This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on March 10th 2024 by Colin. For the audio & video please click here. For the worship please click here. Nehemiah
Nehemiah was a captive, who was taken to Persia. There he rose to become the cupbearer. It tells us that he was a man of integrity. Even though he was a thousand miles away from Jerusalem, he was concerned. He asks his brother for a report and he weeps. His heart went out to the people of God and the city of God. 3 months later at an opportune time, he requested the king to let him be released to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He got permission, papers and provisions from the king. He went out and surveyed the walls of the city and saw the destruction. He then envisioned the people to rebuild the walls.
The people then put their hands to the task and did the work of rebuilding. It wasn’t a skilled job, but everyone except the nobles of Tekoa did the work. No matter what we are in the world, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Then there was opposition from people who were trying to distract them from doing the work of God.
”And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall. Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate. And after them went Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah, and Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, The other choir of those who gave thanks went to the north, and I followed them with half of the people, on the wall, above the Tower of the Ovens, to the Broad Wall,“ - Nehemiah 12:27-33, 38 ESV
The temple was dedicated with great joy!
”And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.“ - Nehemiah 8:1-3, 8 ESV
There was worship, confession of sin and the preaching and teaching of the word, keeping of the law. But in chapter 13 we see things change. We see people backsliding.
”On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests.“ - Nehemiah 13:1, 4-5 ESV
Some corruption started taking place. This happened when Nehemiah was not there.
The people of God pledged to follow God's word but they backslid. They allowed the enemies of God to come up and set up a room in the house of God.
To be set apart: 1 Corinthians 6:14 ”Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!“ god's standard is to be a people set apart. If you’re thinking of marriage, this is important to note. The word of God says we are not to be unequally yoked.
To keep the sabbath
Not supporting God's work
Lessons to learn :
Ordinary people can be used by God to do extraordinary things. With God all things are possible. Moses was 80 years old when he started the exodus. Jesus used ordinary fishermen to build his church. Mary was a young teen girl and God used her to be the mother of Jesus. The problems are so big that we feel overwhelmed. God places a burden in your heart for something. You don’t have to do everything, but each of us must do something!
We need to be prayerful people: William Wilberforce worked to abolish slavery in England. These things happen through persistence and prayer.
Each of us has a role in God's kingdom: there is no caste system in Christ, we are all one in Christ. Nehemiah 3:20 ”After him Baruch the son of Zabbai repaired another section from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.” They worked zealously and with all their heart. We all are busy but we have to work for God. Befriending people out there so that we share the love of Jesus with them. Within the church let’s open our homes and hearts.
Move out of your comfort zone: Nehemiah was living in luxury. But he moved out of his comfort zone, to a ruined city. We default to what is easy. But God wants us to stretch. How can we stretch? In a gym, unless you stretch, you don’t grow. It’s the same with our hearts.
Never underestimate the consequences of sin: as the church we are called to live holy lives. We are living in a time of abundance of access to the word of God. But if we don’t use it, we will run out of steam. It’s like oxygen. It is abundant, but we need to inhale it.
Thank god for NDehemiah. One day we will meet him in heaven
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment