Nehemiah 6-7

INTRO

GEORGE STEPHENSON spent fifteen years to perfect the locomotive.

WATTS worked for thirty years on the condensing engine.

Hard rubber cost GOODYEAR ten years of study, poverty and public ridicule.

FIELD crossed the ocean fifty times to lay a cable so men could talk across the oceans.

BURBANK the plant wizard at one time personally conducted over 6,000 experiments before finding the solution.

WESTINGHOUSE was treated as a mild lunatic by most railroad executives. “Stopping a train by wind! The man’s crazy!” Yet he persevered and finally sold the air-brake idea.

Have you ever accomplished something hard by persevering?

When I was about ten I got it in my head that I wanted to build and underground fort. I had a little wooden play set in our back yard but I wanted to build a basement to it. So off I went with a shovel in my hands and I worked all day. and I mean all day and at the end of the day I had dug a pit that was about 5x5x4 I remember being so proud to show my parents what I had accomplished. To bring it to completion I still had a few more steps. My dad bought me some treated 2x4s and plywood to make a roof and I was able to finish it off in the next week or so.

Fast forward a little and the next big accomplishment in my life was going into the USAF basic training and tech school. Basic training was 8 weeks long and it was physically and emotionally hard as you might imagine but I remember how proud I was when my parents came down to see me graduate and I was able to hold the flag for our flight so that I was front and center and easy for them to pick out in the sea of dress blues marching down the pitch. After basic training I had a few more steps however. I had another 8 weeks of tech school and then of course the 6 year term I had signed up for.

Fast forward again for the last time this morning to another big accomplishment in my life. Graduating from Seminary. This took 4 long years of intense study, at one time while we were down in KY I was working 3 jobs going to school full time, running the college and career ministry at the church we were members of as well as trying to maintain a healthy family life with my wife and two toddler boys. Graduation day was a great joy. I felt very proud of all that I had learned and did during my time at Southern. I knew that in the next several years God was going to call me into the next phase of my life and I hoped it was full time ministry. So the next step for me then was prayerfully seeking the leading of God to eventually being called to pastor here at ABC.

As you know we have been going through the book of Nehemiah as we walk through this text we are taking it one step at a time but that is how all things in life are just one step at a time. Just like our walk in faith with Jesus is made up of a lot of little steps. Sometimes it is hard to see our progress as we take steps. It is only when we stop and look back or have someone outside ourselves comment that we can see how far we have come or what we have accomplished. What God has accomplished though us as He walks along side us. Nehemiah shows us something that you may have already learned but is good to be reminded of and that is that as we take these steps that over time bring us to our accomplishments in life that we still have more to go, and that is ok.

Exalting Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah Need

we need to recognize that we will not arrive. We will not reach a day, this side of glory, when we have done all there is to do.

Today as we look at this text in Neh 6-7 we are going to I hope, be reminded of the joy of taking a moment to recognize God’s Past provision and current accomplishments in us while still keeping our eyes fixed upon a work yet to be done. Taking our faith, and our walk one step at a time.

PRAYER

Faith is one step at a time…

MESSAGE

We Must Be...

Steadfast Despite Public Hostility

Nehemiah 6:1–9 (ESV)

1 Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together ... in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. 5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the ARTEXERXIES will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

Resolution

Politically Unpopular

The tide of humanity

against those in positions of influence

Know your enemy… be realistic

Politics… Satan

Understand the depth of your work

what work are you doing… is it great?

what is distracting you from a great work?… good is the enemy of great !

why was the wall great?

How should we respond?

keep going… be steadfast despite public hostility !!

Matthew 19:2–3 ESV

2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”

John 8:1–6 (ESV)

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. ...

Philippians 1:12–20 ESV

12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Steadfast despite public hostility

We Must Be…

Steadfast Despite Private Hostility

Nehemiah 6:10–14 (ESV)

10 Now when I went into the house of She-mai-ah ..., who was confined to his home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple. Let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you by night.” 11 But I said, “Should such a man as I run away? And what man such as I could go into the temple and live? I will not go in.” 12 And I understood and saw that God had not sent him, but he had pronounced the prophecy against me because THEY had hired him. 13 For this purpose he was hired, that I should be AFRAID and act in this way and SIN, and so they could give me a bad name in order to taunt me. 14 Remember THEM, O my God, according to these things that they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who wanted to make me afraid.

Who are you behind closed doors?… Does your public talk match your private walk?

When the personal attacks start are you ready to stand?

It does not matter who is saying it, if it goes against Gods word its wrong

know the will of God?… know the Bible!

What keeps you doing great work?

private hostility requires private strength

Matthew 4:1 ESV

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

This is how Jesus fought privately

Matthew 26:3–5 (ESV)

3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

Luke 22:3–6 (ESV)

3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. 4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. 5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We Can / Must Be...

Steadfast despite PRIVATE hostility

Steadfast despite PUBLIC hostility

Matt 24.13 “13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” … We can have confidence in our perseverance because Jesus has already persevered for us…

Because God Is...

Steadfast Through The Undertaking With People

Nehemiah 6:15–16 (ESV)

15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.

Nehemiah does not lose heart…

You should not lose heart…

hard is not impossible it is hard…

Exalting Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah (Perseverance through the Project with People (Nehemiah 6:15–19))

This is Nehemiah’s perspective: that God has been aiding the work all along… Nehemiah explained back in 2:8 that the good hand of his God was upon him. Then, in 2:12 he said that God had put it in his heart to do this for Jerusalem, and he told the people in 2:20 that the God of heaven would make them prosper. Then in 4:15 he said that God had frustrated the plans of the enemy. In 4:20 he told the people that God would fight for them. Now it has come to pass. The wall has been built. The work has been done with the help of God.

Do not underestimate what you can accomplish if God is with you!

people dont start… people dont finish

When are you most tempted to doubt this truth?

Where have you historically doubted this truth that hindered Gods good work from being completed in you?

Matthew 8:26 ESV

26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

Matthew 14:31 ESV

31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 16:8 ESV

8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

This is the message that Jesus gave his apostles

This is the invitation that He offers you today

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We want God to get the glory for this

Philippians 1:6 ESV

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

God is steadfast through the undertaking with His people…

Steadfast After The Undertaking With People

Neh 7.1-73.

Nehemiah 7:5–6 (ESV)

5 Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it: 6 These were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried into exile. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his town.

Nehemiah 7:73 (ESV)

73 So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel, lived in their towns. And when the seventh month had come, the people of Israel were in their towns.

The wall was not the end

Nehemiah = the cup-bearer !!

Where are you most tempted to rest on your past accomplishments and slack at moving forward?

How do you measure spiritual milestones?

Have you set any personal spiritual goals… next steps?

Today is not the end… We still have a work to do!

Acts 1:3 ESV

3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

John 14:16–18 ESV

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

We have to view this life as a journey

we have not arrived, still work to do

We have to remember that THIS is PROMISED

those inventors did what they did because they wanted the results… UN-promised!!

John 14:1–4 ESV

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”

Revelation 21:1–7 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

CONCLUSION

Matthew 24:13 ESV

13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

We CAN/MUST Be Steadfast...

Despite Private Hostility

Despite Public Hostility

Because God IS Steadfast…

Through The Undertaking With People

After The Undertaking With People

Matt 24.13 “13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” … We can have confidence in our perseverance because Jesus has already persevered for us… “ “ because Jesus will preserve you… one step at a time!! ””

One step won’t take us very far;

We’ve got to keep on going;

One truth will not maturity make;

We’ve got to keep on growing;

One word won’t tell them who He is;

We’ve got to keep on talking;

One act won’t do it all my friend;

We’ve got to keep on serving.

Yes, He’s the one;

Who once for all;

Did die upon the tree.

It’s only by His sacrifice;

That we are all made free.

But called us to His work, He did;

To make His glory known

All authority has He;

And rules He from His throne.

So do today what work He gives;

With gladness in your breast

For one day soon the King will come

And grant your soul sweet rest.

Matt 24.13 “13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” … We can have confidence in our perseverance because Jesus has already persevered for us… “ “ because Jesus will preserve you… one step at a time!! ””

PRAYER

Romans 8:29–30 ESV

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

John 6:39 ESV

39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

Matthew 6:33–34 ESV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Group Questions

What is your biggest “accomplishment” so far in your life? What did you have to go through to complete it?

What is the value in celebrating achievements? When have you experienced finishing one big task only to be confronted with the next one? What was your attitude at that time?

Are there people like Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem trying to hinder your work for God’s kingdom? Are people spreading false rumors or purposely misrepresenting your motives? How should you / we respond to such people?

How do such people betray the fact that they hate God and are opposed to His purposes?

Why is it impossible to finesse the issues with such people?

Why is it pointless to try to compromise with them? What is their ultimate point of dissent?

How does your knowledge of the Bible help you to discern whether a person’s suggestions are valid?

What are / might be some examples of external opposition to the ministry of our church?

What are / might be some examples of internal resistance to the ministry of our church?

What do you think could / should be done to improve the practice of unity in purpose at our church?

What do you consider an accomplishment of our church?

What should / might our next big accomplishment as a church be?

What steps would you suggest to get us there?