Nehemiah and Calvary Construction Company: #2 Proceed
Text: Nehemiah 2
Introduction: Last
week we began issued the challenge for rebuilders and we looked at the first
steps involved. First comes the commitment
to care enough to become involved and then the realization of total reliance
upon God through prayer and fasting.
Being a
rebuilder requires thought and planning, an intellectual as well as emotional
task.
Sacrifice Yourself Nehemiah 2:1-6
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth
year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine,
and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou
art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore
afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should
not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres,
lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? Then the king
said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So, I prayed to the God of
heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy
servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah,
unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. And the
king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy
journey be? and when wilt thou return? So, it pleased the king to send me; and
I set him a time.
Nehemiah Risks All
His job, career even life were laid on the line before the
king. As the king’s cupbearer, it was his job to taste the Kings wine and
sometimes his food. It was dangerous to appear in the king’s presence looking
afraid or upset or nervous. Such an appearance could get you arrested or killed
if the King was suspicious that your look meant you were trying to poison him.
Nehemiah’s relationship with the King was such that the King
instead of arresting him or ordering him killed outright instead asked him why
he was sad and Nehemiah told the story that his brother had brought back from
Jerusalem about 4 months before.
When the king asks, what is wrong, the first thing Nehemiah
does is say a silent prayer. In vs 4 “So I prayed to the God of Heaven.” There
is much about prayer in this book, it would make a good reference just on
prayer and going to God. But All we’ll say her is that prayer doesn’t have to
be loud or long to be powerful, it just has to be used and used often.
Next, Nehemiah gave his reasons why he needed to return to
Jerusalem. “The city, the place of my father’s graves lie in waste and the
gates are burnt down.” Now it has been over 100 years since the Jews as a
people were in Jerusalem and it would be unlikely that Nehemiah could even find
the graves of his grandparents or grandparents, but that is not what he is
really saying. In the ancient world, the duty of the living to the dead was
very important. There was a duty to care for their graves, people were buried
and then a year later their bones were gathered and put into an Ossuary, a bone
box and that was passed down as was the sepulcher where it was buried from one
generation to another. It was a sacred and cultural duty to care for the places
and remains of your ancestors, your fathers.
In fact, probably the most famous ossuary was shown in October
of 2002, a chalkstone box, which bore the inscription written in Aramaic:
"James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." Despite many of the Israeli
Authorities who proclaimed the box a fake and the man who discovered it a con
man, it was examined and after years of research and several trials it was
declared to be genuine. That ossuary was an example of the reverence the Jewish
people held for their dead.
Artaxerxes, the King understood these reasons and gave Nehemiah
permission to leave and set a time to accomplish the task. It would take 4
months just to make the journey from Shushan, the palace, to Jerusalem.
Rebuilding Requires Risk
To be a rebuilder in the Lord’s work means being willing to
risk much in order to accomplish much. Just as Nehemiah risked his freedom, his
job and even his life by showing his true feelings before the King, a member of
the Calvary Construction Crew must be willing to risk much if they are to be
successful in restoring broken lives, failed families and wasted communities.
If we are not willing to put it all on the line for Jesus Christ who gave it
all for us, then who or what would we be willing to risk it all for?
Let Christ himself teach this better than I. Here are some
of the most direct, in your face, no excuses, no loophole verses in all the
Bible.
Luke
9:57-62 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man
said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And
Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the
Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another,
Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their
dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said,
Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at
home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to
the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
When I told my preacher Grandfather that I was called to
preach but I needed some time to finish some things before I went off to Bible
College and started serving in a church, his words to me were, “You remember
what the Lord said don’t you? Let the dead bury the dead. Come follow me.” You
know what I said, “You’re right I’ll be there in 2 weeks when school starts.”
What excuse could I offer? What excuse can you offer when God’s word calls us
to risk the world’s comforts and serve Him?
Illustration
Henry Martyn had already done more than his share of
missionary service in India when he announced he was going to Persia. Doctors
had told him that the heat would kill him if he stayed in India yet the heat in
Persia was worse.
Arrived and studied the language, translated the NT and
Psalms in only 9 months. Told he had to
have the Shah's permission to distribute it.
He traveled 600 miles to Teheran but was denied permission to see the
Shah. He turned around and traveled 400
miles to the British Ambassador who gave him a recommendation but then said, You
will have to present them yourself."
Barely able to stand, He rode all night on the back of a
mule and rested in the day under a piece of canvas on poles to give protection
from the sun. Back in Teheran he was
greeted by the Shah and given permission to circulate the scriptures. Ten days later in 1812, he died in
Turkey.
Shortly before he had written in his dairy, "I sat and
thought with sweet comfort and peace of my God.
In solitude my Companion, my Friend, and Comforter."
"No one ever accomplished anything worthwhile unless
they were willing to sacrifice everything worthwhile in exchange." DKM
Secure Authority Nehemiah 2:7-10
Moreover, I said unto the king, If it please the king,
let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey
me over till I come into Judah; And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the
king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the
palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for
the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the
good hand of my God upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the
river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the
army and horsemen with me. 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.
Nehemiah would not proceed without authority.
He secured written authority from the King for passage,
provisions and protection. The journey to Jerusalem would take 4 months and
pass though several regions of Persian controlled empire under the authority of
satraps or governors of those areas. Without authority, and permission none of governors
would have let Nehemiah and his group pass through their land.
He also had to have protection in the form of soldiers to
travel with him, due to roving bands of rebels and robbers that preyed on those
traveling without protection.
Nehemiah even mentions one of those satraps or governors who
will be a recurring thorn in his side throughout this work, Sanballat the
Horonite along with Tobiah his servant. We don’t know much about Sanballat
except that he is found in other writings of the Persian Empire outside of
Scripture. We also know that he had one of the best names for a bad guy ever
given. Sanballat, just sounds like a though doesn’t it. When I was a kid I used
to watch Rocky and Bullwinkle and they had to deal with a bad guy named, Boris
Badenuf. Sanballat’s name is like Boris Badenuf, it just sounds like he was
going to be a bad guy.
But you have to love what Nehemiah says about Sanballat and
Tobiah, “It grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to see the
welfare of the children of Israel.” That’s an introduction for a true hero and
Nehemiah will enter the rank and file of the heroes of God’s work with the
rebuilding of Jerusalem.
We dare not proceed without our own authority
We as Christians are proposing to do some pretty audacious
things. We propose to change people from the inside out, from sinners to
saints. We propose to overcome evil with good, to love your enemies, to do good
to those who despitefully use us and most audacious of all, we intend to do
this everywhere. Ignoring borders, laws of man, obstacles, finances and
impossible odds. Where do we get the authority to do all that? Right here in
the book that has the authority of heaven, earth and all eternity.
Matthew
28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Mark 16:15
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.
This is our authority given to us by Jesus Christ or Lord
and Savior, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and the Coming King of
Glory.
Illustration
A young catholic girl came home complaining to her mother
about a classmate who was a Baptist asking about her salvation. The mother
said, "You tell that nosy young man it's none of his business. “The girl
replied, "But mom, the way he acts I think he thinks it is his
business."
Let me tell you backed with the authority of God’s Word, it
is your business, it is your calling, it is your commission to rebuild the
souls of the lost with the power of the Gospel.
See The Ruins Nehemiah 2:11-16
So, I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
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. And I went out by night
by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port,
and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates
thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the
fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was
under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed
the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so
returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither
had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to
the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
Nehemiah’s hard, painful look
A full survey of the wall and its ruins.
He knew what he was going to get himself into. He had to
break his heart and yet it did not make it faint. He saw the terrible waste but
knew that with God’s power and grace ruins could be restored to the great city
of God once again.
Look Hard but Look With Hope
Don’t be overcome by the romance of the task that we as the
children of God have been called to. We must realize the task you are about
undertake if formidable, some would say it is impossible. Indeed, it would be
impossible except for the authority and promises of God.
Matthew
19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is
impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Luke
1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Luke
18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible
with God.
We dare not approach the work without fully realizing how
difficult it is to save a life, to save a soul. To turn the lost from hell to
heaven. To rescue a culture that has become toxic in its own septic sexuality.
But we must never think it is our strength or will that is needed to do the
impossible, it is God’s grace that we can only accept and then pass on to those
just like us that need their lives and souls restored to love and fellowship
with God.
Illustration Jesus Looked at the Spiritual Ruin of Jerusalem
Jesus looks out upon the city that Nehemiah had rebuilt and
sees not physical ruins but spiritual waste.
Luke
13:34-35 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest
them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children
together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you,
Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord.
Jesus knew that to save the soul of Jerusalem, the people of
the city and of the entire world, it would cost him his very life. He willingly
gave that life and in that sacrifice, gave us the power and the hope to do the
impossible. Knowing that it is possible in His power because we have
experienced the impossible in our own life. We have be restored in the grace of
God to regain that image of God we were created in, to overcome sin and death
and one to experience eternal life by the amazing love of God.
It has happened to us and now our task is to take that good
news to those ruined and wasted lives all around us. May we rise to the task as those who heard
Nehemiah rose to the work of rebuilding the wall.
Conclusion
Nehemiah
2:17-18 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how
Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and
let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
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.
That is
our word from the Lord for this day, “Let Us strengthen our hands for
this good work.”
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