to Yahweh, their God and King.

We, too, must commit to living a holy life in service to King Jesus so that those who oppose the Gospel will see the Hand of God on our lives.

Next I want you to see that Nehemiah wasted no time in responding to the next phase of God’s plan in Jerusalem’s revitalization.

4. Christians serve God the best as a holy community united in purpose.

(7:4-73)

Jerusalem was a large city, but it had a small population because so many of the returning exiles settled in towns surrounding the city of God.

The next phase of God’s plan is to begin repopulating the city of God.

But God would not have Nehemiah fill the city with just anyone.

No, God wanted those who were willing to worship and serve Him as their rightful king.

God wanted men and women who strived to live holy lives to fill His great city!

God wanted the city rebuilt from the hearts of the people on up!

a. Rebuilding a City for God’s Glory.

(7:5-65)

Look at verse 5!

God again puts His plan in Nehemiah’s heart to repopulate and rebuild the city of God.